Should I Buy a TV at All?

[watchnerd]

When we moved from our old house, we left our 2 tvs behind as part of the "staging" of the home.

Since moving into our new house at the end of September, we haven't bought any tvs.

It's been nearly 3 months now and I honestly can't say we miss it.

We still consume plenty of video, but we do it on computers, tablets, etc.

Except for guests coming over (rare) and wanting to watch a movie or sporting event together, it seems like a waste given the habits of my wife and I.

We were cord-cutters (killing off cable TV) years ago, now maybe we'll just go without tv entirely.

200 Mbs internet + lots of compute devices for video seems to suit our needs just fine.

Has anyone else gone tv-less? Or have one but don't use it?

 

[amirm]

We are that way when travelling in our RV. At home though we are a mix. Online video is mostly educational than entertainment though.

 

[watchnerd]

We are that way when travelling in our RV. At home though we are a mix. Online video is mostly educational than entertainment though.

Really? No Netflix, HBO Now/Go, Amazon Prime, or iTunes movie watching?

 

[amirm]

Really? No Netflix, HBO Now/Go, Amazon Prime, or iTunes movie watching?

Almost none. We have so much hobby related videos to watch that there is no time to watch the above! We have our favorite shows that we record and watch when they are there on TV.

 

[watchnerd]

Almost none. We have so much hobby related videos to watch that there is no time to watch the above! We have our favorite shows that we record and watch when they are there on TV.

So what's the advantage of recording via a DVR instead of streaming the same show?

Unless they're just not available.

 

[amirm]

So what's the advantage of recording via a DVR instead of streaming the same show?

On which end-node, TV or small screen? For us those are big screen experiences and TV DVR does it automatically with no effort. Many of these shows we have set up years ago and they just record.

Stepping back, I have no argument to offer to others to do the same. It is how our entertainment experience has evolved. We use the computers/tablets for things that are not on TV, and use the TV when it is easy and needs the big experience. It is not a planned thing.

 

[watchnerd]

On which end-node, TV or small screen? For us those are big screen experiences and TV DVR does it automatically with no effort. Many of these shows we have set up years ago and they just record.

Stepping back, I have no argument to offer to others to do the same. It is how our entertainment experience has evolved. We use the computers/tablets for things that are not on TV, and use the TV when it is easy and needs the big experience. It is not a planned thing.

I think our evolutionary tree branched when I got rid of our Tivo and cablebox and got an AppleTV (for when we had a tv).

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

When we moved from our old house, we left our 2 tvs behind as part of the "staging" of the home.

Since moving into our new house at the end of September, we haven't bought any tvs.

It's been nearly 3 months now and I honestly can't say we miss it.

We still consume plenty of video, but we do it on computers, tablets, etc.

Except for guests coming over (rare) and wanting to watch a movie or sporting event together, it seems like a waste given the habits of my wife and I.

We were cord-cutters (killing off cable TV) years ago, now maybe we'll just go without tv entirely.

200 Mbs internet + lots of compute devices for video seems to suit our needs just fine.

Has anyone else gone tv-less? Or have one but don't use it?

I do not watch a lot of TV. Although, I am a big Philadelphia Eagles fan, and I would not miss that. But, there is enough to make me want to keep two TV's, one 60" front and center in my listening room, one 55" in the bedroom.

In the listening room with a rather decent 7.1 Mch system tuned to great performance with video-less music listening, there are many things I enjoy with the monitor on. Aside from watching football and occasional quality Netflix movie rental BDs, I have a substantial library of classical concert, opera and ballet videos. As an opera lover, this is fantastic. But, there is something very unique about the effect of concert videos. I love them, and 48k/24 Mch audio is really good. It is a different experience from video-less music, and I highly recommend it for classical music lovers.

Then, there is Masterpiece Theater. It is not always as fabulously great as Downton Abbey. But, we very much look forward to it every week. Have been enjoying Poldark very much, for example. The are a few other things on PBS that I love, like This Old House.

Commercial TV, nah, except, nightly, I watch local news at 11, followed by Steven Colbert's monologue, before lights out. For serious news, I would rather read a newspaper.

Then, amid all the crap, there are a very small number of seriously good TV shows and movies on Netflix or Amazon streaming. We got hooked and binge-watched a number of series, really enjoyably. The crap quotient is high though, just like commercial TV.

 

[NorthSky]

I cut the wire (cable TV) about twenty years ago.
I still have four or five TVs, but they are gathering dust in the basement.
Only one remains upstairs for Blu-rays and the occasional Netflix...The Queen.

So I never watch regular TV; no use for...everything news is on the internet, and it mostly sucks. Keep being wise and if you need to entertain your friends play some great classical tunes, eat great meals and drink the best wines...talk about the world, the weather, the sun, the snow, the wildlife, what interest you in the moment, about life, family, ...communicate with your friends by having interesting discussions about everything in the universe...expand your human intellect among yourselves. ...Cry and laugh together, share untimely and intimately.

If in your circle of friends you have hardcore videophiles who love great movies and documentaries and music videos, buy a 4K flat panel for them or a 4K front projector. Nowadays some great TVs cost almost nothing. ...Same with front projectors. Google around or ask me to goggle for you.
Ask your hardcore film friends what size they like. And ask yourself anywhere good from say $500 to $1,500
But if zero is your preferred budget, stay the course like you're doing right now...just fine.

