I've googled again and again how to cut my cable bill. We've even thought about turning the cable off all together. The problem is, well, we like TV. There are a few shows that Ronnie and I like following. Satellite didn't seem like much savings and an antenna seems a little uncertain (but not off the list).
A few months ago I found something that piqued my interest.
I picked mine up at Walmart for $59. One time. Not monthly.
I then sat it on the desk for three weeks and ignored it.
When our cable box went out on Thursday, I decided it was time to try it out.
Set up was easy. I just plugged it in to the back of the TV like the DVD player. Then install the batteries in the remote and plug the box in to the power strip. It found my wifi and prompted me to enter the password. From there it displayed a code that I had to enter online at Roku's site to register the box. It asks for a credit card or paypal account to link to - I chose paypal. I also entered a pin so little guys couldn't buy things. After that it was back to the TV.
I followed the onscreen prompts and added "my channels". Some are free, some are paid. We already have Netflix and Amazon prime so there was no extra fee there. I chose to add HuluPlus. Most of the shows Ronnie and I watch are available there. It's an extra $7.99 a month. I also added a couple of free hunting channels, Disney (mostly just clips, not actual shows), a couple of news channels (Fox and Roku news), a few different Christian channels (Lifechurch, GBN, Elevation church, TBN, Lifechurch TV, and The Story), UFC (mostly clips - you have to pay for fights), Pandora, Facebook, and Picasa.
Everyone seems to be happy with the change. We can still follow current shows with Hulu and there is a ton of stuff on Amazon and Netflix. We're still slowly discovering the other channels. I'm loving Pandora, it sounds so much better with the surround sound then on my little IPod dock.
It's also easier to be consistent with my "reward chip" system for the boys. Thanks to my smartypants friend Kathleen, the boys earn poker chips to cash in for media time. I was pretty bad about taking a chip, turning on the TV and then forgetting about turning it off after the show.
I also like that it looks nice. I don't have a big cable box sitting around. Roku is small, about 3x3.
There are many paid channels as well. My friend Anita was telling me that her husband gets the MLB channel for $25 for the season and loves it.
So far, my only negative is the remote. It's soo small. We have a serious problem with losing remotes. I'm tempted to attach it to a big chunk of 2x4.... you know, like the hall pass in school. But that's really more our issue, than the Roku's.
I have every intention of taking the cable boxes back to Comcast this week and picking up another Roku for upstairs.
If you want to find out more about Roku click here.
Roku....you rock!
By the way, I am in no way being compensated by Roku for my opinion. It's just my opinion.
4 comments:
are the christian channels free? we currently have netflix and amazon prime. would be great to find some good encouraging christian channels sometime!
All of the Christian channels were free to load. I've watched most of them. I lot of them are clips or sermons, but really good stuff.
another place you can find free tv, but need the inernet for is dishnetwork.com. Even if you don't have a membership, it lets you wach a lot of shows for free. sometimes it asks if you are a member but never asks for a password or account. We were members, but cancelled, it stil works a few months later, so I assume it works for everyone.
I'll check that out. Thanks!
Post a Comment