Can a Roku streaming stick be used to get free TV stations?

from the nearest "big" city , and down in The Hollr . No reception at all .

input on the monitor should work though .

Reply to
Terry Coombs
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I am in a situation much like yours where it should be obvious that if we don't even have cable service, we won't have over-the-air TV service either, which is because we are remote and that's how we like things to be.

We are WISP for Internet and telephone and that's all we have other than electricity from the power company. The water, and septic are not services which are provided to us. Only garbage pickup happens once every two weeks by truck and that's it for services pretty much.

The goal here is just to see if these Roku sticks can be made to work, where the only HDMI "INPUT" we have is the computer monitor, which we can free up if we use a different cable out the back of the desktop tower to the computer monitor.

Thank you for confirming that the Playstation 3 and DVD player HDMI ports are not going to be useful since they're both outputs.

That leaves the only HDMI input being the computer monitor.

For those who have a Roku streaming stick, do you concur that the sticks should work in the computer monitor HDMI input? The computer is a modern Windows computer desktop.

Reply to
Amethyst

Yes it will work the HDMI port is a INPUT. Just as you can use a TV's HDMI port for a computer monitor.

To confirm I dug out the ol' Roku 2 DX and connected to and old monitor that only has DVI but I used a DVI-HTMI adapter. Works just fine.

Reply to
Jonathan N. Little

NOTE: The monitor would have to have builtin speakers else you will have no sound!!!

Much easier just to pickup a Wallymart special TV. You can easily pick up a small one for $100

Reply to
Jonathan N. Little

Yes.

Reply to
Char Jackson

Per Bod:

Probably - if you watch in real time.

Personally, I always watch recorded shows and jump-forward the commercials.

I do not think I have seen more than 15 seconds of any commercial in over 10 years.

I run a Tivo-on-Steroids app on my 24-7 PC and record to drives on same.

There's a little black box under each TV that gives me a UI into the Tivo-on-Steroids app.

"SageTV"... used to be a commercial product - discontinued when Google bought it out to harvest the brainpower behind it.

But the public domain version, which everybody uses now, is still kickin' it:

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Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

Just read the manual and plug the thing into the HDMI of the monitor and see what it does. As I recall, you wifi into it to set it up. Should be clearly described in the manual. Worry about other devices after you determine that the content is usable. Depending on your model, the only audio output is thru HDMI, which can severely limit your options.

I played with mine for about ten minutes before I gave up on the useless free content.

I think you'll find that the stuff available for free is absolute CRAP. Anything you want to watch is NOT FREE. And you can get most of the same stuff with an app on the computer.

roku is for people who have a dumb tv and want to get content without dedicating a whole computer to the process...and are willing to pay for content.

You can get free movies you'd actually want to watch using your internet browser on your desktop or smartphone. Google tubiTV and Crackle to get started. Go the the national TV network websites and see what they have for streaming. Used to be a lot of free network TV, but I think they are now charging for access. Check it out. You should be able to get anything network accessible in a standard format to go thru your roku. I haven't looked in a while, but networks like to force you to use their viewer app so they can control the advertising content. My neighbor swears that buying netflix is the best bang for the buck. YMMV

Reply to
mike

What I found interesting is that Netflix has a deal with Comcast, which I have, and I believe also FIOS as I suspect from their ads. Our two bigger HD non-smart TV sets with Comcast DVR have a Netflix ap so smart TV is not needed there. I asked someone that works at Comcast's main office and he said they do have a deal with them. There is no other option like Amazon on the DVR. It only takes a few seconds to bring up and watch Netflix.

With voice activation on the DVR I can ask for a show and if it is on Netflix and I have a subscription I can go and see it for free otherwise there is a pay option where it would be added to cable bill.

OP wants to save money and I don't blame him. My cable TV bill with extended cable options and HBO, Showtime and Starz with internet and phone is nearly $200/month and I have to fight annually to keep it down. I have a neighbor that switches from Comcast to FIOS every couple of years when initial low cost introductory offer expires and they won't come down. My son would do that but my wife would not tolerate it.

Reply to
Frank

But he will have no audio unless the monitor has builtin speakers with HDMI support. Now the old Roko 2 had a 1/8 audio jack for headphones that could be used for external speakers, but the sticks do not.

