Roku

isaboo · ‎03-13-2010

Does anyone have a Roku? If so how do you like it and does it work well?

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

I have three of the Roku3 units. I highly recommend that model. It's the best so far.

It works great. Obviously, you need to have a network. It's fast and clean. The Roku3 has earbuds that plug right into the little remote and they work beautifully. Always unplug them when not in use or they will sukk out the battery power. I guess some people complained about the remote using a lot of batteries and it turned out they were leaving the earbuds plugged in. I don't, and I'm still using the same batteries after scores and scores of hours of use.

I mostly use it for Netflix and Amazon Prime. This model also has YouTube. There are a zillion other services available through the Roku3.

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

I have a Roku. I access an online program that I subscribe to every morning via the Roku. It works great for me. If you ever have a cable outage, the Roku won't work either. The battery in my remote is still the original - going on 2 yrs. old. Lots of viewing options - probably more than I'm even aware of. Some are free and some are subscription. I still have my regular cable service besides the Roku. I've been really happy to have it.

seehorse · ‎03-09-2010

I think it will still work as long as your internet is working.

Roku is really great - just different than what we're used to as far as flipping through channels.

We're working towards cutting off cable, so Roku is one step closer. Recently tried using an old antenna laying around and it pulls in 16 stations (local included). I'm going to try a more powerful one.

isaboo · ‎03-13-2010

Thank you all for your input. I was thinking about getting off of cable but I was concerned about getting good reception. I wasn't sure if this is something people were using instead of cable or in conjunction with. I gather you would need one for each tv you watch?

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

Well, a streaming device such as Roku does NOT replace cable tv. You don't just plug it in and suddenly get all the cable channels. But some people enjoy using it as a pseudo-replacement, in that they have other choices.

I wouldn't drop my cable because I watch shows on numerous cable and premium channels. But my Rokus are used for watching stuff on Netflix and Amazon, etc, in addition to the cable channels.

Yeah, one for each tv where you would want to use the services. That's why I ended up with three of them. I haven't looked at the price for the Roku3 lately. I paid between $64 (great Amazon deal one day) and $89 for mine. They probably cost even less now. You can get refurbished ones on the cheap but I don't usually feel comfortable with that.

I pay $7.99 a month for Netflix streaming, and the Amazon stuff is all free if you have Prime. Amazon does have some free stuff without Prime, also.

ETA - You could always just buy one and move it from tv to tv. It's just plugged in to the electricity and HDMI. No big deal to move it around if only one is in your budget.

DarkShadowsGirl · ‎03-12-2014

I didn't care for it (but the customer service people were wonderful). I wonder if the free content is regional, because other than a few movie trailers, nothing was free to watch. Much of the free content that is (legally) available online, such as on the major network's web sites, can't be streamed through a device. Since we use tv as background noise more than anything else, we cancelled it from our cable bundle. That ended up only saving about $20.00. Subscribe to Netflix & Hulu Plus and that is $20.00 right there. After a couple of months, we went back to cable tv.

lovescats · ‎03-10-2010

On 9/18/2014 isaboo said:
Thank you all for your input. I was thinking about getting off of cable but I was concerned about getting good reception. I wasn't sure if this is something people were using instead of cable or in conjunction with. I gather you would need one for each tv you watch?

You do need one for each tv. I only have one but I get good reception on all 3 of my tvs with indoor antennas. you also need internet with at least a speed of 3mbps. I get netflix, hulu+ and and amazon prime and I can also watch these services on my ipad mini. I can't ever see going back to cable but I don't think it's for everyone.

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

On 9/18/2014 seehorse said:
I think it will still work as long as your internet is working.

Roku is really great - just different than what we're used to as far as flipping through channels.

We're working towards cutting off cable, so Roku is one step closer. Recently tried using an old antenna laying around and it pulls in 16 stations (local included). I'm going to try a more powerful one.

Ahh, you're right, I said that wrong. Sorry.