Do you have a Roku?

[liberty47]

My wife and I received a Roku for a gift. We already have a PS3, MacBook and Samsung Bluray player for streaming.

If anyone has a Roku can you tell me why you do or do not like it.

thanks....

[the86d]

No fan to get clogged, works well. If it sits idle, upon wakup it =has some lag, so if you hit a button to wake it from screensaver, then start moving cursor, then it starts to play catchup, and redraws all icons. I had an issue where they dropped a few bad updates one disabled wireless, soon after that it disabled the wired, but wireless worked, and then they fixed it. You only have like a 90 warranty with PHONE-BASED support, and after that they will direct you to e-mail support, or you can pay a fee for phone support, but the warranty is extended for 2 more years from the initial 1-year hardware (with e-mail support).

(I really love it, but the support issue erked me, and I think the warranty's I listed are correct in numbers.)

I don't like using a device with a fan (360, PS3, PC/Notebook, if a passive-cooled device exists) for streaming, it is just one more thing that could go wrong...

[knerona]

They work well with a good internet provider. Saves space, and keeps unnecessary heat and usage from my xbox. Bought one for my mother as well, very easy to most people to get the hang of too.

[gschoelles]

No subtitles

[sd_shooter]

The unique thing about Roku is the custom channels you can add, not all of them are public. For example we have live BBC, Al Jazeera, Russia Today and CNN International feeds. I don't watch the news, but I could with the Roku.

(I don't have cable)

[sholling]

I own a PS3 and a Blu-Ray player with streaming and two Roku 2 XS boxes and I exclusively use the Rokus for streaming everything except YouTube (at Google's request there is no YouTube channel). The XS version of the hardware is capable of 1080P and uses a Bluetooth controller that does not have the lag of the IR version. The big difference between the PS3 as a streamer and a Roku is the huge number of channels. Besides Netflix they have Amazon Prime and Vudu and tons of other choices many of which are completely free. Keep in mind that Roku does not own the channels or write the apps for the channels they just provide the hardware and act as billing agent for some of the channels that charge for access so the quality of the channels is all over the place. Some free channels are quiet good, some are cheesy, and a few are limited to samples.

What it isn't good at is streaming content from your computer. It can do it to one degree or another with some add-ons but there are better choices.

Unless you plan to return it or re-gift it you really don't have anything to lose trying it out.

[MaHoTex]

The unique thing about Roku is the custom channels you can add, not all of them are public. For example we have live BBC, Al Jazeera, Russia Today and CNN International feeds. I don't watch the news, but I could with the Roku.

(I don't have cable)

^ This says it all right here!

Adding custom channels is where it is at. You can find anything you can dream up!

[FMFdevildoc]

Effing love my Roku it is the ticket

[Casual_Shooter]

We have one for our daughter's room. She only needs/ uses it for Netflix, but it works well for that.

Was easy plug and play. Netflix interface is different than the PS3's but works fine.

[Peter.Steele]

Love my XS. Use it mostly for Hulu, Netflix and Amazon video. Wish that the Netflix videos would auto-play the next episode like on PS3, but Hulu does so that's okay.

[stilly]

I have a WD live hub but have yet to hook it up. If I did not have the live hub I would have a roku but the wd live hub plays all of the formats that I can d/l from the net. (ts, mkv, br) AND up/down convert them to my 480i screen with little to no trouble.

[jdavis530]

With the Macbook you have, I would suggest an Apple TV. Way better in my opinion, but thats just what it is, my opinion.

[Walter Sobchak]

I received a Roku as a gift and have since canceled my cable and only use the Roku. I don't watch many shows so its easy to just pay as you watch with Amazon. The only thing I don't get is local news.

[GM4spd]

We have one for our daughter's room. She only needs/ uses it for Netflix, but it works well for that.

Was easy plug and play. Netflix interface is different than the PS3's but works fine.

That's what I have it for and works well--it's very small. Pete

[jdmfan13]

If you've got a desktop/server - you could use it as a media server and stream your content to the roku.