Canceling Cable - Looking for Streaming TV Recommendation

[syoung03]

Hi,
I'm going to cancel cable and switch to streaming TV, but we also need to buy a new TV. I'm looking for a TV recommendation and/or a streaming stick recommendation. I am a Prime member and neither of us are big on games. Just looking to watch ABC/NBC, MTV, NatGeo, Discovery, History and some movie channels (no sports). Only have 1 TV in the house. Currently we don't have internet (we use hotspot on phone) so could you also give an internet speed recommendation (looking at Time Warner)?
I'm new to this stuff so be gentle.
Thanks
Sarah

 

[unksol]

You can't stream the channels you want so you need to adjust your expectations. Realistically you'll probably be better off paying the $20 for basic cable if you have to get internet from time Warner anyway.

 

[americanaudiophile]

You can use an over the air antenna to pick up local channels. You could buy Amazon Fire box since you have prime and use that but you would need internet access.
Another option would be to use your phone as the streaming source and connect it directly to your TV if it has HDMI-MHL.
Other options would require WiFI.

 

[Math Geek]

i personally love my roku stick. i use amazon, netflix, nfl sunday ticket and a half dozen other "channels" including youtube to watch most anything i want. i did do a free preview of slingbox to see what that was like and it was not bad for the $20 a month. has espn and hgtv as well as a few others i like. i like the roku over the fire tv/apple tv devices since it does not force a single company in your face. apple and fire tv allow access to a lot of stuff but their programming is front and center and obscures the other services. the roku is 3rd party and gives equal access to everything. i got a list of channels to scroll through and until i load one up, i am not bothered with that companies stuff. they have thousands of channels of all kinds. some free with ads in the movies, others subscription based like the premium movie channels (hbo, showtime, .....)

if you watch a lot of tv shows, an antenna is ideal since it is free to receive the channels with a cheap antenna. otherwise hulu has the best selection of tv shows. cutting the cord is easy if you know what you are getting into but a solid internet package is a must. trying to rely solely on a cell phone data plan is a one way ticket to a lot of overage charges. a good 25+ Mb internet plan is good enough for streaming but if you plan on streaming on more than one tv at a time, then you may want a bit more. no idea what plans are offered in your areas but i would think 25 Mb is the low end you should consider. beware of data caps in some areas (comcast is the worst at it but time warner has not exactly a good rep either)

edit: one last thought as well. i use a roku streaming stick on one tv and since it is so small, i take it with me on trips and such. can connect it to a hotel tv and connect to their wifi and now i got all my stuff just like at home. take it to a friends house, connect to their wifi and same thing. whatever you pay for is accessible anywhere. was nice to watch nfl games in the hotel i wanted to watch when a long way from home. never have to worry about missing out when away again cable will never allow such freedom!!