Roku ??

[Whitworth]

Soliciting any knowledge or opinions on Roku.

Do you use it? What hardware did you purchase and where?

Wifi or did you run cable? What devices do you hook up/use, ( just tv's, computer monitor, or maybe tablet? )

What service do you subscribe to, Netflix, Hulu, etc.?

Does Roku have parental controls? Any problems with image quality or speed, or freezing up?

Is it good enough to drop cable tv ?

Thank you !

 

[Socket Pounder]

1. Yes. I own a Roku TV and Roku Streaming Stick (new model), purchased both from Amazon. I really like my Roku TV, I appreciate it's simplicity and the remote is the best ergonomically I've used. The picture quality is lacking a bit but it's not that big a deal to me. The Streaming Stick has slightly more horsepower and runs a tad quicker. I like both.

2. Wifi. We've watched movies on both televisions and maintained HD quality. But that's going to depend somewhat on your own setup.

3. Netflix and Amazon Prime. I really like Netflix. Amazon is okay, they have some HBO series and that's their biggest draw. I subscribe to Amazon Prime for the whole package, the streaming service alone isn't worth it. Plex is also worth checking out. I use it to watch network shows but most people use it to stream their media.

4. Don't know about parental controls. No problems with quality or speed. The only problem is the Youtube app is very, very, very, slow and will sometimes shut down; but that's Youtube's fault and they apparently don't want to fix it.

5. Maybe. Netflix is cranking out new shows like crazy and Amazon is starting to do the same. A Roku won't replace cable/sat but is a good alternative if you're aren't tied to specific television series or sports.

 

[KenB]

I also have two - an original (garage) and a new stick I got from Amazon. My experience is similar to Socket's. The stick is *much* faster and plays HD over wi-fi glitch free in my living room, one floor away from my router. I mostly use the Rokus to access my Netflix and Amazon Prime content, as well as many of my my cable subscriptions and YouTube in the garage (no cable there).

The quality is certainly good enough to drop cable, but not all content is available. I can't get over the air channels, so I'm stuck with at least basic cable. Also, if you are a Comcast victim (er, customer), beware that they now have a monthly fee for Roku devices.

Hope that helps.

Ken

 

[jd_1138]

I have 2 Chromecast dongles connected to HDMI -- one on the living room TV and one on the bedroom TV. You control it with your smart phone, tablet, laptop.

My smart phone makes a way better remote than any physical remote. And we use Netflix heavily and also Pandora -- both over the Chromecast devices connected to the wi-fi.

But my mom and sister both have Rokus, and they're nice too.

Ken mentioned over the air TV. Just get a digital antenna for like $15 and plug it into your TV to pick up HD OTA channels -- ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS.

 

[Specracer]

I have 2' and older 2 and a 4 (1st 4K model).

Both are hard wired, because I have the infrastructure. I'm also in the business, so to reduce risk, I always have the hooked up wired, when possible.

Netflix and Amazon

Today I would get a premier+, or ultra if I needed the digital out to feed a receiver with out HDMI. These also have HDR.

No not "good enough" to drop cable, unless you have OTA (over the air antenna) for you basic local stations (nbc, cbs, abc etc), as mentioned above.

 

[pgray007]

LOVE my Rokus. I have one of the older ones in the house hooked up to Ethernet and it works great, and an HCL Roku Tv in the garage that works fairly well over Wifi. We "cut the cord" about 3 years ago and haven't looked back. Great kids content through the various Roku apps, and it works wonderfully with Plex which we use heavily.

We also have an HD antenna in the attic and an HD Homerun box that allows for limited streaming of live TV, although it's still in the "science experiment" stage and doesn't bother us since we rarely watch live TV anymore save for the Olympics, Some NFL and the Tour de France, all of which are available in Roku apps.


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[LXCam]

We have it too and subscribe to net and Hulu. It's alright, nothing to write home about but considering the value against what my regular cable **** is, it's a deal and a half. I only pay for the basic service which is I think $8 a month. I havent tried any subscribed channels except those two. As far as Netflix I'm not thrilled but the wife likes it so it stays and I think that was $15 a month.

