Roku users

[BartmanMN]

Anyone on here that dropped Cable/Dish that have been supplementing with a ROKU box?

Give me you pros and cons.

[bobbymalone]

I did it a few years ago. Although, I've sorta migrated away from the Roku box after I got a playstation that does pretty much everything the Roku box did.

Pros:

~$80 more in my pocket each month going from $100 directv to $8 netflix and $8 hulu plus. Amazon prime is also nice and I already have a amazon prime account for reasons other than streaming video.

Don't have 400 channels of sheer garbage and I'm not zombie-ing out on moronic discovery channel pseudo reality shows anymore.

No commercials.

Last time I used the roku box there were some interesting roku channels available for free.

Cons:

No live sports (unless they come on the rabbit ears), no ESPN, etc, etc.

You'll probably be behind on the latest episode of whatever it is, if catching the latest episode as soon as it airs is your thing.

Netflix/Hulu movie/TV show availability is less than desirable. You can usually get it on Amazon Prime, but you may get charged ala carte for it.

Might have video quality issues if your internet service is bad. I have had very very few issues with a 12 MB/s DSL line. Sometimes if I am watching TV and doing some heavy data transfer on my laptop, it will bog down for a bit.

This year I dropped $130 for MLB.TV and $50 for a proxy server so I can watch any baseball game live. That's slightly less than two months of a cable bill though. Other than the MLB thing, I really don't care much the latest episode of this or that. I'll never pay $100 a month for total bull carp TV again. I was sort of scared of killing the dish, but now I can't believe I paid for that garbage for so long.

[NoWiser]

Pros:

Save a bunch of money

Don't waste as much time in front of the TV

Watch what I want, when I want

No commercials unless using Hulu

Lots of great channels for free and more every day.

Cons:

I no longer get to watch the Twinkies. Though maybe that's a pro this season.

I wouldn't go back to cable. With the money I save I can pay for an elk tag out west each year!

[icehole10]

I cut the cord last spring. got a roof top hd antenna, bought a roku and I have been very happy. Loose signal from time to time on one channel, but I haven't watched near the amount of TV this summer either. Saves me about $85 a month, when I figure in the price of Netflix and hulu. still a pretty good savings.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Dropped cable years a couple years ago and when to an HD antenna and Roku. Don't miss cable at all!

[Whisker Trout Slayer]

Thinking about doing the same. This is the first I have heard of an HD antennae. But does that allow you to get your local channels like CBS and Fox?

If so at least then I will be able to watch local news and also football games on Sunday.

[MN Mike]

An HD Antenna ( or regular one for that matter ) will pull your local stations in to watch local news and sporting events, just make sure you have a digital receiver, it's either built in to your TV or it can be purchased as a separate device.

You'll probably be surprised how many channels are available over the air now, since it's gone digital. If you are curious, just go to TVGuide and check it out for your area.

I cut the cable this summer, between Netflix and local TV, there's more to watch than I have time for.

Mike

[SkunkedAgain]

We got rid of DirecTV this spring...had planned to do it last fall. I threw the dish off of the roof and clamped $60 HD antenna onto the DirecTV roof mount. Crystal clear reception of all the major channels. I never have reception problems.

Channel 5 and Channel 9 have a bunch of sub-channels. You'll usually find lots of old shows on: Welcome Back Kotter, MASH, All In The Family, Threes Company, Good Times, Sanford & Son, etc. Every once in a while there is a decent movie on but usually older black & whites. If most of what you watch is network TV and PBS then you'll be fine. We didn't watch much except for sports, so we're still not really missing anything!

[BartmanMN]

I do like the idea of the outdoor antenna using my dish mount. We currently have the indoor HD antenna and are getting by (all channels work), however the Wild have not started yet.

I am leaning more towards an Apple TV now, if the new one gets released. That would enable me to play music from my iphone over my stereo and the kids could hook up to the TV with their ipods (I think).

Apple TV would enable us to order huluplus if we feel we need to keep up on shows and possibly pick up the NHL network. We'll see. I am definitely loving not paying for TV.

[Grainbelt]

With Roku you can also watch unlocked episodes of programs on the History channel, A&E and other channels. With the Roku, I like that I can stop watching something and can pick it up where I left off when I want. I dumped dealing with dish years ago and I don't miss it.

[Boxcar Wllie]

I do like the idea of the outdoor antenna using my dish mount. We currently have the indoor HD antenna and are getting by (all channels work), however the Wild have not started yet.

Can you get FSN North on the HD Antenna?

[delcecchi]

Can you get FSN North on the HD Antenna?

No.

[Boxcar Wllie]

Thanks Del. I was getting a little excited with the possibility that we could...

[delcecchi]

But you can stream hockey on "NHL gamecenter live" for 159 for the season. Only "out of market" games, but there is bound to be a way to fool it.

Here is a web site with details http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/disable-fake-location-firefox-internet-explorer-chrome/

There is an add on for firefox, or if you want to use chrome so you can chromecast to the TV, see the web site above.

[iland99]

I see there's a Roku 3 on Woot today for $70 shipped, I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on it. I already have a Chromecast but it looks like the Roku might be a little bit easier to watch news on, apparently there are channels available that stream live news broadcasts? I've never used or even seen a Roku so I don't know much about them.

[delcecchi]

there are a bunch of channels on roku. They have a web sight where you can check it out. I have chromecast and roku.