Roku Fans: Just got a box

[supernova]

What are your favorite Roku channels?

Been playing around on it. What do you recommend?

We like everything: cooking shows, costume dramas, travelogues, dramas, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Action, international films.

[Politicub]

1. You'll like the Roku!

The Smithsonian and PBS channels are excellent and rotate their programs out pretty often.

If you like old tv shows, Retrovision and Pub-d-hub good. I like to check out old game shows. Nowhere Archive has a cool selection of programs from The Internet Archive.

Popcorn Flix and Crackle often have good movies.

I cut the cable cord a while ago, so I subscribed to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon streaming, all of which are on Roku.

Enjoy!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. I subscribe to Netflix and Hulu Plus, as well as Acorn TV ($30 a year for British, Canadian, and

Australian programs, some of which have been shown on PBS, some of which have not).

MHz Worldview shows foreign news programs and at 9PM/midnight Eastern, foreign dramas, mostly from France, Italy, or Scandinavia.

PBS and Smithsonian are good, and Hulu Plus has the entire Criterion Collection of foreign and classic films.

[bench scientist]

3. also you can get msbc highlights, clips from shows on the msnbc channel

Netflix , amazon, crackle and Vudu are all great for movies.

[eShirl]

4. browse around NowhereMan's and TheEndless's private channels

They both have some good stuff:

http://thenowhereman.com/roku/

http://roku.permanence.com/

[Whisp]

5. I just got one too and it's amazing.

Last edited Thu Aug 15, 2013, 12:34 PM - Edit history (1)

We are cutting of the useless cable today!

What a waste of money that cable is.

Oh, and thank you Bill Gates! Yes, Bill Gates led us to decide to get Roku and get rid of cable. Why? I have an XBox360 and it required an extra membership fee - called xBox Live, in order to view Netflix. Netflix fees are totally separate and aside and have nothing to to do with Microsoft. So I call my provider a while back and he is the one that recommended Roku (at the time it wasn't available in Canada, we got it a week or so ago). Other gaming consoles like Playstation3 do not have this extra fee in order to subscribe to Netflix (and similar I am supposing), so...

No Thank you Bill Gates and **** Microsoft. You got us to ditch cable and it's overall pathetic programing.

[Berlum]

17. Wise move. Cut the cable and Starve the Beast*

*corporate propaganda and spin !!

We cut it several years ago, saved money, saved our brains from propaganda, and had the satisfaction of knowing that we were helping to Starve the Beast, Inc.

[okieinpain]

6. everybody is dumping cable. I'm just too scared to do it. I would miss fast and loud. lol. n/t.

[Whisp]

7. We found Carl Sagan's Cosmos on Roku today

That's what we plan to watch tonight.

*rubs hands together.

Just awesome, this Roku.

[xmas74]

8. A link for you:

http://catastrophegirlsrokuchanneldata.blogspot.com/

She tries to keep up with all the new channels.

And another:

http://streamfree.tv/apps/roku-private-channels/

There are a number of private channels listed here.

[llmart]

9. OK, so I'm a senior citizen and am not familiar with Roku.....

can you explain to me in layman's terms (or laywoman's terms in my case) what Roku is, how it works, what it costs? I haven't had cable in two years, use rabbit ears (they don't work very well and are getting frustrating) and refuse to pay out a huge monthly fee for what is mostly crap on cable. I like PBS when the three PBS channels are coming in properly and missed the whole season of Mad Men.

[mockmonkey]

10. Roku

It's a little box that allows you to watch on your Television some free channels and if you

want to, some pay channels like Netflix $7.99 a month, Hulu Plus $7.99 a month, or Amazon

Instant Video (which is pay per movie or TV program although with Amazon TV Prime they

also have some free items but I think there is a Subscription fee $79) there are many other

Channels being added all the time.



