OT: I just got a Roku3

[pearl31]

Of course if you live out of syracuse it may make sense.

This

 

[OrangeTown]

How would I get those?

HDMI cable you can easily find on Amazon or Monoprice.com. The tricky part is the fact hat most hotels have sporadic internet connection especially in the evening when many occupants are using it.

 

[zeekay]

Dumb question from a tech dummy...

I travel a lot and am always disappointed in the hotel room channel selection when it comes to sports. Can Roku be used to get other channels on a hotel room tv?

Short answer is no.

a) You would need to be somewhat techy to get a Roku going when not on home network since typically hotels require you to accept terms/login with your room number first so it's not as straightforward as hooking up a Roku at home.

b) The hotel bandwidth is so limited, you would not be able to stream anything in acceptable resolution. Any Free Wi-Fi at places like Starbucks etc. would have the same problem.

For traveling I recommend either having a cell-phone with 4G LTE reception in your travel area that you can tether to your laptop/iPad and then use WatchESPN/ESPN3. This kind of requires knowing how to set it up though. OR an easier option is to buy a 4G LTE aircard from someone like Verizon and hook up to your laptop, however this is very very expensive.

Some hotels have fast internet that will allow you to just use ESPN3 on your laptop and view it in HD but that's rare. I wouldn't carry a Roku with me though, it's use is for home for people that don't want to hook up a laptop to their TV all the time. It's meant to save you from carrying things around.

 

[Marsh01]

This

One of the reasons i never left. Cant imagine having to jump through hoops to watch a game like some of you do.

Between getting every giant, yankee and su game i live in sports paradise

 

[mountaincuse]

You can buy a HDMI cable for under $10 and then just log into the hotel wifi if its good.enough I think.

I actually plan to take mine from home to.camp this summer (and borrow my neighbors wifi...)

 

[007]

How would I get those?

You already have a lot of "answers' here. Unlikely that you could make an HDMI connection to a hotel TV. Stick to a high end laptop with a large screen.

 

[Meatball56]

Not worth it to me.

No you dont. And you are far uglier. I watch every conference. Talk to me when you watch alcorn state/grambling wire to wire.

Who says I discriminate? Quality and quantity...

 

[Marsh01]

Who says I discriminate? Quality and quantity...

Jackson state/southern tonight in the swac is a monster game. Pissed its not on the U

 

[orangeinohio]

Brief explanation from a marginally-technical person:
All of the content that you're watching on your Roku is through the internet, not cable tv.

Some of the content is free, like Crackle (which shows lots of older movies and some older tv shows) or PBS.
Some of the content is subscriber-based. 'Subscriber-based' could mean something like Netflix or Amazon Prime or it could mean HBO Go and ESPN, which are channels you get to watch through your internet provider (Time Warner, for me).

You can't see current network tv shows through Roku. If you were hoping to skip the basketball game tonight and watch The Bachelor, that's not an option. I can't think of any network tv show that is worth watching so this isn't a big deal for me.
I can see episodes from previous seasons, but there are fees.

You're paying that one time free for the Roku box but potentially saving from not renting a cable box from your service provider.
It's probably most appealing to people like me, who fixate on how to cut the cable cord.

 

[jvbj01]

Does anybody have slingbox?

 

[mountaincuse]

Jackson state/southern tonight in the swac is a monster game. Pissed its not on the U

Why are you pissed?

 

[cto]

Brief explanation from a marginally-technical person:
All of the content that you're watching on your Roku is through the internet, not cable tv.

Some of the content is free, like Crackle (which shows lots of older movies and some older tv shows) or PBS.
Some of the content is subscriber-based. 'Subscriber-based' could mean something like Netflix or Amazon Prime or it could mean HBO Go and ESPN, which are channels you get to watch through your internet provider (Time Warner, for me).

You can't see current network tv shows through Roku. If you were hoping to skip the basketball game tonight and watch The Bachelor, that's not an option. I can't think of any network tv show that is worth watching so this isn't a big deal for me.
I can see episodes from previous seasons, but there are fees.