 

[remauto1187]

$28 and you can put whatever apps you want on the box for free. I got (2) V88 and one has the keyboard. Be sure to click on US Keyboard under color options ans US plug.
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesal...droid+5.1+Set+Top+Box+RK+32&blanktest=0&tc=af

 

[SMKS]

I have an older Roku 3. It has worked great for several years. It's hard wired with a cable, because our TV is pretty close to the cable outlet. We use it for the available free apps (PBS and PBS kids, mostly) plus the streaming services we subscribe to (Netflix and Amazon Prime).

I'm sure there are tons of other apps and services through it we don't use, but I barely have time to watch any TV, so what we have is already more than enough.

 

[Whitworth]

Thanks, twelve year old wants a TV in her bedroom, and I'm sure the other kids will want as well. The one thing I want to avoid is running CAT5 cable all over the house.
An additional cable box from the cable company is only $15 a month, but the real problem with the cable is freezing and pixelating video and in general poor performance.

 

[Jinks]

I'm a little surprised at those saying Roku won't replace cable/sat, but I guess it involves location. Here in Fla. we purchased a new TV for my wife's hobby room. It came with Roku, so we tried it out. We liked it so much we purchased another for our bedroom. It took about two weeks to get used to using it & find out all the things Roku can give you access to. After that I dropped DirecTV like the anvil it is. I found that some streaming apps will give you a free Roku when you join, so I ended up with four more of them.

I have networks & local channels OTA with a simple, inexpensive antenna, Digital Video Recording with a reasonably priced TIVO Roamio OTA device. We have Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO NOW, & HULU. Our billing went from $100 a month for practically nothing to $33 a month for more content than we can keep up with. The digital quality of OTA is much better than satellite ever was & streaming through Roku & TIVO is also better on every TV in the house.

The minor fault I've found is in the TIVO. We're wireless, & even though I get a better than 60% signal on TIVO it will sometimes pause to buffer. I can clear it by logging it on to my network again, but it's usually easier to just access the program via Roku. The Roku unit for the big TV is 3 feet further from the router than the TIVO, & behind the TIVO, yet streams better....

So far two friends that have seen our system & the pricing have also decided to go OTA. In my case, & at least one other, DirecTV was as difficult to deal with when leaving them as they are while being a paying customer. One of the best days in a long time was when I threw away the last of my DirecTV file........

 

[bzinsky]

I just got rid of my cable TV over the weekend. Total internet/cable bill went from $250 to $125.

I have used the roku, fire stick, fire TV, and most of the services, including netflix, hulu, amazon prime, kodi, etc.

I went with playstation VUE for my TV service. The problem with all those other services is they are not live TV. You can't channel surf, and you have to hand select what you want to watch or use their usually not so good recommendations. The overall experience is a far cry from regular TV. You can't just turn on the news or watch a sporting event. There are ways to watch live TV and sports, but usually they are a pain to setup, and definitely more of a pain to operate in a real everyday scenario. Might be ok if you're a single guy, but not many of our wives or children want to switch inputs, deal with loading times, poor connections, or choosing which server to stream the particular content from.

Playstation VUE has a live TV guide, just like regular TV. You get your local abc, cbs, nbc, fox and most of the sporting events a normal person that isn't a sport fanatic would want to watch. I bought the $75/month ultimate package, which has hbo, showtime, epix, etc. Has most of the cable channels your family wants. I think it's little over 100 channels. Regular cable has like 500 channels, with 400 of them being channels we hardly ever watch. This basically has those 100 most popular channels.

As for devices, the user experience is very dependent on the device. You can use it on apple TV, roku, fire stick, fire TV, chromecast, ps3, and ps4.

It's horrible on the roku, horrible. Ps3 is very laggy. Basically you can consider neither one an option. Haven't tried it on apple TV. Chromecast is apparently horrible for it. I tried it on the firestick, great experience except very slow processing.

I went out and bought a ps4 for my main TV $299, then I bought a fire TV for all the other TV's $90. Very happy with the service. No contracts or anything.

Ps4 is not necessary, but it has the best remote control and the fastest processing. I'm picky when it comes to menu lag and wait times. Fire TV is not far behind and is by far the best value out of any of the hardware options.

