If you don't know, "cutting the cord" refers to getting rid of your cable TV (or Satellite TV in my case) and going to a completely online viewing experience. Now that does not mean watching all your TV content on your computer. There are many set top boxes that stream video to your HD TV such as Apple TV, Roku, Google TV and others. There are pros and cons to each of them, which is something you can find out more about the differences by this Google search. I am not doing to discuss that here though. Today I want to share my experiences with the process I am going through of trying this for a week in my home to see how it works for us.

So I decided on the RoKu box as it has the widest variety of content. Now in my family we rarely watch live TV. Almost everything we watch has been recorded to the DVR. This way when you sit down you have a selection of the shows you like ready and you can easily jump past the commercials. So I was not worried about not getting like TV anymore, it was just about getting access to the shows we do want.

First, my concerns. I have two boys, 5 and 7 years old, who love their morning cartoons. Most of what they watch is on Disney Junior and Nickelodeon in the mornings. I went into this knowing most of those shows are not available anywhere else. So my concern was will my kids miss them and enjoy the other shows that are age appropriate and are available. Next, was the few shows my wife watches and does not want to do without. I am much easier. I am happy watching reruns of Seinfeld, House or Star Trek. I am even happier saving the $50/month we pay for the Dish Network basic package.


So i got the middle of the 3 RokU boxes for $79.99 and connected it. For starters you will definatly want to be a NetFlix streaming customer ($7.99/month) and a Hulu Plus customer ($7.99/month). I already had Netflix so I had to join HuLu Plus. But if it worked out and i got rid of the $50 Satellite bill then that's fine. Next you have to link all these accounts to your Roku box for the first time. When you go to use netflix, it tells you to go to the netflix site and enter a code from the screen to link them. Then you have to do this for many of the other services as well. about 10 minutes total work and we were up and running.

So then we start playing with what is available. There is quite a lot, and most of it is not immediately visable until you go to their online store (Its mainly free) and you start adding in channels to the main menu. Next you start to hit the first problem...finding something to watch. Remember "57 Channels and nothing on" by Billy Joel? Well this is more like hundreds and hundreds of channels and plenty on but you spend more time searching than watching. I am someone who prefers choices and making my own decision but it can be a bit much.


So I started writing messages online in forums discussing the Roku box. I knew that in Netflix you could add shows and movies to your Watch Instantly Queue but you can also do something similar in Hulu which helps a lot. So I put a bunch in both. Adding many of the shows I like or old shows i would like to watch the whole series over again into Hulu Favorites. I adding in some of my wife's and many of the kids stuff. Although most of what they currently watch on Satellite was not there I adding in other kid friendly shows i thought they might like. More like hoped they would like and would help them to not get upset about not having their old shows.

Next step was to unplug the Dish Network satellite so that they had no choice but to use the new online streaming method of watching TV. Then I had to show them how to search and find what they wanted. I had them training to use the DVR on the satellite and I don't want to hear "Daddy!!" every time they want to watch something. Fortunately they are very tech savvy and 5 and 7 years old so they picked this up quick. Also they can be trusted not to put on shows other than the cartoons we setup for them in the favorites list as I didn't see any way to use parental controls or block content. So if yours kids are not like mine and will experiment by clicking on things, this might not be good for you. I don't know if other boxes have other options, so you might want to check that out before settling on a Roku or other device.

First night when setting up some favorites lists I noticed some of the things I went to play on Hulu came up saying that they are only playable on the Web. Well that just stinks. Hulu can get licensing agreements to allow them to play those shows but you cant do it from any device except directly on the internet. OK, so there goes some content that we wanted. My wife, searching for her favorite shows to add came up short on a few titles and was not happy about that.

Next morning the kids work up and we searched for something for them to watch and came up with some older cartoons which they loved and a kids movie on Netflix. They were happy and didn't complain about not having their normal line up of Disney/Nickelodeon shows at all.

A few days in and while my wife finishes up stuff on the Dish Network DVR that she wont get anymore, (ended up leaving it connected for her for a while) the kids have not complained once. They love Mr. Bean. Both the cartoon and real Rowan Atkinson one. So we have scheduled Dish to be cancelled when the current billing cycle is over. Also happier because it was costing more than I thought, it was $67 a month. Wonderful Dish Network had me under a 2 year contract so there is a $75 early termination fee. Hey Dish! Cable companies don't do that! Then they are sending me boxes to ship the equipment back but will cost me $15 per box for shipping. Another nice perk. :(

So I do have to pickup a second Roku for the bedroom TV so my total cost is $160 for the 2 Roku boxes, $90 for cancelling Dish and shipping and then $16 a month for Netflix and Hulu+. So it will take about 4 months to recoup the cost of switching but after that I will be saving $61 a month. I can live with that. And again, for those occasional new movies I must see sooner which are out on DVD there is the local Redbox in town for $1 per night which is great deal. Thinking of the $732 is savings, watching my Tech videos on the large TV, less TV for the kids (a good thing), its a great move and more shows are coming on all the time.

Here is who would not want to make this switch...If you watch Sports or if you absolutely can't live without certain shows that are just not on streaming TV yet. If that's the case you will just have to wait.

Hope this helps some people decide if "Cutting the Cord" is the right thing for their family.