Learn me on Roku

[IRON-E]

I did some reading online about Roku but, I'm still on the fence about buying one.

I'm kind of ol'school and, have been paying for cable/direct tv for years, without a clue that such thing existed.
My buddy told me about this magical box and said, that I could stop paying for 3 of my 4 cable boxes. So now, I am looking to you tech guys, to give me some more insight on this stuff.

[ParsedOut]

I don't know much about Roku, but I can tell you that I haven't had cable TV in almost 3 years. If you're enough of a nerd, you can build an HTPC (home theater PC) that will connect to the TV and audio receiver. XBMC is the best and most customizable media center software. NextPVR works in conjunction for live tv support.

As for downloading TV shows and movies. Google search "sabnzbd", "sickbeard" and "couchpotato". That is the holy trinity of automated and SECURE downloading of content. These aren't torrents nor can anyone snoop or track what you're downloading, especially if you get a usenet server that supports SSL.

I'm about as big of a nerd as they come, and it took me a few weeks of research and tinkering to my first set up going, since then I've revised it about a dozen times trying to get it just right. As of last week, I'm really happy with my current setup.

*disclaimer* All of my experience has been purely educational, I always pay for all licensed and copyrighted content.

[Fusion]

I like the raspberry pi solution. Going to look into that.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Raspberry_Pi

[IRON-E]

You are blowing my mind and thank you but, I really need something to just plug & play.

[ST1G]

I like my Apple Tv.

[AndrewBird]

Bought my parents a roku a while back. Works great and is easy to use. They used it mostly for Netflix.

Keep in mind there is very little free content. You have to pay for a membership to Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu/etc and then buy a roku box to access it.

[ky0u]

I've been plugging my computer into my TV via HDMI for the past 3 years. Been watching whatever i want, whenever I want. And since my TV was already plugged into my audio receiver for surround sound, the computer audio automatically piggy backed on that and I didnt have to set anything up. Literally just plug in the HDMI and was good to go. Haven't paid a dime for cable or subscriptions the whole time.

My friend has a roku though. I'll ask him for details tonight

[Farbin Kaiber]

I've been subscription free for about 4 months now, just Netflix/Hulu/AmazonInstant via PS3 and have been pretty happy, I miss a few things, but I've been told there are ways around that.

I have been thinking I want a Chromecast when I get my next replacement Android phone as well.

[ParsedOut]

I like the raspberry pi solution. Going to look into that.
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Raspberry_Pi

It's pretty cool for what it is, but limited to 720p and only certain codecs was a deal breaker for me. I already had a full i3 HTPC built last year, handles everything I've thrown at it without a hick up. Last week I finished up an Ubuntu fileserver/download box (free uncopyrighted content of course) which feeds my Win7 HTPC and my Linux Mint desktop.

[CorvallisBMW]

I've had a Roku for about 2 years now and I love it. Yes you do have to pay for Hulu and Netflix, but combined those work out to $16/month, which is roughly 75% less than a middle-of-the-pack cable package but gives to access to tens of thousands more shows and movies. Combine it with standard OTA HDTV broadcasts for all your local/national channels and you can get 95% of what's available on cable for less than 25% of the cost. It's a no-brainer.

http://gizmodo.com/how-to-cut-the-cord-and-ditch-cable-once-and-for-all-1522124125

[ky0u]

I've been subscription free for about 4 months now, just Netflix/Hulu/AmazonInstant via PS3 and have been pretty happy, I miss a few things, but I've been told there are ways around that.

I have been thinking I want a Chromecast when I get my next replacement Android phone as well.

There are websites you can use to stream free shows. Usually more complete than what they offer on netflix and hulu as well.

I use this one for movies
http://solarmovie.so

and this one for tv shows
http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/

Movies are hit or miss. Sometimes good quality ones come out within the first week of a movie debuting and sometimes only cam rips are available for a couple months.

The TV shows however, are usually uploaded and online within a day of first airing which is a step up on netflix which is usually a season behind

EDIT: Mods, not sure if i was allowed to post those due to the nature of what they are, so if they're not allowed just delete them

[F34R]

Google Chrome cast/

[kickinindian]

It's pretty cool for what it is, but limited to 720p and only certain codecs was a deal breaker for me. I already had a full i3 HTPC built last year, handles everything I've thrown at it without a hick up. Last week I finished up an Ubuntu fileserver/download box (free uncopyrighted content of course) which feeds my Win7 HTPC and my Linux Mint desktop.

your disclaimers are great ill admit i borrow stuff all the time :finger:

[E30_Pare]

+1 on google chromecast. Really tho just get yourself a laptop have it hooked up to your tv, get a wireless keyboard/mouse and enjoy your porn in full 1080p.

[Fusion]

That came to mind too. Get a laptop with a broken LCD on the cheap and an SSD, remove whole LCD.
Less power consumption, small, quiet.