 

[ozyborn]

I love my Roku devices. On every tv for the usual smart apps. Connected to my wifi. I use Plex the most to stream saved shows from my pic.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I'm a little surprised at those saying Roku won't replace cable/sat, but I guess it involves location. Here in Fla. we purchased a new TV for my wife's hobby room. It came with Roku, so we tried it out. We liked it so much we purchased another for our bedroom. It took about two weeks to get used to using it & find out all the things Roku can give you access to. After that I dropped DirecTV like the anvil it is. I found that some streaming apps will give you a free Roku when you join, so I ended up with four more of them.



I have networks & local channels OTA with a simple, inexpensive antenna, Digital Video Recording with a reasonably priced TIVO Roamio OTA device. We have Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO NOW, & HULU. Our billing went from $100 a month for practically nothing to $33 a month for more content than we can keep up with. The digital quality of OTA is much better than satellite ever was & streaming through Roku & TIVO is also better on every TV in the house.



The minor fault I've found is in the TIVO. We're wireless, & even though I get a better than 60% signal on TIVO it will sometimes pause to buffer. I can clear it by logging it on to my network again, but it's usually easier to just access the program via Roku. The Roku unit for the big TV is 3 feet further from the router than the TIVO, & behind the TIVO, yet streams better....



So far two friends that have seen our system & the pricing have also decided to go OTA. In my case, & at least one other, DirecTV was as difficult to deal with when leaving them as they are while being a paying customer. One of the best days in a long time was when I threw away the last of my DirecTV file........

I don't think I hate DTV as much as you do, but they got expensive after my 2 year contract was up. I pay about 70 bucks a month with wireless Genie, 2 additonal wireless TV boxes. My hesitation has always been the networks don't show up on Roku ( I miss Aereo). I was not aware of this TiVo box you describe. This may be just what I need to cut the cord.

Thanks!

 

[CoogarXR]

I have a Roku built into the bedroom TV. I use the Time Warner (now Spectrum) app to watch TV on it since I don't have any actual cable run to that room. Plus it beats renting one of their cable boxes.

I have used the Amazon Prime app too (but it kinda sucked and would repeatedly lock up the TV's wifi to where I had to unplug the power it to get it to connect again). Other than the sucky prime app, all the other apps work flawlessly over my wifi and pathetic 3mb internet connection.

 

[Jinks]

I don't think I hate DTV as much as you do, but they got expensive after my 2 year contract was up. I pay about 70 bucks a month with wireless Genie, 2 additonal wireless TV boxes. My hesitation has always been the networks don't show up on Roku ( I miss Aereo). I was not aware of this TiVo box you describe. This may be just what I need to cut the cord.

Thanks!

If it's at all possible to get your local stations OTA you'll hate DirecTV as much as anyone. Once you find out how little content they provide for such a high cost you'll understand.

TIVO can be had for a small price & a monthly fee for TIVO service (basically a TV guide), or my unit cost about $335 one time with lifetime TIVO service. TIVO guide is excellent, & their search feature will find any show by show name, actors name, or genre. Once the show is found TIVO will tell you where it's available (HBO, HULU, NETFLIX, etc.). I then usually switch to Roku & stream the show there. If I miss recording a show, or want to watch it on one of the other TV's I just wait a day, & stream it from one of the streaming services. Untold amounts of TV content, more free music channels than I ever dreamed of, & access to thousands of old movies & shows I thought I'd never see again. All for $33 a month.........

I didn't really mind the cost of DirecTV, but I hated paying it to get C-span & shopping channels. If they provided access to good programing I would have paid more, but no matter how much you pay they won't provide decent content. When OTA really catches on I wouldn't want to own any DirecTV stock..........

 

[Jinks]

I have a Roku built into the bedroom TV. I use the Time Warner (now Spectrum) app to watch TV on it since I don't have any actual cable run to that room. Plus it beats renting one of their cable boxes.

I have used the Amazon Prime app too (but it kinda sucked and would repeatedly lock up the TV's wifi to where I had to unplug the power it to get it to connect again). Other than the sucky prime app, all the other apps work flawlessly over my wifi and pathetic 3mb internet connection.