You're paying that one time free for the Roku box but potentially saving from not renting a cable box from your service provider.
It's probably most appealing to people like me, who fixate on how to cut the cable cord.

My"cable provider," such as it is, is Direct TV. I am totally cable free. Does it get better or worse if you content provider is Direct TV?

 

[Marsh01]

Why are you pissed?

Because the swac is always on monday nights on the U and tonight they had a weird 8:30 start so it wasnt televised.

 

[OburgOrange]

I use my iPad for watchespn, Netflix, ACC network, YouTube etc. Use a digital av adapter and an hdmi cable to connect to tv along with home wifi. Good to go

 

[007]

Brief explanation from a marginally-technical person:
It's probably most appealing to people like me, who fixate on how to cut the cable cord.

As someone who has done a fair amount of research on "cutting the cord," the only thing you can not stream/compensate for is ESPN. ESPN is THE major player in the cable market and there is currently no way around that.

 

[orangeinohio]

My"cable provider," such as it is, is Direct TV. I am totally cable free. Does it get better or worse if you content provider is Direct TV?

Ah, well there you have thrown me a curveball.

 

[mountaincuse]

Because the swac is always on monday nights on the U and tonight they had a weird 8:30 start so it wasnt televised.

Oh, I take it it's not on 3 either then?

Here I was trying to set you up, but it didn't work. You're supposed to say your pissed it's on espn3 so you have to watch on your phone, and then I get to tell you that you wouldn't have that problem with a roku. But no.

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to take off in Philly and have to tape the cuse for later.

 

[OburgOrange]

My"cable provider," such as it is, is Direct TV. I am totally cable free. Does it get better or worse if you content provider is Direct TV?

Directv does not support watchespn, therefore you can't use roku to get it. From what I understand

 

[Marsh01]

Oh, I take it it's not on 3 either then? Here I was trying to set you up, but it didn't work. You're supposed to say your pissed it's on espn3 so you have to watch on your phone, and then I get to tell you that you wouldn't have that problem with a roku. But no. Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to take off in Philly and have to tape the cuse for later.

I see how you are! Im all over it dude! Dont miss a thing

 

[007]

My"cable provider," such as it is, is Direct TV. I am totally cable free. Does it get better or worse if you content provider is Direct TV?

Who is your internet service provider?

 

[TerryM]

Google Plex. Add the channel. Love your roku more than sex

 

[jekelish]

I'm a big Roku fan (and holy crap, ACC Network is on there now? I did not realize that)

For travelers, if your hotel TV has an HDMI port I would honestly just recommend getting a Google Chromecast. It's $35 and lets you stream whatever you can get on your computer directly onto the TV. So basically if you watch Netflix, Hulu, WatchESPN, etc, you can just plug in the Chromecast. Much easier to transport considering there are no wires or anything.

That said, I would certainly recommend Roku for travel, too. It's small, about the size of a hockey puck. One note, though - Roku 3 is HD only, meaning you can't hook it to any non-HD television. You may be better served going for a Roku 2, since you can hook it up via analog, as well, since not all hotels have HDTVs in all of the rooms.

 

[PoppyHart]

Does anybody have slingbox?

Yes, but I haven't connected it at my new place. It's great if you travel though.

 

[PoppyHart]

Dumb question from a tech dummy...

I travel a lot and am always disappointed in the hotel room channel selection when it comes to sports. Can Roku be used to get other channels on a hotel room tv?

If you access to a true high speed connection (not the pseudo high speed garbage in most public spots) then a slingbox is the answer. It will allow you watch your home TV from anywhere in the world.

 

[kuethstheman]

Dumb question from a tech dummy...

I travel a lot and am always disappointed in the hotel room channel selection when it comes to sports. Can Roku be used to get other channels on a hotel room tv?

Not worth it CTO. A lot of fiddling with no guarantee of success. I love my Roku but I know you'd be sorry. You'll do just as well with a laptop. But as others have said, you'll need to have an ESPN partner for your Internet or TV to get ESPN on Roku or laptop.