Roku HD Player
by Roku, Inc.
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Our Price: $75.50 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Roku HD Player
Customer Review: Doing A Great Job So Far
Summary: 5 Stars
The Roku player came in yesterday and I've set it up in my home theater system; last night we enjoyed our first movie and the Roku operated perfectly.
One of my interests was to be able to set it up where it could be operated through the TV alone or through the full component home theater system. I'm pleased to confirm that this was possible. I've used the stereo output and the composite video output to connect directly to the TV so my wife can go in and watch a movie without turning on the entire home theater system; that has been accomplished successfully. I also wanted to utilize the multi-channel sound option with the upgraded video using the component video output. I have an older Sony CRT HDTV which has very good sound for a TV and an excellent picture; I simply cannot talk myself into getting a new TV while this one does so many things well. It does not, however, have an HDMI input so I must use the component connections for the better quality video.
The multi-channel sound and component video have now been connected to my home theater system and it is producing great sound and a great picture with the Netflix streaming video. The only multi-channel sound output is via a Toslink connection so you need the optical input on your receiver or preamp/processor and a Toslink cable to connect.
The Roku needs to be connected to the web by either a wireless or wired connection. That is a critical part of the process as your Roku acquires a code number which needs to be entered from your computer. The Roku needs to be registered with Roku, and then registered with Netflix, and with Amazon Video on Demand. The registration with Roku and Netflix went flawlessly but when I tried to connect to Amazon Video on Demand the Roku said it could not connect. I tried several times with no success so gave up for the moment; last night I tried again and got right through and am now registered with all three.
I had read about discs becoming obsolete because of streaming video and am now beginning to see how that could happen. I'm definitely getting short on storage space for my discs and see streaming video as at least an excellent way to supplement my collection of discs. I must admit that some of the discs I've ordered, hoping they would be good if not great, have been a disappointment, but I haven't been able to bring myself to give or throw them away.
In summary, I'm sorry I didn't take the streaming video plunge sooner; it really makes a lot of sense and looks and sounds very good indeed. The picture quality on my TV is completely satisfactory and the surround sound leaves nothing to be desired. The set-up of the Roku can be very simple; I've read the accounts of people being in business in three minutes; they must have been sitting in front of the TV with their laptops to do that. My installation and setup took a lot longer than that, due in no small part to my integrating it into my home theater system as well as directly connecting it to the TV.
If you ever have the question circulating around your house, "what do you want to watch tonight," streaming video will definitely provide many more alternatives. I am really delighted to have it in operation and think you might enjoy it too.
Customer Review: This is too good to be true
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been using the Roku (Roku HD - $99 Amazon - free shipping, no sales tax) for just three days now, but so far I am very, very impressed with the value for the money. I am not computer literate. Yet I was able, without even looking at the instructions, to get the unit connected to the Internet via our wireless router. You obviously need high-speed internet. It has its own internal WiFi receiver and is ready when you turn it on to find the signal from a wireless router. There was one scary moment when I entered the WEP code for the wireless router, it accepted the WEP code, and said it was connected to the Internet, and I thought I was good to go. Then, instead of completing all the on-screen registration processes for me, it went through the same wireless initialization procedure again and said it couldn't recognize my wireless router and couldn't connect to the Internet. I tried a 3rd time, and got on.
You need to have a Netflix account with at least a one-at-a-time-with-unlimited-streaming (instant watch), currently priced at $8.99 a month ($10.99 for blu-ray discs) to get the best value of your money with Roku. You need to activate your Roku unit online with Netflix, and need to register your unit online with Roku, so you need to have your laptop fired up and nearby when you set up the unit. Since then, it has been smooth sailing (knock on wood, I have read all the one-star comments on this page, and hope that my unit does not fail, does not fail during updates, and/or that I never need customer service). By scanning the search screen for Netflix instant watch, I initially thought that Netflix offered only a limited number of instant watch titles of Movies and TV shows. Then, I found a website much more user-friendly in terms finding instant watch movies ([...]), and learned that there are many, many more titles available than originally thought. If Roku does not fail, and if Netflix maintains its current reasonable pricing for instant watch, I intend to drop Directv (and the $100 monthly bill I am paying it for HD DVR, and all its nickel and diming services), and I plan to buy a Winegard HP 7694 (Amazon) over the air (OTA) HD antenna and an OTA HD signal amplifier, and a Tivo HD Premiere box (OTA HD DVR - $12 monthly fee) and cut my TV monthly bills to less than $25 a month). College and pro football games are in HD on local OTA channels, as are Sunday news shows. The rest can be Roku and Netflix. The only thing I will be sacrificing is Fox News and other Fox shows, but, although it is refreshing to watch news that is not liberal propaganda (only kind of "news" that is available OTA), I can't see paying $75 a month, or $900 a year, just for Fox News. (Sorry, Rupert -- I'll read Drudge or RCP online instead).
