If you aren't familiar with it then it's not going to be your answer last minute. News/weather are a 24/7 thing even in location w/o cable I would think. Is there internet? Most information can be found via computer...will that satisfy him?

There must be internet to stream. So if the rental offers Roku tv for you to stream then it must have internet. I have a Roku and love it. It is just a streaming device. Streaming is simply watching content over an internet connection rather than a cable or satellite connection. Roku TV is just a tv with that built in. But I agree that if you do not subscribe to streaming services like youtube tv or hulu then it might not be much use. Of course the Roku offers some free apps that offer some live tv and news. Our local news station has a roku channel that streams the newscasts live and you can go back and watch ones you have missed. Its free. I must say that it is a MUCH MUCH MUCH better experience than cable or satellite, as long as you have a good enough internet connection.

Lots of streaming services offer free trial periods. Maybe you could sign up for one, bring your access codes with you and use it on the Roku there. It is very easy to set up and once it is set up with your info, it works very much like regular tv. I do recommend YouTube tv to try. If you do not want to do that, you can research free Roku channels and see if they will meet your needs.

My SO was very reluctant to cancel DirecTV in favor of the Roku and YouTube TV. Now he kicks himself for not letting me do it sooner.

Also look into a free month of something like hulu. you can stream diectly on your computer or apparantly roku (I am not familiar with that). Just cancel after your vacation. Or if they no longer offer a free month you can just sign up and pay for a month. There are no contracts.

Who is your cable provider at home? I ask, because they may have a Roku app. We do not have cable tv, but we have cable internet through xfinity. It comes with basic service via the app. My Roku has an xfinity app so i can stream basic cable to my tv.

Thanks to you early risers! I will have DH read your responses. We both pretty much live on our laptops and the listing for the apartment does state that it has wireless internet and shows a big screen TV. We have Comcast Xfinity (cable) at home. I don't watch television or movies on my computer, but do watch YouTube videos (usually cooking related). I'm happier listen to NPR.

Would he have access to news, sports sports, etc etc. through Roku? The programming he likes?

He's going to have to learn about Roku. We have no idea what it is. That's why I'm posting this here.

If you already have streaming services like Sling TV, Netflix, Hulu, AppleTV etc. You’ll be able to sign in to those services using the roku. Be sure you have your sign on info with you. And sign out at the end of your stay.

Sling TV and Hulu live stream some of the news channels.

eta: if he watches his news on his laptop, he’ll be able to continue doing it that way by using the internet at the rental.. I’m sure the WIFI password will be supplied.

Good advice you've been given. Just sign into Roku...and stream away. It's already a Roku TV, you mentioned, so the app is there.

Or use the vacation as an escape from the everyday and find more fulfilling ways to pass the hours!

This! you can get CNN etc online, on your phone or tablet. If there is no wifi, use your phone data and add a hotspot on your phone and use that for the tablet.

Go outisde! Explore beautiful Savannah! Dine!

But I totally get streaming. In the evening, after a day roaming the city environs, it’s nice to put your feet up and watch a show or movie of your choice.

No help here about Roku, but of course(!) I had to read the whole ad -- and the guest comments. Does Savannah rock at night? One comment says the guests used the white noise machine, and another says the host provides ear plugs. No more 'Sleepy Southland', eh?

That would be perfect for me as we dumped cable years ago in favor of Roku. If you otherwise like the place I wouldn't let lack of cable TV stop me. However I don't watch news, sports and weather 24/7. To the extent I want to hear about that stuff I get it on my computer. In addition to the Roku I imagine you could also cast from a mobile device to the TV. That's a cute place. I'd be more concerned about the noise and that the first come first served parking ramp might be full when I wanted to park there.

The Roku is a physical device that is a competitor with Amazon's Firestick and Apple's AppleTV. It connects to the TV and to the internet and allows the user to install apps that stream a variety of TV, movie, games, media, etc through the internet connection. These apps are made by companies that sell a streaming service. Essentially you pay (usually monthly) for the service like you do for cable TV, but you pay each individual streaming service and switch between apps using the Roku or other device to use the service.

You could ask the host if they have any streaming services already connected on the Roku or if you have to connect your own. Occasionally a rental might have a streaming service already provided or already connected, but I don't think it's necessarily expected or common.

You could check your Comcast subscription to see if you also have streaming included or if that's a separate service. Some other example streaming would be Netflix, Amazon Prime (free with your Amazon prime membership), Sling TV, Disney+, etc.

I had a similar issue while visiting my daughter in September. She only uses her tv to stream Prime and Netflix so does not have a cable package nor does she have anything like Sling or Hulu. All I wanted to do was watch the national evening news. I tried everything and could not figure it out. I do have YouTubeTV subscription, but I could not figure out how to download the app onto her tv, or if I did, I could not get into my account (I don’t remember, whatever I tried did not work). i even tried casting to her tv from both my phone and ipad, which were connected to her Wifi, but that didn’t work either. In the end, I had to settle for watching the news on my iPad using my YouTubeTV app.

one thing I do know about Roku is that it does not support YouTube TV. We have a Roku stick plugged into our bedroom TV where we do not have cable. We started subscribing to YouTube TV a few months ago b/c we are dropping cable altogether. I did not realize that Roku does not have an agreement with You Tube TV so there is no way to download the YouTube TV app. You can, however, watch regular YouTube using Roku.

