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: Tiny Box, Easy Setup, Worked Great. Roku HD. Pleased with Purchase
Summary: 5 Stars
Update 2 (latest). Just watched movie Outsourced. Nice movie, and excellent near HD PQ.
Learned a few things. If you want to stop watching during the play, just hit the home key, and shut the TV off, or switch TV AV to TV setting and watch TV. When you want to resume the next day, or whenever, turn the TV setting to ROKU, and it picks up where you left off, or lets you start over. Just like a DVR/DVD. When you look at your instant Q, in the ROKU Netflix screen, some movies have an HD next to them. These are the best quality.
Update 1. I just played the movie "Dead Like Me," and the quality was perfect. I guess the first movie I watched was just lower quality. My only complaint is that there really isn't a very useful instruction booklet. Using the GB forum to ask basic questions like how do watch half a movie and come back the next day to complete the movie. No instructions at all.
Original review:
I received and used my Roku HD yesterday. I will update this review if needed.
I was surprised at the small size of my Roku. It's very unobtrusive, and not the big box (another), that my wife despises.
HDMI hookup to my 720P TV. I used an ethernet cable. I have Roadrunner high speed cable, not RR lite. It gave me a few codes to enter on my computer, one for ROKU and one for Netflix. I followed the very simple instructions.
We watched Open Window (from Netflix). It wasn't HD quality. It was the same quality as an episode of mad Men, that I purchased from Amazon VOD. Good quality. Not the vibrant colors I prefer. Was the movie the problem?
We have had GB forum discussions about Netflix adjusting quality to download speed. I do know that I have downloaded many Direct TV VOD Showtime movies to my DVR through the internet, and it was HD quality. Identical to direct satellite download. Same cable company, same internet, but the Direct TV download was HD quality. Dropped one star over this issue.
I made the decision to reduce my Direct TV package from the $ 110 package, to the minimum $ 29 package based on comments by ROKU reviewers. I already had Netflix. if reliability hold up, it will be a very good decision.
Customer Review: Hooked on Roku!
Summary: 5 Stars
After careful research and comparison to the Apple TV; I selected the Roku HD. It's cheaper, you get more channels, and very easy to setup and use. I ordered mine directly from [...] for $89 tax & ship, but I wished I'd ordered it from Amazon, which was $10 cheaper. However, Roku made sure the player arrived at my door in 3 days. So, that was a definite plus.
The install was flawless, and the player worked great from the start. I've since added about 20 more channels, for free. For those of you interested; there's an X rated channel also, but it's a private channel and has to be downloaded. Other channels include YouTube, CNN, Netflix, Hulu, Nasa, Pandora, Nature HD, CBS, NBC, BBC, Amazon, and on and on and on. It's really crazy! Plus there's tons of pod casts, music and news channels. The remote control is small, and simple; but very intuitive and user friendly. The 2.8 version software update, allows you to use an onscreen keypad to enter search data, like for YouTube videos, etc.
The overall picture quality and audio clarity is excellent. However, you must have a decent internet connection speed. For instance, my internet connection speed is 1.5 mbps, which plays standard def movies flawlessly. However, if you want a smooth HD (720p) picture, your internet connection must be at least 3.0 mbps. You can measure your connection speed at [...]. I've since upgraded my internet package. I strongly suggest that you check with your ISP provider, and do the same. The experience will be like night and day. Trust me, I've seen the Roku in action on faster connection speeds, and the HD picture quality will blow you away!
The Roku makes Netflix an even better package deal. Like I said, all of my Netflix movies play excellent. No skipping, no re-buffering, no clarity issues. Just flawless!
I've already ordered my second Roku. This one's going in the bedroom! The only con I have is based on personal greed. I want more and even more channels! These streaming players are definitely going to change how we watch TV! I even hear there's more to follow; like the Google TV and the Boxee. Man this is exciting! Other than that, I highly recommend the Roku player.
Customer Review: Disaffected Sony Bravia Link owner
Summary: 5 Stars
This thing is a lightweight plastic crackerjack toy compared to the Sony Bravia Link, which I initially purchased as an "add-on" to my compatible Sony Bravia TV set. Indeed, the Sony device is a heavy-duty yet streamlined and sophisticated piece of digital circuitry, a feat of which the Sony engineers and merchandisers were no doubt extremely proud a year or two ago.
One problem: it was a nightmare to connect, requiring no fewer than four additional cables, and upon completion of the hook-up, injury was added to insult when it didn't work. Testimonials from those who were more successful suggest that non-connectivity was just as well: the satisfactions of watching, on your Sony Bravia hi-definition big screen, an amateur Youtube clip were highly-overrated: the whole idea was oxymoronic if not moronic.
