Posted on 03/07/2012 10:07:55 AM PST by PJ-Comix
I am interested in whatever info you can provide about ROKU. What channels are available? Cost? Which channels are FREE and which do you have to pay for? Picture quality? Etc.
I do. It’s not perfect, but for the price I couldn’t ask for more. It’s a one-time investment for under $100.
You can’t just flip through the channels the way you can with a cable/satellite. Everything is set up using an on-demand style. And it takes a little bit to navigate to the next channel and give it 10-15 secs. for the streaming to generate.
For series-type shows, I use a few free scripts/plug-ins that have the newest episode available to stream within a few days—sometimes the next day. I use Tv-links, Watchseries, and Yourtvseries—they are free and have all tons of series to watch.
For live tv, I use Superusvox (one-time fee $5) and Livetvcafe. I don’t watch live tv that often, but I have had good success with those.
For the live streaming, the quality of the picture is not perfect—but it is fine for what I want. I watch mainly news for live tv, so I don’t need anything special for that.
If you already own a Roku player, you can get a free trial of playon for 14-days to help you decide. It also can be used with other devices such as xbox, playstation, etc. (it lists them on the website). That is what I did.
It took a little bit to get it set up, download the different scripts/plug-ins available, and work out a few kinks. Once I was satisfied, I signed up for the lifetime license and received the additional free Roku player.
I also have an Amazon Prime membership which allows for free streaming of some of their programming with Roku. Roku also has some free private channels that have some interesting content—but really none of it is live except maybe some independent or foreign news outlets.
I still have a very basic Dish Network package that costs $20 per month that includes a dvr. That is my total cost for tv programming. We’re still trying to decide whether to cut the cord completely!
I’ve been trying to get Foxnews streaming through my Roku or through Hulu or Playon and nothing seems to be available. Did you find plug-ins for Fox News or CBS or NBC or ABC? If so, where did you find the plug-ins? Thanks!
I’m interested in getting ROKU so that I can watch AMC TV series and GBTV. I have Netflix which plays via my router to my blue ray player.
What would I need to do to connect the ROKU box?
Would I just disconnect the blue ray from the router and then connect the ROKU box with that cable?
I’m going to ping LVDave into this thread, as there’s definitely cross-functionality between his HDTV Ping list and this topic.
The Roku is designed to be wireless. I don’t remember if there is a hard wire network cable connection available on the box.
You can probably look that info up in the internet. But if there is not, you will need a wireless router <$100 at Walmart.
I ordered the model that I did because it has a set up for wired cable.
“Dancing With the Stars (wife, when on)”
Then plugging in the cable ought to be all you need.
The roku will tell you to go to roku.com and set up an account. But the account is free.
Most channels are free.
There are some channels that charge a one time or monthly fee through Roku. If you want any of the pay channels through Roku, you’ll have to provide a credit card. But I don’t think I have any of those.
There are some channels that have you set up an account at their site, and provide a credit card there. Mog and Netflix are that way.
I can’t stand that show. Nor could I stand Extreme Makeover but she watched that faithfully. I have better things to do.
Also, we’ve since lowered our cable bill. Total now, including Internet, comes to around $90/month.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.