I read the specs but didn’t understand a single word. Can you explain what it is? It sounds like it does what a desktop PC does, except that it does it through a TV.
Sorry, I thought my reply was valid return snark.
Yes, a computer with an HDMI output can do amazing things on a big screen, but even as a highly-highly competent tech ween and user with an adequate budget for the nice bits, I finally found a computer to be a clunky, inconvenient way to watch video. I’m not willing to fiddle around like the old tube radio days to tune something in and keep it tuned in through software updates, popup warnings, remote keyboard issues, unexpected screen format shifts etc. I’m sure many people are.
For $80 or so, I can watch nearly everything a computer can present and do it with a hardwired, dedicated, simple-buttons tool. I recommend it.
It’s not a matter of fiddling around. It’s a matter of not having to fiddle in the first place. Why would I drop an extra 80 bucks when I can obtain the same experience with the equipment I already have.
Look, I’m 100% YMMV here. I’ve done it every way it can be done, for more than ten years, and I’m just a bit past being a college student who hasn’t outgrown his laptop.
But there’s a dose of Maslow’s Hammer in such use UNLESS you’re the sole user of the computer and UNLESS you won’t need it for anything else while watching TV and UNLESS you don’t mind using a complex device to do a simple job and IF you have a convenient place and way to jack it in and use it while viewing.
I’ve run into too many contraries in the above list, even with a dedicated system, and have found that dedicated video hardware is a lot more convenient. I suggest that for the tier of people who don’t sleep with their computer and wash its widdle cables every day, the process might be more hassle than they care to live with.
If you’re looking to replace a cable box with a remote, another box with a remote is hard to beat. A fragile, expensive box you have to find, plug in, jack in, open up, boot, start apps on and then keep near you with enough light to see the keyboard isn’t.
Someone’s cranky.
You have yet to prove to me that your issues are anything but user error. I use my laptop for watching shows on the TV. My sister does the same thing, my parents do the same thing, my aunts and uncles do the same thing. My friend has an apple tv. He also has an hdmi cord for hooking his laptop up to the TV. None of us have experienced roadblocks of the sort you complain about.
No, someone’s pretty thoroughly tired of laptop junkies. Glad your works for you.
ETA: As for user error, there shouldn’t be any such thing on mature technology. I never used that cop-out when people had trouble with the video gear I designed; I assumed, usually correctly, that I hadn’t designed it optimally, and worked to fix it in the next version. Of course, this gear was more complex than “find two matching HDMI ports,” which passes for expertise these days.
You are overcomplicating it. I watch plenty of stuff through Amazon Prime via my Bluray or Roku but if I want to watch a network show that I missed the night before I simply connect my laptop to the TV via HDMI and I’m ready to go. The only other way I know to achieve that is to pay for Hulu Plus and I don’t watch enough to justify the cost of that in addition to paying for Amazon Prime. I’m not really sure what you’re getting on about with “tuning in” and the other “problems” you mention. None of those have ever been issues for me.
And “valid return snark?” Where did Antigen direct snark at you that you felt the need to return? Maybe I missed it.
I have no cable or satellite. I have an antenna hooked to a Tivo Premiere, that gets me about 20 channels of broadcast TV. I also have Amazon Prime and Netflix streaming video. I can watch Netflix and Amazon Prime on my Roku and PS3, and Netflix and antenna HDTV on the Tivo.
So my total expenditure is about $20 a month ($12 for Tivo, $8 for Netflix) not counting Internet. That gives me all the primetime network shows and lots of movies and TV shows from Netflix and Amazon Prime. You can’t really go to either streaming service expecting to find any particular show, but once you browse a while you will find a lot of stuff both old and new to watch.
There’s also Hulu when I’m on my PC.
I would like more channels and more current content sometimes; A&E, HBO, TLC, and History Channel would be nice, but I feel like I spend enough time watching TV as it is.
There’s your problem. If hooking it up via HDMI works, why bother with more finicky video gear? You don’t need to be an expert in anything except not making things more complicated than they need to be.
Does the Roku work with Hulu? Or just Hulu Plus? (And if you do have Hulu Plus, can you watch non-Plus programs through Roku?)
It’s basically just that - a basic little computer. We didn’t have a desktop to spare (and it would have looked clunky by the TV), and this little guy was cheaper than a laptop. It’s got no monitor, no keyboard, no mouse. The TV is hooked up to be its monitor. It’s permanently hooked up to the TV and sits beside it with the Wii and Blu-Ray player. When we want to use it to watch TV, we press the power button, then use the TV remote to select the right input and then use the right remote. Exactly the same procedure as using the Wii or the Blu-Ray player. We have Firefox installed and our home screen is all thumbnails of our most-visited sites, like Hulu, PBS.org, and Youtube. If you want more details about how it compares to a laptop I’d have to ask my husband, because he’s the expert.
Did a laptop run over your dog?
Thanks. So it’s like my bottom-of-the-line Roku but with internet capability. Sounds like something I’d use. Cool. 
What do you use it for besides surfing the net? Do you have media stored on there that you access regularly? Does it have a dvd player? Someone mentioned to me just today that the XBox is also a pretty good option. Does anyone know anything about the capabilities of XBox?
It can do a lot (all?) of what a Roku/HTPC can do (Hulu, Netflix, etc…) but I think you have to buy an XBox Live Gold account, which is $40-$50 a year to use the online services.
And quite frankly, that’s bullshit. Wii/Wii-U, PS3, Roku, and HTPC’s don’t require a subscription fee to use services you’re already paying a subscription fee for.
The only think holding me on cable is sports. If I could get the Bulls and Blackhawks any other way I would. The only other option for wathing my teams involves me spending WAAAAY to much time in bars.
That’s a double edged sword with me as well. I could easily get by on the sports offered on HD antenna… except for the Sooners games that are usually only broadcast on espn here in ga.
I’ve been a PS3er for years and noticed today you could do Hulu. I didn’t know that even though I have the Amazon and Netflix apps installed.
Just Hulu Plus or regular free Hulu?
Well, it’s great if you already pay to participate in Xbox360 online gaming. It’s really just a perk on the Xbox for people who would buy the Gold service anyway just for gaming. it would be crazy to buy the Xbox if that didn’t interest you.
I’m seriously looking into the Android Mini PC MK802. This is a very small Android computer with a USB port and an HDMI output.
If I get it, I’m going to get a wireless keyboard with a built-in touchpad, something like this.
I have 3 TVs in the house, and we recently cut the cable TV. We stream Netflix on our Wii to the big TV in the living room. The other two TVs are old tube-type TVs, and neither supports HDMI.
Therefore, before I buy the MK802, I would have to buy at least one more “modern” TV, and I don’t feel like going there, yet.
But, I have a few friends who have the MK802 and they love it. One guy says that he watches Netflix using the browser on it, rather than using the Android Netflix app. He says the web interface is better than the app interface.
Lately, I have been getting a little ticked off at our Wii. We have cordless battery chargers, but it seems like the batteries aren’t holding a charge very long. There is nothing more aggravating than having all the Wiimotes die in the middle of a show, so there is a possibility I may be getting something like the MK802 shortly.
Last time I looked, it was about $40 for the Android computer, and about $30 for the keyboard/touchpad.
Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing to do with the sale or manufacture of any devices mentioned here.