I had a laptop initally, but got the Roku because of covienence. A Roku has a real clean interface with a lot of channels/apps.
Keeping your laptop hooked up to your tv is a little cumbersome and kind of a bitch. My laptop broke a few months ago (also part of the decision to cancel fios) and in the process of looking for a new one i found out some of the new laptops have Widi (or a variation of it) that lets you stream near-HD content wirelessly, although i dont think the technology is completely there yet. This will make things easier, but i think a direct connection with something like a Roku, is still a must have.
My biggest thing in getting rid of cable was the lack of easy access to cable news and cable sports. Also going from DVR life to no DVR is a big change. If you have a xbox and xbox gold (ithink its called that) you can get ESPN and a lot of other stuff..... depending on internet provider, its confusing. Depending on location and internet provider some stuff is free other requriers login credentials from a legit cable subscriber. You can do a bootleg DVR though Roku now too. I think there are a couple other ways to get DVR, probably all not optimal.
I feel like more and more people are doing this and the technology is really going fast and service providers are starting to change a little bit. But a Roku is still simple and cheap enough that i wouldnt worry about it being obsolete in a year.
There are rumers of the next xbox being much more than just a gaming system. Maybe a complete entertainment system. Apperently a very high likelihood of a DVR, perhaps even cloud based??? In other countries xboxes are already used as cable boxes, im hoping thats what theyre gonna try and do here. And think about it, graphics dont really have to be that much better and you can get a Kinect, so what's gonna encourage the masses to buy a new xbox?
Check this out:
Intel Is Reportedly Going To Destroy The Cable Model By Offering People The Ability To Subscribe To Individual Channels - Business Insider