ROKU streaming player question

[Michael Weber]

I've narrowed my choice to one of the two models offered. The Roku HD or Roku 2 XS. The XS model has an Ethernet and USB port. Problem is, I don't know what those ports are used for and hoping someone can enlighten me a bit. The price difference is only 40 dollars but I hate paying for things I never use but don't want to regret not getting something I would have found useful. I have COX cable and high speed internet and a wireless router if that matters. Thanks, Mike

[Jim Koepke]

I am not sure on this, but I think the movement is for content over the internet.

USB would allow the use of some accessories and the ethernet port would allow direct streaming from the internet.

These are good questions for a knowledgeable sales associate.

jtk

[Scott Shepherd]

Michael, I don't know a lot about them, but when you posted this, I went and read up on the Roku, specifically the XS model. The Roku in general doesn't get great reviews from what I saw. What are you trying to accomplish with it?

Here's one professional review :

http://www.digitaltrends.com/media-streamer-reviews/roku-2-xs-review/

and then the actual user comments which were pretty rough....

http://www.digitaltrends.com/media-streamer-reviews/roku-2-xs-review/user-reviews/

[Larry Browning]

If all you want to do is use it to stream content from the internet, then I think the Roku is ok as long as what you want to stream is one of the services they offer (such as Netflix). But if you want to stream video from your PC or network, I would look elsewhere. The Ethernet connection is to connect wired to your network rather than wireless. This is the preferred way because it is faster and much less hassle to set up. The USB connection would be used to play audio or video file stored on a usb stick or maybe an external HD. However, that can be problematic for video files with the Roku because it is so particular about what file formats it will play.

If you are a non-techy kind of guy, then the Roku is a good choice. But if you like tinkering with the setup, streaming from you own network, etc.... Then it is not for you. Those folks on digital trends are uber techies and the Roku falls way short for them. But if you want something that will just work as soon as you turn it on, with next to no setup, the Roku is perfect. In this case, I think the phrase "less is more" will probably apply quite well.

[Scott Shepherd]

Larry, maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong, but from the reviews people left, geeks or not, you can't even watch youtube videos on a Roku. Is that correct? If so, I'd look elsewhere because there are other boxes that have a lot more functionability. The Apple TV works really well. I don't own one, but my parents do. You can do a lot with it.

[Michael Weber]

Thank Jim Scott and Larry. Scott, yes techies don't care for it seems but most non techie reviews I read were mostly positive. Larry, I used to be interested in technoolgy as it existed at the time. Pretty much lost interest for a while and it's difficult for me to understand why I would want most of the current stuff. Didn't intend to dropout, it just happened LOL. So just looking for a plug and play option to access Netflix.

[Larry Browning]

Larry, maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong, but from the reviews people left, geeks or not, you can't even watch youtube videos on a Roku. Is that correct? If so, I'd look elsewhere because there are other boxes that have a lot more functionability. The Apple TV works really well. I don't own one, but my parents do. You can do a lot with it.
For me, not being able to watch youtube videos is a non-issue. I have a boxee box, it can play just about anything including youtube, but all I use it for is netflix, vudu, TED Talks, and watching my own video collection. I have yet to find a youtube video worthy of watching on the big screen. About the only time I watch a youtube video is when someone sends me a link to one in an email or is linked to on a fourm.
Now don't get me wrong, I would never own a Roku, I am too geeky, and love to "mess" with stuff like this. For me it is just too limited. But for the guy who just wants to watch netflix on his LR tv, I think it makes since.

[Scott Shepherd]

Gotcha. I've heard good things about the Boxee Box. I've never seen one, but I hear on the tech shows that people really like them.

I don't know if you are a baseball fan Michael, but if you are, the MLB package is awesome. It'll cost you $15 a month, but you can go month to month, turn it on or off as you wish, so you don't run up a big bill. The few games I watched on the Apple TV were awesome. You could actually change the viewing if I remember right. If you wanted to watch it from the home team viewpoint or the visitors, you could select that and you'd see different camera angles, etc, different commentary, etc. (That's if I remember right, it was a year ago :) ).

Plus, you can watch a ton of games and it's all in HD so it's clear as a bell.

I really thought that was a well done service.

If you are into baseball, even a little, check it out and make sure the Roku will play it. If not, then it doesn't matter :)

[Phil Thien]

I've got the Roku HD. I thought about getting the one with the USB port. BUT, it is apparently the case that updates to the Roku firmware have on occasion broken some of the file compatibilities. And I don't need a wired Ethernet port, wireless is just fine.

