I get the feeling that in the future there will be on such thing as cable TV. It seems as if its already being phased out by Roku boxes and online streaing. There are now providers such as Netflix, Amazon prime and Sling TV that give individuals all the entertainment choices of cable if not more. I have noticed that our cable bill has gone up considerably for basic cable no doubt because of the amount of people who have unsubscribed because they have found out that there were far cheaper choices out there. If I had high speed internet and not DSL I would certainly be looking in this direction.
@Hannah Davis i have DSL and have no problem with Roku or streaming video on my laptop. I think as far as the laptop goes it is more about what's in the laptop processor and memory wise then the download speed. Regardless I watch most things with no problems. I have noticed that if I go to one of the major television sites like CBS there are times when the load seems to be more choppy. It seems to be hit or miss , but I do keep in mind millions of people are trying to stream those files at the same time. The long and the short of it is, as far as streaming via the web, if you can run most youtube videos you would probably be okay with streaming TV. I think amazon has some free test videos if you want to see how it works for you. Roku is seamless on my TV, there are a few broadcasters that are just awful, these are free ones that run slow and I doubt it has anything to do with my TV or Roku, you just have to keep it in your mind that some of these broadcasters are the equivalent of a small public service channel if even that. If you are curious how these channels may play for you go to one of the stations, like Crackle and log in, this is free and see how it streams on your computer, this is about what you could expect on your TV through the box. My theory is DSL is better then it once was because not as many people use it, many people use high speed and cable so the ranks of people on DSL or no where what it was say 10 years ago.
Living in a small town, my Internet access is fairly slow as compared to a lot of people, if you look at the thread where Internet speeds are posted, yet I don't have any trouble with streaming via Roku. Very rarely do I have trouble with buffering.
I just heard about this recently. It looks like it is similar to the way that Netflix works; but they do not have all of the movies that Netflix or Hulu+ has. There are a few sprots channels, a few news channels, and some entertainment channels, and you can choose which channels you want to subscribe to; so the cost of Klowd TV each month depends on how many , or how few channels you are watching. It does have some news channels that we do not get on our cable subscription, or on the Apple TV either. I was wondering if anyone here has tried this service, and what you think of it if you do have it ? https://www.klowdtv.com
I've just ordered the Roku 4, which includes, among other things, voice controls, meaning that I'll be able to tell is which movie I'm looking for and it will present me with the options. Some Roku 3 versions had that as well, but mine didn't. The Roku 4 is supposed to have other improved search features as well, but I'll let you know what I think when it arrives.
We have never paid for TV...Cable or anything.. We love our Roku!!! Several channels I like.. DrobBox: Download it to your PC,Laptop,Kindle or Tablet..Now any pictures you take or copy from FaceBook you can load to DropBox and view them on your TV via Roku!! Great for family get togethers as they appear as a slide show..Video's also work. YouTube: We use the search feature to find free movies, we don't pay for any movie channel. History Channel: They update this channel pretty good and have many interesting shows..Pawn Stars, American Pickers and Counting Cars are my favorite ones (I know they are staged).. There are many more channels, but these are the ones I use the most..
Roku is awesome, but I have been having problems with the remote control device. I called them and finally got them to send me a new one. I have trouble with that one too. Both work at time and both fail at times. Sometimes my batteries only last about 2 weeks. I am now hoping I just had a batch of bad batteries. I just bought new ones the other day. we'll see.
With all of the great shows that are available on Netflix, and the low price of only $8 per month to subscribe to it, I think that just that would be a great reason for people to have one of the tv streaming devices like Roku. Even though the cost is so cheap, I would guess that Netflix has to be making a hiuge amount of money simply because so many people pay for it each month. We tried Hulu+; which costs the same as Netflix does each month; but since it also has commercials, Bobby said that it was not worth watching the programs on there, and we stopped paying for it. Netflix is SO worth the money that stopping that is not even a consideration. We have been thinking about updating to either a newer Apple TV, or one of the other devices, maybe an Amazon Fire TV instead.
Yvonne, for a fee, you can get commercial free Hulu. I don't know what the fee is though, sorry. I started Amazon Prime for 10.00 a month, it's pretty good! So now, I pay for Netflix, regular Hulu and Amazon, for a total of 26.00 per month, when before with cable, I was paying almost 100.00 a month.
We also have Amazon Prime, and since we order fairly frequently from Amazon, as well as watching the movies on Amazon Prime video, the cost is well worth it to us, and we would keep it even if we didn't watch the movies. Actually, I very seldom even watch movies any more, and even less often do I watch any television programs. There are always interesting things that I want to learn more about, so mostly, I watch information videos on Youtube, and use my iPad. When I do watch Netflix, I usually watch documentaries, or something that is related to something that I am reading about. One nice thing about Netflix is that several people can use the same account, and it shows their preferred shows when they sign in. We still have cable because there are several channels that Bobby really enjoys watching on the TV, and even if I canceled it, then the price for our internet would go up; so we are just as well off to keep the cable TV at this point.
My Roku 4 came today, and I also bought a new television to go with it; just a 19-inch since it sits only a few feet from my desk.
Ken, do you have any trouble receiving the local channels, or do you not watch them? I'm a little concerned about doing away with them, since I've had issues using antenna only in the past, being that I live sort of out in the boonies and the signals tend to cut in and out. Living in a hurricane zone isn't always the best without a backup way of communicating, or at least receiving television via something other than internet, which can also be wonky.
No, I don't get any local channels. I am way too far from any local stations to be able to pick anything up through an antenna. Some of them may be available from their web sites but I don't bother with anything that I can't stream through Roku.