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: Yes, this thing actually works
Summary: 5 Stars
1. I was somewhat skeptical as to whether or not this thing would actually work out for me, but I'm happy to say that it lives up to it's claims.
2. Here's a brief summary of what I see as the pros / cons:
* You basically need a netflix membership; the other channels are "fluff" in my opinion. The main reason to get this is to watch movies via netflix "on demand". It was not an issue for me because I've been a very happy member of netflix for years. For those who aren't netflix members, you have to weigh the pros / cons of joining (basically if you tend to watch DVDs, then it's almost a no brainer). You also have to understand that via the Roku device, you can't watch 100% of the Netflix library of DVDs; you can only view a relatively small percentage of their DVDs (ie the "watch now" titles). But in fairness to netflix, the "watch now" titles may be a small percentage of the total titles, but the actual number of titles is large (which is why I bought the Roku).
* Speed/ Video Quality etc...: Yes, the time from turning on the TV / Roku and then actually watching the movie does take some time... but not a huge amount of time; I'm guessing... a minute? Not a big deal for me because when you're using this device, you're not channel surfing, but you're actually wanting to sit down and actually watch something. Once you find something to watch, no problem. In terms of the video quality, I think it's "good enough". I can't quantify the quality, but I just watched a fairly recent IMAX documentary and the overall quality seemed good, but I'm guessing it wasn't as good as if I watched it via actual DVD (that's just my guess / feeling). Sound quality if fine etc... Most importantly, I'm running the Roku via basic yahoo DSL and I haven't experienced any stops or buffering issues or nothing like that.
* Set up: the setup takes a bit of time because you have to punch in some passwords via the TV and your cpu, but it's straight forward. The actual set up with the TV is a no brainer if you know how to set up a DVD player to a TV. Very simple, fairly easy. No need to look at a manual etc...
* The price: for what you get, for the stability of the product and no fuss, one of the best deals around these days.
3. Bottomline: for all netflix members and for all who watch a fair amount of DVDs (regular movies, documentaries, concert videos, kids stuff, TV show / series)--> this is almost a no brainer. Note: if you have certain game consoles or blu-ray players, you might be able to view netflix "watch now" titles via those devices already.
Customer Review: 50 Kinds of Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars
Where do I start as this box is 50 kinds of awesome?
I've had the Roku HD several months now and use it almost every day. I had always wanted to catch up to the Heroes craze and watched the first 3 seasons on the Roku finishing up right before season 4 came on TV. Picture quality was awesome and being able to watch without commercials made the the viewing much more enjoyable. I did the same thing with Weeds and watched a few seasons of it as well. I've also watched tons of documentaries from Netflix including many that I might not have pushed up to the top of my disc queue. According to my Netflix history I have already watched 240 titles via the Roku. Not a hitch with any of them.
Here is an overall review:
SETUP:
Piece of cake. You can do it without even reading the quick start guide. Had the wireless up and running in 2 minutes after connecting it via HDMI to the TV. You literally could be watching titles in < 10 minutes.
DESIGN:
Small and compact with only what you need. Build quality looks excellent. The "cute" little remote that comes with it is great. I could have easily offset the functions on this to another remote but stuck with the included one because it is so nice. Ergonomics on it are great. It has a notch in the back that is perfect for resting your forefinger and properly orientating the remote even in the dark. The buttons are firm and response and the remote just feels great in your hand. I use it in the dark all the time.
OPERATION:
I recently picked up a Samsung Blu-Ray player that included Netflix streaming and have it hooked up in another room. The very first thing I noticed when using it is that it felt much slower than the Roku when navigating between items. Also, I think the picture quality is slightly better on the Roku. Now that I see Roku is adding more streams I think I will pick up the new Roku HD XR to replace the functionality built into the Blu-Ray player. On the Roku everything is snappy. The performs its job well and has never given me a hiccup. Comes to live in just a second or two. (Unlike the Blu-Ray player)
VALUE:
An incredible deal for what this device does. Ironically, I was hesitant to buy this in the beginning because the price just seemed too good to be true. I kept thinking "there has to be something wrong with it to be that price". Guess what? There isn't. Great value.
OVERALL:
I gave this 5 stars because there was not a 6th star. Absolutely love it.
If you do not have one already, quit reading these reviews and go buy one now.
Customer Review: Absolutely Fantastic! Netflix on Roku!
Summary: 5 Stars
We've had Netflix DVD plan for about 3 yrs already when we got the Roku this January (09) and it is so much better than the instant (streaming) video using a computer (a superb computer w superb 24" monitor). The quality of the video varies, but since we watch a lot of Foreign and independent films, many of which are old, the quality, just as with the DVD's is sometimes not great. This is not a Roku fault, just the fact that the video copy is not very good to begin with. Just recently with a new firmware upgrade (trouble free update via Setup Menu) we now get HD quality when choosing those movies which are available in HD. Of course it helps to have 6 Mbps download speed and wired (rather than the slower) wireless connection. Roku is extremely well made and the remote control has a large transmit window so that you don't have to aim it right at the Roku box. Very good remote control -good tactile feel and intelligently designed for ease of use.
If you primarily want movies and a small percentage of the best made for TV shows, save your money and get Netflix instead. Of course you may have to wait until movies are released on DVD and streaming. If you have a new HD TV or a digital receiver you can get all the local over the air digital TV stations for news and excellent Public TV documentaries. Then get all your movies from Netflix including some great British TV series as well as HBO on DVD and or via streaming Roku.
