Does Anybody Roku?

[SilvrSRT10]

Roku is an internet TV streaming box for those who aren't aware. I just recently found out about them. I picked up a Roku 3 at Walmart and hooked it up. So far I'm pretty impressed. I got Netflix and Hulu Plus and a couple others. I just activated Livestream so I can watch news as it happens. Unfortunately my closest news channel is Washington DC. Still learning about it but I may be cutting my DirecTV off and just going with this. I'll be going from $90 a month to under $20.

Anyone know anything about FTA (Free To Air) systems? It's similar to the old Big Ugly Dish systems but it's a smaller dish and is digital. Suppose to be able to get programming right off the satellite for free. It's just the upfront costs of the equipment.

 

[kwo51]

No but am interested . Clear TV has a flat HD unit that they say gets a lot of channels.

 

[TScottW99]

I have a couple of "smart" TVs and DVD players that let me stream tv from the internet. We went from $95 a month to $20 a month as we use Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus and Netflix. I also bought an Antennas Direct C2 digital antenna [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-C2-ClearStream-Television/dp/B0017O3UHI]Amazon.com: Antennas Direct C2 ClearStream Television Antenna (Old Version): Electronics[/ame] and get 21 channels for free.

We made the switch back in August and I do not regret it one bit.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

I have a couple of "smart" TVs and DVD players that let me stream tv from the internet. We went from $95 a month to $20 a month as we use Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus and Netflix. I also bought an Antennas Direct C2 digital antenna Amazon.com: Antennas Direct C2 ClearStream Television Antenna (Old Version): Electronics and get 21 channels for free.

We made the switch back in August and I do not regret it one bit.

How far away from your broadcast stations do you live? I'm out in the country and not sure an On Air antenna will do me any good. Is it directional? Do you have to aim the antenna for best reception?

 

[TScottW99]

How far away from your broadcast stations do you live? I'm out in the country and not sure an On Air antenna will do me any good. Is it directional? Do you have to aim the antenna for best reception?

I am very lucky. I am on the south east slope at the end of the valley. All the digital towers except one are on the south west edge of the valley and I have a straight line of shot to them. Picture is better then when I had cable or satellite.

A friend has one a lot further out in the country with no line of sight and he gets about 15 channels with a cheaper antenna. It really depends on how much is in the way of the signal from what I can tell. Antennas Direct | Your TV and HDTV Antenna Source

Has great customer service, you may be able to call them and they have a clue to what might or might not work in your area.

 

[Sgt. Rock]

Thanks for info...sure like to dump Comcast and their $$$$$$ bill every month..besides I don't have time to watch 200 channels..

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Thanks for info...sure like to dump Comcast and their $$$$$$ bill every month..besides I don't have time to watch 200 channels..

If you're a movie watcher then Roku may be for you. Subscribe with Netflix and Hulu and you've got a bunch of watching at your fingertips. Those two services are less than $20 a month. They do have some free live streaming of news on Livestream but those stations are limited.

 

[cce1302]

Just got a Roku 3 a couple months ago. dropped direcTV.

Using Amazon Prime and Hulu plus.


Works for us.


Running comcast performance starter at about 25-28 Mbps through a Motorola Surfboard SB6141 cable modem and a dlink DIR-855L dual band wireless router.
Runs smooth, you'd never know you're not watching HD cable or satellite TV.

 

[rn4j0r]

I've got Google Chromecast + a desktop pC with 800 gb hdd that I have converted into my media center.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

We have officially "Cut the cord". Cancelled the DirecTV and sent all their stuff back to them. We now watch the Roku and I've installed an antenna on a 20 foot pole attached to the roof where the dish once was. I'm pulling in stations I didn't think I could. So this has made me go and buy a larger antenna that is multi directional. I can point it toward to different locations at the same time and it combines the signals which will go through an amplifier. So I'm getting all my local programming that way and movies and other TV through internet streaming. Once I get everything set up the way I want, we'll be spending under $25 a month on TV (Netflix, Amazon Prime & Hulu).

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Update: Has anyone else hopped on the Roku wagon? I'm still enjoying it. Still getting my regular television from the antenna I put up and shows and movies through the Roku. I've just discovered another Roku channel called Plex. So what I've done is taken an unused computer and made it into a media server. Plex allows me to access the computer where I've loaded a good many DVD's. So whenever I feel like it I can bring that up and watch a movie. It's just taken a little time to get the DVD's loaded on the server. Plex also uses the metadata imbedded in the movie and gives me the cover art and information about the movie all magically. It's really pretty cool or else I'm just easily fascinated by this stuff.

 

[priell3]

I have Amazon Prime and Netflix and an indoor antenna to pull in some of the local stuff.
I'm done with cable.

I have a small HTPC plus and Blu-ray player that streams online content hooked up to my HDTV.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Beware the Smart TV's. I've heard that gaming systems can do this and now it looks like Smart TV's may be capable of doing this too.
Smart TVs can spy on their owners ? RT USA

 

[kwo51]

They have know what we are doing for a long time. Problem for uncle sam is most of them agree with us.

 

[TScottW99]

We just passed our one year year anniversary of being cable free the other month. The only thing I ever really missed was Food Network and a hunting show every now and then. Food Network just put some shows on Netflix and I've found hunting shows on Roku. Happy, happy, happy


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[SilvrSRT10]

I have an antenna up on the roof. One of those aerial antennas specified for digital signals. In my location during the summer I only get 5 stations. The leaves on the trees block the other signals. My channel 11 is broadcast in VHF which cuts through the foliage pretty well. Waiting for all the leaves to fall to see what else I can pull in. My location is pretty far away from their broadcast antennas.

I wish Roku would come out with some live streaming of local channels. There is a channel called Livestream but so far they don't have any of my local channels. Bummer. I toyed with the idea of getting just basic cable but those fools want $60 a month just for TV. Not gonna do it.

 

[TheOl55]

You know that the major networks broadcast on the internet for free. So if you hook up an old PC with a decent video card in it and tie into your system you can watch an awful lot of their programming also.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

You know that the major networks broadcast on the internet for free. So if you hook up an old PC with a decent video card in it and tie into your system you can watch an awful lot of their programming also.

Yeah, I've watched some of the programming online. It's just not a convenient as flipping through the channels with the remote.

 

[TheOl55]

True, But you have to get up for Beer Also....