Roku XDS vs. Logitech Revue vs. Apple TV vs. ??

In My Humble Opinion
1

My 80 gig Fat PS3 just went down for the count with a blinking red light. I think it’s the Yellow Light of Death. I am hoping to bring it to a repair shop to get it fixed. In the meantime, I thought it would be a good idea to purchase another device to consume media, and allow the majority of my PS3 use be game playing. The advent of devices that allow you to do that at a reasonable price makes me think this is an economical idea. The three devices I have in mind are Roku’s XDS, Apple TV and the Logitech Revue Google TV device.

I bought my Mom an earlier generation Roku a few years ago and it is wonderful. It hasn’t missed a beat and puts out a great picture and allows access to Netflix, Amazon, MLB at Bat and a dozen of other things, I am sure. It runs silently, without much power consumption. The XDS also allows one to hook up a usb hard drive and play media off of the hard drive. My experience with Roku has been very positive. My only complaints would be the user interface is somewhat klunky when compared to the PS3 and the remote control isn’t the best. (Although, they have updated this, from what I understand.) The biggest plus for the Roku is familiarity. I have used it and liked it and it’s never failed for a number of years.

Apple makes pretty good products, and I have not heard any bad reviews of Apple TV. All of the apps I mentioned for Roku work on Apple TV. (I’m not sure about Amazon, actually. Does that work on Apple TV?) Plus, there is the added benefit of being able to purchase shows and movies from iTunes. I don’t see myself ever purchasing shows or movies from iTunes, so for me that is not a benefit. Apple TV also has the ability to read off of an external hard drive. Apple’s biggest plus is the fact that their consumer products are well made and attract developers pretty easily. In the future new versions of Netflix or other streaming companies software are likely to appear on Apple TV first. Especially, if Roku’s sales start to go down.

Google TV’s failure to convince most content providers to allow them access their content has made for terrible sales. But, these terrible sales have helped prospective customers such as myself. There is no way I would pay $250 for the Logitech Revue. But, at $99? It’s a consideration. Logitech does all of the things the others do. It also has the ability to work with the set top box and search your own DVR and channel guide. (I think this works with DirectTV, but I am not positive.) It also supports picture in picture for you to do internet stuff while watching a show on your tv. Personally, the Revue’s biggest plus is that the cable box plugs directly into it. Therefore saving an HDMI port. Also, I like the idea behind a lot of the internet tv ideas, and I am sure Honeycomb will bring things up a notch.

Does anyone else know of any media devices out there that are worth considering?

What are your thoughts on these devices? I have been happy with the PS3. It has worked flawlessly as long as I have owned it. And, if it were only 99 dollars, I would just get another one to burn through. But, coming in at $250 it seems like a waste to use up for media, when I can conserve it and use it for games. Although, as I type that out it sounds stupid. if I get it fixed and it works might as well use it as much as always until it breaks again. Hmmm. Still. I’d love to hear other people’s opinion on this issue. Both of conserving the PS3, and thoughts on media devices.

2

I’ve been thinking about the same thing. I hate all the wear and tear I put on my PS3 watching Netflix and streaming media from my home network, and am looking for a replacement. It seems to me that an Apple TV is the best fix (for me). Out of the box, it’s going to solve only 50% of my needs - Netflix and streaming music from my PC. But I still won’t have Pandora* or access to my non-iTunes compatible video library.

So I did some digging. And there’s a very easy process to jailbreak an Apple TV and install both XBMC and Boxee, which has a Pandora and Hulu app. So once I pay off some bills, I’ll be shopping for a new Apple TV.
*Yes, I could push Pandora music from my iPhone to an ATV, but what happens when I need to make a phone call? Everyone else gets the musical shaft?

3

I have a Roku XDS as well as a Logitech Revue (couldn’t pass up the $99 deal) and while I’ve only had the Logitech for a couple of weeks, I must admit that I love it and am using it more than my Roku. One of the big things is that my TiVo just passes through the Google box so I don’t need to change inputs on my TV, I just press the Home key on the Logitech keyboard and the Revue interface pops right up and then goes away with another click. It’s great if you want to search for something while watching a show, or for spur of the moment searches.

It doesn’t do much with a DVR yet (unless it’s a Direct TV DVR), but I think that will change in the upcoming months and hope that I’ll be able to have it index the TiVo as well.

Another added and unexpected benefit is that the Revue keyboard also controls my Television, Tivo, and Surround Sound system perfectly, so I can get rid of a couple of remotes that way also and just run them from one (Roku only controls the Roku)

It’s easier to select the different channels (Amazon, Netflix, etc.) on the Roku, but I hope that the Logitech with the upcoming Honeycomb release (September?) will address that.

Bottom line, if you want a simple, effective streaming solution only, the Roku is a great product and one that I would choose for my parents over the Revue.

The Revue is a better choice for those who like a slightly more complex device with the possibility for an upgraded and improved interface in the future.

Mark

4

Thanks guys. Gives me a little bit to think about. akwall1, your summation of Revue and Roku pretty much agrees with mine exactly. I think I might head over to Best Buy and see if they have Revue available to play with. That might guide my decision. I already know what I will be getting with the Roku UI, and I have no doubt that Apple TV’s interface is awesome. (And, it’s good to know you can add XMBC to it. That’s a terrific option.) At this point, I think I am leaning towards the Revue, just because I have high hopes for Honeycomb. We’ll see. Anyway. Thanks for your input.

5

I have a PS3, and an Apple TV v1, with XBMC on it. I wound up using that for media much more than the PS3, aside from Netflix.

I had been considering getting a next-gen streamer box like the Revue, AppleTV v2, or something else. But then my wife said she wanted a system to play WoW on in the living room, so I geeked out and built her one (yaay, Spotify in the living room!).

But I’m still very interested in the new Rokus, particularly whether they will run networked media easily, and with broad codec support. If I can get a decently capable networked media streamer, I might put it one in the kids’ room in addition to the living room.

But the Revue also sounds like a great deal at $99, if only for the universal remote capability - I lost my dearly departed Harmony remote in a tragic coffee-related incident, and to get a replacement that controls more than fve devices, I’d be looking at close to $100 anyway. Plus, the idea of controlling my whole home theater system with my phone sounds supercool.