If you decide to use a free trial for a streaming service like Hulu, etc, just make sure not to choose YouTube TV if you plan to watch on the Roku tv at the house.

This will have to be my husband's issue to figure out since I don't care about watching television. He's very tech savvy, so I'm sure he can find a way to make himself happy. We stayed in another apartment on the edge of the Historic District about 4 years ago. I really liked that place a lot, but it was a long walk to the area where we ended up spending most of our time and I am not walking very well at this point.

Chisue - I did read about the noise from reviewers. We will be there in February - not high-season for vacationers. I doubt we will want our windows open. And as far as parking in the garage, I have a handicapped placard that usually allows us a spot. We won't use a car much, and are debating if we will rent one for the whole time we are there, or maybe just for a few day trips outside of the city.

That's interesting that Roku and YouTube TV are at odds. I'm glad that I didn't invest in Roku devices when I switched to YouTube TV!

We have brought one of our Fire Sticks with us when we traveled. All that we needed to do was plug it into an HDMI port on the TV and it performs exactly as at home. No need to download apps or enter our passwords into a new device.

amylou321 and olychick are correct. utilize the free trials. I believe you can even subscribe to specific sports and news related services to get the best shows streamed live. some services even come w/o ads. your husband can familiarize using the streaming services on a computer, smartphone, tablet, or if you have a Smart TV.

or, buy your own unit to use at home and bring it with you. that way, you are completely familiar with the device before you even get there. Amazon Fire TV Sticks are $21. the unit and remote are tiny. unplug the Roku and plug this in the same spot. just don't forget to put it all back when you leave!

4kids4us, YouTube Tv is absolutely supported in roku. No need to cancel. You can access YouTube tv through the regular YouTube app on the roku. Google added it when negotiations broke down. Roku took the channel out of their store so that no one new could add it, but anyone who already had it on their Roku was not affected. As a workaround , they added a shortcut to the regular you tube app,which is under a different agreement with roku. Open the YouTube app. When you are on your home page, but the left arrow on your remote to open the menu. There should be a go to YouTube tv option there.

https://youtu.be/kMDQBZNP52U

If you have Comcast I think you can get an App for it and it will work with the Roku.

Thanks for sharing that info AmyLou. When I was trying to add YouTube TV I googled endlessly to try to find a solution and even did some odd work around I found (not the one you mention) but nothing worked. Alas, rather than continue headache I decided just to buy a Firestick so no more issues. Sorry if I confused anyone but there is certainly a lot to be confused about!

The Xfinity (which is Comcast) app on Roku won’t work if the internet service provider you are using isn’t also Xfinity. DBIL has Xfinity at home. He wanted to watch a football game at my house. My ISP is our local electrical power company (odd, I know. It has something to do with getting internet to rural areas.) He tried to sign in to the Xfinity app and got a message back that it would not work because my ISP isn’t Xfinity. However, his Xfinity app on his iPad worked just fine. Just wouldn’t work on my TV.

ETA: I pulled up Xfinity on Roku on my smart-TV. This was the message: “This device can only access Xfinity Stream on your in-home Xfinity wifi. Use the app on your smartphone table or laptop to watch on the go anytime you like.”

OK, how about a possible old school solution. Check online for available broadcast tv reception at the address, and if promising, buy an OTA antenna (over the air = old fashion) and buy & bring an AMPLIFIED one like a Leaf antenna or similar. Ie the size of a piece of paper but made of plastic with a long very skinny cord. Means easy to pack, almost no room at all. Connect the end to the cable connection on the tv. Hang near/in a window. Instant local tv.

We use such an antenna on a daily basis, and we stream as well. No cable.

that's hit or miss. I can't get any kind of antenna to work in my home, even though I live in a large city. not even the amplified ones.

Seattle, that's why I said to research the reception in the area.

Bpath -I have used antennas for the past 20 years, before that cable for maybe 9 years and 20 years of antenna use before that. I don't have the time to bother with streaming, and no interest in paying for TV after 40 years of free. However after I retire next year I'll look into it. (Will never, ever consider cable).

A Roku dongle is a small piece of hardware that plugs into a dumb (older) TV''s HDMI socket, to give a dumb older TV the same capabilities as a newer Smart TV.. Which is to say, newer TVs have network connectivity (whether by ethernet cable or WiFI) built in, along with apps for streaming signals from popular services that are supplied through an internet connection.

I absolutely, positively WOULD NOT enter my own streaming service log in data (user name and password) into either a smart TV or Roku (or Firestick) dongle in a place I was staying at for a short and temporary period of time. Instead I would use my own device (whether a PC, a Tablet, or a smartphone) to access the streaming service and then "Cast it" to the Smart TV or Roku device. Most have this capability. That way, the third party owned hardware is only getting a signal from your device, not log in information. For many people, their YouTube TV sign in is also their Gmail email account sign in.

Edit to add - another simple solution is to bring a laptop that has an HDMI socket and an HDMI cord. Access the TV content source on your PC, then connect the PC and the TV with the HDMI cord and use the TV as a large format monitor.