Roku LT
There are many ways to deck out a home theater system to keep that living room looking and sounding great. Here are some quality, worthwhile upgrades to consider for the holidays.
The Roku LT would be a great product at double the price, and at $50 it's a steal. Roku has managed to shave the price way down, jettisoning unnecessary features, while keeping all of the streaming content we love -- Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, MLB.TV, and Pandora, to name a few. And if the LT is sold out, as it often is, go for the $60 Roku HD, which is nearly identical.
The good: The Roku LT is a small streaming-media box that costs only $50. It offers hundreds of streaming-video and -audio services, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, HBO Go, Vudu, Spotify, Pandora, Mog, Rdio, and MLB.TV. Roku also offers cross-platform search, capable of finding content across major streaming services. And the LT also supports older TVs via its analog video output.
The bad: For those invested in the Apple ecosystem, the Roku LT doesn't offer the same tight integration as the Apple TV's AirPlay functionality. The Roku LT also lacks a YouTube channel. And there's no Ethernet port, so you'll need a solid Wi-Fi signal in your home theater.
The bottom line: The Roku LT is a killer streaming-media box, offering tons of streaming content -- including favorites like Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, and Pandora -- for just $50.
October 31, 2012 9:12 PM PDT
Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET
