Roku2/3 vs cable?

[madcat6183]

Ok I know it's been talked about but I don't care, I want my own topic.  Who dropped cable for Roku or Apple TV.  Regrets?  Did you have to upgrade your internet connection to run 2-3 boxes?  Do you need an antenna and HD box thing to get local channels now?

 

Basically how the F does it work besides streaming over the internet?  

 

I just found out I don't qualify for any more discounts and I never watch TV and we have the lowest/slowest internet package out there, so I plan to drop cable/DVR and get 2 or 3 times faster internet for 5-10 bux more, then add 2-3 Rokus, and Netflix or Hulu to 1 of them, or does it carry to all the ones in the house?

 

Dude I am so retarded about this stuff, if someone has experience and is local to Cbus I would buy you beer and pizza to come hook them up and make them work when this happens.  Not kidding, that's how much I hate dealing with all of this.

[Bad324]

I have an appleTV and probably don't use it to its greatest potential especially cause I have a 3 and its not jailbroken. If it wasn't for my love of watching sporting events, I'm pretty sure I'd drop cable and go solely to the apple tv. Most of what we watch I can find for free online to download into Itunes or stream via Netflix or Amazon Prime

[madcat6183]

Sports are the 1 thing I actually do watch when I have time.  But usually local tv stations, Browns, and stuff like that.  Plus I think Roku has CBS sports meaning AMA races I believe. 

[redkow97]

We ditched Dish about a year ago.

 

I miss being able to casually watch live sports.  Otherwise, it's great.

 

I have 1 Roku box, and an HD antenna (the Mohu Leaf, I think).  My internet is okay, and my modem and router are old, so definitely not the quickest.  We have a few buffering issues now and again, but nothing that has made me spring for a new router or modem.  Bottom line is that I don't consider bandwidth to be a huge issue with them.

 

We pay for hulu plus, Amazon Prime, and streaming Netflix, plus we do buy some shows on demand for $2/episode (Sons of Anarchy, Walking Dead, etc.)

 

I would estimate that we spend maybe $20/month instead of well over $100/month with Dish.   As previously noted, I do miss live sports.  I can't just watch Cavs or Tribe games any weeknight.

 

On the plus side, my wife does not seem to complain when I go over my buddies' houses to watch sporting events (Monday and Thursday night NFL!).  On the negative side, sometimes I just want to check the score... I've lived with doing so on my phone.

 

 

Regardless of how you stream TV (which device), it changes the way I watch TV.   I no longer sit down just to see what's on.  That has meant greater productivity for me (it certainly helped while I was studying for the bar).  What I do now though, is I will sit down and watch 3 straight episodes of ________ series, and plow through a season in a few weeks.   The difference is that I sit down knowing what I will watch, not hunting for something TO watch.

 

The original programming from Netflix is also getting better.  "Orange is the new black" was pretty good.  Not as good as the first episode's nudity and lesbian encounters would have led me to believe, but I got hooked on the plot.  Anyway, that sort of thing starts to replace the "two and a half men" drivel that network TV spews at you.

[Bad324]

Yea I'm not sure on the Roku, my only experience is with the Apple TV. Now that they have added Watch ESPN I might look into dropping cable and just doing internet because I can get most the games I want except the few that get blacked out

[20thGix]

Ive been looking into this same thing for some time. I would have pulled the trigger months ago if it wasnt for the wife. Even went as far as borrowing one of the neighbor's Roku boxes to try it out for a week. Wasnt overly impressed with the Roku but it works. I was under the impression the Roku box did a whole bunch more than your typical smart device. It basically did what my Xbox can do as far as TV apps. Maybe some extra but i really didnt want to mess around to much with the way they had their Roku set up.

In the event that i do drop cable i think i would just upgrade the tube TV in the bedroom to a smart TV and use the Xbox in the living room until that TV takes a shit. Then upgrade that one as well. Seems anymore all TV's offered now are capable of doing what a Roku box can do. 

 

Also along with what redkow said, The neighbor said he definatley watches less TV now. He said sometimes its just to much of a pain in the ass to find what you want to watch.

[madcat6183]

We ditched Dish about a year ago.

 

I miss being able to casually watch live sports.  Otherwise, it's great.

 

I have 1 Roku box, and an HD antenna (the Mohu Leaf, I think).  My internet is okay, and my modem and router are old, so definitely not the quickest.  We have a few buffering issues now and again, but nothing that has made me spring for a new router or modem.  Bottom line is that I don't consider bandwidth to be a huge issue with them.

