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Cable/Satellite TV "Alternatives" - Roku, Rabbit TV, wwitv.com and Others

by RichBeck
11 replies
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Guys and Gals,

While doing some "packaging research" at Wal-Mart, I came across an empty box for Rabbit TV.

It looks like an interesting product. The packaging reads you can get "free" TV.... Of course, I was immediately skeptical. :rolleyes:

What it really is... an "aggregator" of web TV content. That is not bad for under $10 per year for the convenience alone.

There is also wwitv.com which does something similar.... But, it is a free website. Not an application being actively maintained. So, I wonder how much more Rabbit TV has...

After reading reviews, it seems the biggest "complaint" is not being able to get "live" TV....

In the "pre-Internet" days, "live" TV would be huge.... especially for News and Sports. Now, it has little value to me. I can find anything I need - sports, news, etc. on the Internet.

I really don't care if I watch last week's episode of a TV show streaming on the Internet. I don't watch that many TV shows... and I don't feel a need to "keep up" with them.

I was wondering if anyone has bought Rabbit TV....

I was also wondering if anyone could recommend other "alternatives" and websites.

Take Care,

Rich Beck BCIP, MCSD, MCIS
  • Profile picture of the author RichBeck
    Guys and Gals,

    I found "the answer" for me.... the Roku 2

    I've had it for a couple months...... I love it!

    All The Best,

    Rich Beck BCIP. MCSD, MCIS
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  • Profile picture of the author RichBeck
    I just got this via PM:

    I saw your post about Roku - I had looked at that product but didn't really understand how it works.

    Do you sign up for Hulu and Netflix to use with Roku - and can you view regular "programming" as you do with cable?

    Appreciate your advice on this - with cable going up and up I'm definitely looking moving to satellite or "something".
    Hello,

    The way it works is you purchase the Roku 2.

    Next, you hook it up to your TV and connect it to your wireless network... They made it nice and easy with "on screen" prompts.

    You are now setup....

    Roku gives you some free services... They also have many reasonable paid services...

    You can definitely use your existing Hulu Plus membership via the Roku....

    I subscribe to Netflix streaming... It is under $10 a month. They have tons of movies and TV shows.

    I'm not sure if they have subscriptions that allow you to watch "live" events such as NFL or NBA... You'd have to research that on Roku.

    If you have any other questions, please ask away!

    All The Best,

    Rich Beck BCIP, MCSD, MCIS
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Thanks, Rich!

      Now I need to research hulu to see how that works. Wasn't thinking about live events (except the Olympics) but wondering about network series, etc and I guess that's where Hulu comes in.

      Overall - much cheaper per month than cable or satellite!

      kay
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      • Profile picture of the author RichBeck
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Thanks, Rich!

        Now I need to research hulu to see how that works. Wasn't thinking about live events (except the Olympics) but wondering about network series, etc and I guess that's where Hulu comes in.

        Overall - much cheaper per month than cable or satellite!

        kay
        Kay,

        I've been able to find many "live" events streaming on the Internet... and watch them on my PC. So, I haven't missed much there.

        With Neflix, I get tons of network series....... even Mad Men!

        It is a fraction of what my monthly cable bill would be... Awesome!

        All The Best,

        Rich Beck BCIP, MCSD, MCIS
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  • Profile picture of the author wyatt2011
    I have Roku 2 also. I was thinking about upgrading to 3. Not sure what the advantage would be. Can't live without it but I still want something to replace the ridiculously high cost of cable. They have such a huge monopoly and my complex doesn't allow satelite tv. So I guess I'm stuck.
    Angela
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    • Profile picture of the author RichBeck
      Originally Posted by wyatt2011 View Post

      I have Roku 2 also. I was thinking about upgrading to 3. Not sure what the advantage would be. Can't live without it but I still want something to replace the ridiculously high cost of cable. They have such a huge monopoly and my complex doesn't allow satelite tv. So I guess I'm stuck.
      Angela
      Angela,

      I love my Roku!

      The differences between the 2 and the 3 are the following:

      Motion control for games
      (Angry Birds Space included)

      5x faster processor

      Ethernet, USB & microSD slot***

      YouTube and updated Netflix
      (Both with Send to TV feature)

      You can check out the differences between all the Rokus at the following:

      Roku Differences

      All The Best,

      Rich Beck BCIP, MCSD, MCIS
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  • Profile picture of the author RichBeck
    Guys and Gals,

    I had originally asked about Rabbit TV....

    My wife bought Rabbit TV for $4.99 on clearance at Walgreens and installed it.... just to see what it offers.

    I highly recommend staying away from it....

    It installed a bunch of other "garbage" programs including some browser add-ins... It ended up messing her Internet Explorer.....

    I ended up uninstalling Rabbit TV and all the "garbage" it installed.... Now, her computer is back to normal.

    I still highly recommend the Roku 2 for those who don't have an "Internet ready" TV.

    All The Best,

    Rich Beck BCIP, MCSD, MCIS
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  • Profile picture of the author umc
    I have my tv hooked up to a digital antenna for local broadcast channels in HD, and then I have a desktop hooked up to the tv as well. With my small remote keyboard and mouse I can watch Netflix or Amazon Prime without having to leave the couch. There are also lots of stations that put content online that can be watched, and I've watched streaming sports for years because someone is always streaming the big game. It might not be HD, but it is watchable, and I'm the only one watching it, so it's cool with me. Sure, I could pay for cable and watch in high def, but then I'm limited to what I can watch. With streaming I can watch just about any game, any time. It is harder to find streams as time goes by, so eventually I may have to pony up for cable, but I don't buy cable not because I can't pay for it, but more because with that many channels easily accessible I can sit and watch mindlessly for hours. Doing it my way breaks things up and makes it more of a conscious choice for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonthewebmaster
    Banned
    roku rocks, i have been watching netflix, hulu and other channels on it for years. many more channels are coming on it now.

    also i programmed my own roku channel that watches videos from my pc through my local network, bypassing the web and playing them instantly with no buffering.

    roku allows developers and you can easily make your own roku channel that is private like mine or i can even make a public channel and one that charges a monthly subscription at that!
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    • Profile picture of the author Dantech
      Hey guys,

      I'm new to this forum, this is actually my first post. I'd just like to say that if you are really looking for a "free TV" solution, you should check out Jailbroken Apple TV 2. or Android TVs.

      The trick is to get XBMC installed onto any TV unit, and then you have free tv. I use to sell these types of units so have quite a bit of knowledge about them. Let me know if you have any questions.
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      • Profile picture of the author garyv
        I too have a Roku-3 and I love it. I do have Netflix, and I love it, but my favorite channel is called Put.io. An account is $10 per month, you can get it at http://put.io - But they give you 50 Gigs of storage for that price, and an incredibly cool app that will grab torrents and put them into your own channel on Roku. So I can have just about instant access to any of the top 100 movies, TV shows, or whatever you can find in piratebay. And the best part is the videos are not downloaded to your system, but stored on their servers in Turkey. And it is blazing fast. Yesterday I grabbed Frozen for the kids from yify-torrents.com and had it in HD on Roku in less than 5 seconds.
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