What you need to use it is:

1. Roku box the cheapest starts at $49.

2. High Speed Internet

3. Wifi unless you buy the Roku3 which allows you to use an ethernet cable or USB port but it is only for HDTVs
http://www.roku.com/roku-products



The Free Channels consists of a lot of Public Domain movies, bad movies and really old TV

shows, music and internet video.


Youtube is available if you use PLEX. Although I noticed most of the time the movies won't

play and you have to have PLEX running on your computer in order to watch it on Roku.

PLEX also has channels like the WB, NBC, The CW, Democracy Now. PLEX more or less finds

the programs on-line and directs them to one place. I found it a little hard to understand at

first.
http://plexapp.com/roku/


There is Crackle which is owned by Sony and that has some newer free movies and some

TV shows like "Seinfeld" and "All in the Family" all shown with commercials. Crackle is also

free to watch on-line at www.crackle.com


This link shows a list of Channels keeping in mind some you have to pay for and some you

have to register for.
http://www.roku.com/channels/#!browse/movies-and-tv/by-popular


Instead of Roku there is also Apple TV and many SMART TVs and game consoles like the Wii

will allow you access to some of these same channels.


If you're looking for new NBC, FOX, CBS or ABC it's a bit complicated and is going to cost

you.

You can watch the older shows for free with on your computer at www.Hulu.com


I'm sure others can add to this their favorite news, movies or music channels.

[ananda]

14. Thank you thank you thank you!

... for telling me about Roku 3, since I'm going wired now to reduce my
emf exposure.

I have one new semi-smart tv which will play Netflix, but another one needs a streaming box.

I'm getting the wired broadband router set up Monday, so now I can
attach the Roku 3 with an ethernet cable for the non-smart tv.

This router has 4 ports: one for my Macbook, one for the smart tv, one for
the Roku 3, and one for the cord Skype phone I'll be getting.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Introduction to Roku

First, you have to have high-speed Internet (DSL or cable or fiberoptic).

Second, you buy a Roku. If you have an HD TV get a Roku 3, which costs a bit more but doesn't require wi-fi. You can just connect the Roku to the Internet with an Ethernet cable (available at any store that has an electronic department) and to your TV with an HDMI cable (I think it comes with the Roku.)

If you don't have an HD TV or wi-fi, you might be able to find an older model that still allows you to connect with an Ethernet cable. Talk to the people in the electronics department.

Once you get it set up, you start adding your channels. I subscribe to three paid channels: Netflix for $7.99 a month, Hulu Plus for $7.99 a month, and Acorn TV (British, Canadian, and Australian shows) for $49 a year. A lot of people subscribe to Amazon Prime, but everything I want is already on those three channels.

There are lots of free channels, but they are mostly crap, with a couple of exceptions: PBS (a way to catch up on programs you've missed), MHz Worldview (English-language newscasts from around the world during the day and European dramas at night), and the Smithsonian Channel.

Despite the general crappiness of the free channels, I find that Netflix, Hulu Plus, Acorn TV, PBS, and MHz Worldview alone give me more content than I have time to watch.

It can be confusing at first, but if you have a young person who can do the set-up for you, you'll wonder why you waited so long.

[supernova]

12. Roku is a little box

that you attach to:

1) Your TV (usually via an HDMI cable)
2) Your internet service. (For most people that means their cable modem or their wireless modem)

You can then enjoy streaming TV programs, movies, and news, from various channels with programming on demand (you stream it when you want to watch it). There are three categories of channels as far as pricing:

1) Channels are free. Watch all you want, it's totally free. PBS is a good example. Popcorn Flix is a free movie channel. Lots of those types of channels. Quality is all over the place. Some is great, some is where local cable access shows now reside. LOL

2) Pay subscription services for a monthly fee. Netflix or Amazon Prime are good examples. You pay a small monthly fee and watch all you want from their library of movies, TV shows, special programming. Mad Men is on Netflix, for instance.

