We are both in our mid-50's and are not too familiar with modern technology. I talked my husband into buying the Roku because our 36 year old son had one at his house. We didn't want to get stuck paying another stupid monthly cable bill. We had cable for years, and they kept raising the cost of our cable year after year. It seemed as if cable provides many channels, but there was nothing worth watching. With the Roku, we get to CHOOSE what we want to watch, WHEN we want to watch it - and all we have to pay is the bill for Internet service! We love the vintage TV and movies it provides! I love listening to "oldies" music on the Rdio channel when I'm doing housework. I would hate to go back to life before Roku!!
Really fed up with the price of cable. Except for a few stations that I really miss, I'm completely satisfied, especially the ability to watch news practically live
When my second AppleTV device broke I decided to try the Roku Stick. It is convenient to move (I use it in my living and bedroom). However, it seems the remote and stick lose their tandom ability resulting in having to reset the connection.
I used the Roku stick for approximately 10 hours and after that could not get any streaming from Netflix, which is what I wanted it for. After returning to TV as the source on my remote control I tried to resume watching TV and the TV pictures and sound would freeze every few seconds. I then unplugged the Roku stick from the TV and the adapter cord from the electrical outlet. After I did that the problem with the TV straightened up. The stick was quite warm when I removed it from the TV. Perhaps after quitting the streaming program there is a particular way to turn it off, so that it does not continue running in the background (and presumably heating up) but the instructions I received with mine did not indicate there was any particular way to turn it off. I have not used the Roku stick since removing it from my TV.
I researched all the "sticks" on the market and I went with Roku for two reasons. Roku offers the most apps (Amazon Prime is not available with google) and the ease of use. I really enjoy the search feature that allows you to find programs across applications.