# Netflix player by Roku... am I missing something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997 "2008-08-06T04:03:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/1 "2008-08-06T04:03:57Z")
[http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/](http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/) It seems to be saying that you buy the box for $99 and then you can watch any Netflix movie or tv show any time you want without any extra fees–am I reading that correctly? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/2 "2008-08-06T04:08:26Z")
No extra fees in addition to your current Netflix subscription costs (assuming your subscription supports downloadable movies – pretty much all the plans above $9 do). ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/3 "2008-08-06T04:14:29Z")
Oh, and just to throw it out there, if you somehow have an Xbox 360 in the house, it will be able to serve the same purpose come this fall (again, assuming you have a Netflix account, as well as an Xbox Live gold membership) ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/4 "2008-08-06T04:25:26Z")
It’s not quite “any Netflix movie”. It’s any movie in their streaming catalog, which is intended to complement their mail-order catalog while making some popular DVDs available faster. Only about 10% of current Netflix titles are available for streaming; titles that are in your queue and available for streaming go straight to your Roku unless you specify that you’d rather watch them on DVD. This review from [Wired](http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/05/review-roku-net.html) really explains it well. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/5 "2008-08-06T04:33:25Z")
Ah see I have the 2-a-month plan, so it wouldn’t work for me, I guess? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/6 "2008-08-06T04:42:05Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Ah see I have the 2-a-month plan, so it wouldn’t work for me, I guess? [/QUOTE] Here’s a handy chart: > **[Netflix - Watch TV Shows Online, Watch Movies Online](https://www.netflix.com/)** > > Watch Netflix movies & TV shows online or stream right to your smart TV, game console, PC, Mac, mobile, tablet and more. Looks like you would only be able to view one two-hour movie per month (thus making the device almost worthless). Though if you upgrade to any other plan, you can watch an unlimited amount online. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/7 "2008-08-06T12:40:16Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Ah see I have the 2-a-month plan, so it wouldn’t work for me, I guess? [/QUOTE] According to Netflix you would have unlimited viewing out of their 12000 movies available for streaming. This box does what a computer already allows you to do. I watch movies and some old TV shows from Netflix this way on computers. I have even used it on business trips on my laptop. > [@](#): > > You still get DVDs by mail from over 100,000 DVD titles, but you can also instantly watch movies and TV episodes from a separate, smaller library of over **12,000 choices**. We have announced partnerships with Xbox 360 and LG Electronics who will have Netflix ready devices available in the fall. ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-player-by-roku-am-i-missing-something/458997/8 "2008-08-06T13:07:36Z")
I have one and would recommend it, if you like their “Watch Instantly” selection. The only real down side is that you have to add movies to your “Watch Instantly” queue via your web browser and then you can select something from the queue via the set top box. And there’s not much memory in it so it can’t cache very much. If the network goes out the movie will stop in a few minutes. But those are minor things, I’ve been really happy with it. It was trivial to setup and works as advertised. If you have a relatively fast connection the picture quality will be great. Oh, and it only does up to 720p right now, a Netflix limitation. Not a problem for me as I haven’t made the HD plunge yet.