Lately I seem to be in a mood to buy stuff. Think of it as my modest personal attempt to stimulate the economy. Anyway, I just bought a Roku.
What the heck is a Roku? Well, I don't want to oversell it, so let me just say that it's the greatest thing ever in the history of the universe.
Basically, Roku is a set-top box that allows you to watch streaming Internet video on your TV. You plug in the box, attach it to your TV via AV cables (or an HDMI cable, for those with HDTV), and follow the on-screen instructions to create a Roku account and sync it with your Netflix account or Amazon Video On Demand account. Then ... let the good times roll!
Various Roku channels with specialized content are also available. I haven't tried those. So far, Netflix has been enough for me. I use the simple remote to search for movies and TV shows that interest me, select one, and within a minute it's playing on my TV. (Of course, you need a Netflix subscription. Sadly, Netflix streaming video isn't currently available outside the US.)
I expected Roku to work, but not to work this well. I thought there would be problems like buffering, pixellation, image breakup, etc. So far the only technical issue I've noticed was a little bit of pixellation and frame-dropping on one film. I'm pretty sure this issue lay with Netflix, not Roku.
Overall, picture quality has been excellent, easily surpassing my crappy cable reception and rivaling, if not besting, a standard DVD. Netflix's selection of streaming video is getting better all the time, and already offers a wide variety, with a good mix of recent releases and older titles.
Recently I've developed the habit of watching syndicated reruns of King of the Hill at night. But when NewsCorp pulled its local stations off my cable provider's system because of a contract dispute, I was left without the antics of Hank, Bill, and Dale. Did I panic? I did not. Netflix has nine seasons of KOTH available for streaming. Who needs those local channels?
Heck, we're almost to point where we can ask: Who needs cable? When the selection of on-demand videos improves even more, it may be hard to justify coughing up hundreds of dollars a year to your friendly cable provider. Roku may be the future of TV.
And did I mention it's the greatest thing ever in the history of the universe?
Go Roku!
What the heck is a Roku? Well, I don't want to oversell it, so let me just say that it's the greatest thing ever in the history of the universe.
Basically, Roku is a set-top box that allows you to watch streaming Internet video on your TV. You plug in the box, attach it to your TV via AV cables (or an HDMI cable, for those with HDTV), and follow the on-screen instructions to create a Roku account and sync it with your Netflix account or Amazon Video On Demand account. Then ... let the good times roll!
Various Roku channels with specialized content are also available. I haven't tried those. So far, Netflix has been enough for me. I use the simple remote to search for movies and TV shows that interest me, select one, and within a minute it's playing on my TV. (Of course, you need a Netflix subscription. Sadly, Netflix streaming video isn't currently available outside the US.)
I expected Roku to work, but not to work this well. I thought there would be problems like buffering, pixellation, image breakup, etc. So far the only technical issue I've noticed was a little bit of pixellation and frame-dropping on one film. I'm pretty sure this issue lay with Netflix, not Roku.
Overall, picture quality has been excellent, easily surpassing my crappy cable reception and rivaling, if not besting, a standard DVD. Netflix's selection of streaming video is getting better all the time, and already offers a wide variety, with a good mix of recent releases and older titles.
Recently I've developed the habit of watching syndicated reruns of King of the Hill at night. But when NewsCorp pulled its local stations off my cable provider's system because of a contract dispute, I was left without the antics of Hank, Bill, and Dale. Did I panic? I did not. Netflix has nine seasons of KOTH available for streaming. Who needs those local channels?
Heck, we're almost to point where we can ask: Who needs cable? When the selection of on-demand videos improves even more, it may be hard to justify coughing up hundreds of dollars a year to your friendly cable provider. Roku may be the future of TV.
And did I mention it's the greatest thing ever in the history of the universe?
Go Roku!
"and follow the on-screen instructions to create a Roku account" ... Michael Prescott
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Do you have to pay for a Roku account? Like a monthly charge. We all ready have a Netflix account and I watch shows on our computer. How much did or does Roku cost? And if there is a monthly charge is it in addition to the cost of Netflix?
Posted by: Art | October 18, 2010 at 07:16 AM
You do not have to pay for a Roku account. Your only monthly expense is your existing Netflix account. (If you use Amazon Video On Demand, your have to pay for each movie or TV show individually, as is always the case with Amazon VOD. If you order special Roku channels like Major League Baseball, there is a charge.)
Roku offers several different boxes ranging in price from $60 to $100. I bought the $80 box, the Roku XD. Amazon sells them.
See the Roku site, linked in the main post, for details.
Go Roku!
Posted by: Michael Prescott | October 18, 2010 at 08:43 AM
We all ready have Netflix so that sounds like a good deal. We get our computer cable through Comcast and the internet and cable TV come in through the same cable so I guess I would just run the comcast cable through the Roku box and then through the regular comcast digital cable box? Is that how it works or would I have to get a splitter and plug the comcast cable into splitter and then have one cable go through the roku box and one cable go to the comcast digital cable box? It's all ready like a spiderweb back there. By the way, Boardwalk Empire was really good last night. I just watched it on HBO On Demand. It just gets better and better. Steve Buscemi is excellent as Nucky Thompson.
