QUESTION TV: DISH vs INTERNET ROKU

Mar 19, 2013 | Yosemiotest

[Yosemitest]

I want "The Blaze TV" and I'm considering changing from Directv to either Internet driven by ROKU or Dish TV.
I've seen Dish before and didn't like how hard it was to remove the channels you didn't like off the list you view to see what's current.
I know nothing about ROKU, and would appreciate it if a ROKU user told me how they like it, how it works, what's available, and how much it cost per month.

What other ways are there to watch the Blaze TV?

[Yosemitest]

Beef, it's whats for dinner, and a green salad.
I'm interested in “The Blaze” and Fox News, but as you sere, my internet connection is slow.
Hughes Net is a thought and then I can drop AT&T landline.
Can you watch or get HBO and Starz on ROKU or is it not available?
We watch RFD and Justified, and some other series.
I'm really fed up with paying for a bunch of crap I don't watch.

[Donkey Odious]

“The Blaze” works fine in the Roku. Requires a subscription of about $10 a month. You can get some Fox News but it is limited. An HBO service called HBO-GO is available if you are an HBO subscriber, but it is also limited in content. There are many, many other services - news, radio, old movies - available. Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime - both about $10 a month each - are available. I have not tried either but you can test them out for 30 days for free.

All in all, Roku + Netflix is a winner.

[usconservative]

We dumped DirecTV last August and went with Roku. Saved $100 a month by doing so. We subscribe to Hulu and Netflix for TV and movie content and never have a shortage of quality content to watch.

We also have an OTA antenna that picks up some 100 plus channels, I can turn it towards Springfield, Rockford, Milwaukee, Chicago, south Bend and other locations to pick up Networks and independent stations also.

The hidden secret about Roku are the “private channels” ... If you google Roku Private Channels you’ll see what I mean.

There ARE some shows we missed when we dropped DirecTV at first, but have found other LEGAL ways to watch them. Burn Notice being our favorite is available via USA Networks website the day after it airs. I have a home theatre PC for that purpose.

So if you’re willing to look for other ways to get the content you want or can live wiout one or two shows untol they come out on Netflix or Hulu next season, Roku is a great money saving way to go.

[Yosemitest]

Thank you.

[usconservative]

I just ordered an infinitec kickstart version from Ebay for $85. The production versions are the same but run twice as much. EQUISO is around $80 new and shipping now. There are several manufactures with similar devices with prices below $50 to over $200.

Had to go look up Infinitec Kickstart and Equiso ... very interesting! If I had money to spend on ONE of these devices, which would you recommend?

[prisoner6]

I am favoring Infinitec. I’ll get mine in a few days and I’ll let you know how it is.

BTW check out the videos of both and several others on YouTube.

[usconservative]

Thanks. I've watched about 10 of those video's already, the technology looks very promising. I wouldn't mind one just to have something "safer" to browse the web with in addition to turning my stupid 42" 10 year old LCD TV into a "smart device."

I'd also found one from Rikomagic on Amazon.Com ... it seems to get really good write ups.

[Yosemitest]

Thank you.
In my research, I've learned that Hughes Satellite Internet for $39.99 per month plus around $%200.00 in equipment might be in the longrun my cheapest way to go with ROKU.
But I'm still learning. What I might do is buy the ROKU 2 XD device for $79.99 and try it on my slow AT&T connection, then up my connection speed while I get the funds to buy Hughes Internet Service.
The only thing I worry about is having both my Internet and TV over the Satellite, because during times of bad weather I might lose them for 10 to 15 minutes and not be able to check the weather on the internet for tracking supercells.

[usconservative]

I just looked at the Hughes Satellite offering, don’t think that’ll work with Roku. The upload speed is capped at 1Mb and the monthly total downloads are capped at 20Gb. That’s not alot of data or streaming......

[Yosemitest]

Okay, thanks for the info, and what do you recommend?

[mylife]

Love my G-box MX2 with XBMC.

[PJ-Comix]

Mark for later reading.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I have two fairly old TVs, neither is HD.

Then Roku isn't going to be an option for you. It outputs via HDMI and your TVs won't have that input if they're that old.

[Errant]

XBMC is the coolest, no matter what device you’re using I on. :-)

[mylife]

Damn Skippy!

I am looking at that Ouya device because it is a quad-core processor and is only $89 on Amazon.

Looks like loading XBMC on it is a bit tricky, but can be done.

[mylife]

The Mashup addon is fantastic.

[Errant]

it is a quad-core processor

I might just have to check that baby out too...

[Errant]

There’s lots of add-ons. I’ve got my Raspberry PI loaded to the gills... lol

[mylife]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56_nsR5K4TE

[mylife]

My G-box MX2 is loaded to the gills too!