Himself and I have a media PC that hooks up to the TV. We watch Netflix Watch Instantly, Hulu, all sorts of stuff on it.
My parents are completely non-media savvy. They’ve figured out how to watch stuff on their DVR and all, but cannot be expected to learn anything even remotely more complicated.
I have no idea what to get them for Christmas.
So, how about this Roku thing?
The website makes it seem like you can’t watch regular Hulu on it - is that true? Just Hulu Plus? What are these free Roku channels? Could they replace CNN for my dad? Explain to me the Roku box and what, precisely (aside from Netflix) it does for you?
Whatever you do, don’t get them the lowest version. The middle and upper versions have a special remote button that “goes back” 7 seconds without rewinding. Rewinding = more buffer time, “goes back” = no buffer time. That’s just my 2 cents. My uncle is getting a Roku from my mom for Christmas, he’s decidedly un-tech savvy.
I have a Roku model from about 3 or 4 years ago. If you have decent bandwidth, it’s perfectly adequate for streaming media from sources like netflix. You just have to realize that if your bandwidth fluctuates or if there are downloads/uploads at the same time, it will reduce the video quality to a fairly low level before actually refusing to work.
The controls are basic and easy to use - easier than a dvd.
I haven’t looked at the new models, but I think the best resolution you can get is still 720p.
The new models come with composite and component cables I think, but not HDMI - which is probably what you want. But any decent HDMI cable will do FYI.
It’s really, really easy to use. Your parents could handle it, no problem. But yes, basically for netflix, amazon movies, and hulu plus. We only use ours for netflix. I browsed through the other channels one day and was extremely unimpressed. The cooking channel had a few random clips about how to chop vegetable, IIRC, and pretty much nothing else. But netflix has tons of stuff streaming, and we never run out of things to watch. I don’t think there is a news station.
I attempted to use my Wii for Netflix viewing but my internet connections speed failed me. 512K just doesn’t get the job done for watching movies and I got tired of watching a few minutes and then pausing while the download caught up. Does the Roku box get around this with some kind of internal hard drive or storage? I don’t care if it takes a couple of hours to download before I start to watch the movie but once it starts, I’d like it to continue without interruption. Can anything do this or am I stuck upgrading my connection speed?
I really really like Roku. It’s simple enough for your folks to use, it is relatively inexpensive and it works. Hulu+, Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, MLB.TV (if your dad is a baseball fan) are all great, and all work flawlessly. After the recent Netflix upgrade you don’t even need to update your instant que. You can search right on the screen.
Pretty much what everybody else has said. My dad (non-techie) was actually the first in the family to get one - no problems for him or mom (after, of course, I set it up for him, since cabling seems to befuddle him). The interface is very intuitive, and there are very few buttons on the remote.
In terms of available bandwidth, I’m currently “the guy in the attic” at my sister’s house (damn you, crappy economy). Being 3 floors above the wireless router, I only get about 25% signal strenght. Occasionally, Netflix or whatever will lag a bit when first buffering the movie, but there are rarely any glitches after that. Mind you, the bandwidth itself is FiOS - so there’s ample data pipe up to the router itself.
If you can play a movie on Netflix online (“Watch Instantly”), you can watch it thru Roku.
Other stuff, not so much.
So it basically substitutes for someone who doesn’t want to watch the movie on his PC. Me? I’d rather save the $100 and the config hassle. Besides, I can do other things on my PC at the same time, but my TV is only a TV.
My neighbor feels otherwise, so I set a Roku up for him and he loves it.
Not really. That’s a problem with Netflix though, not Roku. I wish that you had the option to have items automatically added to your instant list if they are available.
As it is, it doesn’t take all that long to add them over individually.
Since the OP mentioned CNN and no one else has addressed it, I’ll give my opinion: NO WAY. The CNN channel usually has about 10-15 separate videos that are usually 1 day old. Nothing new, nothing that you would tune CNN to watch.
Having said that, though, I absolutely love my box. It does wonderful on Netflix and Pandora. CNN, not happening. You can get more CNN off their website. We’ve cut the dish off for about 2 months now and we’re getting along quite well with just the antenna and the Roku boxes. I do miss CNN and ESPN, though.
Use number 1 - Netflix
Number 2 - Pandora
Number 3 - Radio stations (there are a ton of radio stations from all over the world available, but only real time, no playback of old programs)
There are a number of specialty channels that require a very small subscription.
Check out the Roku site for a list of what they offer.
A couple of things to note:
Starting a movie, fast forwarding, rewinding etc are not instant. There is a noticable delay while the box acquired the data.
The darn Roku box has no off button. If you let it idle for a while, it will turn off/sleep mode, but you can’t actually turn it off (not a huge deal, but who thought that one up, really?)
GiantRat - Have you considered networking over your electrical wires? We have a very long house, with the router wayyyy at one end. The wireless signal at the far end is good enough for light web surfing, but not good enough for Netflix.
We went with something like this from Amazon, and it has worked really well, to get signal at the far end of the house.