Roku vs FTA Television

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Roku is awesome. Got mine last Sunday after we decided to get rid of cable. I had to get rid of my fta stuff for now because we ended up moving in to a small apartment that doesn't have a 'commons' area attached to it directly where I could put up the dish. I could theoretically put it on a pole outside with the landlord's permission, but not sure I want to since Roku does so much and the wii now actually has enough of an upgraded flash that it does youtube at long last. I've started a 'channel list' for roku in my blog, but would love to actually see a new 'what's on there' area added here for roku users so that the good roku stuff does not go 'off air' like so many fta channels do once they are made to be too public.

I do have playon, but it sucks cpu cycles on the computer too much for me to use regularly. Also, playon's really limited since there's only a few developers for it's plugins. I recently downloaded the plugins for it again since I lost many of them last year when I had to reformat and found that many of the plugins are not even on the plugin site any more since they didn't make a backup when they had a server crash.... based on what I've read playon on wii works better than on roku since roku uses more power or something, but I'm not really sure if that's true or a myth that the people at roku forums that hate playon are just spreading.

If I get an alienware area 51 ALX in a few years instead of this little laptop that overheats way too much, I might use playon more often. ;) :)

What's really cool is that the entire itunes ipod library is right there on the roku along with a lot of other stuff. What I'm curious about is if some of those weird internet tv channels that do restream fta content and stuff like blackbelt tv, etc. can be made to become channels on the roku somehow. I'm guessing they can since the streams come from somewhere. If that's possible, there's a ton of potential to do a LOT with roku. Imagine someone hooking up some dvb type equipment somewhere for 'unofficial' restreams of every fta channel out there! :) ;) Slingbox sharing is illegal, but really that's where this type of stuff could head. At least one roku channel can do p2p tv but it's really just restreaming from the computer server, so it burns cpu cycles just like playon. Stuff that doesn't require use of a middle man server on a computer is better since the roku is talking directly to whatever the 'source' is.... anything that retransmits and needs a computer to do so is going to be slower and more bulky and really drain resources if you use that computer for anything else.
 
I have had a Roku for a long time now (back when they only had like 4 or 5 channels) and I like it and use it and personally think everyone with internet is missing out on some great stuff without one. But it is not the same content at all as FTA - I have and use both. Roku just introduced their new even smaller boxes which look great (new bluetooth remote). We use FTA on the main tv and have roku's in various rooms on other TV's for which we do not have FTA receivers. All I pay for is netflix and hulu plus (and internet of course) and seriously have more entertainment at my disposal than any one person ought to.
 
Wanted to revive this thread to update my experience with internet content and FTA. I recently purchased a Logitech Revue ($99) and have had a really pleasurable experience thus far. With this device I basically have an Android device (although limited "TV ready" app support) which can also control my Openbox S9. So I can watch and control my S9 with the Revue keyboard and watch netflix, Amazon VOD and Crackle all through the same box.

I can also place the S9 reception in a picture in picture box and have a Google Chrome page with Titan TV in the background so that I can see the program guide for my channels. I can also put a game from the S9 in picture in picture and watch netflix (for example) in the background.

Google TV has a ways to go. For example there is no Hulu app yet but there is Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, etc. There is also a Plex app that is really impressive for accessing content off my computer. I have not been impressed with Plex until the most recent release which is sweet. No Playon app yet but again I can access my Playon through the Google Chrome app. There is an android app to control the whole operation from your phone.

On the downside I ordered my Revue from Amazon and the Wifi stopped working the day I set it up so I am having to use ethernet. Will return it as soon as I get a new one in.

All in all a really cool experience. Logitech has built their fantastic universal remote software into the device and I can control my tv, openbox and surround sound all through the Revue. I highly recommend it for your consideration.
 
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