Thinking about buying a Roku box

[atatu]

Originally Posted by mikeler

We are mainly looking to get Netflix streaming. Any tips, suggestions and/or recommendations about which unit to buy and what other services to purchase?

My Roku (1) box broke and I find the netflix on the kids XBOX to be a real pain, so I'm looking around also. My TV only has 2 HDMI outlet though, is there a way to "split" an HDMI outlet ? Also, has anyone tried this $50 device ?

http://gizmodo.com/5947223/this-50-s...wered-smart-tv

[JRstriker12]

Originally Posted by atatu

My Roku (1) box broke and I find the netflix on the kids XBOX to be a real pain, so I'm looking around also. My TV only has 2 HDMI outlet though, is there a way to "split" an HDMI outlet ? Also, has anyone tried this $50 device ?

http://gizmodo.com/5947223/this-50-s...wered-smart-tv

Have you tried using smart glass (iphone or android app) for entering search terms on the Xbox? Makes it a bit easier.

I tend to set my streaming queue from the computer anyway on average though.

[theyhatethecans]

Originally Posted by atatu

My Roku (1) box broke and I find the netflix on the kids XBOX to be a real pain, so I'm looking around also. My TV only has 2 HDMI outlet though, is there a way to "split" an HDMI outlet ? Also, has anyone tried this $50 device ?

http://gizmodo.com/5947223/this-50-s...wered-smart-tv

They've got nice cheap hdmi splitters at a big on line store that offers prime that detects which device to sync to based on which device is on. If more than one device is on, you can change the switch manually.

HDMI 3-In 1-Out HDMI Auto Switch with 1.5 ft. Cable

Works pretty good.

[atatu]

Thanks for both the smartglass tip and the HDMI splitter info, downloaded the app tonight and ordered the splitter.

[adventure]

Get a blu ray player. You can watch or listen to any kind of disc, play any kind of file through usb, or stream through dlna, and have access to not only netflix but just about every other streaming service out there.

With a sony, I can watch blu ray or dvd, I can listen to sacd and blu ray audio disc, stream most files from my computer, watch them via usb and stream just about anything through a service like vudu, amazon and of course net flix.

[adventure]

Originally Posted by theyhatethecans

They've got nice cheap hdmi splitters at a big on line store that offers prime that detects which device to sync to based on which device is on. If more than one device is on, you can change the switch manually.

HDMI 3-In 1-Out HDMI Auto Switch with 1.5 ft. Cable

Works pretty good.

It's not a splitter like analog cable which degrades the signal with an increasing number of 'splits': it is an hdmi switch for multiple inputs. I have a 3/1 and the signal looks absolutely perfect. $10 should do the trick.

[rk_sports]

Originally Posted by adventure

Get a blu ray player. You can watch or listen to any kind of disc, play any kind of file through usb, or stream through dlna, and have access to not only netflix but just about every other streaming service out there.

With a sony, I can watch blu ray or dvd, I can listen to sacd and blu ray audio disc, stream most files from my computer, watch them via usb and stream just about anything through a service like vudu, amazon and of course net flix.

Is that Sony with Google TV?

[jonnythan]

Originally Posted by adventure

Get a blu ray player. You can watch or listen to any kind of disc, play any kind of file through usb, or stream through dlna, and have access to not only netflix but just about every other streaming service out there.

With a sony, I can watch blu ray or dvd, I can listen to sacd and blu ray audio disc, stream most files from my computer, watch them via usb and stream just about anything through a service like vudu, amazon and of course net flix.

Few BD players are nearly as good at streaming as a Roku or AppleTV. The ones that are are much more expensive than $80-$100.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by jonnythan

Few BD players are nearly as good at streaming as a Roku or AppleTV. The ones that are are much more expensive than $80-$100.

And why do I need a DVD player once I'm streaming everything online.

[jonnythan]

Originally Posted by mikeler

And why do I need a DVD player once I'm streaming everything online.

Blu-ray, not DVD. And the reason is that Blu-ray quality is much, much better than even the best online streaming. If you don't care about picture or sound quality it doesn't matter.

