Product Reviews

With 80 percent of the country being gouged by Xfinity for $150-plus a month, chances are, you’re dying to tell them to go fuck themselves. Well, Roku is bringing you at least one step closer to that dream with their streaming television system. At $99.99, the Roku 3 is about the size of a hockey puck and uses as much power as a nightlight, but the TV service it provides is phenomenal. Most of the channels are free (Disney, PBS, FoxNow) or require a small monthly subscription (HBO GO, MLB.TV, Vudu). But the Big Three you want are Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon Instant, which will cover 90 percent of the content you already watch. Just add and remove channels (all HD) to your favorites, which include over 100 different movie channels and 50 TV content providers, plus games, if that interests you, all streamed via wi-fi. The downsides: You need an HDMI cable, HDTV and a fast Internet connection. The upsides: It has a wi-fi remote with headphones (in case you use it in the bedroom) and if you just do the three big streaming services and pay for the box, your total for TV will come to roughly $280 a year. If you want TV without the jerk providers, this is the way you need to go. –Gavin Sheehan