bmundt303 wrote:With this Roku XD, Is there a way that I could stream from my computer an external hard drive downloaded content?

What about a black friday woot-off??

A friend of mine developed a channel on Roku for doing just that (all media from your pc) - might wanna check it out.

http://roksbox.com/

mikezav wrote:So it does stream Hulu Plus, but what about Hulu? Youtube? Other free services?

There have been unofficial channels for regular Hulu or Youtube, but they've been pulled due to licensing reasons.

Rumor has it that an official Youtube channel is coming.

There are TONS of other free sources however, (over 200 channels).

e.g. Khan Academy

I'm very tempted, if only I can figure out the audio connectivity maze to get 5.1.

My receiver doesn't have HDMI input (can I get a new receiver? Wife says: No!) so I need optical.

There's a box on monoprice that's a 4x2 HDMI matrix switch (which I need anyway) plus it splits out optical audio... but the audio is limited to whatever the HDMI rx reports it can handle, which in the case of my TV is PCM. (Can I get a new TV? Wife says: No!)

Anybody got a brilliant idea that doesn't involve a dozen convertor boxes?

EDIT: on further reflection I think I may be screwed regardless. It seems that my Dish Network DVR is only going to output PCM audio as long as the ultimate receiver, i.e. the TV, reports itself as a PCM audio device.

czetie wrote:I'm very tempted, if only I can figure out the audio connectivity maze to get 5.1.

My receiver doesn't have HDMI input (can I get a new receiver? Wife says: No!) so I need optical.

There's a box on monoprice that's a 4x2 HDMI matrix switch (which I need anyway) plus it splits out optical audio... but the audio is limited to whatever the HDMI rx reports it can handle, which in the case of my TV is PCM. (Can I get a new TV? Wife says: No!)

Anybody got a brilliant idea that doesn't involve a dozen convertor boxes?

Control what goes on in your household?

Buy 2 Roku 2 and save $40 Black friday deal from roku
http://www.facebook.com/roku

and the Roku LT might fit into what some people need
http://www.amazon.com/Roku-2400D-LT-Streaming-Player/dp/B005JACJ50

Klintor wrote:Remember, these are not designed to stream local content, like a WDTV Live (and the WDTV also does Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu Plus). Just keep that in mind.

Nonsense, it can stream live content if anyone is sending it. Twit.tv on the Nowhereman channel for instance.

I love my Roku's as well. About 360 channels and growing. I really love the Zoovio channel! I upload my cell phone videos to my zoovio.com account (free) and watch them on my TV. Amazing!

Can I use this on an old tv with just a coax cable and a/v inputs? I also just bought a set top box if that can help matters. I haven't opened it yet because I'm canceling my cable in a few days. I'm also interested in paying a subscription to Hulu or somewhere and maybe hooking this up through my computer if possible. Can any of this be done on my old tv? Thanks in advance for the help!

Someone tell me what grand advantages I get from the refurbed Roku for more cash over this RCA box they have in stock locally for 39?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-DSB772WE/17693168

SumDuud wrote:$1.99 plus $4.99 shipping

Isn't there an app for that?

Yes, It's called RoMote

It's a free Android App that lets you connect to your roku using state of the art Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi to those in the know) Technology!

The nice thing to do would be donate the 1.99 and pocket the 5 dollars you saved on shipping

jhuppertz wrote:Guys, BEFORE you buy, let me set some things straight (b/c the writeup for this box is misleading).

a) With this (or most any other streaming), you will NOT get any LIVE TV programming. All of this is canned-content (at best, from the day before).

b) You WILL need to pay for subscriptions to services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon streaming, HBO-to-Go, etc. They don't get their content for free, any more than the cable or satellite guys do. And gee, wasn't it Netflix that raised their prices 60% overnight just a couple of months ago???

c) You will NOT get live sports events with this - at least not the ones most want to watch. No NFL games live. No NBA, MLB, NCAA, NHL. Some games or leagues are available streaming for $$, but most are not. How do you think the teams that pay these players mega-millions get their money? Mostly from selling Television rights to their games, and they will not allow them to be streamed.

