So far, we've determined that if you currently have Comcast cable TV or FairPoint DSL Internet service at your home or business, there's a good chance you'll be able to use the available bandwidth to watch Apple TV. Whether Apple TV makes for a satisfying viewing experience is another thing. Remember, Apple TV is based on the buy/rent music albums of Apple iTunes. So if you're happy paying a-la-carte for movies and previously shown TV shows, you may be all set.
I'm not, so I purchased another hockey puck-shaped device called a Roku ($89 on sale at Best Buy). Besides its almost identical outside appearance, Roku installs and sets itself up pretty much like an Apple TV. But that's where to similarity ends.
The Roku model is based on "stations" that you can subscribe to for free, or for a modest monthly fee. There are hundreds of stations ranging from big name titles such as HBO and ShowTime to obscure offerings such as the Peru Soccer and Korean Cooking stations. I subscribed to the free Sailing station so I could keep up with match racing in NZ. I also pay $8/month for a subscription to HuluPlus. By my figuring, this is a real bargain. For one monthly fee you get to choose from thousands of movies and TV shows. You'll also find some entertaining HuluPlus exclusive programming that you won't find anywhere else on TV.
As an Amazon shopper, you can pay $79/year to get free shipping on all my purchases. That's going up to $99 this year but it's still a good deal considering what other online shopping sites charge. Another perk, besides free shipping, is free access to movies on the Amazon Prime Roku station. The movies there tend to be quite old, but there are titles you won't find on Hulu.
If there's a recently released movie you want to watch, Roku has a terrific Search function that will show you a list of the stations on which your movie is showing, together with the cost (if any). Sometimes we pay the $5 to watch a movie we missed at Town Hall, rather than waiting for it to work its way down into the free view stations.
Many "prime-time" television shows are available the next day on HuluPlus. Check them out at www.hulu.com/plus.
Recently, some news and sports stations have been added to the Roku line-up, but none of these are comparable to the real time or "breaking news" channels you may be watching on cable, Nevertheless, for less than $100 for the hardware and less than $10 a month for programming, Roku is a compelling option for anyone wishing to say good-bye to cable TV.
You can learn more about Roku at www.roku.com.
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