Thursday, September 18, 2014

Why I Bought A Roku


Our new TV is designed to use the Roku Streaming Stick.  The stick goes into a designated HDMI slot and uses a power cord.  I love this idea rather than having a separate device sitting out next to the TV.  It is also concealed from sight.

I have friends that use and love their Roku devices and heartily recommend them.  I like that we get to stream to our TV which frees up my laptop to use on other things while the family watches television.  You can purchase programming but it also has a lot of free viewing options.  We can easily use our Amazon Prime membership with it and I plan to add Netflix in a month or two which will also stream through it.


As much as I loved our satellite subscription I am just not willing to pay $60 a month for basic service like I was before.  Over a year's time it adds up to $720 which would more than pay for the new TV, Roku and my Amazon Prime membership plus a Netflix subscription and a simple DVD player with money left over.  I just can't justify the expense of it.

I currently pay $99 a year for our Amazon Prime membership.  Netflix will run $7.99 a month plus tax.  Much more affordable than a cable or satellite subscription and far less than a trip to the movie theatre.  That I can live with. 

Do you have a Roku?  Netflix?  How do you save money on TV entertainment?

6 comments:

  1. I am going to see if these are available in Canada. My husband and I have been discussing getting rid of satellite which is $85 a month. That money would be better spent elsewhere.

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    1. A friend of mine spends $150 a month. Not me! That is too much $$ just to watch TV.

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  2. We have 2 Rokus. An older box in the living room and the same stick in the bedroom. And we also have Amazon Prime and Netflix, although most movies seem to be the same on both. We hook up the laptop to the tv when we want to watch new shows on Hulu.

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    1. I expect that is what we will be doing. I still use the laptop for Hulu because I won't pay for Hulu Plus.

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  3. We just decided this week to get a Roku. I had never heard of it before and between what I heard about it from you and another friend of mine we would like to try it and think it would be worth it for us. We currently have no cable tv but we do have Netflix, which the kids use more than we do- we stream the Netflix in through the Wii game system. My husband was talking about watching sports and also news channels from other countries, like Russia. Does your Roku get channels like that? I am so much happier not shelling out over $150/month for cable- for the little that we used it, it was such a waste of money for us.
    Thank you for this post about the Roku- it was very helpful and informative!! :)

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    1. I don't get a lot of channels like that but I do get some digital ones for sports. I am thinking about a better digital antenna later on down the road in order to pick up more channels. I understand a better antenna mounted outside works for that. I haven't had a lot of time to explore all my options with the Roku. When the weather changes and I'm done unpacking and cleaning I'll have to sit down and play with it.

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