Any chance it's a Sharp TV? The one in our room also will freeze once in a while. I have it on a multiple outlet extension with an on/off switch. The two times it's frozen I just flipped the switch & restarted the TV.

 

[CoogarXR]

Any chance it's a Sharp TV? The one in our room also will freeze once in a while. I have it on a multiple outlet extension with an on/off switch. The two times it's frozen I just flipped the switch & restarted the TV.

Nope, it's an Insignia (best buy house brand). I read on a forum that the Amazon Prime app causes problems for some devices, and they know about it, but there's no fix yet. It never acts up in any other app.

 

[Git]

I easily have 6 or 7 of them. Started out with the Roku 2 and we upgrade every now and then - I currently am using two of the Roku 4's (premier +) with a couple older ones

If your thinking about buying one it can be confusing - take a look at this comparison chart and figure out the features you want
https://image.roku.com/ww/docs/compare-chart-products-en.pdf

All of ours are hard wired (4 of them currently active) and I primarily use them with my PLEX Server (I have over 6 TBs of movies, TV shows, etc)

Alot is going to depend on your internet speed, but we use Amazon and NetFlix. Several months ago I dropped Dish (we had DTV before that) and even though we get the main network channels over the air for free - we started using PlayStation Vue primarily for the Cable News channels that you just can't get otherwise (like Fox News)

PlayStation Vue has worked out great and is only $40 a month (half the price I was paying with Dish) AND they have CLOUD DVR. Which means you can 'save' TV shows up to a month after they are aired. (I hate watching TV real time due to the commercials, so this works great for me)

Very happy with ROKU

If you want to spend a little more money ($200) one of the best streaming devices (and it also plays games) is the nVidia Shield TV. Alot of the 'experts' are saying that it is currently the best device out there for streaming

http://www.pcmag.com/review/351028/nvidia-shield-tv

 

[big_bake]

The choice to "cut the cord" is not just one to save money, but a fundamental change in the way you consume media. No more TV guide and channel surfing. The Roku and any other streaming device/service is mostly "on demand" style. You pick what you want to watch, when you want. No commercials, rewatch as much as you want.

Now on the other hand you can install an antenna as others have stated and get the Over the Air (OTA) broadcasts in your area. Every area is different (topography, distance, etc) so you need to use something like TV Fool to figure out where to start. You will also see the available channels in your area, but most people are interested in the big stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX) for prime time, news, and sports.


Also if you are going to opt to use Wifi you will need a decent router if you are going to be running multiple streams on these different devices. There will be upfront cost for all of this but the upside is no perpetual rental fee for a box. You can upgrade your equipment when you want to. You may also need to up your internet speeds if you are on a lower tier right now.



Edit - There is also a slightly better option for a DVR for OTA broadcasts. It's called Tablo and works out cheaper than the similar Tivo offerings.

 

[4Kings]

I've got a 2 Roku's with Hulu, Netflix and SlingTV.

The SlingTV has live streaming of some popular channels including ESPN, DIY, History Channel among others

 

[jd_1138]

Also if you are going to opt to use Wifi you will need a decent router if you are going to be running multiple streams on these different devices. There will be upfront cost for all of this but the upside is no perpetual rental fee for a box. You can upgrade your equipment when you want to. You may also need to up your internet speeds if you are on a lower tier right now.

The TP-Link Archer C7 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (AC1750) is a great router and not too pricey -- $85 or so. Also Asus makes some good ones. Pretty much want to stick to a dual band AC router.

98% of what's on cable is not worth watching, and 98% of what's on network OTA channels is not worth watching. So cutting the cord would be easy for me, but my wife loves bad TV so we have cable.

Also, you can rent new releases for $3 or so off Google Play, Vudu, iTunes, etc..

 

[grantw]

I have a Nvidia Shield TV. (2015 model)

First Android TV to offer 4K res, but I keep mine set at 1080P/60.

I have been using KODI with my local media library along with youtube for online content. Very recently I ordered slingTV to replace the cable service. The wife likes food / hgtv networks, and sling satisfies that demand for ~$80/mo cheaper than cable.