There is a service called playon that costs us $60 for a lifetime subscription. With that you can get all sorts of live tv. We watch live sports all the time streamed through our Roku. We love our Rokus and we have the original model.

bert6801 wrote:So will this device act as a network media player...to play MKV and such from my main PC..I want a all in one

There is a free Roku app for playing jpeg's, avi's, etc from your networked PC to the TV. Works OK with Roku 2, no experience with OG. Here's a link to the app developer:

http://www.gabilan.com/joomla/

CowboyDann wrote:You do need to subscribe to the pay sites like netflix and amazon but they have plenty of free channels. They do provide plenty of free content. Some of my favorites are TEDTalks Crackle and the NASA/Space related programs.Here is a list of all channels available

I really like Crackle. Free movies with just a few quick commercials.

Thanksgiving day we rented Super 8 from Amazon.com for $1.99 and watched So I Married An Axe Murderer for free on Crackle.
Not bad. One complaint I have is pixelation on dark scenes. It probably is due to my very slow connection.

I have a roku in my 2 year old daughter's room. Both her and my 4 year old son know how to work the remote to watch their shows through "the big red thing" (netflix). I bought mine off craigslist for $30 (I believe it's an original model). When I first set it up, it was still connected under the other person's wifi and I couldn't get it to work. I called customer service and with 2 toddlers screaming in the background about shows they want to watch (thanks to the netflix streaming on the wii), the man was super nice and in 15 minutes the roku was working. I highly recommend the roku. The product is good quality, easy to use, and is very reliable AND customer services is very pleasant and helpful. Even knowing I bought the roku off craigslist (I thought I got screwed)customer service assisted me. I'd buy this one, but then I'd have to get another TV!

bmundt303 wrote:With this Roku XD, Is there a way that I could stream from my computer an external hard drive downloaded content?

What about a black friday woot-off??

You can probably do that with Plex. Here are some details from Plex's website.

To use Plex, you'll need a PC running Windows or Mac OS to render & stream the content over your home network.

I own this fantastic box of wonder, and I love it. It's true that Hulu Plus has a tendency to to freeze up, but it hasn't happened in over a week now, and I've been watching it almost exclusivity for two weeks. I didn't want to pay $100/month for a ton a channels I don't even watch. Mine was $99 one time purchase, and i pay about $15/month in subs. It also lowered my light bill about $25/month. I couldn't be happier with it. Lastly, can't beat playing Angry Birds on a large flat screen.

Oh, and it can stream live TV. You can get news apps, for instance, that will stream what is currently on cable, but it's only from 9 am to 3 or something like that. After that you can watch recordings of the day's shows.

CowboyDann wrote:Uh... Not Quite. I don't know about the other sports but for 25 dollars you get an entire year of baseball with Mlb.TV and I had no problem streaming regular season games all year round. They do have local game blackouts but that is MLB not Roku. If I want to watch a local team play I can usually pick it up on my antenna. For the World Series/Playoffs I'm usually watching them at a bar anyways.

Where do you get MLB for $25? We paid $20 just to stream radio audio from MLB!

This is a great price for a Roku XD, shipped. I just paid $50 for a used one on Ebay.

I think this one is better than the bottom of the line new Roku2 they are currently selling, which does not have an ethernet port and is only 720p.

Wikipedia actually has a great comparison chart of all the models:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roku

todesco wrote:Where do you get MLB for $25? We paid $20 just to stream radio audio from MLB!

during the last few weeks of the season my brother was able to get it for 12 dollars and renewed at that rate. Blew me away, 2012 is going to be a lot cheaper apparently

todesco wrote:Where do you get MLB for $25? We paid $20 just to stream radio audio from MLB!

I'm going to add to my own question. I went to MLB and indeed it was $25/season but it said "Watch full game archives of every team's regular season or Postseason games." Does this mean after the live game? Or live stream as it is happening?

kamnet wrote:It's always going to be different for different people, but here are some scenarios:

1) Your TV and PC are not in the same room.
2) You or another family member doesn't want noisy PC equipment in their living room/home theater setup.
3) Your PC w/ Internet connection has to remain in a fixed location.
4) You have more than one TV you want to connect to your media files.
5) You want a nicer interface than your PC desktop to browse your media files, but you can't afford the price of a nice PVR package, and the free ones are too complicated or won't run, or the PVR constantly need updated to fix flaws.