3) PPV - Works just like pay per view on cable or sat tv. You pay to watch a program for about 24 hours. These are mostly movies currently in theatres, special sports events, etc. Pricey, but less than the cost of taking a family of 4 to the movies. Most of what I have seen has been in the $12-20 range. The convenience of staying at home is a good benefit too. Vudu is an example of this type of service. You sign up, but it costs nothing to browse and watch trailers.

4) Games - Some Roku models have channels offering the same games you can find out and about on moble devices and so forth, like Angry Birds and Candy Crush. If you enjoy those, or have young ones in your life, that might be a benefit.

Roku is about $99 for the model that plays on HDTVs. Other, earlier models are cheaper. They do require that you have internet speeds capable of supporting streaming video. If you can watch a show on your computer without it having to load or buffer, you can use a Roku.

Check them out: http://www.roku.com/roku-products?gclid=CLOnkbHwyLkCFfBxOgod8DwA4A

[llmart]

13. Thanks to all of you.....

for the great information. I do have high speed Internet (AT&T U-verse) and an HDTV. Unless I missed it in your answers, I'm guessing I would still be able to get my three local stations for local news and weather?

I'm not computer illiterate and set up my own U-verse modem when I got it. I guess I was just too lazy to research it online and I trust DU'ers for the right information.

I normally don't watch much TV because I'm an avid reader, but as the weather cools and there's less to do outside, I do watch some but mostly PBS. I love Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife and the educational stuff on PBS. I get three PBS stations, but my antenna doesn't seem to work as well as when I first bought it and I'm getting frustrated. I watched a couple of the Call the Midwives episodes on my laptop. If I want a movie I usually get it from my library, which thankfully has a decent budget.

Thanks again!

[mockmonkey]

15. Just to be sure you understand.

You would still need your antenna for your local channels.

[llmart]

18. Ah.....thanks for clearing that up.

I hate that people have to jump through hoops just to get basic TV any more. I feel like I'm back in the 50's when my family got their first TV (I think I was 6 years old) and sometimes in bad weather you'd get "snow" on the screen or if the picture tube was going you'd get a skewed picture. That's how it is with the $8 antenna I bought when I gave up cable.

Hell, maybe I'm better off not getting much on TV so I don't have to look at those endless ads that portray us senior citizens as hopping in the sack with a hunk who now has access to Cialis or the happy Hollywood looking couple swinging their grandchild on the beach because they take some other pharmaceutical that makes them feel like they're 25 again

[mockmonkey]

19. You might try

an antenna that can increase the signal (decibels) they cost about $30. In the old days you could at least get the sound even with snow, today it's all or nothing.

I have basic cable which is just the local channels. It's not very many channels 2 CBS, 1 ABC, 1 PBS, 1 FOX, WGN, The CW and also 2 NBC and MyNew32. Because of a dispute with the local NBC affiliates we are not getting NBC or MyNew32.

I don't understand the point of 2 NBC and CBS stations other than if you like the watch the local news in another city. Most of the time the one that is farther away is blocked. When I went to cancel basic cable they gave me a deal that kept it cheaper to keep it than to have just the internet.

Now I have to decide if I should get rid of cable internet and go back to DSL which had pretty spotty service which might have been the wiring in this apartment or maybe the modem they gave me went bad after a few years.

I like the Roku and there really are a lot of free things you can watch with it. You just have to search through a bunch of crap to find it.
I don't like to watch shows on the computer I find the couch more comfortable. I use PLEX and then I go to YouTube and find a lot of longer playing programs and add them to the YouTube "watch later" category. I'm waiting for YouTube to block that function.

[ananda]

16. Yes. Roku connects directly to the tv.

I use an HDMI cable... while my tv is still connected to T-W's cable
for basic tv channels... while my DVR is connected with another
HDMI. I access them separately through the input button on my
tv's remote control. Once I've accessed the relevant device, I
use it's separate remote control to watch the show.

[ananda]

20. I weally wuv my Woku.

A wot!

I watch shows from Netflix and Acorn TV on it, and they're great.