SonshineLearner Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Hi There, So, do I want to buy this through Amazon, or through the Roku site? Any benefits? Specials out there? Problems with this one? We have a Wii, but I guess a dedicated machine would be better? Also, If we have more than one tv, when you watch it on the main... is it on the others, too? Can you have a Roku for each tv? (and all watch separate Netflix... or whatever??) :bigear: Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 We have two Rokus. One for our basic tv, so we got the basic player, and we have one in the media room that is the high def Roku (I have no idea about the model number). The Roku only plays on the set it is hooked up to. There have been times when Peyton has friends watching a show on one Roku, Luke has friends watching on another, and I have Hulu playing on my laptop while I sew! They've been nice to have. Even without cable, it is incredibly easy to turn your brain to swiss cheese with all the viewing options available! ETA - We bought ours from Roku via Netflix. We didn't really shop around, so I can't say anything about deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Even without cable, it is incredibly easy to turn your brain to swiss cheese with all the viewing options available! Which is why I want to wait for a while before we get Netflix. I'm actually trying to enjoy the "less tv" thing for a while. Our self discipline in the "not much tv time" is less than commendable. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 We got ours through Amazon. No experience having more than one hooked up, but DH often watches one streaming Netflix show on his laptop while the DC watch another using the Roku, and we have had no problems. We are really loving it, although it is an almost overwhelming amount of programming. I usually just turn on Pandora on the Roku when it's just me -- no ads and no limits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dm379 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 We got ours from Best Buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Because of the free shipping, I'd buy from Amazon or purchase locally unless it's on sale through Roku directly. Make sure you order the cables at the same time, if needed. HDMI is best, but if your TV won't take an HDMI cable, keep in mind that a component cable (the five headed input for RGB and R/L audio) for the Roku is essentially proprietary. Don't pay more than $10 for an HDMI cable. Sometimes Best Buy and similar outfits will push outrageously expensive cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 What are the benefits of this device? We have a blu-Ray player that streams Pandora and Netflix. Does this one do more then that? I know Amazon has this type of service and I know about Hulu, but you need memberships to all of those. Wouldn't that get quite expensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Bump! Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 What are the benefits of this device? We have a blu-Ray player that streams Pandora and Netflix. Does this one do more then that? I know Amazon has this type of service and I know about Hulu, but you need memberships to all of those. Wouldn't that get quite expensive?If you're happy with the quality of the streaming with your Blu-ray player, and you only have one set in the house, you probably don't need it, at least at this time. Netflix has a number of free channels in addition to Pandora, including Internet radio (practically any station that streams online), European news and some programming, Indian channels, NASA, Khan Academy, Pub-D-Hub (a nice implementation of the types of public domain movies, TV shows, commercials, educational films, etc available on archive.org), and Roku is working on adding more channels. I'm hoping for more international fare. There are private channels as well (not officially Roku sponsored, but available to anyone with the code)... you can google to see if any are of interest. I can't remember if the TED talks are on a private channel or and official Roku channel. I don't know about your Blu-ray player, but ours shows nothing more than our Netflix queue. The Roku allows you to do searches and pulls up a limited number of suggested movies (50 I think) for various categories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'm about as clueless as one can get about this stuff, but would ROKU (or WII for that matter) stream videos from our Discovery Education Plus subscription (aka United Streaming) as well?That would be cool, but does United Streaming stream at a sufficient resolution? I tried it a couple years ago and thought it looked horrible even windowed on a computer. If they've since improved, you might want to contact both Roku and United Streaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in AZ Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 What are the benefits of this device? We have a blu-Ray player that streams Pandora and Netflix. Does this one do more then that? I know Amazon has this type of service and I know about Hulu, but you need memberships to all of those. Wouldn't that get quite expensive? I don't know if blu-ray players can stream Amazon on Demand. We use that to purchase current television shows by the episode or movies to watch throughour Roku. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Maybe this is a stupid question but can roku be used to watch Hulu on the TV? DH and I love watching old '80's shows from our teen years :blushing: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Maybe this is a stupid question but can roku be used to watch Hulu on the TV? DH and I love watching old '80's shows from our teen years :blushing: Yes, but you have to subscribe to HuluPlus to do so - $6.99 per month. That combined with Netflix will get most anything you want to watch, except sports. I'm trying to figure out a way to get football and soccer for DS without having cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I don't know if blu-ray players can stream Amazon on Demand. We use that to purchase current television shows by the episode or movies to watch throughour Roku. I'm just piling on here to emphasize that purchase means just that, and not rental as with other popular services. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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