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Local file playback wouldn't require Internet though, which is available on the Roku. That being said, I don't think the OP would go through what is needed to set that up.
I have an old RCA antenna that was my mothers, on our old tv at our office. A few years ago, I could get PbS and local cable channels, shopping channels, an occasional Spanish channel. Now, it is mostly Spanish speaking channels or religious channels. I do get ION, GET, GRIT, THIS and a PBS channel or two and a few assortment of other stations, local networks. It is sufficient for me at the office, where I spend most of my time.
We got a new TV at home, we have a basic cable package, no box. We picked up a bigillion stations on the new TV but the cable company eventually blocked all of those except the ones that are inside the perameter of our set up. Channels 2 thru about 74 but, I get GETTV, THIS, several PBS stations, MORTv and some others that are not in the lineup of the cable company. No outside antenna at home.
I'm happy at this time. Would like to get rid of cable though. It will go away soon anyway. No one wants to maintain the cable. I still have a landline and don't want to get rid of that. I'm set in my ways, I guess. But at 72, I probably won't have to worry about it much longer.....lol
Okay, the FIREHD8... I just saw an ad for it. Could I use that to watch movies/TV shows on my work Internet connection or at a coffeeshop with free wifi? Sling isn't an option for me because it doesn't have the channels I want (also, I was told it was much more than just $20/month). And I won't pay $70/month for an Internet connection I don't need since I can just continue to pay $70/month for a bazillion useless cable stations I don't want to watch. I already know how to do that (just bend over).
Sling IS $20/month for the basic package, which has quite a few channels. Each add-on package (like there is one for movies, and there's one for sports, etc.) is $5. Adding HBO costs $15/month, like it does everywhere. DON'T GET HBO. Just get basic Sling for $20/month.
All the streaming devices need an internet connection. The Roku theoretically should work with a public wi-fi, but I can't say for sure. You have to input INTO Roku's settings the internet connection you're using. A pubic place may also kick you out, since streaming uses a lot of data, much more than surfing the net.
DIGITAL ANTENNA. By "old" tv, do you mean a tube tv? If so, that means it only received analog signals. TV signals these days are digital. If you don't have cable and the cable box, then you have to get a converter for your tv, that converts the digital signal to analog, so your tv will pick it up. The digital converter box is not costly, but I forget how much.
If you get the converter box, then you can get a digital antenna (I recommend one called The Leaf). Do you live in a big city? If you do, the digital over the air "broadcast" stations may be enough. You can put your address into AntennaWeb - Home and see what stations you would possibly get (note that some stations have substations, so what looks like one NBC station might have two substations, meaning you'll get three NBC stations). Check out antennaweb re that.
I live in a big city and get about 15 good stations (I get a total of maybe 70, but most are junk...foreign, religious, other weird stuff).
If I were you:
1. I'd cancel cable. I'd use the money saved, with other money I've saved, and get a cheap flat screen HD tv, even if it's small screen. IT WILL BE ABLE TO RECEIVED DIGITAL SIGNALS WITHOUT A CONVERTER BOX.
2. I'd check my address to see if I live where I can get several over-the-air broadcast stations.
3. If I could get several broadcast stations, I'd get a digital antenna (you need a separate one for each tv...unless you know how to run wires to two tvs from the one antenna).
4. I would just watch broadcast stations and leave it at that, for now.
You can't afford an internet connection? You might be able to get DSL internet for maybe $35/month or $40/month. AT&T provides that, or regional internet service providers. The speed/size of the internet connection will be small, but don't let that fool you. You CAN stream with a slow connection (I have only 3 mbps, and I stream just fine a LOT).
5. If you can afford an internet connection in the future, I'd get a Roku 2 on sale. (You need a separate Roku for every tv.) Once you buy it, it's free to use it.
6. The Roku might work with a public wi-fit, but it might not. Even if it does, I bet the public places won't let you use their wifi for that purpose. But I don't know for sure. Maybe they'd let you use it that way every now and then.
7. Roku has free channels. It takes a while to find them and set them up as "your" channels, but there is some good stuff there. Post back here for guidance on that. Also can check out Roku Guide | Your Independent TV Streamer Guide.
8. Since you're saving $ by not getting cable, can't you use that $ for an internet connection instead? Again, dsl is cheaper and works fine for streaming. Be aware that internet connections in many places have caps, now. DSL from AT&T has a data cap of 150gig, while its U-verse internet has a data cap of 250gig.
Someone mentioned using a USB port (it's the thing that takes the red, white, and yellow plugs, I'm assuming). I have an very old TV I'm using, and it has the plugs; however, it also requires a converter box to work, and that's taking up the plugs, so I don't see how I'd hook up ALL these things at once.
Help?
A USB port looks like a little slit in the back of your computer, you can use it to hook up flash drives (Google it) and other devices. To my knowledge, a Kindle Fire HD 8 does not have a USB port. You can subscribe to Amazon Prime, though, for about $99 per year. With that, you can get access to free movie streaming AND you can actually download one or two movies to watch when you aren't online. As long as you have internet access, you can always switch out movies, and Amazon has a pretty nice selection. You can also look into Netflix DVD delivery services, which is around, like $10 per month I think. That might work depending on what you like to watch. You can also stream Netflix for only about $8 per month, but, again, that depends on the bandwidth, and since I've heard that Comcast may actually start charging more for excessive use of bandwidth, the cafes may certainly start limiting customer access to it. There's no easy solution for avid internet hogs. I don't even have my TV plugged in!
As far as your "trash reality shows" from Discovery and all of its affiliates, you might just want to look into ordering seasons of your favorite shows online and downloading them. Spend some time hanging out on social media to find out what your favorite reality stars are planning to do next, if you're a big fan...
Get a library card and a DVD player for your TV. I don't have HBO but I can watch many HBO series on DVDs I borrow from the FREE public library. Libraries have DVDs and CDs to check out just as they do books ... which are also great entertainment by the way.
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