The Nvidia Shield has a X1 series GPU and 3-4GB of ram. Graphics and menus have always been fast, and no lag like I have seen on other platforms. (Fire stick). With the recent software update, amazon prime TV is now included with the Shield TV as well.

The initial cost is $200, but it will last you quite a while. The X1 processor is well worth that cost. Plus you get decent support for rooting and side loading from the XDA forums too.

 

[ratdoggy]

I'm working on getting just a "basic" cable package and using the ROKU (stick)
I like Amazon prime shows and I also have Netflix (DVD and streaming) so there is always something to watch

 

[voda1]

Would 50mb internet service be sufficient, if not what speed?

 

[grantw]

50M is plenty.

Figure a 1080P stream is anywhere from ~10-20M so you can have a few streams at the same time with 50M service.

 

[Jinks]

Would 50mb internet service be sufficient, if not what speed?

I have Brighthouse (Spectrum) at their lowest speed (15 - 20 mbps) but consistently test at 28 mbps, & have no problem streaming anything.

 

[Git]

Ya - 50 mb is plenty

All these "Streaming Services" offer free trials - usually 7 days.

PlayStation Vue, NetFlix, Direct TV now has their service DTV Now, Dish has their Sling Service. All you need is a good internet connection and a streaming device like the Rokut, etc. Also when you have a service like PlayStation Vue - you also get the ability to use their web apps or apps for your cell phone. I watch Fox News on my computer every now and then and I just sign in with my Vue account

 

[Casey69]

love my roku box. i have the $29 express (not express+) box & laid it on my tv stand. works great! if you want to stream 4K material, you'll need to get one of the nicer ones, but my data cap won't allow me to stream much 4K.

my broadband speed is 5MB down/1MB up & don't have any problems with mid-show buffering. netflix movies takes ~10 seconds to load. i use wifi.

use it for netflix & pbs mostly.

do it!

 

[bzinsky]

The choice to "cut the cord" is not just one to save money, but a fundamental change in the way you consume media. No more TV guide and channel surfing. The Roku and any other streaming device/service is mostly "on demand" style. You pick what you want to watch, when you want. No commercials, rewatch as much as you want.

this is incorrect, there are services like the one I just gave a long review about, that do indeed have a guide and the ability to channel surf live TV, and it's why I chose it.

 

[grantw]

...do indeed have a guide and the ability to channel surf live TV, and it's why I chose it.

SlingTV works the same way. There is on-demand content in addition to streaming "channels" to surf through.

The one gotcha on SlingTV is the blatant denial of the skipping feature in on-demand content when an ad is being shown. You can skip through the program all you want, but god help you if an ad is on.

 

[L5wolvesf]

I've got a 2 Roku's with Hulu, Netflix and SlingTV.

The SlingTV has live streaming of some popular channels including ESPN, DIY, History Channel among others

I dropped cable nearly a year ago and don't really miss TV that much. Except for sports (NFL & racing mostly). For NFL we have a pretty decent sports(ish) bar nearby.

Sling is what we are going to go with, but unless they have changed recently you can't do 2 TVs on one account.

 

[Jinks]

Sling is what we are going to go with, but unless they have changed recently you can't do 2 TVs on one account.

They must have changed since you tried them. I had Sling for about two months. One account & I could view it on any of six televisions. They do carry some of the "off networks" but I didn't use them enough to pay for them. They also had a good selection of older movies, but they were pay per view. Since I can find most of them streaming for free we decided to drop Sling. Another good feature of cable cutting: you can opt in or out of a service at any time, no contracts!

 

[Todd.Brock]

If it's at all possible to get your local stations OTA you'll hate DirecTV as much as anyone. Once you find out how little content they provide for such a high cost you'll understand.



TIVO can be had for a small price & a monthly fee for TIVO service (basically a TV guide), or my unit cost about $335 one time with lifetime TIVO service. TIVO guide is excellent, & their search feature will find any show by show name, actors name, or genre. Once the show is found TIVO will tell you where it's available (HBO, HULU, NETFLIX, etc.). I then usually switch to Roku & stream the show there. If I miss recording a show, or want to watch it on one of the other TV's I just wait a day, & stream it from one of the streaming services. Untold amounts of TV content, more free music channels than I ever dreamed of, & access to thousands of old movies & shows I thought I'd never see again. All for $33 a month.........