IMHO

⚘ http://documentaryheaven.com/

 

[iridium]

Cut the cord/TV when we moved from Redmond to Bellevue, WA; and my wife enrolled in graduate studies for a few years.
Moved from Bellevue to Edmonds, WA, and my wife wanted a TV [RABBIT EARS only] since graduate studies were finished.
I do like Lucifer, and I get a lot of reading done during advertisements.
In our location we only get one channel, FOX; that is if you do not count the 7 religious channels [send $$$ now].

iridium.

 

[amirm]

In our location we only get one channel, FOX; that is if you do not count the 7 religious channels [send $$$ now].

I don't know what it is about religious channels. I could be in the middle of nowhere, scan for stations in our RV and all that comes in are religious channels. Ditto for our home on Whidbey Island and home where we live now. Although as you, we also get one Fox station.

 

[RayDunzl]

I don't know what it is about religious channels. I could be in the middle of nowhere, scan for stations in our RV and all that comes in are religious channels.

Scotty attempts to retrieve Kirk with the transporter but is failing.

Spock pushes Scotty aside, wiggles the sliders, and Kirk materializes.

Bones: "Thank God!"

Spock: "There was no Deity involved. It was my cross-circuiting from A to B that returned The Captain."

---

Or maybe those religious frequencies are blessed, somehow.

High watts from lots of doughnations?

---

There was one show like PTL Club that had a big-boobed old blonde reading the incoming mail (and donations).

The higher the pledge, the more excited her squeal as she read off the amounts.

"From Tom in Muskegon, twenty five dollars... and from Margaret in Tupelo, FIVE (with a squeal) hundred dollars!"

 

[Blumlein 88]

I had a place for a large projection screen as of a couple years ago. Nothing better for home viewing of sporting events, movies and those concert videos. For regular TV, I too mostly use computer screens of one sort or another. I do use a satellite TV/DVR setup (you can feed those to a computer monitor as well). This is mostly because I have pitiful meager internet. If I had good internet speeds I would be a cord cutter too.

So if you aren't feeling, "hey, if I had a TV I would have........" then you don't need a TV. I think scifi references to the 'fad' of television are mostly correct. In the future I don't think TV will ever be a culture wide common experience ever again. I do like having friends over now and again for the new movie or a sporting event. I think so many of them usually watching a small screen makes it nicer to see something on a large screen occasionally.


I don't think it would be the same if everyone came over and brought their personal video device to watch over my home network. Then again one could do that.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Scotty attempts to retrieve Kirk with the transporter but is failing.

Spock pushes Scotty aside, wiggles the sliders, and Kirk materializes.

Bones: "Thank God!"

Spock: "There was no Deity involved. It was my cross-circuiting from A to B that returned The Captain."

---

Or maybe those religious frequencies are blessed, somehow.

High watts from lots of doughnations?

---

There was one show like PTL Club that had a big-boobed old blonde reading the incoming mail (and donations).

The higher the pledge, the more excited her squeal as she read off the amounts.

"From Tom in Muskegon, twenty five dollars... and from Margaret in Tupelo, FIVE (with a squeal) hundred dollars!"

Was this the one where she explained why God wanted her husband to have a Learjet and a Rolex?

 

[Wombat]

I don't know what it is about religious channels. I could be in the middle of nowhere, scan for stations in our RV and all that comes in are religious channels. Ditto for our home on Whidbey Island and home where we live now. Although as you, we also get one Fox station.

We don't have much religious radio and TV here in Australia. I haven't noticed religious Ads. on the WWW, except on religious websites, either.
Religion has a low take-up here compared to the US. Lots of agnostics, atheists and heathens to save.

Is media evangelism in the US a Christian thing?

 

[iridium]

RECEPTION: What a scam = digital TV. Once upon a time in the old days reception was great. Now with the great transition to digital, reception SUCKS. Taxpayer is ripped off again. Now the consumer is forced into some cable/satellite system. The only decent reception is >clear line of sight< to the broadcast antenna with no other electronic/electrical interference.

iridium.

 

[iridium]

We don't have much religious radio and TV here in Australia. I haven't noticed religious Ads. on the WWW, except on religious websites, either.
Religion has a low take-up here compared to the US. Lots of agnostics, atheists and heathens to save.

Is media evangelism in the US a Christian thing?

Mad Max scared them off for Australia.

iridium.

 

[RayDunzl]

The only decent reception is >clear line of sight< to the broadcast antenna with no other electronic/electrical interference.

Move here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.844...yaw=355.5&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656

 

[Wombat]

Move here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8441984,-82.2672974,3a,75y,81.65h,104.98t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sQhdLcGE3gwlUpn5OEfx0eg!2e0!6s//geo0.ggpht.com/cbk?panoid=QhdLcGE3gwlUpn5OEfx0eg&output=thumbnail&cb_client=maps_sv.tactile.gps&thumb=2&w=203&h=100&yaw=355.5&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656

View attachment 9795

"Darling, the aircraft beacon lamp needs replacing"

 

[watchnerd]

Scotty attempts to retrieve Kirk with the transporter but is failing.

Spock pushes Scotty aside, wiggles the sliders, and Kirk materializes.

Bones: "Thank God!"

Spock: "There was no Deity involved. It was my cross-circuiting from A to B that returned The Captain."

If someone is killed in Star Trek, why can't they just reload the last time they went through the transporter?