Reply to
Jonathan N. Little

That's an excellent point. He'll get video for sure, but audio only if his monitor supports it. Every TV would, but monitors are a different animal.

Reply to
Char Jackson

Am Tue, 27 Mar 2018 18:23:24 -0500, schrieb Char Jackson:

Oh oh... no speakers on the monitor.

Thanks for bringing that unthought of point up!

Reply to
Ragnusen Ultred

Just plug it into the *monitor* and get testing.

Paul

Reply to
Paul

Yes, I do. That is how the Roku sends data...via the HDMI channel.

Once you plug it in and set up Roku you and your entire family will be able to huddle around that little monitor and enjoy all the best of the free channels available. You'll have plenty of opportunity to make popcorn, open a beer, take a leak, whatever you need a few moments for, during the commercials. After a winter or two of that, you may decide that the $8-$10 per month for Netflix or Amazon isn't such a ripoff after all.

But wait, there's more.

If you would like to have a more comfortable viewing experience by viewing via your TV, then get a Roku device that will connect via RCA phono plugs to the TV rather than HDMI. As I said originally, that is model Roku Express+

3910RW. It would set you back $35 but that is less than buying a new TV. Worth it? Depends upon how much you value lebensraum.
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Reply to
dadiOH

What was it again about not using multiple nyms in a single thread!?

And BTW, you're welcome, twice, one time for 'Ragnusen Ultred' (the

*two* spaces persona) and another for 'Bob J Jones'.

But I'm a little bit disappointed that you can lie, cheat, belittle, insult, etc., but can't be bothered to acknowledge help/advice/ .

Reply to
Frank Slootweg

The short answer is "no". You can get TV content in a number of ways via Roku, but they aren't free. Services like Hulu offer some of the shows on several networks, but most shows are not included and there is a monthly charge for Hulu. Some networks, such as CBS All Access offer selected content, but they charge for it. None of the options are like watching broadcast TV.

Reply to
Neil

That brings up a good point where I wonder of the Roku Streaming Stick can "stream" a movie onto a TV that was previously downloaded onto a desktop computer using the youtube downloader?

[C:] youtube-dl.exe
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I got the YouTube downloader from here:

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And the MP3 encoder from here (if I want to download just the audio):

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Can a Roku streaming stick stream from the local desktop to the TV?

Reply to
Amethyst

We are Spartan.

We have one couch in the entire house, one table, one bookshelf, etc.

We currently have that one huge but old Sony TV we bought for $100 years ago (before the advent of HDMI most likely), so any TV would have to replace the huge Sony TV we have now.

This Walmart one is less than $100 & says it has speakers & HDMI in:

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Reply to
Amethyst

Yes, quite easily with Plex.

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Reply to
george

We went "virtual shopping" for a TV set for someone in another group, and this is what we ended up with. If you shop around, you can shave at least another $20 off the price.

LG 28" Class (27.5" Actual Diagonal Size) LJ400B Series HD 720p LED TV $167

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But, it's only got YPbPr,Audio-Lin, Audio-Rin, and one HDMI. Reviews say (as you'd expect) that sound sucks and it could use a sound bar to help out. A sound bar is a possibility, it there's a headphone jack on it.

I'd look for a similar unit, with "wide viewing angle" (means it's not using a TN panel), and see if you could get one with more HDMI on it or something. Having just one HDMI is limiting, as you'd want one for an optical player, and one for your Roku.

For example, this one has two HDMI, but maybe the screen viewing angle isn't the same. In one review I could find, someone claimed the plastic chassis rattles if you turn up the volume above 18.

Samsung 28" Class (27.5" Actual Daigonal Size) M4500 Series HDTV $200

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OK, found a spec here (if you can trust this), and it's 178 degrees, means it's not TN.

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Anyway, shop around a bit.

Frys has a good collection to scroll through, but not necessarily the best price.

*******

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Paul

Reply to
Paul

In future please trim down your list of cross-posted newsgroups especially REMOVE WINDOWS10 NEWSGROUP FROM SUCH IRRELEVANT POSTS.

Reply to
Good Guy

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