Roku Review

A few weeks ago I purchased a RoKU on sale at Radio Shack.

For those not familiar with Roku, it is a small box that lets you stream video from the Internet to your TV. It comes with a few basic channels and includes a channel store to add your own. Most of the channels are free and the offering is very large depending on you interests. Hookup takes a few minutes and is very simple.

 

Two are my favorites are Ham Nation and AmateurLogicTV. Watching these on the TV beats the small screen of the computer any day. If your a fan of old B type movies Roku offers a large selection also at no additional cost. Even caught one of The Bowery Boys movies last Sunday, classic TV. Trying out my free Netflix subscription for a month and the family seems to enjoy it.

The only thing it does not include is any live free stream major sports. The various NHL, MLB, NBA, packages are available but your local teams would be blacked out.  It seems like streaming video is the wave of the future. Cable TV and Verizon Fios reports large numbers of customer cutting the cord. In my house the majority of TV viewing is on the major networks, CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, WOR, and WPIX. I am a big Rangers hockey fan but with the strike my sports viewing is very low now. My Fios offers a few 100 channels but if your not watching them its a waste of money.

The Verizon Internet is extremely fast, no complaints with the speed. In the new year I want to pick up a antenna and experiment and see what free TV has to offer in my area. Between free antenna TV, Roku, and Netflix, this will offer more than enough content to watch and hopefully save a few bucks in the long run.