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This week’s column: Solving my mini PC problems

Jared Newman   |   June 27, 2025

A few months ago, I kicked off an experiment to replace my living room Apple TV with a cheap mini PC, and I’m ashamed to report it hasn’t gone well.

The fault lies entirely with me, because after picking up a Beelink S12 Pro Mini PC and writing that story, I never got around to solving a fundamental remote control problem. I didn’t want a full-sized keyboard and mouse on my coffee table, but I kept waffling on what to use instead. In the meantime I drifted back to my old streaming setup for the convenience.

But during a recent attempt to watch Mr. Robot on Tubi, in which a single episode was broken up by a half-dozen commercial breaks, I knew I had to take this experiment more seriously. Being able to skip those ads was one of my main reasons for bringing a mini PC into the living room, and I needed a proper remote control to make it all work.

I think I’ve finally found the answer.

Read the full column →

Weekly rewind

DirecTV’s skinny bundle upgrades: DirecTV’s “MySports” streaming package just got more interesting with the arrival of CBS owned-and-operated stations. At least in certain cities, the $70 per month package now includes all four major broadcast networks, plus sports channels from ESPN, Fox, NBC (such as Golf Channel), and WarnerBros. Discovery (such as TNT and TBS). It also includes ESPN+ and major cable news channels, and it offers regional sports for $20 per month extra in certain markets.

DirecTV still has to work on getting more local Fox and CBS affiliates on board, but it’s in position to undercut the likes of YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, which both charge $83 per month for more bloated TV packages.

DirecTV’s also launching a new “MyKids” streaming bundle with Disney+, Disney cable channels, Nickelodeon channels, and Cartoon Network for $20 per month. You can see all of DirecTV’s genre packs here.

Spectrum adding Hulu: Speaking of bundling, Spectrum will start including Hulu with its main TV Select packages later this summer. The cable giant added Disney+ (and ESPN+ in the higher-end TV Select Plus tier) last year, and it’s been throwing in more streaming services since then, including Paramount+, Peacock, Max, and AMC+.

Spectrum says this adds up to $100 in value, but that’s based on the full retail value of each service, including some that it hasn’t added yet. If you don’t need all the above services and a full cable TV package year-round, there are better ways to save money.

Comcast ditches data caps: Under pressure from fiber and wireless 5G, Comcast is simplifying its home internet packages with four plans available nationwide, and none of them have data caps. The plans start at $40 per month for 300 Mbps—fast enough for the vast majority of internet use cases—if you choose a “Five-Year Price Guarantee” at signup. (It’s not a contract, but Comcast warns that higher prices can apply if you downgrade or temporarily cancel.)

The new plans are available to new and existing customers alike, but the latter group will have to contact customer service to make the switch. If you try to do this, and Comcast gives you hassle, please let me know. I’ve heard from some readers who ran into trouble with the company’s earlier promos.

More catch-up

Save more money

This part of the newsletter has some affiliate links, which earn me a commission if you wind up subscribing to something.

Free Paramount+ is back: Sign up with the promo code WEMISSYOU to get a month for free, either as a new subscriber or a returning one. It even works on the ad-free Premium tier. We missed you too, free Paramount+.

Free Peacock update: As before, you can still get three months of Peacock Premium for free right now, but some of you have told me that the sign up link doesn’t work on its own. If you don’t see a charge of $0.00 under “Today’s Total,” just add the promo code PEA2LOPP7EXU95.

Other notable deals:

Remember, I keep a full list of active deals on the Cord Cutter Weekly website, updated every Friday.

Thanks for reading!

And thanks again for thinking about an Advisorator membership, half-off for new members if you sign up right now. Got questions about that, or about streaming TV stuff? Let me know by replying to this email.

Until next week,
Jared