Roku HD user reviews (2000C)

Pros For those of us who are visually challenged, like me, who don't need blu-ray or HD 1080p video, this player is perfect. I got rid of my Comcast Cable TV entirely after getting this box, spending the money saved on faster internet instead

Cons I agree about lack of hulu support, but Roku could always add that. Blu-Ray or game systems don't either so I don't see that as a disadvantage really. They really couldn't have done any better, I would recommend this to anyone

Summary I love everything about this product. despite the fact they could add a better channel lineup, they could always do that with a simple software upgrade at any time, so I think this player is definitely worth investing in. It has no hardware flaws whatsoever and I've had mine for years now. You can watch movies, leo's twit.tv broadcasts, on-demand amazon video, like I said, I got rid of my cable TV service for this little box and I haven't looked back since. In fact I got rid of Cable TV, subscribed for 2x faster internet, and still saving money over cable TV and internet combined.

Pros Great little streamer box. Plays from numerous sources, including your own local media with the Roksbox channel (http://roksbox.com).

Cons Lack of video connections. Only Composite and HDMI on this particular model; component was dropped in order to shrink things down.

Pros You can shut down your desktop and still use the Roku,

Cons Cnet has little info about alternatives including the WD TV Live Plus HD, and actually no mention at all of the brite-View CinemaGo or CinemaTube media extenders, all of which can do Netflix.

Summary Do a search on Cnet and you would never find a single mention of brite-View, as if it doesn't exist, and yet their media xtenders and many others on the market can do what people really want: watch Netflix AND allow you to use wifi to have videos and photos from a desktop on your tv

Pros Now that Roku have stabilized their firmware on the box, it's really an excellent way to stream netflix. Added to that, the new firmware allows the instant play netflix catalog to be searched and added to your queue. It also does youtube

Cons Using the HDMI cable on my Sony hd tv creates a green screen on the Roku if left for a few days without use. Must be an HDMI handshake issue with the Sony. Resorted to using component cables and haven't had a problem since.

Summary Overall, it does the job pretty well. In fact it plays netflix content better than on my Sony XBR9's built in netflix app. The Sony doesn't stretch 4:3 content to wide screen with SD streaming content, whereas the Roku box does. Also, the quality of the picture seems to be better. I originally was concerned that not having an off switch would cause the box to fail prematurely, but standby mode seems to work just fine and doesn't use a lot of power. Overall, the fact that Roku continues to provide firmware updates to improve the box and other users are creating private channels to boost content is a plus, but if your sole use is for Netflix streaming, you won't be disappointed by the picture quality or the new search feature. It's also just so user friendly even your grandparents could work it.