In summary, Roku is a very promising way to save money on entertainment, and to use Netflix to its fullest. You can also use Amazon Video on Demand on Roku, but there is nothing like Netflix's free "Instant Watch" free streaming movies on Amazon VOD -- with Amazon VOD it is purely pay-per-view, which is not that exciting. In these "austerity" times, Roku is a great way to save money on entertainment.
Customer Review: Great value
Summary: 5 Stars
First off - other reviews are spot on with the slow shipping. If you take the free shipping option, keep that in mind - it took mine nearly two weeks to show up, and even though I was expecting slow shipping thanks to the reviews here, I was starting to get impatient waiting for it. If you're buying this as a gift or need it before a specific time frame, pay extra for faster shipping, unless you have three weeks or more to wait.
The box itself was very simple to hook up and get setup. I have a wired internet connection, so I didn't have to fiddle with the wireless. It took me less than 15 minutes to set up and start watching something - and the only reason it took that long is because I was BBQing steaks at the same time and was running back and forth between the grill and the entertainment center.
For me, picture quality is pretty good. The only times picture quality has dropped out on me has been when I've had internet issues, which has only been a couple of times. Based on my experiences, the faster and more stable your internet connection is, the happier you'll be with picture quality. I'd say it's comparable to my satellite in most cases - and with less disruption to my picture during bad weather.
I've only used it with netflix, pandora and facebook photos. Be sure you're happy with the content Netflix provides as instant before you purchase - there is a lot there, but most of it's older. There is a huge selection of children's programming though - my 6 year old is always asking "Let's watch the Roku!" because it gives him a better choice at any given time than satellite does. Amazon Video on Demand has more choices, but for most of the stuff I've looked at on Amazon, I'd rather pay a bit extra and buy the DVD.
I purchased my Roku and got it a couple weeks before the release of the additional channels like Pandora and Facebook Photos. The upgrade went smoothly, and adding a Pandora account was easy. I thought it was a good value before the additional channels, it's even better now.
My only complaint at this point is that the rewind/fast forward controls are taking a little getting used to. I wish it were more like my DVR with the 30 sec skip forward and 6 second skip backwards, but I think as I get used to it, it won't be so bad.
Overall, I think this box is a great value - if you have the network and broadband to support it. It works very well on my business class cable with a wired connection. A friend of mine has it, and it works well on his DSL - but he has upgraded DSL because he works for the phone company. Not so sure it will work on my parents microwave based broadband, nor would I rely on a wireless network for using this - my own wireless network can be flaky sometimes.
If you have any doubts about your internet speed, I'd recommend looking for a friend or family member who has one and seeing if you can try it out for a few hours to get a feel for it. That's what I'll be doing for my parents - taking my box up to their house the next time we go visit - I have my doubts it will work as well there, though.
Customer Review: A couch potato's dream!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received my Roku player on Friday. Set-up was easy. Only thing I could nitpick at there was that everytime I picked a setting it restarted again. Restart did not take long so this would be some serious nit-picking! After I set it up I then began to get myself familiar with the device and began to check out several streams from Netflix and Amazon for quality. I must say I was really impressed. Is this Blu-ray? Not even close. But it is really good quality. The HD streams were great. Not crystal and not perfection but really really good. Probably as good as HD on comcast from my experience. Maybe better since the picture never faltered and blocked up on me.
