The set-up is super easy and the price can be almost nil, if you have an extra HDMI cable in the house. First, we assume that your tv is at most 10 years old, and that it has an HDMI port. If you don’t have an HDMI cord, they are plentiful, and inexpensive, like this one on Amazon. You will also need high-speed internet, and a laptop with an HDMI cord. If you have all these things, just stream from your laptop to your television.
If you’re willing to spend a little more than 6 dollars, you can get any one of several streaming sticks available now, including the Roku Stick, the Amazon Fire, or Google Chromecast. All these are relatively inexpensive. I bought a factory reconditioned Roku from Groupon, for less than 25, and there are a fair number of factory reconditioned sticks out there, if you need to economize. The truth is that even if you pop for a Smart Television, and they’re not at all expensive, you are probably going to need some kind of streaming stick or player, because there are not usually enough of the apps(Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.) installed on the Smart TV, and honestly, all TVs made today for US consumption have smart capabilities. So the sticks are good, and there are plenty of sale prices, and good deals going now, including reconditioned Roku Premiere, and the Roku Premiere+, and Groupon has some refurbished Google Chromecast players that look good, and of course, there is ALWAYS something on EBay! And of course, you MAY have a Playstation to stream through.But by now, I hope you’ve seen that it is EASY and CHEAP to ditch the cable, and stream your television.
Grownups Guide to Streaming 