I use it to stream movies from Amazon. With Amazon Prime, you can stream some movies for free. For a fee, you can watch new releases. The price is less than Time Warner's On-Demand, the selection is huge, works great.

[Larry Browning]

What it really boils down to is which services you want to use. First determine which services you want, then get the streamer that has those services available on their box.

[Eddie Watkins]

I have the ROKU XS which I use to view movies. It works fine for that and it saves me about $3-4/movie over the cost of renting from my satellite provider. I found out after I bought it that I could get the same service thru my granddaughter's Wii game box. It's my understanding that several of the game boxes provide this service.

[Michael Weber]

Thanks all. After all was said and done I ordered a used Boxee:o from an Amazon seller with 100% positive feedback. Hope it works out:)

[Eric DeSilva]

If all you are interested in is Netflix, there are a lot of options, the best of breed (in my mind, anyway) being Apple TV. Right now, my main TV has a CATV box, Apple TV, a Boxee Box, a Roku HD, a Playstation 3, a Blu-Ray DVD Player and a Wii. The CATV box is the ONLY one of those seven boxes that can't do Netflix streaming.

I'm not actually nuts, I like this stuff and like to compare how the interfaces work. My wife and 4 year old, who do not like messing with technology, like the Apple TV, which is why I'll recommend that.

Here's my short review on each:

-- The Roku. Menu system seems OK, bought it because I got a Woot! deal on it--$50 for a refurb--and wanted to have something that would do Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and local content off my network. By the time I actually got around to setting it up, the Apple TV picked up Hulu, so it was sort of pointless. And, either I'm doing something wrong (which seems unlikely), or the refurb they send me has a bad HDMI out--I can only get it to work from the coax video out. But, too late to return it.

-- The Apple TV. I actually liked their interface before their recent redesign a little better. Dead simple to use, but limited content options--Netflix, Hulu and iTunes MS. It also does not like local content unless you have iTunes sharing activated on a computer on your network that is on. That doesn't work for me.

-- The Boxee Box. I want to like this one--interface actually sort of reminds me of the Apple TV. But, definitely a little tweakier to set up. Of all the devices, this one is much better at local content--it rationally figures out seasons for TV shows based on a naming scheme, etc. The one thing that I don't like is that you can't define custom icons for movies--either it finds the movie poster it wants on the web or it doesn't. The remote control is also kind of a big PITA too--because the Boxee is heavy on the internet side of things, it has a full keyboard. But in the dark, the way I watch, it is nearly useless. I'm also not enamored by the fact that the Boxee uses an RF remote instead of an IR remote--you can't integrate it well with things like the Harmony series without a lot of tweaking. Add to that the video card on mine seems to be dying, and I'm so so on the device.

The big problem with all of these is the shifting sands of content. Every day content streams seem to get added and deleted from the services, which can be frustrating. I was reading today, for example, that the financial company that was heavily invested in Hulu is selling off its shares to the network owners, which may have impacts on network content for Hulu. Stuff gets added and deleted from Netflix all the time too.

[Larry Browning]

[QUOTE=Eric DeSilva;1970428]
-- The Boxee Box. I want to like this one-- The one thing that I don't like is that you can't define custom icons for movies--either it finds the movie poster it wants on the web or it doesn't. /QUOTE]

Actually, this can be done. I think it does take a bit of "messin around" though. It has been a while since I did this, but I got it to work. The bad news is that I don't remember exactly what I did, and I am not at home to retrace my steps. IIRC you have to create and edit some kind of info file (maybe a .nfo file) and have it point to the icon file you want to use. You can probably google it, or go to the Boxee forum and search for it there.

[Larry Browning]

Thanks all. After all was said and done I ordered a used Boxee:o from an Amazon seller with 100% positive feedback. Hope it works out:)



What did you have to pay for that bad boy! I am thinking I may want to pickup another one, if the price is right.

[Michael Weber]

Larry, it was $110.00 with 6.97 shipping. No idea if the seller has more at that price but there were a few in the same price range. I just went with the cheapest seller that had 100% positive feedback. Just went to Amazon and clicked the "Used" option on the new Boxee page. Looking forward to getting it. Wife has been after me for a while to get Netflix but the only way I really knew how to do that was with a game console and frankly you couldn't give me one of those. Was happy to find other options.

[Eric DeSilva]

I found it--http://support.boxee.tv/entries/510215-creating-an-nfo-file

I wonder if I can use this to force renaming rationally too, since it is just an .xml file. Be nice to rename some files to force the indexing to happen in way that groups certain common series.

Then again, I probably need to buy a new boxee too. I do note that Amazon has refurbs for $130 and new ones for $170. Given my experience buying a bum Roku, I'm probably looking at buying a new one.