Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Roku XD 1080p Streaming Player
$49.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: Refurbished

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

CNET reviews: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-receivers/roku-xd-2050x/4505-6739_7-34182625.html

Good price on these first gen players, does everything the 2nd gen xd does for 20 or 30 dollars less. You can do anything but play angry birds.

I love my roku box, I haven't paid for cable in over 6 months and I don't miss it at all!

As always, this is great to take to hotels that have free wi-fi. Provides plenty of entertainment at no extra cost.

Stars on Amazon Ratings:

5 star:
(593)
4 star:
(233)
3 star:
(75)
2 star:
(55)
1 star:
(130)


4 stars average on Amazon 1086 customer reviews.

I like the number of reviewers that reviewed 5 stars... Worries me about how many only did 1 star though.

I have the 720p model.... it freezes all the time on Hulu....

Woot, if you really want me to buy more roku crap, i'll tell you how.

I've got 4 roku's. I don't need any more boxes. But i'd kill for some extra remotes.

If they're cheaper than the ten dollar ones from roku, i'd be in for three. I might even make my wife get an account to pick up 4 or 5, for when the kids destroy them.

Roku 2 for just 20 more on the Amazon

$69.99 Free Shipping for those in their prime

syninthecity wrote:Woot, if you really want me to buy more roku crap, i'll tell you how.

I've got 4 roku's. I don't need any more boxes. But i'd kill for some extra remotes.

If they're cheaper than the ten dollar ones from roku, i'd be in for three. I might even make my wife get an account to pick up 4 or 5, for when the kids destroy them.

If you have an android phone there is some nice apps... i use it because i've lost my remote. theres also a nice chrome app as well for your web browser

Is it me, or is the write up a little, off? Since when is WoW on console, or am I missing something?

CowboyDann wrote:As always, this is great to take to hotels that have free wi-fi. Provides plenty of entertainment at no extra cost.

Problem is that with everyone bringing their wi-fi devices, you're lucky to get the bandwidth you need to watch streaming services. At least that's my experience with public/hotel wi-fi.

These Roku boxes are great but if you plan to use it for HBO GO streaming make sure your HBO provider allows access on Roku. Comcast / Xfinity and many of the other cable providers block HBO GO access on Roku boxes. I think most satalite companies do not block it.

I got this during the last Woot-Off and I am 95% satisfied. I seriously love this thing, for $49 you can't lose. The 5% of dissatisfaction is only because there is no YouTube channel, but I don't miss it much.

Note that with the current models, you must buy the $99 top-of-the-line model to get the Ethernet port, which I really wanted. This half-price Woot has that. And if you buy one, look on the Web for lists of private channels that you can add.

I should have bought more than one because it's cheap enough to be a gift. In fact since this is the same price as the woot-off I think I will load up.

I this exact version for Mom last Mother's day and it has been her primary source of TV entertainment since. I asked her about updated it to a newer model for this Mom's day, she said it was fine the way it was.

I know three other Mom's that have a Roku and they all love it. Very easy to use for those technically challenged.

While it would arrive a bit late, would still make an excellent late Mother's day gift. As part of their Mom's day gift, help them setup a Picasa web album to use as the Roku screensaver. Put their kids/grandkids on it and they will be in heaven!

bakntime wrote:Problem is that with everyone bringing their wi-fi devices, you're lucky to get the bandwidth you need to watch streaming services. At least that's my experience with public/hotel wi-fi.

Same here, CowboyDann is a lucky man...the last few hotels I was in had such slow bandwidth that I don't think a high quality stream would work. And when I say slow I mean I also plugged directly into the room's Ethernet port and did a speed test on that. I'm thinking a lot of hotels just cap the bandwidth of each user.

Customer service is.... pretty bad.

I've had my Roku for a over a year and used it mostly for Netflix. Netflix is kind of silly and won't let you deactivate one device, so when I wanted to deactivate a single one I had to deactivate them all. Okay, Netflix, you're crazy, but whatever. So I figured I would just reactivate my Roku. Easy, right?

NOT SO MUCH.

It's been a month and customer service is just messing with me at this point, I think. A bunch of emails and two phone calls later and it's still not working, and despite a promise saying they'd get back to me with a solution via email, the only email I've gotten is an email saying "if your issue is still persisting, feel free to email us!" So much for getting back to me with that solution!

