Can Roku Replace Cable TV? - Comments Page 1

Hi Bob,

Is Roku available internationally? I live in Hungary Tx...

We LOVE our Roku and have ever since it came out. I am currently trying to find some excuse to buy the newest version with Angry Birds on it. We have not had cable for years. We use Roku to stream our netflix (and yes, we still love netflix the recent brouhaha notwithstanding), an occasional Amazon movie and some of the freebies. We use our Netflix discs for watching old TV series (which we didn't see due to lack of cable) and obscure british series and other things we love. Our tastes are very eclectic. It seems to me that my friends who cannot substitute Roku for cable really only like to watch brand new stuff and if that is the case, it doesn't work as well just depending on what you are paying for cable vs how many movies you would need to buy off Amazon (or get via Redbox). At this point, we wouldn't go back to having to watch commercials for anything! We don't mind waiting at times - once you are in that groove, it is not such a big deal. We ALWAYS have something to watch which is more than I can say when at my brother's with his umpteen zillion channels.

I hope there will be a lot of responses to this as we really want to lose the cable bill but are still concerned that our ISP do limit our usage per month and I have no idea how much viewing TV would use up per hour. Anyone know? because they won't tell!! ... Bob, we're sorry to lose the "bus" but are real glad you are keeping up this great site.

I LOVE my Roku! Going to pass mine to my mom and get the Roku 2 for me! I cancelled cable and have no intention of ever going back. I use Netflix, Pandora, Crackle, and Epix so far and occasionally use Amazon for just-out movies. It has been the best choice for me. Now I have to find a better internet provider and it's a done deal!

I LOVE my Roku! Going to pass mine to my mom and get the Roku 2 for me! I cancelled cable and have no intention of ever going back. I use Netflix, Pandora, Crackle, and Epix so far and occasionally use Amazon for just-out movies. It has been the best choice for me. Now I have to find a better internet provider and it's a done deal!

OR you could just repurpose that old desktop machine you keep meaning to recycle. Sure it's a little bit bigger, but it's essentially FREE since you were planning to junk it anyway.

So, this will use your current internet connection to stream all the videos? Seems to me that would be a waste. At my house if more than one person is streaming it seems to really slow down our internet. I can't imagine constant stream going on if the TV is on as much as it is at our house.

Your article is incomplete. You did not indicate whether is was totally independent of the computer, or not. Will the Hockey-Puck sized model run independently of the computer? My computer is a lot more expensive than my TV set. Running my computer for an hour movie is more expensive than just the TV set.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Roku connects to your router, not the PC. So you should not need the PC turned on. However, I think you're over-estimating the amount of energy your PC uses. Probably about the same as 1 or 2 100-watt bulbs.

I always read about things like this and they sound wonderful. However, I do not live in the U.S. Being an English speaker in a non-Englsh speaking country is the pits for TV watching.

I've owned a Roku XD unit for almost a year and use it on a daily basis back here in my office. Right now I'm only streaming from Netflix at $7.99 a month, but might add Amazon Prime eventually if Netflix runs out of movies and series that interest me. Roku XD is worth the small price I paid for it, and I even bought a second unit for my bedroom.

However, I'm keeping my AT&T U-Verse movie package for now since there are movies on SHO, Starz, and Encore that aren't on Netflix or Amazon Prime yet.

Is there any indication of when, or if, Netflix will add movies from those channels?

As usual, all internet TV works pretty well in USA, but for us who lives in the rest of the world, sites like Hulu and Crakle are not accessible outside USA.
Do you know if Roku can fix that ? Can it offers Local channels ?

I recently purchased a Roku. Its the second DLNA device I bought. Even if you want to watch just the free channels, you have to provide a credit card during registration before it will allow you to watch anything.

I hope someday Youtube will be available on it and then it will make a nice device to have.

This is a great article about ditching cable tv, but how can you get it to work with more than one tv in the house?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I think you'd need a Roku for each TV set.

I love my Roku. I've had it since it first came out and I'm going to update to the XS after Xmas. Been dropping hints to my boys so we'll see :) I'm very close to cutting the cord...as soon as I figure out a way to get NESN I'll be done with my satellite package. I have Hulu Plus, Netflix, many other channels that Roku has for free and I share an Amazon Prime account with my son. That gives me a ton of content (more than I have time to watch) for less than $20 a month. If I can figure out a way to watch my Red Sox I'll be a happy cord cutter!

Hi Bob,

A couple of questions about Roku. How much does the download speed affect the quality? I have DSL with a download speed of between 3Mb/s and 6Mb/s.

The second question is will Roku work in Canada or would I need to use a proxy server?

Thanks,

Rick

I am interested in the Roku device. We live on our sailboat in Mexico for 6 months of the year and I was wondering if we could get Hulu and netflix with this device. We are not able to get Hulu or netflix in Mexico now. Do you know when these might be available out of the country??? Thanks so much. Kathy

EDITOR'S NOTE: Roku uses your existing internet connection, so if you can't get it on your PC, it won't work with Roku either.

The channels available on Roku, are they limited to the US as I live in Canada.

Bob, I purchased Roku the day I received their first announcement. Thanks to your article I'm ordering the XS today. Incidentally, are you aware that in the native language of Japan, Nihongo, Roku is the number six?

I have the 59.99 Roku And can highly recommend it.
Can I do without cable TV? Most surely can and do!
Try it you will probably like the low cost,
compared to cable.

Not a comment so much as a question, will Roku work outside the US? My Pandora account got blocked because my IP address is outside the US so I suspect I would have problems with the rest of the services.