Roku Review

[SixPapaCharlie]

Like a lot of people, we have phased out TV in our house.
We were paying whatever a month for the kids to watch nonsense and we never used it.

I bought the cheapest roku device as a pilot before I decided if I should upgrade to the more expensive ones

I got this one:

One of the issues I have in my house is that one TV is actually a projector with HDMI input so I can't run an over-air antenna to it so over air antenna isn't a once size fits all solution.

Enter this little guy.
So no question, it wants your money. Lots of subscription services offered throughout to ignore. I have Netflix and Hulu and both boot up very fast and load, buffer, etc very quickly on this device. My last roku knock off takes like 3 minutes to load movies.

It is 1080p so picture is great and menus are simple to navigate.

Best feature(IMO): Smart phone searching
So my biggest pet peeve is searching using a remote up up up up left left "A" click. down down down down right etc...

This interacts with your smartphone (free app) which I think is long overdue.

I type what I want on the phone and click enter and send it to the TV. For me that makes it worth its weight in some precious metal (its very lite though).

Additionally, it has youtube integration. I can pull up youtube on my phone, locate a video, and click the "send to TV" button and Bob's your uncle.
I like that I can crate a youtube playlist and all the videos will play on the TV. I watch a lot of band performances on youtube so this is nice.

I know there are apple, chrome, google TVs that do all this stuff but for $60 (I think I paid) this is all I need.


All in all, I think these are awesome devices and I am not sure what the others (Roku has 2 more expensive models) offer that this one doesn't but if you are getting rid of cable or wanting to setup something streaming you likely won't regret starting here.

We have had it for about 3 months now and I couldn't be more pleased.

 

[denverpilot]

You know you can buy an HDTV tuner and put it on one of the HDMI inputs, right?

 

[Circuit Flyer]

We got a Roku about 8 months ago, cut cable (suddenly they care!), and never looked back. Great device. Enjoy!

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

You know you can buy an HDTV tuner and put it on one of the HDMI inputs, right?

I have one for the projector (required for speakers) but the over air antenna that I looked at initially were all coax. My tuner doesn't have any method of taking coax in and outputting hdmi. I am not sure if there are HD over antenna w/ HDMI output.

 

[Jay Honeck]

I bought an over the air HD antenna last week. After set up, we discovered the only channels available on our island were Spanish-language.

I returned it for a refund. We will stick to Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube, BluRay...

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I bought an over the air HD antenna last week. After set up, we discovered the only channels available on our island were Spanish-language.

I returned it for a refund. We will stick to Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube, BluRay...

Eso es muy malo . Proabably una gran cantidad de programación de buena calidad que es sólo una piedra Rosetta CD lejos de usted y el disfrute de sus huéspedes . Se podría abrir hasta el aterrizaje de Amelia a una nueva situación demográfica general.

 

[denverpilot]

I bought an over the air HD antenna last week. After set up, we discovered the only channels available on our island were Spanish-language.

I returned it for a refund. We will stick to Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube, BluRay...

Dude. Sabado Gigante is awesome.

 

[Clark1961]

I have one for the projector (required for speakers) but the over air antenna that I looked at initially were all coax. My tuner doesn't have any method of taking coax in and outputting hdmi. I am not sure if there are HD over antenna w/ HDMI output.

Your google-fu is as weak as your right arm!

Mediasonic HW180STB HomeWorx HDTV Digital Converter Box with Media Player Function, Dolby Digital and HDMI Out

about $30 through amazon

 

[denverpilot]

Your google-fu is as weak as your right arm!



Mediasonic HW180STB HomeWorx HDTV Digital Converter Box with Media Player Function, Dolby Digital and HDMI Out



about $30 through amazon

I was going to post that link but did you read the reviews on that brand? Sounds like they have a power supply problem. They die unexpectedly, often enough that I'd find a different brand.

 

[Clark1961]

I was going to post that link but did you read the reviews on that brand? Sounds like they have a power supply problem. They die unexpectedly, often enough that I'd find a different brand.

Good catch

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I didn't even know they had them. I have 2 over air antennas but both performed terribly. If I can find something that gets a solid connection, I will add it to the mix.
I haven't seen a football game this season. That is the only downside to no more live TV.

Well that and when tornado sirens start going off we are all huddled around a cell phone. 1 Week after cancelling Dish tornadoes were blowing through and I am just watching Facebook / Twitter feeds as that seemed strangely enough to be the most up to the minute reporting.

 

[denverpilot]

I didn't even know they had them. I have 2 over air antennas but both performed terribly. If I can find something that gets a solid connection, I will add it to the mix.
I haven't seen a football game this season. That is the only downside to no more live TV.

Well that and when tornado sirens start going off we are all huddled around a cell phone. 1 Week after cancelling Dish tornadoes were blowing through and I am just watching Facebook / Twitter feeds as that seemed strangely enough to be the most up to the minute reporting.

Real antennas are big and go outside on a pole.

You on iOS? Get the MyRadar App. Turn on NWS alerts. Done.

I live in an area prone to tornadoes and have a $20 NOAA Weather Radio and I see no speed difference between the iPhone weather Apps now and the NWS broadcast alerts. There are other similar Apps for all devices. Just look for one with location based alerts. They do need to get access to your location in the background so they do eat more battery than not having them installed.

But if you like something self-contained, a desktop weather radio with SAME encoding technology is dirt cheap and the phone can be dead, in the car, cell site down, whatever and the NOAA/NWS "All Hazards" transmitters will be up. Put it on a UPS with your PC if you're a gung ho Boy Scout preparedness type of personality. Mine's next to the microwave in the kitchen.

 

[RalphInCA]

We did the Roku / Netflix thing several years ago. They work great.

My only problem is I cannot get NASCAR races (yes, I am a NASCAR fan - Jeff Gordon is my guy), unless they are on ABC, NBC, CBS or Faux - which are the channels I can get over the air.

 

[wsuffa]

The only thing that keeps me from moving to IP is sports. Once MLB, NFL, NBA, and college let me watch local games online is the day I move. I can buy a MLB package but local home games are blacked out.