Roku, Anyone? What's It All About?

S

SifuPhil

R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
I've been looking for an alternative to cable TV and for a while now I've heard mention about Roku.

I went to their site but the site is a little TOO big, and hard to find out what I want to know.

1. Basically, once you buy the player, do you make any kind of monthly payments for the player itself?

2. It hooks up to your Internet service, correct?

3. How many free channels are "standard"?
 

`Lots and lots of free channels, yes you have to connect to the internet, give your email addy. Many ads for watching the free movie channels even more than what comes on regular tv. I haven't hooked mine up in a while, I mainly use it when I turn on my netflix account. Most people seem to love it for viewing many of the free channels, I'm sure they've add much more content since the last time I tuned in which was when Netflix had that new show on with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

PS. You used to could pick one up at Walmart, they sell them on amazon, there are several kinds, I'll see if I can find the link that sorts them out in easy terms, but, it will matter if you are a gamer as well in choosing. If decide to buy another, I know I want the stick, I have to look it up to remember which one though.
 
SifuPhil said:
1. Basically, once you buy the player, do you make any kind of monthly payments for the player itself?

2. It hooks up to your Internet service, correct?

3. How many free channels are "standard"?
Click to expand...

I have the ROKU 2 soon to upgrade to 3.

1. Once you buy it there are no fees or subscription fees.

2. Connects to your wireless.

3. Netflix is $8.99 now, HULU is $7.99, Crackle is free, most of the cartoons channels are free (I know that was a burning question). I haven't really explored much beyond the History channel. They are adding more channels all the time. http://instantwatcher.com/ is my source to select movies on Netflix. I would highly recommend getting one.
 

Excelllent - thank you all for the great info. I'm a virgin when it comes to these streaming players and I'm slowly learning the essentials.

My only other problem now is that we have two TVs (NOT HD models - older regular types) and I don't believe the player (I guess I would need the Roku 1) works with any more than one at a time. That would be a major drawback.
 
Philly, hubby has even managed to sign into our UK Netflix account here in Thailand and we are very happy! Currently binging on Wentworth, a drama about a women's prison in Australia. Binge-watching is the best way to watch a series, IMO.
 
Roku is the best!!! My favorite channel is YouTube!! You can search it and find anything!!

The History Channel was great, but now they are asking for a TV provider (Cable) to view stuff. crybaby.gif

Edit: i forgot to mention, you will need a WiFi (router) from your internet to play the Roku..They have the Roku with the wires for older TVs. And yes you will need a Roku for each TV..

Click here for more>>CLICK<<
 
We also have a Roku. We also have Apple TV. In the past, used mostly the Apple TV, but with Roku, can watch both Netflix and Amazon TV, Apple won't let Amazon TV on its platform.
 
Now there's something I don't quite understand -

If you own a smart TV, could you not subscribe to Netflix, etc. directly, without the need for a Roku?

Sorry, but as I've said before I'm a tech dinosaur.
 
I've owned a roku for several years and now that I've purchased a smart tv, I find that I don't use my roku at all.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
 
Roku stick no need for wires. added note, you can watch youtube with all the models as far as I know, these reviews are a little dated from last year.



Some comparisomes


roku 3 review

 
I have a Roku III. I LOVE it. The Roku III is supposed to be a lot faster than the Roku II. I also have wifi and a router (from my internet provider). I get my Netflix on there, and I also signed up for Acorn TV, which I also love -- it's $4.99/mo and it has British television and movies. No commercials -- I especially like Foyle's War, Poirot, Midsomer Murders, etc. (love the British mysteries).

No monthly charges for the Roku-- I paid about $100 for it.

So for the Netflix ($7.99) and the Acorn TV ($4.99), I dumped a $150/mo cable bill. There are also a zillion free channels you can add.

Since there's only one of me, I move the Roku from one TV to the other when I want to.
 
Roku does hook up to your internet service, but Roku might not work well if your internet service is slow. Roku has a lot of good channels on it, especially science channels like NASA and atheist channels.
 
AprilT said:
Roku stick no need for wires. added note, you can watch youtube with all the models as far as I know, these reviews are a little dated from last year.
Click to expand...

The wires are for older TV's that do not have the USB Ports..

My Roku is smarter than my Smart TV !!!!!!!
 
Son, this was a post that for some reason didn't get posted, but, yes agree, I would agree on that Roku smarter than a smart tv at least in my opinion it streams better for sure.

SifuPhil said:
Now there's something I don't quite understand -

If you own a smart TV, could you not subscribe to Netflix, etc. directly, without the need for a Roku?

Sorry, but as I've said before I'm a tech dinosaur.
Click to expand...

With a smart tv, you don't need the roku, I have a smart blu-ray which has smart tv features, but both modles in my opinion are lacking when it comes to holding the streaming connection in comparison to the Roku
 
I've figured that if I get one for roomie, it'll have to be the Roku 1, since she has a non-HDTV.

Does anyone know how they hook up? Is it to the cable/Internet wiring or is some kind of direct connection to the computer necessary? (I don't have a router, just a modem).
 
Here's something else I just found out that I don't like - you have to provide a credit card or PayPal account when you're setting up, "to ensure ease of adding channels in the future".

I'm not GOING to be adding pay channels - the idea is to get away from paying for them. We only want the freebies. Grrrrrr ...
 

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