 

We pay for hulu plus, Amazon Prime, and streaming Netflix, plus we do buy some shows on demand for $2/episode (Sons of Anarchy, Walking Dead, etc.)

 

I would estimate that we spend maybe $20/month instead of well over $100/month with Dish.   As previously noted, I do miss live sports.  I can't just watch Cavs or Tribe games any weeknight.

 

On the plus side, my wife does not seem to complain when I go over my buddies' houses to watch sporting events (Monday and Thursday night NFL!).  On the negative side, sometimes I just want to check the score... I've lived with doing so on my phone.

 

 

Regardless of how you stream TV (which device), it changes the way I watch TV.   I no longer sit down just to see what's on.  That has meant greater productivity for me (it certainly helped while I was studying for the bar).  What I do now though, is I will sit down and watch 3 straight episodes of ________ series, and plow through a season in a few weeks.   The difference is that I sit down knowing what I will watch, not hunting for something TO watch.

 

The original programming from Netflix is also getting better.  "Orange is the new black" was pretty good.  Not as good as the first episode's nudity and lesbian encounters would have led me to believe, but I got hooked on the plot.  Anyway, that sort of thing starts to replace the "two and a half men" drivel that network TV spews at you.

Good info, like I said, all I watch if I do is racing and/or sports, so that's the downfall, but anymore, I rarely watch that anyways.  Basically I am looking for a reason for the wife to watch less TV, and save some coin.  although I heard Roku has some channels the wife will be watching more than Lifetime anyways so that doesn't help.

[madcat6183]

Ive been looking into this same thing for some time. I would have pulled the trigger months ago if it wasnt for the wife. Even went as far as borrowing one of the neighbor's Roku boxes to try it out for a week. Wasnt overly impressed with the Roku but it works. I was under the impression the Roku box did a whole bunch more than your typical smart device. It basically did what my Xbox can do as far as TV apps. Maybe some extra but i really didnt want to mess around to much with the way they had their Roku set up.

In the event that i do drop cable i think i would just upgrade the tube TV in the bedroom to a smart TV and use the Xbox in the living room until that TV takes a shit. Then upgrade that one as well. Seems anymore all TV's offered now are capable of doing what a Roku box can do. 

 

Also along with what redkow said, The neighbor said he definatley watches less TV now. He said sometimes its just to much of a pain in the ass to find what you want to watch.

What did it not do?  I dont play video games and have no idea what a smart tv etc is.  I wouldn't be upgrading any TVs or buying gaming devices for a long, long time, if ever, if that helps?

[20thGix]

What did it not do?  I dont play video games and have no idea what a smart tv etc is.  I wouldn't be upgrading any TVs or buying gaming devices for a long, long time, if ever, if that helps?

I did everything fine, i think i was just expecting something else. A smart TV is able to connect to the internet alowing you to use Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime and what have you without needing something like a Roku box. They sell DVD players that do the same thing.

 

Just an example: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/m-series-32-class-31-1-2-diag--led-1080p-120hz-smart-hdtv/8790111.p?id=1218895764645&skuId=8790111&st=categoryid$abcat0101001&cp=1&lp=8

 

Also here is a DVD player that will do the same:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/smart-wi-fi-built-in-blu-ray-player/7830129.p?id=1218861011781&skuId=7830129&st=categoryid$abcat0102003&cp=1&lp=1

 

 

But if your not upgrading your TV or dont already have a Playstation or Xbox then Roku (or something like that) wil do just fine.

Edited October 24, 2013 by 20thGix

[madcat6183]

Ah, interesting, thanks.  As you can tell, I am clueless. 

[baptizo]

The Roku hooks up to a HDMI port and you interact with the channels via a remote.  The Roku is very easy to set up and use but also very limited as there isn't anything real time available. I'll look through my channels to see if CBS Sports offers AMA racing.  

 

OTA doesn't require a HD box if you have a HD TV.  Just choose the antenna you want, research the stations available in your area, and their location with respect to how to set up your antenna directionally.  

 

I have OTA for both TV's but they both get different channels that the other doesn't pick up but I mostly only watch the local news out of Cleveland and sports (I can typically watch the Browns every week).  

 

My plasma is internet capable so I can access everything on it vs. using the PS3/360 or Roku but rarely ever use it due to the simplicity of the consoles and Roku which is hooked up to my older Visio HD TV - mostly use it for Pandora.  I use the PS3 for Amazon, VUDU, and until recently, Netflix, which I dropped after deciding I didn't like some of their PC programming bullshit.   I use the 360 for other video apps mostly related to video game reviews.  