Also, Netflix and other streaming services tend not to have newer movies. Dark Knight Rises? Avengers? Ted? Total Recall? Trouble With The Curve? None of these are on Netflix.

[McLovin]

Legal issues aside...you can effectively get AppleTV by taking an old Mac Mini and installing Plex and Transmission.

It takes a little amount of work, but there are plenty of 'how-tos' on the web, and you are able to watch pretty much everything...free.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by jonnythan

Blu-ray, not DVD. And the reason is that Blu-ray quality is much, much better than even the best online streaming. If you don't care about picture or sound quality it doesn't matter.

Also, Netflix and other streaming services tend not to have newer movies. Dark Knight Rises? Avengers? Ted? Total Recall? Trouble With The Curve? None of these are on Netflix.

I've barely seen any movies the last 4 years since my little guy was born but good info. Thanks!

Originally Posted by McLovin

Legal issues aside...you can effectively get AppleTV by taking an old Mac Mini and installing Plex and Transmission.

It takes a little amount of work, but there are plenty of 'how-tos' on the web, and you are able to watch pretty much everything...free.

You got a spare Mac Mini I can borrow?

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by mikeler

You got a spare Mac Mini I can borrow?

Good point. I guess since I've been on Macs for over 8 years, and my kids have them as well, I've amassed a couple of 'spares' over the years. One is my file/iTunes server, the other was used as a learning experience for setting up a Media Server.

I thought they'd be cheap, but I just checked the 'bay, and a 1.83GHz Mini is going for $250 - $300!

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by McLovin

Good point. I guess since I've been on Macs for over 8 years, and my kids have them as well, I've amassed a couple of 'spares' over the years. One is my file/iTunes server, the other was used as a learning experience for setting up a Media Server.

I thought they'd be cheap, but I just checked the 'bay, and a 1.83GHz Mini is going for $250 - $300!

I've accumulated a bunch of iPhones but I bought my first Mac this summer. If I did not do programming on Windows, I'd never buy another Windows PC again.

[tennismonkey]

for dead simplicity and great user interfaces for streaming netflix and hulu plus - roku and apple tv work great. with the bonus of being super easy for both kids and the elderly to operate.

if you happen to have accumulated legally or illegally a bunch of movie files in various formats - i like the offerings from western digital like the wdtv live which do all the same stuff as roku and apple tv and play just about every movie file you throw at it.

and as many have mentioned you can hack just about any of the above devices to run xbmc or the like depending on how geeky you are.

[jswinf]

I just got a Roku and I was surprised how well it works. I'm not real techie, I expected streaming to be something like watching espn 3 on a computer, which for me is sometimes fine and often lousy. The Roku streaming is just fine. The computer doesn't even have to be on. It's a mystery to me.

Can't say much about content, but there's a lot of stuff there. I might be wasting too much time on Angry Birds, though.

[mikeler]

Thread update. I ended up getting both since one of my TVs is older and does not have HDMI connections which Apple TV requires. So now I've got Roku setup on the older TV and the Apple device setup on my newer TV. I have not downloaded anything yet on either TV.

Setup on both devices was pretty easy. Typing in passwords without a keyboard is a pain but at least you only have to do that once. Both devices are incredibly small and so are the remotes. I worry about losing the remotes because of their size.

I'm thinking we will sign up for Netflix and Amazon. The Hulu did not have much content if any that would interest us.

I'm looking forward to playing with both over the next few weeks and comparing/contrasting them.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Both devices are incredibly small and so are the remotes. I worry about losing the remotes because of their size.

I'm pretty certain you can use your iPhone/iPad as a remote on those devices (aka..."There's an App for that...").

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by McLovin

I'm pretty certain you can use your iPhone/iPad as a remote on those devices (aka..."There's an App for that...").

I need to play around with that but it makes sense.

[JRstriker12]

Originally Posted by mikeler

I've barely seen any movies the last 4 years since my little guy was born but good info. Thanks!

LOL! I watch movies in 15 minute increments. Or at least I've had to since the birth of our twins.