Enter Roku, David's little slingshot. It requires an electrical connection and a single wire to your TV (if you go with the recommended HDMI connector; otherwise, a conventional RCA cable has thoughtfully been included). That's it. The only slight hitches I experienced were remembering that the connection would show up as "DVD player" on my screen since that was the device previously connected to my other HDMI input, and then remembering the password I'd originally selected for my Airport wireless device. Still, within ten minutes the deposed Goliath had become a distant memory, and I was watching for the first time a VOD movie streamed directly from Amazon.
This black box looks and feels like it's worth no more than twenty bucks, but sometimes it's nice to find something that contradicts that worn-out expression, "You get what you pay for." In this case, especially after comparing it with the Sony competitor, I'd have to say you clearly don't. All the same, I'm happy to pay for it.
[Note: When streaming downloaded movies and television programs with Roku and being given a choice between Standard Definition and Hi Definition, you may as well save a buck or two and go with Standard Definition. Never has the difference between the two ratios (480p vs. 720p) been less apparent to the naked eye. In these instances, SD still rules.]
Customer Review: Beware the Lure For A LOT more TV Choices
Summary: 5 Stars
The main irritating issue I have with the Roku is that the video quality is soo good, I literally keep reaching for my DVD remote when I need to pause, because I think I'm watching a DVD I rented.
I haven't filed a complaint yet, to their customer service, because I think I can cope with this. What makes up for this "problem" (too much ironic humor I know), is the variety of programming. (I'm serious about the quality, no joke)
As far as TV goes, I'm enjoying Weeds, Sanctuary, and The Office (due to roku, I started watching The Office with a renewed focus of my full attention, and I can't believe how funny it is - no wonder the awards it has won), and as far as movies go, I'm not sure why I've heard some people complain about movie choices. You can't exactly expect the same movies that -just- come out in the video store down the street. There are still a lot of older, or somewhat recent good movies that I have not seen yet, such as The Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins, or great documentaries, or Independents.
Hookup: Easy. My dvd player already took up the "component video" hookups on the tv, so I just used a the single S-VIDEO hookup (I already had a spare brand new cable).
As far as the connection to Internet, I already have a wireless router, but I am not connecting via wireless. I'm connecting with network cable, between a second outport port on the wireless router, straight to the incoming port on the Roku.
So I can't comment, thus, on the quality you'd get via connecting the Roku with Wireless. ( however, feel free to utilize Amazon's Review Search box for the term "wireless" and you'll see a lot of people completely happy with quality using a Wireless connection.)
Here's one peripheral thing that's pretty nice: You can be "in the middle of watching" 4 or 5 different movies, and always be able to just return to the point you left off. Roku somehow "bookmarks" your exact spot, even with multiple tv shows/movies.
This is an amazing little contraption that's made the sometimes impatient waiting for your next mailed Netflix DVD a non-issue.
Customer Review: Amazing little powerhouse for television media, Netflix, Pandora,Social Networking & More!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had Roku since it came out. As an early adopter I did see a fair share of issues that have since been resolved. I just bought this for my own mother because it is such an incredibly easy to use item and yet it packs a ton of features with more coming out every day. First off it is a Netflix player. It is very easy to add movies to your queue via the Netflix website. Once you add it on the website the movie is INSTANTLY available on the Roku. That is how I used it forever and it is so easy to do my 3yr old daughter can easily do it and control it on her own.
Update Heaven:
What is the real benefit is this is an internet media browsing/watching device. What this means is once new media is available all you need to do is update it from the settings menu. I just updated it to the latest iteration and now I can watch Revision 3 shows like Co-Op and others, I can listen to Pandora Radio! If you dont have Pandora, it is a radio station you build for free and you can listen to it on your computer, now you can listen to it on the Roku. Of course you can buy or rent Amazon on demand movies. I think the next big thing may be Hulu but that is not confirmed yet. Imagine watching every show available on regular network television instantly on your Roku.
Pros:
>> Cheap, come on I have cables that cost more than this box.
>> Powerful
>> Excellent engineering
>> Active community website to get help whenever you may need it (however I have only had to in the beginning when it first came out).
>> Durable, easy to use remote
>> HDMI
>> Energy efficient
>> Built in wireless & wired 10 base T (Ethernet).
Cons:
<< no off button (it does go into sleep mode)
<< FF and Rewind is clunky at times
This little box has really changed the way we watch movies and television in our home. With further updates I can imagine this being the hands down best peripheral for your television ever. Why rent DVD's, record movies on DVR when you can instantly watch it anytime anywhere. GET IT NOW!
Thanks for reading my review.