For me, I like having one single PC in the house to store all my media files. While having a dedicated PC for my TV would be nice, it's not feasible right now, nor do I have the room for it. My Roku connects via WiFi, takes up very little space, and offers an attractive, easy-to-use interface. When my kids get their own TVs in their rooms, I can add another Roku and not have to run more cables or try to figure out how to get them the same programming on the main TV.

Hi K, you seem to have in-depth knowledge and experience on this Roku thing. We live in farm country, does it work with Satellite as we have no other option. I am encouraged re "easy to set up", being a little tech-less. Also no PC, just laptop. Workable scenario?

todesco wrote:I'm going to add to my own question. I went to MLB and indeed it was $25/season but it said "Watch full game archives of every team's regular season or Postseason games." Does this mean after the live game? Or live stream as it is happening?

Yeah sorry. that was my mistake, The 25 is for the 2011 season and all of spring training of 2012.

Like I said, I told my brother to triple check the fine print and he's locked in at ~12 maybe 15 dollars a Edit: A YEAR for it. I'd imagine the spring training package is 10 or 15 dollars if you buy it separately.

If your game is on blackout you can watch it 90 minutes after it ends. Usually they sell a post season package for 10 dollars if you already have the mlb.tv package *29 if you don't* but to me the post season package wasn't worth it be because all the games were blocked out. I just caught them at the bar each night.

I have three of these. One is in our TV room with the main entertainment system, and a CAT5 ethernet connection. One is in our bedroom, connected via wifi. One is in my motor home. It's connected via CAT5 to a wireless router that connects to free wifi wherever it finds it (campground, truck stop, etc)

We use them primarily for Netflix. They all work well, and choose picture quality based on detected bandwidth.

I highly recommend these because of the available CAT5 connections. These are awesome, awesome, awesome. I'm buying a couple for spares.

I was an early Roku adopter... and have the original Roku"Netflix" Box. I've had my original box for three... maybe four years? I can't remember. I've been thrilled with it for a number of reasons.

1) It's a lot cheaper than cable. I get terrible OTA reception, live in a building that has limited choices for dish/sat TV... and already had a Netflix subscription. I also really don't care about watching stuff as it comes on television... or cable. So the Roku was a great replacement for cable. There's always something on to watch when I'm in the mood for the boob tube.

2) It's great for technology challenged relatives. Sure... a media PC is great... but my mother knitted a cover for her computer so it's more decorative. The Roku works enough like plain old TV that she's willing to use it, and finally getting some use out of her internet connection.

3) I have a few older televisions... and this way I can get some use out of them without a converter box.

4) It's portable enough I've brought it on vacation when I know my hotel has wifi...hooked it up to the television... and used it to stream my netflix queue to my hotel television. THe box is smaller than a sandwich.

5) Since I also already had an Amazon Prime membership... the Amazon streaming was a nice perq. I don't use Hulu... but did subscribe to Crunchyroll this year... and their channel is very nice. And having Pandora hooked up to my TV... which is hooked up to my very nice sound system... is also a nice perq.

The day of the HDMI hook up nightmare is over!!!!!!! Mwhahahah take that tiny crappy ASUS compy-doodle. I no longer have need of you for my asinine addiction to your media streaming capabilities!

TheFaz wrote:Do you need relevant subscriptions to said services or is it all free? I'm not sure what this is. I have a PS3 where I can stream netflix etc. Does this just do the same thing.....without the ability to play games?

Subscriptions are nice, I use Amazon prime with mine. But it offers many free channels, usually supported by commercials like Crackle.
Finally, your PS3 might do similar and be all you want. One thing I got Roku for was a reduced power bill. It operates off of ~10W whereas the slim PS3 (for instance) is ~80W. It can add up easily over time with lots of use. In my case, it was going to be a HTPC which would be ~500W. Big difference for me, maybe not a deal maker for you though.