I can't give feedback on sound as I did not have a cable to hook up my audio receiver. I believe Netflix only streams in stereo though so I didn't rush out to get another Toslink. If I am wrong on this please let me know b/c 5.1 on this thing would be awesome! That said, the sound coming out of my TV was synced, had no dropouts and was clear. Navigating the Roku screens was pretty simple.
I actually had my non-tech girlfriend do all the navigating to prove to her it was easy since my tech toys tend to scare her. She loved how simple it was. I'm guessing this simplicity is why the menu is designed the way it is. While I don't really mind, I could see the inability to sort movies into folders by category as an annoyance to anyone with over 50 shows in the que. I have about 53 in mine. While watching an old Bill Cosby Stand-up I sorted my movies putting my daughters movies fist so they were easier for her to find. Folders would be nice, but at the price point and to make it easy for even the most non-tech savvy person, I can accept the intensive effort of pressing down a button and scrolling through all my picks for the one I want to see. Some have knocked the inability to add to your que from the device and search for movies. Yes this would be nice, but possibly cumbersome with the current U.I. My Laptop comes on once everyday at home and I work in front of a computer all day so this doesn't bother me. It's easy enough to add to my que at any point during the day and night before I ever turn my TV on.
So all in all, I love this little device! Really really good picture, easy to use and amazingly convenient. I truly believe that it will not take long for me to get my money's worth from this little box and my Netflix service. Any additions to the Channel Line-up on the Roku only adds the how great this thing is. The addition of Youtube (with a better U.I. than my Panasonic's disappointing Vieracast) and maybe Hulu (doubtful) fancast or the like would make me start questioning whether I truly need cable. So for the price point and what you get out of it, Roku is a 5 star Product for me.
Oh and, one more note. There were many complaints about how long it took the device to ship. I was a lucky one I suppose. I ordered my Roku at 5:30 PM on Sunday night and recceived it at 2:30pm Friday.
Customer Review: Very Nice!
Summary: 5 Stars
Overall, I love this. It's been a long time since I've come across something so simple, yet satisfies a tech-savvy guy like me.
Since reviews are going to be widely different based on multiple factors, let me lay out a little background:
- I am very tech savvy, working 10+ years in the Internet/computer field.
- I have a 15+ MB Internet connection
- I have a gigabit router with 802.11n wireless
Regardless of my skills, this thing was waaaaay too simple to setup. This is good. While I like have tons of features, knobs, sliders, blinking lights and everything else that gives something the appearance it came from NASA, I can't complain about this one at all. The front has one little light on it - that's it. The back does have all the connectors one would need to hook it up to every TV made in the past 25 years from regular RCA-style connectors, to S-Video, to RGB component, to HDMI. Connected by Ethernet, it setup in 3 minutes. Doing it by wireless, add a few more minutes.
I did need to have my PC on to register the device to the various channels, each taking a few minutes to set it up with Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. Once setup, it is practically always on so there is no waiting to get to the menus that you want to browse through. Compare this with the special Netflix disc I have to use on my PS3, and the Roku saves at least 4 minutes - more like 6 or 7 minutes if I have to boot up the PS3 first.
Buffering programs does take at least 30 seconds, sometimes up to a full minute. Not too bad, but noticeable. I watched HD and SD programming and both were really good connected via Ethernet. When the wireless was connected, it was just as good when in the same room as my wireless router, but put 4 walls and about 30 feet in between them and quality on the HD does go down a tad. BUT - this is not the fault of the Roku, blame it on environmental conditions.
From what I read, this device uses 4 watts of power in standby, 6 watts when running. Compare that to my cable company's DVR's (which are very much like small computers) and PS3's and the Roku saves a LOT of power. A huge plus for those wanting to save electricity.
I do long for some more content, but right now I have a pretty good sized Amazon Video library and with Netflix, I can dump my cable DVR's since I haven't really touched them since getting my Roku. Since I've been using my DVR's to record all the classic TV I love to watch (which most channels are starting to not carry much of), I plan to return my DVR's to save on the monthly cost from the cable company plus the lowering of my electric bills because I won't have these DVR's sucking power all day. It will practically pay for my small Netflix account, plus a few movies from Amazon each month.
I hope everyone's experience with Roku was as easy and impressive as mine. I plan to buy another Roku for my bedroom TV in the near future.