First class device and with Netflix this is the bargain of the century for any CineManiac. Unlimited no extra cost movies at any time? This is heaven!
I've ordered another Roku, for a friend and I have never had such horrible experience.
The items ships from Roku (tracking is not available on Amazon -even though most 3rd party sellers supply tracking info through Amazon). It was ordered on Nov 15, 2009 and Amazon shipping shows estimated arrival between Nov 19-Nov 24. Roku did not ship until Nov 20, then on Nov 24 (it took 4 days to go from one CA location to another CA location) it says estimated delivery is Dec 1. Clearly this will arrive way later than I expected. Amazon delivery estimate was THIS IS WORSE THAN GARBAGE. Great Product, but UNACCEPTABLY RIDICULOUS SLOW Delayed Shipping and HORRIBLY SLOW SHIPPING. There are no excuses for such poor delivery performance. A popular web vendor (hint name has 3 letters with two last letters are the same) has items w free UPS guaranteed 3 day shipping from CA to IL, so it's possible to ship cheaply and fast.
This is not Amazon's fault but Roku's. All of my Amazon orders (direct or 3rd party) have shipped promptly and fast.
Customer Review: worth every penny
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this box because I had been watching my netflix instant play on my computer monitor and had lots of problems: reduced picture quality, frequent long pauses to adapt when my computer slowed down and mediocre sound. Not to mention that my monitor has a smaller screen. I wanted something that would work with my television and home theatre sound system.
I had read ads on my neflix jackets for quite a few devices that would give me the features that I wanted, but most of them cost a lot more and had features I did not want (such as video games, which I do not play, and blu-ray players, Which I already had) When the ad came for roku, it looked like the best deal on price and features, so I ordered it. I ordered the HD version since my tv was hi-def and the Roku HD player was only fifteen dollars more.
When it came, I was not able to install it for another month because my computer did not have a router, but this was an easily solved problem and I found out that the cheapest router I could find worked just fine. Once I had my router installed, setup was amazingly easy and as the ad said, I was watching movies in less than a half hour.
I think that the picture quality is outstanding. Perhaps it is not quite as good as from my Blu-Ray player, but it is much better than a standard picture, and, the difference is not noticeable to me. There are a few pauses where the picture quality needs to be adjusted, but not very often, and the pauses are very short, usually less than twenty seconds. On my computer, the pauses often came as many as five to ten times during a single movie and lasted as long as five to twenty minutes.
The sound quality is excellent and makes full use of my surround sound system. In fact. I often have to turn it down because the sound in some tv programs, particularly during the opening credits can be painfully loud, but this the fault of the producerss of the shows,not the Roku.
I am totally happy with my Roku. With it I can be watching movies and shows twenty four hours a day seven days a week if I wanted to. But who wants to?
I haven't cut down the number of Netflix I take at a time because, right now, there aren't nearly as many titles available for streaming, and the newest releases aren't available for streaming at all.
With the other sources available, such as Amazon Video on Demand it's possible for a fee to watch videos that have a long waiting list from netflix. There are quite a few other internet sources available, and possibly more in the future.
Altogether, this is the best entertainment value Ive found since the invention of widescreen HD tv.
Customer Review: Love my Roku!
Summary: 5 Stars
My family loves the ROKU!
The money spent was well worth what we are getting.
I think it depends on what you are wanting - a lot of the movies from Netflix are older. We don't mind that...we are always playing catch up because of our crazy schedules. I love that there is always something waiting for us to watch. Usually the biggest concern is choosing from our 300+ saved options.
Plus, if we HAVE to see something new, we can go to Amazon and rent it there, and not have to leave our house --or wait for the next time for it to start on PayPerView OR choose through the limited Video on Demand that dish has. And the prices are comparable to driving to the local video store to find something to watch.
Set up was a breeze...took maybe 10 minutes, tops.
I do wish that you could set up two lists ---like I said, we have 300+ options...many for our young son. I love horror movies, and sometimes the covers are sometimes inappropriate for his age (at least I think- I only watch them when he's at granny's). But, we solved that by always moving his selections to the top of the que, so that we can stop him before he gets to them.
Another note: for those of you who have "old" tv's - don't worry! I purchased the HD because *hopefully* we will be upgrading to a big screen HD soon, but until then, it is hooked up to our small (19inch? maybe a little bigger) bedroom tv--(no hd--sd all the way)...where we do most of movie watching, anyway. The picture is the same as with my dvd player or dish. No different. That may be because we are viewing it on a small screen. But, these day/times...I prefer to be frugal...if it isn't broke, we don't buy a new one. :-)
That being said, it is a pain that I am using an RF Modulator/4 way switcher, and I am lazy (hehe) and have to get up to push the button on my switcher to change from one to the other, but then again...frugal! and since everyday, the TV's get bigger, with more options, and seem to be coming down in price, I'll save until I'm ready to purchase just the *right* one. Can't wait to see my ROKU perform on one of those!!
I think the quality has to do a lot with the internet connection you have. We have a pretty fast one, since we are always on the computer. Now, I have noticed that we can't pull up something on the ROKU and watch something on the Computer at the same time. It stalls out...but that's not unreasonable.
We have gotten our $$'s worth and if it wasn't for True Blood on HBO, I'd drop my movie channels for sure! :-)