I've been wanting to get some sort of streaming device for a while now but I was unable to decide immediately on what I wanted. The Logitech Revue was discontinued, so there went that idea. I didn't know if I wanted a Sony LED Smart TV powered by GoogleTV. What I really wanted to do was avoid shelling out for a new PC with Windows 7, but we needed Netflix instant watch capabilities. This meant that saving cash with Ubuntu Linux and a Zotac ZBOX from TigerDirect wouldn't do the trick either, as there is no Netflix Instant Watch support. I'm working on a Plex Media Server for streaming my DVDs all over the house or my massive MP3 collection while driving in my car. There was a Plex client beta released for Windows, but I really didn't want to give Microsoft more of my money, and a GoogleTV or Android powered device had everything I was looking for.
After weeks of deliberation and over-thinking, my wonderful wife decided I really wanted the Roku2 XS for the holidays. As of Christmas morning, I could access HuluPlus, Netflix instant-watch, a custom channel for my Plex server, and it had tons of other content like News and Sports content, Tech podcasts and shows, a TED talks channel and Crackle, a free streaming movie service, plus over 300 other channels with free and paid content. Below are some of the services I have examined thus far and their comparisons to the full versions of the original product. Some pretty good. Some not so much...
Roku Channel Store 4/5
The Roku Channel Store has lots to offer. The free content is pretty expansive and if you look in the right places, you'll find excellent resources for high quality, free content. For instance, Revision3 has an excellent selection of tech related content like App Judgement, a show that rates and reviews the latest mobile apps for iOS and Android. There are also tons of independent media channels available for free as well as an Onion News Network channel and a UFC channel.
Netflix 2.5/5
The interface is a little cluttered and watered down for my liking. I would lie to see a sortable category list, and a cleaner interface in general. The video links are aligned in a left/right scrolling grid much like the main site is now, but there isn't a way to filter the genres, what you get is on the initial screen and nothing more. While the limited content thing has been a bone of contention lately with most of their subscribers, it is even more limited on Roku.
Oh, Netflix. If it weren't for your DVD service and my aversion to Cable TV, I would cancel you altogether.
Hulu 4.5/5
The Hulu app for Roku is pretty sweet. I can do just about everything with it that I would normally on Hulu through Chrome or Firefox. Most of the content seems to be available with a few minor exceptions. I have full access to my history, subscribed shows, recently added and I can even adjust the auto-play feature. To me, the auto-play feature is a completely undervalued option It's an excellent substitute for live TV. You don't have to interact and something else comes on once the program has finished. Admirably they have recently taken to prompting you after 3hrs of streaming asking if you need a break. This is a great way to prevent waking up at 3 am to because you passed out watching the Colbert Report and you've been scared awake by the screams of a woman in labor during American Horror Story.
Pandora 4/5
Pandora was my favorite streaming music service for the longest time aside from gdradio.net. I like their interface. It's simple, clean and utilitarian. The UI is familiar and easy to adapt to. The selection is what I expect from their service. All of my stations appear with the latest albums covers of the artists they are named for. Navigating them is very congruent with the rest of the apps as the selections are limited to what you can do with the remote, up, down, left, right, play, pause, etc... Recently I switched to Spotify for my music streaming needs and have been more than pleased. I'm oh-so-patiently waiting for the Spotify Roku Channel.
Roku Newscaster 3.5/5
The Roku Newscaster has a wide variety of network news outlets all with fair selections of segments and shows. There are channels for Fox, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS, NPR, ESPN, NASA and a few others. I'm frankly surprised that there is so much news content. I figured ABC and NBC would be on board, but rest of them are quite surprising. I would like to see an option to stream the local news affiliate based on the zip code in your settings.
Other fun features of note are, the expandable media slot for microSD cards, the ROKU USB media player capable of playing videos, music and displaying pictures on a USB storage device (XS model only) and an HBO Go channel for HBO subscribers, Some of the video formats supported through the USB media player are MP4, MOV, and WMV(HD). Music streaming is available for AAC and MP3 files and pictures of the JPG and PNG persuasion are also supported.
I'm not entirely impressed by the game selection. Angry birds bores me and the rest of the 30 or so of games aren't really my cup of tea.
I haven't gotten into any of the other paid services yet, but I'll take some time to review them once I've gotten through all of the freebies.
Overall, I am satisfied with my Roku2 XS. The excellent selection of programming, easy to navigate interface, and the extras for my media, are all huge positives. Springing for the $7.99 Hulu Plus account or some of the other paid content only adds to the experience. Between the free content, inexpensive paid channels and access to your music and movie collection make the $49.99-99.99 Roku 2 a worthwhile investment. Especially if you are trying to get rid of pricey and inconvenient cable TV.
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