Maria from IN Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I am considering shutting the cable off and going with Netflix. There's a streaming box that makes it possible to select a movie on the site and have it go directly to your tv. I have a couple of concerns. First of all, my tv is several years old. The people who make the box say it will hook up to any tv, but I am uneasy. Also, I have verizon dsl. It's not a wireless setup (I don't want the kiddo to have access to the internet while I'm away, doncha know). If we hook up a router box to the computer, will verizon think we're trying to connect more than one computer to the internet? I am wondering if you all have had any experience with this. Is it worth it to you? We can't have satellite here in our condo, and I want to move toward more purposeful watching instead of sitting in front of mindless cable shows that aren't worth the $65 per month we have to fork out. Thanks all, Maria :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 We've watched Netflix on our TV. We've done it by hooking my dh laptop up to the tv. This required special cables. I know he needed a laptop with a S hook-up (please don't ask me what that means.:D) The device that Netflix sells, the Ruku (?), I think will require a wireless router, but I'm unsure about this. You can hook up a wireless router and Verizon will not care. It's legal. It is nice to be able to stream to the tv. We've watched lots of tv shows and a few movies that way. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I don't know all the technical stuff, but this is my question: NOT all of the movies Netflix offers are available to watch on your computer, so are they available with the direct to TV thing or would only the same available ones on your computer be available with the TV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.S. Burrow Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I am considering shutting the cable off and going with Netflix. There's a streaming box that makes it possible to select a movie on the site and have it go directly to your tv. I have a couple of concerns. First of all, my tv is several years old. The people who make the box say it will hook up to any tv, but I am uneasy. Also, I have verizon dsl. It's not a wireless setup (I don't want the kiddo to have access to the internet while I'm away, doncha know). If we hook up a router box to the computer, will verizon think we're trying to connect more than one computer to the internet? I am wondering if you all have had any experience with this. Is it worth it to you? We can't have satellite here in our condo, and I want to move toward more purposeful watching instead of sitting in front of mindless cable shows that aren't worth the $65 per month we have to fork out. Thanks all, Maria :001_smile: I just had our cable turned off and reactivated our NetFlix account. :) We do not at this time have the "netflix box". We have a router - and no Verizon won't know if you have one - and we plug our laptop into our TV. We watch movies, documentaries and regular TV through the laptop. Many of the regular TV series that we watch are available on the network websites at no charge even if they are not available as an "instant watch" on NetFlix. Our TV is only a couple of years old and has various "ports" on both the front and the back. There are sometimes "hic-cups" in the streaming using the laptop wirelessly, so when we are going to watch TV we move the modem to the den and connect the laptop directly to the modem. We are going to have our internet modem and router plugged into the laptop and get a wireless card for our table-top computer, you know...the big one with the tower thingy....as soon as DH has time to find and install a wireless card. Anyway, I hope this helps!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.S. Burrow Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I don't know all the technical stuff, but this is my question: NOT all of the movies Netflix offers are available to watch on your computer, so are they available with the direct to TV thing or would only the same available ones on your computer be available with the TV? Only those available as "Instant Watch" are available with the direct to TV thing....whether you use their "box" or your computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Only those available as "Instant Watch" are available with the direct to TV thing....whether you use their "box" or your computer. Interesting and good to know. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Knoll Mom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 The device that Netflix sells, the Ruku (?), I think will require a wireless router, but I'm unsure about this. No, you don't need wireless to hook it up. My brother has his Roku box hooked up with a cable to a TV from the late '80s. We hook ours up through our laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakven Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 This is very interesting!! we are HEAVILY considering buying the Roku box but i'm hesitant only because $100 seems like a lot for just the one function... hmm... Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Dumb question here. We currently get Netflix, but don't have enough of the cables to hook up the laptop to the TV, so we haven't done so. My friend did and she said they had to listen to the movie thru the laptop. She also said she left her AOL instant messenger noises connected, so they were listening to bells, whistles, doors shtting, etc..the whole time. I know she could have shut off her AOL, but still, do you have to listen thru your laptop? That would ruin it for me. What is the Ruku box thing?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakven Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 here's a link to all the devices that work to play it on the tv http://www.netflix.com/NetflixReadyDevicesList?lnkce=nrd-l&trkid=425738&lnkctr=nrd-l-m The Roku is the cheapest, but it doesn't do other things... nonetheless, we already have 2 dvrs and we don't want a video game system :) Anyway, you can also buy a cord to plug from your headphone jack to the television headphone jack or RCA jack, so you'd have 2 cords running from your laptop to the television. Does that help? if not, i can ask dh for more specific info, clearly, my dh thought of that, not me :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chai Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I've just been investigating the same thing. There are basically 4 options to watch Netflix on your TV. (We also have an older model.) 1. Use the Roku box ($100). It requires a broadband connection. I believe that it can be either wireless or Ethernet. (Verizon shouldn't care how many computers you have hooked up to it. We have a wireless router which we use to power two computers.) This seems to get pretty good reviews. 2. Use a computer. You might be able to hook up a computer to the TV. From what I've read, though, it works best if you have a dedicated computer unless you don't plan to watch it very often. You also need a S-cable port on you computer and TV. You can also turn the computer into a DVR, but that whole process was bit techy for me. I turned this option down because I would have to buy a whole new computer. 3. Use a PS3 (? or is it X-box?) You would still need some kind of router for this. I didn't want a gaming system, so this was out too. 4. Go through a Tivo system. This is what we are planning to do. We will need to buy an antenna (for network TV) because we don't have one now. Again, with Tivo, you can hook up to your network either through Ethernet cable or a wireless connection--we'll go with wireless. (You do need to buy the wireless capability separately.) Also, if you don't have a digital-ready TV or cable, I think you need to get the Tivo HD. I think that we will set all of this up over the weekend, so perhaps I can report back! :001_smile: HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Here is some info on various boxes that link computers & TVs http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122835447211578087.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli in TN Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 We have a roku box that runs off our wireless signal. My son is going to run a wired connection for us since our quality is tied to whether our router is in a good mood that day or not.:glare: We enjoy it. We do not have cable at this time, but when we do turn the cable back on, we will still enjoy our Netflix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.