OT: Does anyone use ROKU streaming media device?

[Lizistired]

No, this isn't spam.
Just something I'm interested in and would like some input. I dumped DISH a couple of years ago because the programming went to crap and it didn't seem worth the money.
Local over the air broadcast has deteriorated since we were all talked into buying new HD TV's that vary in screen size according to the broadcast. I still don't understand that, but I am completely frustrated with it. Over the air stations are broadcasting 1970's movies that nobody watched in the 70's.
Roku sounds like a viable alternative. Has aynone tried it?

[RandyJ]

Liz,

I haven't used it but I recently read this article on 3 different streaming devices:

http://www.maclife.com/article/analysis ... s_apple_tv

[chunkyfrog]

Not yet; but you've got me curious.
Dish was a blood-sucking leech, so we ditched it.
Been using an enhanced antenna for over the air.
Gives us a 60+ mile range, but stations cut out when a coal train goes by a half block away.
(KC needs the electricity)
Edit: here comes Gumby--you didn't add the OT.

[Jay Aitchsee]

I don't own one yet. But I plan to buy one. Currently, I am using my disc player for streaming netflix. The disc player works good but my choice of content is limited and it's cumbersome to use. For a top of the line Roku at $99, and lots of content choice, I don't see how a person could go wrong. I do not have cable or dish but do receive 5 major networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and CW) over-the-air using rabbit ears. Some stations have mutiple channels, so I wind up with about 14 channels plus a couple of independents. With the addition of Roku, I would have no need for cable or dsih. I figure, with my subscription to Netflex of $8 and Hulu+ is about that, for $16 I would be pretty much set.

Jay

PS. All my stations broadcast in HD 1080 so screen size isn't a problem.

[msradar65]

No, but I know a lot of people who have. They love it. I have Tivo and I love it. I also look at a lot of HULU. I prefer my tivo cause I can skip commercials. With streaming you can't skip the commercials.

[Uncle_Bob]

Liz,

I've owned ROKU products for years. First a soundbridge which is an internet radio player. Then the very first version of the streaming meadia player.
Both products are still working with the exception of the remote control for the soundbridge. Other than that I find the products easy to use and the menus are fast enough to navigate. I use netflix on the roku rather than on my blu ray player becasue the menus on the blu ray are slow and awkward to navigate.
Netflix recently finished their contract with stars which meant loads of movies left the service. Its now becoming more of library of old TV series.

In order to use anything on the ROKU media player now you need to sign up with ROKU and provide a valid payment card for purchases in the channel store.
I don't use the channel store as i basically just use netflix and i hated it when they made the firmware update requiring a credit card. So using my online banking i created a virtual card number for a fixed amount of $1 which was good enough to sign up with.

Also note that the better and best models offer "the best 1080p HD streaming" but 99% of current netflix content streams in 780p for HD.

~UB

[Lizistired]

Not yet; but you've got me curious.
Dish was a blood-sucking leech, so we ditched it.
Been using an enhanced antenna for over the air.
Gives us a 60+ mile range, but stations cut out when a coal train goes by a half block away.
(KC needs the electricity)
Edit: here comes Gumby--you didn't add the OT.

HAHA, I did catch that and edit it before the "biggest offender" caught it!
When I ditched Dish, I stuck a $5 set of rabbit ears on my dish post (I call it my F-Dish) and ran it into the house on the existing coax. I get PBS channels that cable would not provide, and that's what I watch mostly anyway.
I haven't tried the enhanced antennas. There are some stations farther out that I would like to get. The locals have gone to crap after all there promises. The cable owners own them too.
Yeah Jay, It's looks like a no-brainer. I hadn't seen it until it this morning. I'm going to best buy and get 2. Worst case, I need to upgrade my ISP, but by dropping my useless home phone service, that should be a wash.
I just hate monthly charges for everything including breathing.
Msradar, I really like the concept of tivo, I just don't find much programming on cable worth the cost.

[Lizistired]

Thanks uncle_Bob, Good to know. How did I miss this technology?? Sleep apnea/O2 deprivation maybe...

[Blindrage]

I know a large number of people on different forums that have "cut the cord" on cable providers. Roku is one piece of the puzzle, but there are lots of other sources as well. Hulu, Vudu, Netflix, etc.

The problem with all of them is that the cable companies are fighting tooth and nail to make them non-viable alternatives for the general populace. Many of the people that do dump all TV services end up getting most of their programming from pirate sites, not because it is less expensive, but because it is easier and in some case the only option.

Here is just one example.

HBO created a series based on George R.R Martin's wildly popular books. I would even go so far as to say they have done a decent job on the series. This is great for me because I have HBO, and that means I also have HBO-Go on the web if I want to watch the show on my computer. So how do you watch the show if you do not have a cable provider?

-No cable provider, so you can not watch it on your TV.
-HBO-Go can not be purchased separately, it is only a free gift to those that subscribe to HBO. No luck there.
-Apple, Google, Amazon Prime, etc. Did not offer the show for sale for a very long time.

So the options were to either get the cheapest cable plan (on at least a 1 year contract) and add HBO to watch 12 episodes of a show, or pirate the show from the 1000s of sites offering it. Needless to say, everyone one of them happily watched the show for free.

[chunkyfrog]

The mousetrap is leaking cheese!

[Uncle_Bob]

I know a large number of people on different forums that have "cut the cord" on cable providers. Roku is one piece of the puzzle, but there are lots of other sources as well. Hulu, Vudu, Netflix, etc.

Slingbox, if you can leech off of someone elses cable

Personally i purchased a VPN in the UK so I could watch all the BBC iplayer content on my TV. BBC iplayer content is restricted to UK ip address as everyone in the UK pays a TV license fee to fund the BBC

[Lizistired]

Wow, Easy setup! Thanks everyone.

[Jay Aitchsee]

Make sure you give us a report in a day or so.

Jay

[JohnBFisher]

I purchased a ROKU box for a TV upstairs. My wife uses it .. and she is technically challenged. I did not want to run a cable to that TV, so it just has access to DVDs, VCRs (yup, still got some) and wireless to get NetFlix. I'm using 802.1n (dual band) to get VERY smooth playback from NetFlix (even HD).

Setup was simple. Yes, they request credit card info, but we've not used it for anything, since NetFlix gives us a very large library that my wife watches.

We've been very pleased with it.

[NateS]

No, this isn't spam.
Just something I'm interested in and would like some input. I dumped DISH a couple of years ago because the programming went to crap and it didn't seem worth the money.
Local over the air broadcast has deteriorated since we were all talked into buying new HD TV's that vary in screen size according to the broadcast. I still don't understand that, but I am completely frustrated with it. Over the air stations are broadcasting 1970's movies that nobody watched in the 70's.
Roku sounds like a viable alternative. Has aynone tried it?

We have a Roku and use it all the time, for streaming movies on Netflix, Amazon etc.

After we got it, we stopped watching cable entirely and finally cancelled it.

Nate