Posted by: Art | October 18, 2010 at 09:53 AM
You connect Roku in one of two ways: wired or wireless. If you have WiFi, Roku will find your signal. If you don't have WiFi, you need to connect an ethernet cable to Roku. This is *not* the coaxial cable that plugs into your TV.
For the wired approach, you need a router. This is a box that connects to your modem and offers several ethernet-out ports. One ethernet cable will run to your PC; a separate ethernet cable will run to your Roku.
It would probably be easier to buy a wireless router and set up a home WiFi network.
I'd recommend going to this page and downloading a quick-start guide:
tiny.cc/43l6v
Posted by: Michael Prescott | October 18, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Hey Michael - Netflix recently became available in Canada.
Dwayne
Posted by: Dwayne | October 18, 2010 at 02:48 PM
Thanks, Dwayne. Didn't know that. Does this mean Canadians can watch streaming Netflix video?
Posted by: Michael Prescott | October 18, 2010 at 03:13 PM
I've been enjoying the heck out of Roku since March now! It's great! Looks like they're going to be streaming Hulu soon as well.
Yay Roku!
Posted by: dmduncan | October 18, 2010 at 04:42 PM
Answering my own question, I see that Netflix does offer streaming video in Canada. (A bit surprisingly, they offer *only* streaming video, no DVDs by mail.)
Posted by: Michael Prescott | October 18, 2010 at 07:35 PM
How does the recent $99 Apple TV box compare? Does anyone know?
Posted by: Roger Knights | October 19, 2010 at 11:55 PM
Michael,
I don't know about Roku, but I think businesses like Netflix just lead to ghost towns. More and more store fronts, like Blockbuster, are being boarded up because people would rather shop by Internet and have things mailed to them. Personally, I like having a vibrant town center where stores aren't vacant, but perhaps I am in the minority. My daughter gave me a year's subscription to Netflix a few years back and I couldn't wait for it to expire so that I could walk down to Blockbuster. But now that Blockbuster is closing up we have one more vacated store that will likely never be occupied again.
No jokes about "ghost towns."
Aloha!
Mike
Posted by: Michael Tymn | October 20, 2010 at 12:40 AM
I looked into Apple TV, but it only works with digital widescreen sets, and I have an old-fashioned non-digital TV. If you have the right kind of TV, the Apple product would probably work well. Be sure to check the product requirements.
Mike Tymn, I shed no tears for Blockbuster. They ruthlessly put the independent video rental stores out of business, and now they're getting what's coming to 'em. It's like capitalist karma. Besides, Blockbuster always sucked. They would have 600 copies of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, and no copies of Casablanca. And they charged four bucks for a rental!
Even without Netflix, Blockbuster would be facing extinction from competition with Redbox, which rents videos for a buck.
Those boarded-up stores will find new tenants soon enough. City centers won't become ghost towns until someone figures out a way to deliver Starbucks coffee via modem.
By the way, over the past two nights I watched The 39 Steps and Monsters Inc. with Roku. Woo-hoo!
Posted by: Michael Prescott | October 20, 2010 at 06:08 AM
I live in a neighborhood without any big chain stores, and that's one reason why we chose to live hear. I can walk down to the corner pub or go for a hike in the park and chances are I'll see someone I know there. I don't see the closing of Blockbuster stores as a loss. They put all the small neighborhood video shops out of business with their big ugly chain stores.
I guess I'll be glad I didn't let hubby cancel my unlimited download internet access. (The company we deal with said they could save him ten whole dollars a month by switching us over to a limited access plan and he almost made the switch. They no longer offer the unlimited plan and are trying to get anyone on the old plans switched out of them.)
Posted by: Sandy | October 20, 2010 at 06:44 AM
I just listened to a new interview that has been posted by Skeptiko it has Dr. Sam Parnia on there. Once your there you will be wondering why the bold title to the video until of course you listen to the whole video then you will know that Alex jump to the conclusion that Sam is thinking ndes are illusions.
Posted by: Leo MacDonald | October 20, 2010 at 05:39 PM
Michael - Looks like you're not the only one who likes Roku / Netflix (me too!).
NFLX + 12% today, + > 200% YTD. I bought my Roku box November, 2009, but not NFLX
Posted by: PD | October 21, 2010 at 01:18 PM
I'm one of the few Luddites who still has dial-up. Do I need highspeed for Roku? I figure if I dump cable for Netflix I would be able to afford it (highspeed). Thanks.
Posted by: Sheila | October 25, 2010 at 04:11 PM
Yes, Roku requires a broadband (highspeed) connection.
Dumping cable for Netflix might be a bit premature. It depends on how much you like to watch sports, news, and current TV shows. Little or none of that can be obtained via Roku.
Posted by: Michael Prescott | October 25, 2010 at 04:40 PM