Posted on 12/25/2012 3:07:32 PM PST by delacoert
We have the Boxee box which has a YouTube app. We like it so far.
I think we’re paying about $50/month.
First, the Roku was a POS in my opinion. There are an EXTREMELY limited number of codecs it will work with. I finally got fed up with it and bought a Western Digital Live and it is light years ahead of the Roku box. I have not found a video format yet that the WD box won't play... it will even mount and play iso images.
Secondly, broadband companies (read AT&T, Comcast) WILL have the last word on this. If streaming video starts cutting too deep, they will gladly retrieve their fees by jacking you on pay-per-bit usage.
You can get YouTube on your Roku via the Raterix app.
Yes. Comcast is at war with Netflix. They will cap and throttle your service for streaming and downloading what they consider too much.
I have fios with 75mb, get 85mb. I could download 8TB a day
and they could care less. I have downloaded several TB’s recently. As long as I pay my bill all is good.
I have a cabin in a remote area. Our definition of high tech is a candle and making hand puppet shadows. Next year we are considering narrating the show using our voices. We will probably call these “talkies”. Only problem is sore wrists when we fast forward through the commercials.
Roku’s great, but until there’s live feed of *anything*, forget it, streaming boxes are merely supplemental to (for example) cable, dish, and local broadcasts. Boxee attempts to merge the streaming box with the broadcast TV tuner box and fails, the software aboard her is just terrible. Thanks delacoert.
I bought a Roku back in August and shortly afterwards cancelled my $100/mo. "250 Channels of CRAP" DirecTV Service. My family hasn't looked back.
I have Hulu and Netflix subscriptions (total $16) to watch what I want and I have an Over-The-Air HDTV antenna for everything else.
As for YouTube, my kids watch that on their laptops primarily anyway, and personally I don't understand why anyone would want the crap from youtube on their TV.
If you're anything like my house, we have the Roku, Wii and XBox consoles hooked up to the TV's. If the kids want youtube on the TV they use the WII or XBox consoles.
No shortage of entertainment choices in my house now that DirecTV is gone. I've saved $84/mo. and everyone's happy. ($100 DirecTV bill - $16 for Hulu & Netflix subscriptions.)
Your DSL at 2.4 should be fine for Roku and Standard Def picture. If you really want HD with a nice picture you need at least 3mb of available bandwidth.
Hate to tell you this, but you're way behind the times. WE dumped DirecTV in August shortly after I bought my Roku device. We were the LAST in our very large group of friends to dump cable/satellite/AT&T U-Verse in favor of Roku.
When I called to cancel my DirecTV which was on month-to-month for the third year and cost $100/mo. they panicked when I said I have a Roku device as my primary content now. DirecTV called my house FIVE TIMES the day I cancelled and I turned down every offer they tried making to keep me as a customer, including cutting my bill to $50/mo. for the 250 channel package. They couldn't believe I told them "NO" and to stop calling.
As for my Comcast Cable modem, I'm paying $19.95/mo. and get 25mb down/5mb up and have that price loced for another 6 months. I threatened Comcast that I'd switch to AT&T U-Verse for DSL if they didn't drop the price. Once they confirmed AT&T was in my neighborhood, I got the $19.95 price for a year.
You gotta know how to tell Comcast/AT&T/DirecTV etc.. what YOU'LL pay, not what THEY will charge you. Helps that I have multiple options to play them off each other too.
I don’t get it? Can I watch the History channel, A&E, Fox, etc.? How about recording them? I like Gold Rush for example, how do you record/watch it?
Similar here. I have Verizon FiOS. I am paying ~$125/mo for internet, land line, and mobile. They send me lots of mail pushing their TV, but my TVs all stopped working after the demise of analog TV broadcasting. I'm thinking of canning the land line and upgrading to Verizon's top internet service.
>
Sweet. Thank you.
Let me take a half-step back here. Obviously not everything one would watch on Cable/DirecTV is available on Roku by itself, and in some cases not available with Roku and a Netflix / Hulu subscription either.
The two shows I miss being able to watch "live" are Burn Notice (USA Network) and Neil Cavuto on Fox Business Network. For me, pretty much everything else on Cable/Satellite was crap anyway.
Now most people say you cannot record from Roku. That's INCORRECT!! I have an old VCR that's hooked up to my Roku via the RCA jacks (Roku --> VCR) It records off the Roku just fine. Here I never thought I'd have a use for that old VCR! You can do the same thing with a TIVO device and Roku, or a TV board in your computer as long as it has RCA jacks for input, or a converter to RCA is available for your board.
I can also hook the Roku up to my Media PC TV board (RCA --> RCA) and do the same thing. So recording off of Roku to another device is possible - but I'd ask WHY would one want to do that when everyhing on Roku is "on demand" so you can watch it whenever you want and therefore no need to record unless you'd want to keep a copy for yourself.
As for the shows you mentioned like Gold Rush, or shows on History Channel, A&E etc. all I can say is for you to look at the content available on Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon Prime to see if your shows are available before you subscribe. If you're willing to be flexible and slightly modify how you watch TV, Roku's a great alternative and a great way to save some money.
Let me know if I didn't answer your questions or if you want more information. (Note: I'm not a Roku "reseller" nor do I work for them. I just think it's a great device and it's leading the TV Consumer revolution.)
“The day before Roku/Netflix arguably has its worst service failure, Roku’s founder and CEO, Anthony Wood, appears on CNBC giving this unbelievably, poorly timed interview.”
Netflix was down, not Roku. Netflix back up this morning.
I love my Roku and Netflix. Roku can add more channels like Netflix.
I’ve had a Roku for over a year, and one reason I stand by my earlier “behind the times” statement is, there’s nothing on it but video store stuff, plus some selected classic TV reruns. I don’t take cable or dish, because where I lived before I didn’t have that kind of money, and spent all my time on the Internet, which is way more “live” than any other media; and where I live now, insufficient options. I run on wireless broadband, and I like it (I just found an unprotected router this morning, very weak, must be from some distance, but where I don’t know — before this I’d been on prepaid wireless) but streaming vid eats up bandwidth that I don’t care to pay for. If there were a cheaper wired option, I’d still use it. As it is ALL streaming boxes are dependent on availability of a network out of their control, basically, the customers are on their own to obtain it; and again, they lack new content.
That is great advice though, and I wholeheartedly agree — tell the bastards what you’re willing to pay, they do respond well to that, except in rural areas where there aren’t choices. And they will try to tie people down with 2 year contracts and such.
Comcast’s trial price deal is a load of sh@t — when they came to Grand Rapids, they said, first two months are free, normal price of broadband $40 a month. Before I got the first bill, I was informed that there had been a price increase to $48 a month — gosh, what’s more, 12 months at $40, or 10 months at $48...
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