Add me to the list of folks who love the Roku (I have the Roku 2 version of this, in case you're wondering). It was easy to set up, and I actually ended up cutting Netflix in favor of Other Streaming Services.

Now if Hulu Plus would go commercial free (it wasn't last time I checked so I did not bother extending my trial subsciption), that would be perfect.

After reading all the posts I have to take a chance and drop the hammer on 3 units... might at least make a great secreat santa gift for a couple people...

pragmatist007 wrote:Control what goes on in your household?

I'm guessing you're not married... or not for much longer, anyway. Neither my wife nor I goes out and spends hundreds of dollars without the other agreeing. YMMV (Your Marriage May Vary).

jhuppertz wrote:Guys, BEFORE you buy, let me set some things straight (b/c the writeup for this box is misleading).

a) With this (or most any other streaming), you will NOT get any LIVE TV programming. All of this is canned-content (at best, from the day before).

b) You WILL need to pay for subscriptions to services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon streaming, HBO-to-Go, etc. They don't get their content for free, any more than the cable or satellite guys do. And gee, wasn't it Netflix that raised their prices 60% overnight just a couple of months ago???

c) You will NOT get live sports events with this - at least not the ones most want to watch. No NFL games live. No NBA, MLB, NCAA, NHL. Some games or leagues are available streaming for $$, but most are not. How do you think the teams that pay these players mega-millions get their money? Mostly from selling Television rights to their games, and they will not allow them to be streamed.

You are misinformed my friend. Roku's support HLS streams (http live streaming), and in fact most any live feed that plays on ios devices will play on Roku, you just need to know how to get. NHL gamecenter is a perfect example of live feed, and they have a dedicated channel specifically for Roku.

Myself and other developers have written private channels to do this specifically. An example of this is the Redbull TV channel which I created. Feel free to add it to your roku using private code: REDBULLTV, or by visiting the following url:
https://owner.roku.com/add/REDBULLTV

Please watch for a new channel being announced soon which offers a TON of live content and customizable playlists that is device/platform independant.

The point is, this is a great price for a great piece of technology that is opening the doors for people who want to "cut the cord".

did they ever fix that subtitle issue with netflix for these models?

How Does the Roku XD compare with the Boxee I bought here a few months ago?

Mine was defective and I had to pay for its return, but the replacement works most of the time now as long as I plug my NAS hard drives directly into the USB port - not so much on Ethernet, though.

Orpheusfenix wrote:Subscriptions are nice, I use Amazon prime with mine. But it offers many free channels, usually supported by commercials like Crackle.
Finally, your PS3 might do similar and be all you want. One thing I got Roku for was a reduced power bill. It operates off of ~10W whereas the slim PS3 (for instance) is ~80W. It can add up easily over time with lots of use. In my case, it was going to be a HTPC which would be ~500W. Big difference for me, maybe not a deal maker for you though.

So it DOES work with the Amazon Prime streaming... Not just the "pay-for" service, right?

An earlier poster said that it will work with Amazon... just not the free Amazon Prime streaming service...

There are BluRay players for less than $100 that do all of this. My tech-clueless mom just bought a Sony BluRay for $79 (it is not wireless, tho) has Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Crackle, etc.

Why clutter up your AV area with more devices? And spend more money doing it? And have even more remotes?

Benchp300 wrote:There are BluRay players for less than $100 that do all of this. My tech-clueless mom just bought a Sony BluRay for $79 (it is not wireless, tho) has Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Crackle, etc.

Why clutter up your AV area with more devices? And spend more money doing it? And have even more remotes?

the roku works much better than the sony b-ray it streams continuously where the sony is constantly stopping to reload the video i know i have both

Can you watch any website with this?

Can you only use this with Hulu plus? Can you watch shows that are on hulu without paying on the roku?

Product comparison chart from Roku:
http://support.roku.com/entries/20345913-product-comparison-all-roku-player-models

I have three from a previous woot. If you don't pay for the premium channels, there isn't much to watch. Just old TV shows/movies and public domain movies.

The picture quality on many streaming channels is horrible, and the stream selection is limited.

I have found it is better to hook a PC to your TV. You can find many more streams online. Also you can then watch ESPN3 online.