ROKU -- if you have one, please explain how it works.
 

I'm afraid my senior citizen-hood is showing because of my techie ignorance.

On election night, we were at a friend's home and he used Roku to switch among television stations. t looked cool, but we were too involved in the returns to ask how it worked, whether you had to subscribe to the various services, whether it needs to have a computer attached, whether it delivered all the local channels as well as things like CNN and Fox News, etc.

I am not even clear on how it works compared to just using cable.

We have a Chromecast thingie, but it just projects things from the computer like you tube videos and Amazon programs to the television.

If you have Roku and understand it, can you please help??

Thank you for your wisdom.

Roku plugs into the back of your tv. You have to have internet, preferably high speed internet, in order for it to work. You can set it up to use the wireless internet in your home, or you can use an ethernet for wired access to your internet. If you use computers in your home, you should be able to set up Roku to use the same internet that your computers use.

If your friend was able to use Roku to switch among all those news channels, then I'm thinking he/she must subscribe to Sling Blue, which costs about $25/month. Sling gives you access to about 30 different tv channels. Some downsides are that commercials are included and only one tv in the house can access Sling at a time.

If you have Amazon Prime, Roku lets you watch their free movies on your tv. The most popular subscription for Roku is Netflix, which costs about $10/month and gives you access to a *lot* of movies and older tv series (such as Lost). No commercials in Netflix (a real bonus when you are watching a tv series!), and you can have two different tvs watching two different Netflix shows at a time. Acorn is another good subscription service. $5/month and you get access to all kinds of BBC movies and older tv shows without commercials. (When I say older, I mean that you usually do not get access to the current season. The subscription channels do not have every tv series, but they have a lot of different ones at any given time and switch them out regularly.)

I can't say I really understand Roku; the above is most of what I have learned in the past year or so of using it. Basically, I think in order to make Roku useful, you need to add one or more subscriptions. We have been thinking of getting rid of cable, but Sling does not completely replace it, especially for sports.

Edit: For the local channels, I think you need to access those either through cable or a tv antenna that catches them. Most people live where an antenna will pick up a lot of local channels; you don't necessarily need able for that.

Think of the Roku like a tiny cable box that comes in either hockey puck shaped or flash drive shape. With the hockey puck you use an HDMI cord and plug it into the side/back of tv. The flash drive type plugs directly into the tv. I use my wireless router that's for my computer to communicate with the Roku to make it work. Roku has lots of free channels and "pay for" channels. You use your computer to set up a name and password for the Roku and then you see the beginning screen From there you pick and choose what you want to see when you turn it on. I use it to watch Netflix in the bedroom and had to give it my email address and password that I had previously set up for the Smart tv in the den. I am 60+ and found it very easy to set up.

Prism, We have Sling and have the $20 plan. For an extra $5 we get sports channels--several ESPN channels and the SEC channels (which is what we want, since UK is in the SEC). We use Chromecast and cast it from my tablet to the computer and it works great. We had DirecTV and decided we were paying too much since we only watched about 6 channels that weren't our regular broadcast channels. We're getting the channels we like to watch for $25 instead of $120.

No on has yet mentioned that you buy the Roku. I use it without paying for Netflix or anything else. I have no cable,
but use one of those $40.00 "antennas".

I use it(usb version) for the second tv in the sewing room. Have Amazon Prime ($99 a year abt 8.25 a month versus $10.99 on a monthly subscription). Can easily be moved from one tv to another if you wish. They just have a new one out and HSN seems to have the best price. Works for me and saves me money. So far I keep it loaded from my computer and keep enough content to keep me content for under ten a month. I have an over the air antenna and internet with a router/wifi in living room. I'm a documentary addict and get lots of content in addition to movies. Because I wifi it to the back room no cables of any sort to deal with. Pretty simple, and I'm glad I tried this; pretty cost effective for this senior citizen.

I have a Roku. I use it mainly to watch quilting tutorials while I am following along on my sewing machine.

Thank you for bringing up this Roku topic. I have a Roku but do not use it like I should. Am a widow and not all crazy about the tv remote stuff. Spouse could figure things out but now just me--but must learn to cancel Dish in a couple months. Only have the basic Dish but watch 4 channels, like the Hallmark movies and HGTV.
Guess I need a kid to show me how it all works and make cheat sheets until it settles in my mind.

OMG! Just reading all the above cyber stuff gave me the willies?....I have Comcast..granted most of the stuff on it is junk...like, I don't think I'll ever be interested in the Japanese news- no offense intended-or watch movies made before I was born, but it does let me just click on what I do want to watch either now or later on demand..on any of the tvs in the house..and it has my wi-fi and home phone too. So one bill instead of several each month....I know that's probably dark age thinking, but that's me.

Thank you for an excellent answer to a topic that has been bugging me for ages. I want to get rid of Direct because of expense and horrid customer service, but do not understand the new technology. When you say "antenna" I'm assuming you are not speaking of the thing my dad had to get on the roof to move, right? LOL Those were the days! Our internet service is not the greatest in this rural area, so I'm concerned we may not be able to use these devices. How can you test this?

