Learn me Roku

I cancelled ComCrap and got CenturyLink's internet only deal, saving 65%+ a month. I can get OTA on my TV and want to supplement with other stuff. I want it to be cheap, easy, and small.

Hit me!

We have a Roku - it's great. It's tiny and the kids can't kill the remote and can even use it. We use it for Amazon prime (cheaper than Netflix) and Pandora, and you can hook it up to a PC monitor, saving money on TVs.

Never going back.

I have a Roku and all we use it for is Netflix, Amazone prime, Hulu etc don't seem that good. NExt time I'd get an apple TV or similar that can do Youtube too.

Hard to beat the new Chromecast for the price: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/28/review-google-chromecast/

Tom_Spangler wrote: Hard to beat the new Chromecast for the price: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/28/review-google-chromecast/

I'm actually considering buying both a Roku (on sale + free shipping) and the ChromeCast. That would be about the amount I save on 1 month of ComCrap and should cover everything.

Roku has PBS.

It also has excellent customer service. The Roku discussion forum is staffed by some product development engineers.

I should know, my Roku XS was dead on day 2. :(

Javelin wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Hard to beat the new Chromecast for the price: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/28/review-google-chromecast/

I'm actually considering buying both a Roku (on sale + free shipping) and the ChromeCast. That would be about the amount I save on 1 month of ComCrap and should cover everything.

if you're at all concerned about privacy, consider that the chromecast is a nielson box permanently on your TV

I have the original Roku, purchased after a visit to an old Navy friend & watched the entire Firefly series in two nights while there. That would be ~6/2009 & still going strong. Met the fiancee and she bought one soon after, so did her sister.

Love me some Roku, but like someone else mentioned I really just use it for Netflix streaming. A few other little channels occasionally like Break.com and Flickster movie previews.

I haven't had pay TV since the ex-wife left 10/2008 and do not miss it.

A title like that and no Corollas? What the hell, man?

tuna55 wrote:

Javelin wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Hard to beat the new Chromecast for the price: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/28/review-google-chromecast/

I'm actually considering buying both a Roku (on sale + free shipping) and the ChromeCast. That would be about the amount I save on 1 month of ComCrap and should cover everything.

if you're at all concerned about privacy, consider that the chromecast is a nielson box permanently on your TV

Hmmm, I did not know that. So use it to stream GRM TV/Roadkill/Top Gear but not those "educational videos". Might pass on that one now.

tuna55 wrote:

Javelin wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Hard to beat the new Chromecast for the price: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/28/review-google-chromecast/

I'm actually considering buying both a Roku (on sale + free shipping) and the ChromeCast. That would be about the amount I save on 1 month of ComCrap and should cover everything.

if you're at all concerned about privacy, consider that the chromecast is a nielson box permanently on your TV

I just assumed that all streaming devices were. How else would the content providers be able to get "ratings"?

tuna55 wrote:

Javelin wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Hard to beat the new Chromecast for the price: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/28/review-google-chromecast/

I'm actually considering buying both a Roku (on sale + free shipping) and the ChromeCast. That would be about the amount I save on 1 month of ComCrap and should cover everything.

if you're at all concerned about privacy, consider that the chromecast is a nielson box permanently on your TV

That way we can get more automotive related content put up.

Love my Roku box. We use it for a lot of Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon video purchase/rental, and Rdio. Also check out Plex. For a free download and zero dollars a month you can put a Plex server on your PC, create media libraries of your video and music files, and then play them through the Plex app on Roku. If you want to pay a monthly fee you can also use Plex to stream to mobile devices, but I've never tried that.

In reply to Javelin:

How do you stream things on a roku?

We cut the cable tv cord a year ago (kept internet) and got a Roku box for the TV that isn't connected to the Wii. Very intuitive and user friendly. Also super portable as long as you have a wifi signal. We got the model with an ethernet connection so it wouldn't eat precious bandwidth. We use ours for Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Recently dropped Hulu since Charter lured us back with a pretty good deal. We don't DVR so its not likely we'll go back to Hulu and its tiny menu. Still have the antennas up though. BTW, it was 8 months after cancelling cable that they actually blocked the signal to the house.

I like my Roku. No football though (no big deal for me). I use Netflix and Amazon Prime (I recommend the Crackle channel also). I use the Youtube app on my blu-ray player for the few things I watch on that.

In reply to Javelin:

don't you have an Xbox 360? If you do, and you still have Xbox live gold, you might want to consider Netflix and Amazon prime streamed through the Xbox. That's what I do, and its worked out pretty well for me.

In reply to szeis4cookie:

I do, and I did. I hated paying for XBOX Live Gold, and Netflix just didn't have anything I wanted to watch that couldn't be found free already on the internet.

We love the Roku, we actually have two, an ancient model and one that's about six months old. Both work very well, are simple to operate, and have great buffering. We attempted to use our Samsung Blue-Ray player with the Samsung WiFi dongle (I know you guys love that word), and it was constantly re-buffering, stuttering, etc. Bought a new Roku, and everything plays seamlessly.

My thoughts are it's a great piece of technology at a very reasonable price point.

I'll echo the others, we have a Gen1 Roku that's been bulletproof and simple to use.. We only use it with Netflix, PBS & Pandora, really, though..

Here's a video describing how to get youtube on the roku, but I haven't tried it, ymmv, etc, etc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IghTBV3FwWo

For all of the cable cutters out there, can you watch FX (Sons of Anarchy, Justified) and BBC America (Top Gear) and other cable channels? I am interested in streaming only, but if my daughter can't watch Teen Wolf there will be serious repercussions!

pinchvalve wrote: For all of the cable cutters out there, can you watch FX (Sons of Anarchy, Justified) and BBC America (Top Gear) and other cable channels? I am interested in streaming only, but if my daughter can't watch Teen Wolf there will be serious repercussions!

Netflix has Top Gear and Sons of Anarchy. I don't know about Justified or Teen Wolf. They're most likely last seasons shows so take that into consideration. Amazon may sell the latest version of the other two shows which you could then stream via Roku or other device.

I use the sony equivalent of the roku, and I really like it. Most of the time, there's no problem streaming video...It does stutter during peak time, though. (Doesn't bother me much, because I'm usually reading our forum or grading papers with TV in the background playing old star trek episodes or similar stuff that I've already seen.) If I really cared about the TV-watching experience, I would probably need to go to a higher bandwidth internet package.

I use netflix and youtube. I could also sign up to hulu plus and amazon prime, but haven't done so.

BTW, if you have a TV with a USB connection, the cheapest thing ($35) to use now is chromecast...It streams anything happening on your computer or phone to the TV. All the processing power is on the computer or phone, and the TV is treated as a big, dumb display device. (i.e. if you can do or see something in your computer in a chrome browser, you can stream it to the TV.)
http://www.iclarified.com/32277/apple-tv-vs-google-chromecast-vs-roku-what-you-can-watch-chart

In reply to pinchvalve:

I know Amazon Prime carries Justified.

Lately, I've been looking at the potential cost of quitting cable and just buying season passes to watch my favorite shows online. It seems to work out to about the same or slightly less than the eventual release on DVD.

For me, it would run about 120-130 a year IF I watched everything I like. Still cheaper than cable.

Any interest in just "building" a Media Center for less than $100 and then using that to handle streaming TV shows/downloads from wherever on the internet? (Netflix/Blockbuster/Amazon/torrents)

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/android-sticks/cx-919-android-mini-pc.aspx

There's a few of these on the market.