Watching Duke sports on ESPN3

[WV_Iron_Duke]

With MD moving to the BIG10 and living in N. VA ,I was certain that most of the Duke football games would only be on ESPN3 if even on that. With a Roku3 (BB $100)hooked to a router and an hdmi to the tv, The ESPN3 picture on my new Panny 60VT60 is quite good and in full 16:9 widescreen. You get replays through Tuesday the following week even on games that are blacked out in your local area like Kansas last week since Comcast carried it live. And it carries lots of other sports too like collegiate soccer. My guess a lot of lax in the spring:). The DC area isn't broadcasting the Tulane game in my area. I am travelling over the mountain to watch the Oklahoma- WVU game, so am arriving bright and early to watch the Duke game with my friend that has the same setup. The Roku also permits you to watch the old HBO series for free. Highly recommended.

[bjornolf]

With MD moving to the BIG10 and living in N. VA ,I was certain that most of the Duke football games would only be on ESPN3 if even on that. With a Roku3 (BB $100)hooked to a router and an hdmi to the tv, The ESPN3 picture on my new Panny 60VT60 is quite good and in full 16:9 widescreen. You get replays through Tuesday the following week even on games that are blacked out in your local area like Kansas last week since Comcast carried it live. And it carries lots of other sports too like collegiate soccer. My guess a lot of lax in the spring:). The DC area isn't broadcasting the Tulane game in my area. I am travelling over the mountain to watch the Oklahoma- WVU game, so am arriving bright and early to watch the Duke game with my friend that has the same setup. The Roku also permits you to watch the old HBO series for free. Highly recommended.

I watch them with my AppleTV. Works great too.

[devil84]

I'll second the Roku box. The WatchESPN channel makes it a breeze to watch ESPN3 games either live or replayed on the big screen TV.

The Roku interface is elegantly simple. Not only does it do ESPN well, it also does Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and such quite well, too (provided you have appropriate subscriptions). Time Warner subscribers can also access a channel so you can use it in lieu of a pricey cable box on a spare TV for non-local channels. There are a number of free channels, moreso things like Nat Geo, although there are a few free movie channels that generally don't have recently released mainstream movies. You tend to have to pay for those. Note that WatchESPN/ESPN3 is available IF your cable/ISP provider gives you access. If you can't get it on your computer, you can't watch it on the Roku, unfortunately, not even by subscription.

There are 4 versions of Roku devices. The Streaming Stick and Roku 3 require an HDTV, the other two models work on any TV. The Roku 2 has headphone jacks, the Roku 3 has an ethernet (in addition to wireless) as well as USB, and microSD slots to view content on external storage. There are a few other bells and whistles, but the basic functionality, particularly as it relates to watching ESPN3 on your TV, works the same on all four devices. You can probably find one as low as $39.99 without having to wait for a terrific sale.

I've got the Roku 3. I wanted the ethernet port in the event the wireless was too slow with as many attached devices as I tend to have, but it's not necessary. The accelerometer in the remote made for an entertaining hour or so as we tried it with the included Angry Birds game, but we're not really Angry Birds types. The extremely small device is great if you need to move it from TV to TV or want to take it with you to travel. I highly recommend it.

[moonpie23]

i can't get it…..i've got TWC for internet, and Uverse for TV, and you have to have both on one provider to get ESPN3
:(

[gus]

I'm a big fan of roku.

The interface works really well too, and the remote app for my iPhone makes controlling it easy.

I don't know if apple tv does this, but I love that I can do a search for a show/movie/actor, and Roku will search all the channels I have for that show.

[WV_Iron_Duke]

Funny.. I don't have to do anything to get ESPN3 with Verizon Fios. However, to watch ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU requires a tv subscription verification.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

i can't get it…..i've got TWC for internet, and Uverse for TV, and you have to have both on one provider to get ESPN3
:(

Wouldn't it be cheaper to consolidate? That's always been my experience.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

Funny.. I don't have to do anything to get ESPN3 with Verizon Fios. However, to watch ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU requires a tv subscription verification.

Yes, ESPN3 is part of the Internet deal. Being able to watch ESPN, ESPN2, etc via WatchESPN is part of the TV deal VZ has with Disney (and requires authentication). Same reason you can watch Octonauts shows on WatchDisneyJr.

[moonpie23]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to consolidate? That's always been my experience.

uverse's internet is slow…..road runner extreme is much faster….


Mrs. moon pie likes the verse tv lineup better……

[duketaylor]

Purchased a Roku today, boys are very happy. Thanks for the advice!!

[duketaylor]

OK, now that I have this, what's the best use for free stuff? Downloading free apps, etc. I'm relatively new to most of this. Advice is greatly appreciated, have wi-fi in the house w router and extenders, have an extra wifi device not being used, multiple HD tvs in the house using comcast cable.

Thanks in advance, CT.