All Things Joey
Having a blog means having an opinion. This category groups reviews of technology, concerts, books, food – essentially all things consumable.
I finally got the Sony A7C that I ordered in September. I did some out of the box tests to see how everything looked and sounded.
This is a no shame video. Didn’t comb my hair, I had a cut on my nose that wasn’t pretty… but no time for vanity, needed to get some testing done.
I used a Sony 20MM F1.8 Lens and the 28MM-60MM kit lens that came with the camera (I have a few others to try out).
I also tested a Deity D4 Duo that I bought 4 months ago that I never got a chance to use.
I cut the cord this week and said goodbye to Comcast television and phone.
I am going to tell you how I did it and the services I am using to replace whatĀ I eliminated. But first I am going to tell you why…
People like to scream about how terrible Comcast is as a company and from a customer service perspective, but I can honestly say whenever I had a problem in the 8 years they have been in the house, they fixed it pretty quickly.
So if the service wasn’t bad, why did I cancel a bunch of stuff?Ā I was paying $222.21 per month. Ā
I do not live in an area where I can get another internet provider. I would be stuck with DSL, which is just unacceptable speed. I can get dish TV or something like that, but Verizon Fios isn’t an option in my area.
I had TV/internet/phone with 3 cable boxes, aĀ cable modem ($40 in equipment rental fees), and I subscribed to the DVR service after a promotion that “saved me money”. Ā I started with a triple play package at $99 per month and over the years it inflated to well over $200.
I called Comcast twoĀ weeks ago to negotiate and reduce my bill. They took $20 off (which was not a victory in my book), but later in the day, I found out they cut service to one of the televisions in the house. When I got it fixed, the bill went back to the starting price.
I don’t really watch much television. Ā I would rather be reading, writing, and making stuff. My son is an avid user of Netflix and Hulu. Ā My wife was the biggest issue as she is a content grazer and channel flipper. I walked her through my plan andĀ she eventually got on board.
The biggest selling point: I went from $222.21 to $87(ish) per month (not including the streaming services).
Products I am using:
I decided that one clear method to save is to stop renting equipment from Comcast, including the modem. Ā For my home and the setup that I prefer, I needed a modem, a router, and a streaming device for every television. I was thinking about buying a Ooma for phone, but my friend tipped me off to another device that I will get to later.
This this is what I purchased:
Additional Services:
As you can see in my chart above, I was already paying for Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu. Ā Since it is April and Game of Thrones is coming back, I didn’t want to be without HBO, so I signed up for their HBO Now service for an additional $15 per month.
A service that surprised me was Sling TV. I thought it was a part of Sling Box, which lets you stream your existing TV service via equipment… Sling TV is not the same product. This is a service from Direct TV that gives you live streaming cable channels like CNN, AMC (Walking Dead) Food TV, HGTV, and Cartoon Network (20 in all).
I always joked that I would miss HGTV the most if I canceled and now I don’t have to. The service isn’t perfect, you can only watch on 1 television at a time and there is no recording service. I haven’t completely made up my mind about keeping Sling TV or HBO Now but it is nice to know I have the option.
Closing Thoughts:
The thing I want people to understand is that it costs money to get off of cable. It is a huge savings for me because I subscribed to many of the streaming services BEFORE I cancelled. That made it easier for me to make the decision (because I knew how much we were watching on normal vs. streaming).
I laid out $628 in equipment for me to feel comfortable getting off of Comcast. It is going to take 6 months for me to break even. With that said, I feel very good about my decision and it was fun setting everything up.
So far so good… I will write an update in 6 months.
Photo: Pablo GarciaSaldaƱa
I had this conversation with so many people in the last year that I decided to capture it and publish it on my blog.
Around this time last year, my 2-year contract with Verizon was up and I was looking to renew and get new phones. Then I received a letter stating that they were switching us to a family-share plan once we selected new phones. We would be moving from unlimited data to a 4GB shared plan. Also, my plan was going to go up about $10 per month.
I was furious.
My wife and I didn’t come close to using 4GB (we usually averaged 400 MB), but I didn’t like that the unlimited data plan was going away and that I was being charged more for what I considered to be less (plus the smart phone I had at the time sucked and I assumed a new phone would eat more data). For the first time in 6 years I started shopping around.
Also around this time, Google announced they were selling a completely unlocked phone called the Nexus 4 for $300 (no contracts). An unlocked smart phone with a perfect android experience that gets updates immediately directly from Google? That sounded perfect. But the phone was not compatible with Verizon. Yet another reason to start looking around.
I started calling companies that the Nexus 4 would work with. AT&T ended up being just as much as Verizon. My wife suggest calling T-Mobile but I hesitated. Even though Verizon has the best coverage nationally, I did not have a great signal in my house. I assumed that if Verizon gave me problems, T-Mobile would have absolutely no signal in my area. I looked up their coverage map and my house was in a dark green area (excellent coverage). Then I checked work…dark green again. Then I started looking at places we go to frequently…all dark green.
Not to belabor the point, we decided to give T-Mobile a shot and cancel if we had a bad experience. I am going to be honest, we almost did. Getting the right sim cards (mini) and an issue with the first payment time almost derailed the whole thing. Several days/hours on the phone with their customer support was like shoving nails in my eyes, but I powered through it. In the end, we settled on an unlimited everything plan (data, voice, text) and I am saving $90 per month.
The coverage has exceeded my best expectations. I always have a great signal in the places I am the most. I have also been traveling quite a bit for work and haven’t had any issues (unless I am in a basement or heavy concrete building). Also, instead of having a phone where I am always saying “I wish my phone did that”, the Nexus 4 is constantly surprising me with some useful thing it does in the background (like Google Now’s ability to automatically check flight status, traffic, and even hotel reservations).
I rarely experience situations where making switches like this ends up being dramatically better (there is almost always a compromise). By switching to T-Mobile and buying a Nexus phone I saved money, actually got better mobile performance, and was able to shove it to a company that I didn’t feel was treating me well. I have been using the service for 10 months and had no issues. Last week T-Mobile announced it was ending roaming charges internationally. Another move that tells me this company wants to be competitive and understands what is driving customers away from other mobile providers. I thought it was a good time to share my experience and offer my suggestion.
So that is my (completely not paid for or sponsored by) opinion, I hope it helps.