 

I recommend at least trying a Roku out but also look into a good OTA setup and drop cable - you won't miss the huge monthly expense.  

Edited October 24, 2013 by baptizo

[madcat6183]

Thanks man, the biggest thing is I can't find a true channel listing of free channels.  All the wife cares about is the local channel OTA via antenna, and then Lifetime and TLC, not that I give 2 shits if either of those are on it, since we're dropping cable regardless, but want to at least have something to watch.

 

Thanks!! 

[blue03636]

She has to get her honey booboo fix man.

[serpentracer]

you can't use more than one box at a time.  they thought of this already.  you'd have to create more than one account with all the providers. 

 

actually I don't think you can even do it on the computer at the same time it's playing on the roku or any other device.

Edited October 25, 2013 by serpentracer

[blue03636]

You can watch Netflix on 2 at the same time.

[serpentracer]

I've tried it and one of them always stops when the other one starts.  maybe it's just hulu+.  I'll go check right now and report back.

[serpentracer]

well I can only test netflix right now.  it's working.  I know for a fact at one time only one would work at a time. it must of been hulu+.  I'll have to wait because I'm not the only one home and If I stop the tv I will be murdered. 

[blue03636]

We have had Netflix on the tv and my daughter's computer at the same time. Hulu is just one.

[madcat6183]

We don't plan Hulu, just Netflix and Amazon prime, especially if we can share Prime with another family who is the one that told me about Roku last year for the same reason.  

 

Thanks for all the replies, definitely appreciate it.

[Gixxus Christ!]

Before you get a roku look into android stick pc. For $40 you can get a 1.6 ghtz dual core with a gb of ram that has hdmi out and wifi. Connect it to a wireless mouse and keyboard and slap in a memory card and you can run hulu, netflix etc plus download via torrent, surf the Web play games etc. I bought an mk808b 6 months or so ago and use it pretty frequently. There are also websites like quickstream.org (I think that's it?) Where you can stream almost any TV show or movie for free.

[madcat6183]

Roku2XD is 45 bux each today at Woot.com.  I think I'll grab 3 of them, they even include the AV out for surround sound.  

[Strictly Street]

All Roku channels http://www.roku.com/channels#!browse/movies-and-tv/by-popular

 

I've been using a Roku for over a year now. I think it's great.

I can stream video from my pc using PLEX or use Netflix or the like.

Netflix now allows more than one user although I don't take advantage of this feature.

 

They have a lot of free channels, a few pay channels such as Netflix and some sports channels.

The News channels really bring what is a news service into focus, they are broken up into the individual shows.

Also some like Crackle which is free but has commercials. (crackle.com)

They also have some of the standard cable channels but you will be watching last weeks episodes.

OTOH, you can download just about anything you want and stream it to the box if you want with PLEX.

 

Seems all the newer ones are wi-fi but they seem to work ok with it.

If you want to go with wired ethernet you'll have to dig around fleabay for one of the older boxes or go with the new Roku 3.

You can use it with your smartphone although I haven't tried that feature so I couldn't say how well it works.

 

Roku vs. Time Warner, the box paid for itself the first month and after that it's all gravy.

I took some adjustment but I don't 'Channel Surf' anymore which saves me a bunch of time.

[madcat6183]

Dang thats the kinda write up I was lookign for.  As for the channels, I guess I Just didn't believe that was really all available, thought it was a scam.

 

I am ordering the 2XS today for 45 shipped.  We don't have a HD tv in the basement now that I think about it, so we looks like the 3 wouldn't work down there anyways but the 2 will.  Or so it says, I dunno.

 

Figure for that price even if I use it a few times in my life it's no big deal. 

 

Thanks!

[Strictly Street]

Dang thats the kinda write up I was lookign for.  As for the channels, I guess I Just didn't believe that was really all available, thought it was a scam.

 

I am ordering the 2XS today for 45 shipped.  We don't have a HD tv in the basement now that I think about it, so we looks like the 3 wouldn't work down there anyways but the 2 will.  Or so it says, I dunno.

 

Figure for that price even if I use it a few times in my life it's no big deal. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Make sure your wi-fi works ok in the basement unless you are going wired.

 

Note the difference in Roku 2 XS vs Roku 2 XD

 

XS:

 

 

 

XD

 

 

Don't get the wrong one. From the front they look very similar.

They both have the HDMI and the A/V out. But only one has Ethernet.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2013 by Strictly Street

[blue03636]

I'll just put this here.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6G-wNyIxzM