ThisIsTheDay Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Cable was shut off today, and I am the unhappy owner of a Roku. Please, please, tell me how do I find something to watch? I vaguely get the carppy channels they have (all of which link me to amazon to pay for something I used to watch for free). I am looking for HGTV-like shows--real estate, beaches, decorating, shows that are at least 22 minutes long rather than 2 minute videos. I'm pretty sure the extra $40 I'm "saving" by dumping cable was a really cheap investment for entertainment . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applethyme Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I hated mine at first too. Try to add some channels. There are tons of channels to watch some to pay for and some not. It takes a little time to find the channels you will enjoy. I go to new channels about every two weeks to see if there is something I want to add. Otherwise just browse channels. I don't watch HGTV shows so I can't help you with that. Some of my other favorites are PBS, Acorn, and PBS kids. I know there are a bunch more just not off the top of my head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I have netflix and Hulu too. That is most of our viewing with Roku. We also have PBS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRG Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 we use our roku for Netflix, huluplus and prime. I have a few more channels but if you're looking for hgtv shows and the like you will probably have to buy them. Roku use is not really going to help you with shows that are currently on the air unless by some chance Hulu has them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 Thank you, you all are making me feel a little better. Netflix and HuluPlus have always made it so difficult to find anything unless you browse through literally hundreds of pages! It just threw me tonight to have this happen unexpectedly; I thought we'd have one more month of cable. But we found a few things that will work tonight, and I'm hoping to like it more once I figure it out. On the plus side, I can say that the remote seems very simple. Even I can use it, haha! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I avoid the Roku remote like the plague. I have no idea what it does or why we have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 We got PlayOn with our Roku. It's about $60 one time. It allows you to watch any shows that are on available on the computer on your Roku. That's how we stay current with all our shows. We also have Netflix and Amazon Prime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leav97 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 We are Amazon Prime members so I also do Amazon on Demand. But, yeah, Hulu Plus and Netflix. We were paying $89 a month for Direct TV. I can purchase a lot of Amazon episodes and still come out ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRG Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Also if you have the latest Roku model they have a search engine so you don't necessarily have to search through pages of netflix,hulu, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5of5 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Thank you, you all are making me feel a little better. Netflix and HuluPlus have always made it so difficult to find anything unless you browse through literally hundreds of pages! Over time, NetFlix will suggest shows that you might like based on your ratings and things you actually watch. It is far from perfect, but beats aimless searches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OH_Homeschooler Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 We recently got rid of cable and have a Roku/Chromecast arrangement. I bought the first generation Roku box because it was the cheapest. I've found that you need to subscribe to something if you still want reliable, quality programming. We have Netflix and Hulu Plus. Hey, $20/month is still a LOT cheaper than what we used to pay. I manage these subscriptions mostly at a desktop, but do all of my viewing from the Roku. HGTV and Food Network programming is non-existent for Roku viewers. Hulu Plus tricks me by saying I can add some of those shows to my list, but then they are only available for viewing on a computer. Those channels must be really particular about licensing or something. I think those kinds of programs are what I miss the most. But you can search and find some okay YouTube videos. Crackle is a free Roku Channel. I haven't watched it much but it has old Jeopardy episodes, some movies, and some original content like Comedians in Cars. PBS is also available as others have mentioned and I've watched quite a few Frontline episodes since we've made the switch! My Roku doesn't always play well with Hulu Plus, and this does not seem to be a unique problem. Sometimes our wifi goes down. We're learning to live without the constant background noise, and it's kind of nice. But sometimes we want the noise and I just put in a DVD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I know for netflix, you can search online at netflix.com like "house hunters" and it will pop up with similar stuff. Then you can click on the button to add it to your watchlist. Then it will show up in your roku netflix watchlist. As a for instance, I did just that, and found "My First Home" and "Salvage Hunters" on netflix which you might like. I haven't seen them. Amazon prime used to have Chopped and some HGTV shows. Again, search online and add them to your list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I have to go online and add shows to my queue online and then it will pop up on my Roku. Finding shows directly through Roku is almost impossible. When I go to my Roku, all my queued shows will pop up and I can choose from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatteMama Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 We have a Roku and I have no idea what it does. :huh: Actually, I know I'm suppose to select Plex to access our home media server. How the movies and tv shows got on the server or how they somehow connect to our tv is a complete mystery. Thank goodness for dh! I love tv but if I wasn't married I wouldn't know how to work anything and I wouldn't even own a tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Do you have a "SMART" TV? There is a lot of stuff available on those, free. Because so many people in our rural subdivision have added TV over IP service, along with their ADSL Internet and Landline phone service, temporarily the phone company had to reduce our Internet bandwidth until they can install some additional equipment to improve the infrastructure.. Each TV takes about 6 Mbps. Because of that, we can't watch Netflix movies directly on the "SMART" TV, because of the low bandwidth coming into the house for Internet at this time.. My wife sets up the Netflix movies on her laptop, using WiFi for Internet access, which is connected to the "SMART" TV via a cable and then we can watch Netflix movies on the TV. I believe we pay approximately USD$8 per month for Netflix. They have a lot of movies you can watch, at *your* convenience, and if you are in the USA, they have tons more available. So, if you have a Laptop you can run Netflix on that and have them connected via a cable, that's a lot less than $40 a month... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 Thank you all so much! I know this sounds silly, but this has been a stressful week for dd and me, as we're realizing she goes back to school in a few weeks. :( To have this happen and not plan for it was not the best timing. We have Hulu Plus but I added Netflix back in tonight. They have more of the mindless background noise shows on that she can keep on during the night. She stays up very late and wants to have on familiar stuff. We've had it before switching to Hulu, but maybe it's time to have both, at least while we're weaning ourselves from cable! I do like how Netflix gives recommendations. That, along with the comment about My First Home, went a long way in helping make the decision. We love those kind of house shows. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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