TV Commercials… Do you hate ‘em as much as we do?
Not the great commercials offered in the Superbowl every winter, but the dozen-plus repeated commercials that you have to deal with on network TV.
Sure, recording programs and skipping past commercials works fine, but if you’re starting from scratch, looking for cost-effective cable alternatives, the Roku box is a great one.
Roku has replaced VCRs and Tivo with internet streaming of TV shows and movies. It still costs money, but quite a bit less than the Cable TV and recorder combination. The Roku XS is $99 (other models are less) and uses your internet connection to download from hundreds of channels in the Roku Channel Store. Pause, resume and continue where you left off are all advantages enjoyed by Roku owners.
Netflix, Hulu + & Amazon Prime
Channels like Netflix, Hulu+ and Amazon Streaming Video are a few of the pay services there but many more are free. Crackle uses advertising, but only 1 or 2 short ads before you return to the program. Other channels are for old Drive-in movies or classic westerns. Sports, Religion and News as well as Foreign Language channels are available from around the globe.
You will change the way you watch TV and at first it may seem strange or difficult. With so many choices you can get overwhelmed by it all. You just don’t change the channel anymore but now decide whether you watch a movie or maybe a season of a TV show. I often dislike TV series because if you miss an episode, you can get lost in the continuing saga and not know how conversations relate because you missed the episode they are referring too.
The largest downside to this is that with few exceptions (such as live sports) you do not get all the current programs for free and/or immediate viewing. Live TV is not available for streaming yet but it will be in the future. With HULU+ you can watch shows the next day if you pay for their service. At $8 a month (same as Netflix) you can watch shows as often as you want and at any time day or night. You can also rent or buy shows from Amazon starting at $2.99 an episode if you can’t wait. Some shows are available by the season for less than $20.
Angry Birds
Angry Birds is GREAT on a TV screen!
If you’ve ever played Angry Birds on an iPhone, you know how addicting this game can be. Next, try it on anything larger, and the addiction continues.
The resolution coming through the Roku box is amazing, and makes the game a treat for the eyes, even when you shrink the image to full screen. The controller included with the Roku 2 XS is easy to use. We did not buy the Roku box specifically to get this game, but we have used it and enjoyed it a great deal.
Final Thoughts
Roku is not the only choice but it has advantages over most other options at this time:
- It is small, about the size off a hockey puck and uses little electricity.
- It has 1080p High Definition output with an HDMI cable (although not all programs are HD).
- It can connect to the internet wirelessly or with an ethernet cable.
- It can allow you to watch your own photos and video from a USB drive you plug in.
By next year at this time I am certain there will be even more reasons to give up your cable bill. Check back for updates.
Here are those links again:
Roku ~ Netflix ~ Hulu Plus ~ Amazon Streaming Video
Mythbusters looks AMAZING in High-Def!
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