Long story short: works great until it doesn't, and then you're screwed.

delusive wrote:Customer service is.... pretty bad.

I've had my Roku for a over a year and used it mostly for Netflix. Netflix is kind of silly and won't let you deactivate one device, so when I wanted to deactivate a single one I had to deactivate them all. Okay, Netflix, you're crazy, but whatever. So I figured I would just reactivate my Roku. Easy, right?

NOT SO MUCH.

It's been a month and customer service is just messing with me at this point, I think. A bunch of emails and two phone calls later and it's still not working, and despite a promise saying they'd get back to me with a solution via email, the only email I've gotten is an email saying "if your issue is still persisting, feel free to email us!" So much for getting back to me with that solution!

Long story short: works great until it doesn't, and then you're screwed.

try it on the netflix end.... there customer service has always been helpful to me.

zlassiter wrote:try it on the netflix end.... there customer service has always been helpful to me.

Not a bad idea. Roku admitted via email that the problem was on their (Roku's) end, but I seem to be getting nowhere with them so Netflix might be worth a shot.

I knew adding http://wwww.roku.woot.com to my bookmarks was an effective shortcut.

the write up's never fail to split my sides, this is coming from a console gamer

So is hulu free or not? I am confused what this really does

truckshot wrote:So is hulu free or not? I am confused what this really does

Hulu is free on the web, but if you want to watch it on the roku, your phone, or other things it costs money to get hulu plus (and its not that much of a plus really it stinks more than this stuff)

Roku + Plex + My Desktop = The Best Media Center Solution Ever

Plex is free. You don't need to have any hard drives plugged into your Roku. Plex streams everything off the pc or mac. And they are working on Hulu and Youtube and other apps to work through Plex. That alone is worth buying a Roku.

truckshot wrote:So is hulu free or not? I am confused what this really does

regular hulu is free, it's hulu plus that costs

truckshot wrote:So is hulu free or not? I am confused what this really does

There is a collection of paid and free channels. Hulu Plus (not just Hulu) is a paid subscription service like Netflix.

As for what this does, it tunes into channels of Internet video and audio (if a channel has been coded up for Roku), and it feeds into your TV. The only limitations are your Internet bandwidth (must be fast enough for high quality video streaming) and your data cap if applicable.

Be warned, this specific model is flaky about the wifi key/band settings.

bakntime wrote:Problem is that with everyone bringing their wi-fi devices, you're lucky to get the bandwidth you need to watch streaming services. At least that's my experience with public/hotel wi-fi.

I have been to hotels where they have no more free wi-fi, hotels that really limit your wi-fi so you can't do movies without paying $20 extra per night, and hotels that you can't connect any devices to their tvs. It is crazy what they will do to try to nickel and dime you. I never went back to any of those hotels by the way. Kinda stupid on their part if they thought it through.

If your an Amazon Prime member, you can get a decent library on your Roku for free.... they have a roku channel too

zlassiter wrote:If you have an android phone there is some nice apps... i use it because i've lost my remote. theres also a nice chrome app as well for your web browser

I use the app made for my iphone and I love it! Especially because my ferrets like to drag the remote into random corners.

My mom knows how to use one of these, which says a lot about how easy it is to use.

so can I or can't I stream videos from my NAS/PC through this?

truckshot wrote:So is hulu free or not? I am confused what this really does

Since there is some confusion Hulu is only free when you watch it in a browser (or something that can make Hulu think you're using a browser such as Playon but that also has a monthly fee). The Roku does not have a web browser thus there currently is no free way to stream Hulu content to a Roku (I have one, I looked).

If you are purchasing this solely to watch free Hulu you will be disappointed. FWIW I'm using the newer Roku2 XS and I think it's probably the best streaming box for your TV short of an HTPC. Currently I use mine for Netflix, and Plex (to stream stuff from my local network) and the Crackle channel sometimes has some decent older stuff. My biggest complaint is that the device can't stream stuff from your local network on it's own which quite frankly is a ridiculous artificial limitation but what it does do it's pretty good at.

delusive wrote:Customer service is.... pretty bad.

