Roku HD Player (Netflix Player)

• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 146 reviews Back to product review
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• 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

  5.0 stars

  "Movies Movies Movies"

  by tjmile1 on December 10, 2008

  Pros: - Surprisingly good selection
  - Surprisingly good video quality on a 55" Sony LCD
  - Very clean design and GUI
  - Easy setup
  - Dirt cheap compared to any other movie source
  - It does what they say it does

  Cons: - Some glitches watching certain films, although most stream flawlessly
  - Sometimes you only get 2 dots out of 4 (streaming issues that Neflix claims are fixed)
  - You may not get much sleep if you buy one (too much good stuff to just "go to bed")

  Summary: Roku was a whim purchase for me. CNET reviewed it, and I already had a Netflix account, so why not. I was blown away with how good this little box is. I've watched hundreds of movies in the last two months.
  
  Sometimes I don't make it through the whole movie, but that's the point. In the first five minutes if I find out I'm watching a bad "B" movie that has no redeeming value (some are fun to watch because they're bad), I pick something else. No harm - no foul, I just move on to another movie. I gave up on renting movies due to how many bad movies I went home with. Roku eliminates that and even better, Roku allows you to take chances on movies that you suspect you won't like and certainly wouldn't rent. Sometimes I've been surprised by movies I didn't think I would like.
  
  There are thousands of movies I never saw because I didn't see them in the theater, or rent them. Roku has allowed me to catch up on what I may or may not have missed. It's outstanding for students studying film since so many classics are available.
  
  The final reason I love Roku. Foreign movies. I'm a huge foreign movie fan and Roku has allowed me to watch some extremely moving films. Films that take chances and stay with you. I would have never seen any of these films without Netflix and Roku. I give Roku the credit because I probably wouldn't have rented them through Netflix itself. Like I said, Roku enables you to take chances on films you wouldn't see otherwise.
  
  There have been some streaming issues, but Netflix claims to have fixed them. I don't know about that, but with what I've watched already I have zero regrets, and I use it every day.
  
  Updated on Dec 10, 2008

  Your equipment you connect to the Roku with has a lot to do with it. I had a problem installing my Roku wirelessly with my Linksys WRT54G router when I first got it. I called Roku and they were very pleasant and offered to send me a new box, but that's not what I wanted. I wasn't convinced the box was broken since it powered up and I was just getting network connection errors. The box itself gave me the answer eventually, I got a error message stating I need to add the Roku's MAC address to my router. I suspect if you have a computer saavy friend help you out, you may find your Roku works just fine. As far as being out money with a dead box, I can't believe Roku won't replace your non-working box or even refund you. I'm sure they would do either. They have a good product, and they're not going to stiff customers over a bad box. Ask them to replace it or send it back and get a refund.
  
  Updated on Dec 25, 2008

  Good news. The previous streaming issues seem to be resolved, at least if you upgrade your firmware. I participated in the Roku beta firmware program and the "HD" upgrade is a winner. Doing an upgrade is great, all you have to do is select update on the info screen. It's the easiest firmware upgrade I've ever done, and frankly, I'm still amazed at how well thought out the device is. The Roku is designed for video novices.
  
  I now have the ability to receive 720p (although the HD selections for streaming are very slim right now) and previous problems have disappeared. HD movies do look great, but all videos are streaming better now.
  
  The Roku is the best option, especially if you don't need "BlueRay", or a video game system. $99 + $8.99 per month for unlimited, commercial free, streaming movies? Word of mouth is going to propel this device to become the next big thing, and rightly so.

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