When I got mine, my kids explained it like a cookbook. Mine was the older version of Joy of Cooking (just the essentials) and theirs are the newer versions (lots of extras). When I get into it, it is like the chapters of the book. Many of the chapters are free (there is a listing) and some are fee based. We pay for netflix and Hulu and since I get HBO, we have HBO Go. But, there are many that are free. Once I click on the 'chapter', all the 'recipes (shows) that are available will appear. Then I can click on it to watch it. That is the basic. With some channels like Netflix, you can separate shows that each member wants to watch. So, when you click on your name, all the shows that you have selected to hold will appear. This is sort of a shortcut to your favorite series or movies (like bookmarking your favorite recipes. Once I made this connection in my not-tech-savvy brain, then it became a lot easier. Hope this helps.

Also, I should mention that my kids have all cancelled their cable. Between their Roku and a connection that hooks their laptops to their big screens (I'm not sure how that works), they have access to everything while only paying the very small Netflix and Hulu charges. They even project skype to the tv so we can all visit without looking at the tiny monitor on the laptop. One of my kids is still in college so she pays for Amazon prime (mostly for text books) and has all of us listed as users so that is included. Granted, they miss out on all the cable's foreign language channels and dozens of shopping channels, but they can live with it!

Now I have a question - what's the upside/downside/difference in Hulu, Roku, Chromecast, AppleTV and all of these types of devices?

We have Roku on every tv in the house, the stick and boxes. The stick is the easiest to install, just plug it in the tv. Once installed you will have a channel selection . A list of every channel available will be shown. Some require a fee some are free. The home screen is different on each model of Roku. So it may be hard for someone to tell you go to this or that when your screen may be different. How fast and how much buffering will be determined by your wi fi. Slow internet is not for Roku. Set up is a breeze. https://www.roku.com
The model I like the best is the Roku Premire for $80. There is one made for an older tv for $25. Lots to choose from.
Oh once bought there is no more fees or costs unless you want a paid for channel. You can take the Roku stick anywhere and plug into any tv with wi fi connection. Also you can have the remote for it on your phone! This comes in handy when you can't find the remote. LOL

Roku is a displayer of all the channels you can install. Smart TVs have a displayer built in. Google Play is another displayer. It's like a big computer screen. You click on the channel you want and it opens up showing you all the shows that are available on that channel. Even the paid channels let you browse to see if you like it or not. Amazon Prime and Netflix are my two of choice. Hulu is a channel you can access through any displayer. You can get HBO, Starz, Showtime, etc on the displayers. All paid channels are by the month. No long term commitment. Cancel anytime.

We have 3 Roku's (the "hockey puck" kind with an attached hdmi cable) in our house in New Hampshire, and also a Roku smart tv. In our condo in Florida, we have a Roku smart tv and also a Roku ("hockey puck" size) that is attached to a Vizio hdtv. They all run pretty flawlessly. Rarely do I have issues, but for the minimal times that the tvs have crashed, I simply unplug the Roku and then plug it back in and the problem is solved. I mention that I have two homes with Rokus because I am able to compare different internet providers and have found that the Rokus work great in both locations.

They are fairly intuitive to set up. You just follow the basic instructions and you'll be up and running in no time. During the registration process, you will be asked for a credit card number. You will also have to set up a Roku account online. If you have any problems, there is a customer service number you can call I believe.

I have Netflix, HuluPlus, HBOGo, and Sling. Those are my monthly subscription channels. And my husband has a subscription to NHL. I think he is billed yearly for that. Netflix cost me $11.99 and HuluPlus is similar. Sling is $20.00. Sling has a lot of offerings that mimick cable tv. Netflix has movies, series, documentaries, stand-up comedy, and they have offerings for children. Netflix is a great value. A lot of things that are included with Netflix for free, Amazon Prime charges extra for. I have tried Amazon Prime, but I think my needs are better met with the subscriptions that I have. However, I do like many things about Amazon Prime. We rent and buy movies through Amazon, and you don't need Prime to do that. I don't hear many people mention HuluPlus, but my family likes that a lot as well. We have had Roku and these subscriptions for about 7years. We got rid of cable about 5 years ago. I should mention that Sling crashes a lot, so we will be getting rid of that.

We also have subscriptions that we don't pay for, like Pandora ( for music), and PBS (I watch Sewing with Nancy on there), and numerous cooking channels. My husband must have been a meteorologist in a former life, and he watches Weatherbug. We also get Crackle, which I would recommend you check out.

One thing I love about my Rokus is that the controllers have headphone jacks, so I can watch tv without disturbing anyone. Overall, I think Rokus are a great product. I have used other devices that were supposed to stream Netflix, Hulu, etc., and all of them crashed. (Wii, Samsung blu-ray, Sony blue-ray, Vizio tv with apps, etc) Roku rarely crashes. Of course, it is only as good as your internet service, but barring issues with that, I think you'll be pleased if you buy one.