Well there's a good side to that too. I ordered one directly from their website, they sent me three and only billed me for one. When I emailed customer service they sent me a prepaid return shipping label for the two extras I got and when they were returned they refunded my money.

As of yet I haven't been able to convince their customer service to bill me for the Roku I actually bought. So incompetent customer service got me a free Roku.

I've purchased 4 rokus, two for my family and two for extended family/friends. It used to be you just hooked it up, clicked netflix, copied a code to their web site on your computer, and you were up and running. With the newer ones, you are required to sign up for a roku account and that roku account requires you to give roku your credit card number. This happens with the older ones too, now, for example, if you give it away and your sister tries to add it to her netflix account.

Apparently you can contact roku customer service and set up an account over the phone without providing a credit card number, but you've already read about roku customer service in this thread.

All that said, I've had mine for years and they work great. The oldest one (original) has a hard time keeping up with HD over wireless but the newer one has no such issue. I've had a power cord go bad and a remote go bad. Other than that, no problems at all with the hardware. We use it for netflix, amazon instant videos, and vimeo.

I bought this when it was wooted last month for my Dad, who's slightly technically challenged, and set it up for him this week. He got the hang of it pretty quickly and it actually looks fine on his standard def TV.

This will help him cancel cable since they're jacking the rates up on him next month. They'd prefer $0 apparently.

P.S. I'm a GREAT son.

Saw this XD Woot earlier via the Woot Roku Channel...thanks to my XDS.

Wish it was so, an XDS (rather than this XD)...I'd bite another 2100X (as backup).

Great thing about this Gen 1 XDS...it runs even below the min 1.2Mbps required (was running under or about 768k on ethernet connection) and gets watchable "two dots" with component output on my EDTV CRT WS Samsung. I had since however upgraded to 3.0Mbps...now all "four dots" on the download meter and picture is as sharper as ever.

I have COMCAST in Suburban MD and have no issues with HBO2GO on my ROKU or on any computers using a browser. Also works on my IPAD. COMCAST took a short time to jump onboard but not too long as some others did.

Now ROKU needs get on with bringing MAX2GO next. Same application with some minor script changes.

I cannot say enoughgood things about ROKU. I swore I would never exist without Cable TV. Got rid of it a few years back, and have never looked back!.

Get one, PERIOD!

Okay bought this recently love the service. The issue I have if you want a lot of channels and want to play with the screen savers etc you have to have the SD card. The box they are selling can take quite a few channels but runs out of space quickly for new channels. So that SD card slot can become useful very quickly on the new boxes. Either that or you have to shift your channel selections around quite a bit as you are figuring out what to keep and what to pitch.

Here is a fix, although will require a few bucks,
Get PLAYON.The PLAYON Premium Lifetime License is on sale for a few more days, Sunday I think, for $59.99 and then use that to watch Netflix. And of course you will get allot more other content. Its not a great solution I know, but it will solve your problem and you will be happy with the extras youll get.

I saw another post above where a poster was unhappy about streaming Videos on his network to ROKU. PlayOn Basic license as well as Premium does that VERY WELL. I play vids off all of the computers in my home network anytime I want. Works great.

Also, PLAYON claims that they are going from $79.99 for current lifetime license to $89.99. It was enought to get me to jump. I have one of their original PlayOn "Basic" licenses and swore I would never get a Premium. But the writing was on the wall so I jumped. Also the Mobile Access to my IPAD was attractive. It works very well.

Just a thought

NOTE: I have no affiliation with ROKU or PlayOn, just a Home Entertainment "Enthusiast".(Enthusiast= nice word for "addict" )

delusive wrote:Customer service is.... pretty bad.

I've had my Roku for a over a year and used it mostly for Netflix. Netflix is kind of silly and won't let you deactivate one device, so when I wanted to deactivate a single one I had to deactivate them all. Okay, Netflix, you're crazy, but whatever. So I figured I would just reactivate my Roku. Easy, right?
NOT SO MUCH.
It's been a month and customer service is just messing with me at this point, I think. A bunch of emails and two phone calls later and it's still not working, and despite a promise saying they'd get back to me with a solution via email, the only email I've gotten is an email saying "if your issue is still persisting, feel free to email us!" So much for getting back to me with that solution!
Long story short: works great until it doesn't, and then you're screwed.