Ditching cable for Xbox saves Seal Beach man $70/month
April 8th, 2010, 5:12 pm · 27 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
This is the first in a short series about alternatives to TV service. More coming on Friday.
DITCHING CABLE: Jeremy Baker gave up cable after he lost his job. But he still watches the latest shows thanks to services like PlayOn, Netflix and others. Photo by CINDY YAMANAKA
Everything changed when Jeremy Baker lost his job in November 2008 — including how he watched TV.
The Seal Beach resident didn’t watch a ton of TV but his cable bill had crept up to $130 a month. Scrambling to cut costs, he canceled cable and bought a Microsoft Xbox 360 game console.
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“I know it doesn’t make sense but I did the math. After 6 months, the Xbox was paid for,” Baker said.
It’s what he did with the Xbox that helped him save money. By changing the source of his TV service, Baker was able to watch most of his favorite shows on his TV for half of what he had paid the cable company.
He purchased PlayOn software for $30 and got a subscription to Netflix. For $8.99/month, Netflix offers unlimited access to its online video library, which includes thousands of movies and TV shows, plus one DVD rental at a time. PlayOn gave him access to several TV shows plucked from sites like the popular Hulu.com, ComedyCentral.com (including ”The Daily Show with Jon Stewart“) plus an assortment of on-demand shows from MTV, Food Networks, HGTV, SyFy and Discovery Channel.
The best part? He can still watch it all on his regular TV, thanks to the Xbox.
“I got really into watching the old ‘Law & Orders’ and every ‘SVU’ and ‘Criminal Intent,’” Baker said. “I’m probably paying $60 a month.”
Of that, about $50 is still going to Time Warner Cable for high-speed Internet, the rest to Netflix. PlayOn was a one-time investment. Occasionally, he’ll visit a RedBox vending machine if he can’t find a new movie online or on Netflix. He also pays $35/year for Xbox Live, which allows him to stream Netflix videos. (PlayOn also works with the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii for no additional cost.)
“About a year ago, a Time Warner guy was going door to door and asking, ‘What can I do to get you to pay for TV?’ I was like, ‘Wow, you’re desperate,’” Baker said.
Of course, he doesn’t get the same access to TV shows he used to when he paid $130 a month. He misses live news, but not sports. He was never a big sports fan. And his girlfriend is a big fan of “Project Runway,” which can’t be found without a paid-TV subscription. She has her mother TiVo the series.
“There are some HBO shows that we miss, but if it comes around on demand, like Dexter on Showtime, we can get all that for free. We just have to kind of wait,” he said.
Other than that, he has few regrets about canceling cable.
“We have more free time. Before I got laid off, I was commuting 3 hours a day. We’d get home and sit on the couch and watch TV. Now, it’s off most of the day because I work from home now,” he said, estimating that he now spends about 8 to 10 hours in front of the TV a week.
“We go to other peoples houses and it’s like wow, commercials! What are those? And everyone’s like maybe we should just get cable. But do we really want to spend that extra $1,000 a year or do we want to do something fun?”
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Lost his job in 2008? He’s still unemployed?
You don’t need Cable TV or even a TV set. Go outside.
I agree. That would save him even more.
Perhaps you didn’t read the article–he works from home now.
You’ll forgive some of us. Ert, if we don’t have photographic memories about every single detail of an article. Besides, working from home for many is just a way of saying “I’ve been out of work too long and don’t want to admit it. So, i’ll call my day-long Internet search for a job ‘working from home.’”
Wow people, welcome to the 21st century. “Working from home” is pretty common…and I thought I was cynical…
You don’t need to have a photographic memory in order to check your facts before posting a comment, especially if you are going to insult someone you’ve never met.
I wrote an article like this well over a year ago. Hoping to find something new or interesting, but I didn’t.
“We have more free time. Before I got laid off, I was commuting 3 hours a day. We’d get home and sit on the couch and watch TV. Now, it’s off most of the day because I work from home now,” he said, estimating that he now spends about 8 to 10 hours in front of the TV a week……READ BEFORE YOU SPEAK !
“Now, it’s off most of the day because I work from home now,” he said, estimating that he now spends about 8 to 10 hours in front of the TV a week.”
Who died?
it says he works from home now
Actually Staying home cost less. I lost my job in 2008 and it’s been hard getting a job. when i go out to the businesses for job search i am often refered back to their website. and when i am out i find myself spending more than when i stay home. I don’t eat out anymore. I do all my cooking. and i mean all. Turned off my phone now use my Cell and majick Jack. it’s funny how when i worked i had no savings, but now i see myself able to save money in the bank from the very little jobs i do from home sometimes when i get one
Nicely done. Nothing pleases me more than screwing the cable company out of their outrageous fees. If 4G ever comes to my area, then I’ll cut the cable completely.
8-10 hours of TV a day is for people that live in Kansas. We’ve got STUFF TO DO out here! What is he thinking. In fact, why am I even reading this, I’ve got stuff to do!
8-10 hours a week…not per day…there should be a warning signal before people post: “Did you read the article correctly before you want you comment listed?”
Now off to do the stuff I got to do
You don’t need Xbox to watch Netflix. I have a Samsung Blu-Ray player to watch Netflix and Youtube. I have Over-The-Air antenna to watch all the free channels. I can watch Hulu from my home computer.
If the sports and channel services are smart, they should offer subscription services to Internet customers. Every choice has tradeoffs, but I think cancelling cable is a good idea and I haven’t lost my job. I only pay for Internet and Netflix, which is about $70 a month.
You can use espn360 for live sports (not comprehensive, though) but there are websites based in Europe that stream American tv over the internet. There’s something for everyone!
I think ESPN360 is ISP dependent, and I don’t think Time Warner Cable (what many in OC have) is a partner.
Time Warner SUCKS!
A word of advice… if you get laid off, don’t run out and buy an X-Box… just get an antenna. Or if you must watch NetFlix, there are other options. Woot recently sold a blue ray dvd player with netflix access built in for $80.
For about $150 you can buy a Sony blu-ray player that also streams Netflix.
It doesn’t sound like this guy is doing it, but the killer app for the xbox vs. other streaming alternatives is its “just works” compatibility with Windows Media Center. With a simple antenna and tuner connected to your computer, you have the ability to watch all the live OTA programming on your TV while using your Windows PC as a DVR, allowing you to pause, rewind, and record live TV, schedule recordings from your smartphone, etc.
And the xbox is normally $200, but occassionally you can grab it new from a legitimate online retailer like Dell for $150, so it’s the same price as a low-mid end blu-ray player.
I like your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Seriously, I want to do what you’re saying. I already have a 360 and would like to get a Wireless N router and adapter (only have G right now) so I enjoy HDtv with a PC based DVR. I just gave up cable and that’s why this story caught my attention, but I like your message even better.
I have done the same thing. Back in November of 2008 we cancelled cable. I use Boxee to stream even more content than PlayOn. It’s free besides the Netflix and Internet bills.
With more young people moving out on their own. Internet is where it’s at. Internet can supplement for Cable/Sat TV very well.
PS3 even better, as you get a BluRay player as well.
Yeah but try watch live sports events on Xbox, I will not switch cable until they have live sports.
Playon now supports MLB.tv so you can watch any out-of-market baseball games live for the additional cost of an MLB.tv subscription. Angels and Dodgers are blacked out and you’d have to violate TOS to bypass that restriction, but it’s not too bad. Not HD quality – depending on your connection it can be worse than standard definition – but it’s a start.