re: Can someone please explain how roku works?

I just got a Roku about a month ago. 99% of the reason I bought it was to watch LSU baseball. I got the model that can use Ethernet or WiFi because WiFi sucks on my patio and that’s where I watch most games. We have cable and we already had Netflix, and there’s a few free channels that aren’t the worst thing in the world so far. I haven’t had it long enough to see how often shows and movies are updated. The free channels have commercials, but usually just one or two so it’s not that bad. I need to dig deeper and into it and look into cutting cable but I don’t know what all I would lose.

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but you don’t sound like a very tech savvy person

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He admitted this.

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you will probably not end up saving that much money every month, depending on how that $180 breaks down between cable and internet.

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This isn't true.

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but all streaming services either charge per month,

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I don't think a single thing he said he wanted charges per month.

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or require a cable login that you’d have to get from someone else.

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Who doesn't know someone willing to give them a cable log in? Obviously, if he doesn't, then this isn't a good idea for him.

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If you’re expecting to save $100 a month and have anything close to the same experience as cable, you probably won’t.

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He can easily save $100 and only lose the ability to watch his shows live.

Buy a roku at target for about 35 or 40 bucks. Then subscribe to sling tv or Hulu through it. You can get pretty much every channel (minus the premiums) for around 40 bucks/month. Netflix isn't live tv channel but it's got an average selection of movies for about 8 more bucks a month.

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Well for me at least, the HD antenna didn’t pick up any channels in decent quality. I realize most people don’t have this issue.

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I don't have one, but will get one before football season. Hopefully I don't have this issue.

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I like MLB channel and the Fox sports channels too

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Do you have to pay for MLB? I have Fox Sports and watch it sometimes.

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But yeah, I guess it’s worth paying for ESPN

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ESPN is free.

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i have a 2 year old and 1 year old and a wife who stays home with them.

All i need is espn, espn 2, secn, espnu, hgtv, food network, disney, and nick jr. abc, nbc, fox will be nice when football rolls around

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Look into getting a Roku for each TV and PS Vue.

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ESPN is free.

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Say what?

It seems that people who are still paying for cable tv are paying to cover costs since more people are cutting the cord. Cable has gone up tremendously.

Also, i came here looking for some simple answers but i'm basically getting the same scattered info i got from google searching

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All i need is espn, espn 2, secn, espnu, hgtv, food network, disney, and nick jr. abc, nbc, fox will be nice when football rolls around

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you just need to get sling, DirectTV NOW, or a PSVue package and call it a day. netflix and prime are worth it IMHO, but i could take or leave any other streaming package. i have HBO, but i love me some GoT.

for a one time $50 roku investment and about $50 a month fee (and your internet costs) along with not getting a few of the channels you want is your best bet.

One of the things you'll need to do is make a list of features you can't live without and those that you can afford to ditch.

Some folks have to have DVR functionality. Others need live TV. If you have a show that you MUST watch (Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Stranger Things, etc) then that'll likely inform your decision.

When our Xfinity agreement was up, back in January, we'd seriously considered going full cord-cutting, but the competing technologies (YouTube w/ Live; Hulu w/ Live TV; Sling, Playstation Vue, etc) weren't where we wanted them to be with respect to channel lineups, DVR functionality, etc. Not just yet, at any rate.

Playstation Vue (you just need a Roku or FireTV device) was the closest to fitting the bill for what we were looking for. It just wasn't ready for prime time, IMO. Not yet, but it's getting close.

Roku is great and you’ll save money. But how much money you save and whether it’s worth it depends on what exactly you’re looking for, as the poster above me has said.