I didn't really mind the cost of DirecTV, but I hated paying it to get C-span & shopping channels. If they provided access to good programing I would have paid more, but no matter how much you pay they won't provide decent content. When OTA really catches on I wouldn't want to own any DirecTV stock..........

Jinks- Does your TiVo only connect to one TV? I may have misread that part. I have 3 tv's total. I use the DTV wireless boxes b/c no of the TV's have coax running to them. It appears if I buy the TiVo box, a wireless TiVo bridge and then two TiVo minis, I can connect everything wireless. Did I figure that up correctly?

 

[L5wolvesf]

They must have changed since you tried them. I had Sling for about two months. One account & I could view it on any of six televisions. They do carry some of the "off networks" but I didn't use them enough to pay for them. They also had a good selection of older movies, but they were pay per view. Since I can find most of them streaming for free we decided to drop Sling. Another good feature of cable cutting: you can opt in or out of a service at any time, no contracts!

Could you watch different programs on each of the 6 TVs?

Yessss, no contracts!

 

[engineer2]

Do you use it?
We own 3. It has changed the way we watch TV. Haven't been to the DVD rental store nor have we bought a DVD in over 3 years.

What hardware did you purchase and where?
Roku 3 from Costco. Latest one has voice control.

Wifi or did you run cable? What devices do you hook up/use? )
Comcast Internet and a good router. 35 to 50 mb/s. Three TVs. We often watch all three.

What service do you subscribe to, Netflix, Hulu, etc.?
Netflix, Amazon Prime. They mostly have movies that bombed at the theater, but then I'm not up on all the current movies and shows.

Does Roku have parental controls?
No idea. Probably. Haven't found any X-rated stuff, nor have I really looked.

Any problems with image quality or speed, or freezing up?
Nope, as long as you have decent internet speeds and a good router. We have 3 Rokus, 3 computers, 2 Kindles, 3 cell phones, and other stuff sharing WiFi and no problems. Use a decent router. Cheap Chinese routers won't cut it.

Is it good enough to drop cable tv ?
No because the wife still wants live HGTV, TLC and other ****, plus sports and local channels may be lacking or require subscriptions, depending on where you live. I'm not a big TV watcher because I'm always working on projects, so I don't worry about it. We watch Comcast for most TV, and use the Roku for movies and some series.

 

[Jinks]

Jinks- Does your TiVo only connect to one TV? I may have misread that part. I have 3 tv's total. I use the DTV wireless boxes b/c no of the TV's have coax running to them. It appears if I buy the TiVo box, a wireless TiVo bridge and then two TiVo minis, I can connect everything wireless. Did I figure that up correctly?

I have the TIVO connected to only the big screen TV in the living room. I looked at the TIVO minis, but didn't see the need for the expense (& they may need to be wired). I decided to start without the "whole house" system & see how it went. We find that most of the shows we want to record are on network channels we get OTA, & we watch them with TIVO. BTW, skipping commercials is much better with TIVO than cable/sat DVR's. We found that if we miss an episode, or want to watch on another TV, we can stream it from Roku in a day or two.

As I said earlier, the weak spot in my system is TIVO's wireless card. All my Roku's stream better than the TIVO. That doesn't mean the TIVO is bad, but for a box 10 times the size of the Roku I would have expected room for a great wireless card........ I'd keep that in mind when trying to set up a wireless whole house system. Look into wire.

 

[Jinks]

Could you watch different programs on each of the 6 TVs?

Duh!.... Don't think I ever tried......... Sorry....

 

[openwheelracing88]

Amazon Fire TV stick and Kodi. Wifi.

 

[Gummi Bear]

We dropped cable a few years ago, and don't really miss it.

I put a Roku in every room.

It runs over wifi with no issues

We have Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.

I ripped all my DVD's to mp4 format and put them on a hard drive which is plugged into the Roku, and we can access all the movies from there. No more DVD cluttering up the living room.

For special events, they can usually be found on the Roku, super bowl, world series, golf majors, etc. for other stuff, I just run a HDMI from the TV to my laptop and stream stuff from there. I see most every college football game I want.



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