cutting the cord

[otakuryoga]

so..i went and told the cable company to pound sand today since they are just getting too $$$ to keep

can anyone recommend for/against Roku or another service before I plunk any money into it?

and how do they work? do I need to have a digital antenna to use em?

[Grinner]

First, you need Internet access. Satellite-based Internet access won't work, since it usually has a data limit attached. Dial-up/DSL, if you can get it, probably isn't fast enough to stream video. Consequently, this may very well mean buying Internet service from the cable company, and if your experience is anything like mine, they're going to require you to buy cable and phone along with that.

Next, Roku isn't exactly a service. They sell tiny computers which plug into your TV and use a WiFi network to stream video to the TV, though you do need to register the device with Roku. To make full use of it, you'll need to subscribe to a streaming service like Hulu or Netflix. They usually cost around ~$10 per month. (On this note, I don't recommend Amazon's streaming service.)

I've never had any trouble with my Roku. Hulu focuses more on television shows, while Netflix has a better selection of movies.

[PepperP.]

You will need an internet service provider, yes. I have high speed internet through a cable company, but they did not require me to get a package, I do not have cable or a landline. I use Hulu and Netflix exclusively and stream them without a Roku through my Playstation 3. It does not require the purchase of Playstation live to use, so it's been an affordable option for me. This service is also available through Xbox 360 or Xbone, but requires a subscription to Xbox Live. HTH. Good luck!

[Flickerdart]

If you use Android or Chrome, a Chromecast is really cool since you can stream video or music straight from a laptop or phone just by connecting to the WiFi.

[otakuryoga]

yeah..kept the internet..just dropped the cable

so what is the difference between the various roku boxes?
saw 3 different boxes and the stick at wallyworld last night......

[LibraryOgre]

If you have an Amazon Prime account, the Fire Stick is a pretty good option. It's portable (so we use it upstairs usually, but it's easy to haul downstairs), and pretty robust. It's aimed at getting you to use a lot of Amazon Prime services, but my wife more or less lives on Netflix, and has little trouble with it.

[otakuryoga]

and do you need to subscribe to Netflix or is that included with prime since I am on a 30 day trial with prime atm and need to decide to keep or not
was leaning more toward Hulu than Netflix as its tv shows more than movies I would be streaming

[Grinner]

and do you need to subscribe to Netflix or is that included with prime since I am on a 30 day trial with prime atm and need to decide to keep or not
was leaning more toward Hulu than Netflix as its tv shows more than movies I would be streaming

You do need to subscribe to Hulu and/or Netflix separately.

Amazon Prime includes its own streaming service, but it's not recommendable.

[LibraryOgre]

You do need to subscribe to Hulu and/or Netflix separately.

Amazon Prime includes its own streaming service, but it's not recommendable.

Prime's not horrible, but a lot of it is to drive you to paid services. We use it a lot to rent movies.

[otakuryoga]

Prime's not horrible, but a lot of it is to drive you to paid services. We use it a lot to rent movies.

that's pretty much what I thought

[Rodin]

Just a note on Hulu, if you have Chromecast (or just a laptop/media PC you can hook directly up to the TV), you don't need to subscribe to it. The benefits Hulu Plus gives are roughly:

1) Certain shows may be Hulu Plus only. This is heavily in the minority though, or at least it was a few years ago when I made the leap.
2) Shorter commercial breaks.
3) Ability to use Hulu on mobile devices. This is the reason I have it, since it allows me to stream when I'm away from home.

[Algeh]

So, if we have an Android tablet (it's a wi-fi only Samsung) and we buy the Chromecast plug-in for our TV (which is not a smart TV although it is an HD set), will it show anything from any app on our TV just like it appears on the tablet screen, including sound? Or does it only work with certain apps?

I ask because we usually stream stuff through our PS3 (we also have cable, because sports), but Fox Sports bought a package of NWSL games and stuck most of them on their Fox Sports Go app rather than on a Fox Sports TV channel, and Fox Sports Go does not want to stream on a PS3 unless I've missed something (no Fox Sports Go app in the PlayStation store, and the PS3 web browser doesn't work well enough to watch them that way). NWSL games appear on YouTube when they're not Fox Sports games, which works fine on the PS3 using the You Tube app, and we'd like to continue watching women's soccer on the tv SOMEHOW rather than with everyone gathered around a tiny tablet screen. If we got the Chromecast plug-in, would we be able to watch these games on our TV again?

(Side rant: the last NWSL game I watched on Fox Sports Go was in my home market - Portland Thorns vs Seattle Reign. This game sold out a 20,000+ person stadium, and the only way to watch the sold-out game at home IN THE HOME MARKET was with this stupid app that hung up multiple times during the game, causing me to miss big chunks of the game. It wasn't on TV anywhere, no matter what ridiculous sports cable package you had, let alone on a local broadcast channel, despite being a sold-out rivalry game.)