In our ongoing quest to cut the cable umbilical cord and optimize our program viewing while also optimizing our technology investment, there are several internet TV devices to consider.
Testing the Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p
We picked up the Roku XDS Streaming Player a few weeks back. It’s the first internet TV device we’re testing out for our cutting the cable cord project. With three HDTVs in our home, different solutions for different viewing options may be right for us. Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p can be purchased here: http://amzn.to/eFZ4hR
Roku Is A Known Entity And Is A User Friendly InternetTV Device
We selected the Roku box as our first internet device to test because many reviews came back that it’s basically plug and play. The most noticeable feature of the Roku box is that it’s incredibly compact and seemingly simplistic in its inputs/outputs. The device comes with a small remote control device that presents everything in icons.
We’ve been using Roku over the past several weeks to gather not only our first impressions on functionality, but to consider our opinion of the product as we add channels and features to our viewing options.
Installation and Ongoing Channel Additions
We chose to install the Roku device to our modem with a hardwire Ethernet line for the best connectivity options. Users can also synch wirelessly, although I’d recommend the hardwire install because content downloads are faster and more reliable this way.
Multiple Channels for Viewing
Initializing took a few minutes and then Roku quickly brought us to the home page where we could view the current channels that come pre-installed. Roku has been busy hammering out deals with content partners to address users interest in watching news, television shows and movies. The makers of Roku pre-install several channels, including Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu and Roku Newscaster.
The Roku Channel options menu allows users to select from hundreds of additional channels. So far, we’ve added a food channel, an educational channel and an European radio channel. Synching our Netflix account with Roku took a few steps that were self explanatory. Once inside the Netflix channel, we could immediately view movies we’d selected and also view additional content that Netflix chose for us based upon our usage patterns. Access to hulu was also quick and simple, showing us a lineup of the entire season’s tv programming.
News Broadcast without Commercials
For users who like to watch the nightly news, Roku’s Newscaster channel literally gives users access to the top 4 major broadcasters – ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, as well as additional channels such as CNN, BBC and the infamous (not really) Nasa channel.
Our primary news gathering takes place during the day over the internet. That said, overall, we’ve been very impressed with the selection offered for news. In general 5 days worth of news is made available and we’ve been impressed with the latest lineup, noting that Al-Jazeera was just added a few days ago.
Children’s Programming
We thought that using the Roku box would severely limit our ability to select top quality children’s programming. Our experience has actually been the opposite of this. We’ve been impressed with the wide and varied childrens programs available for our children. If there’s something we’d like to watch but it’s not available in instant viewing, we’ve ordered the DVD.
Commercial Free Internet TV Viewing
The positive kicker to testing out the Roku XDS? There are no commercials! A 30 minute broadcast cuts nearly 1/3 of the viewing time set aside for commercials out of the picture.
Which Roku box is right for you?
There are three Roku boxes to consider and I picked the Roku XD-S device because the device users Wireless N, has an upgraded remote control and can show content in 1080p. The Roku XDS also has a USB port, which is perfect for us bc we like to view pictures on our HDTV.
Users who want 1080p capability and need to synch wirelessly, but don’t care about a USB port, will want to go with the Roku XD Streaming Player 1080p. It’s available here: http://amzn.to/hloWBo
For users who can hardwire their Roku box to their television set and want up to 720p, the entry level Roku is perfect and a perfect price as well: Roku HD Streaming Player http://amzn.to/fcCvzL
So far, we've been very impressed with the Roku's ability to handle most of our viewing needs.
The one area that's missing?: Live sports viewing. However, this can be made up with subscribing to several internet channels, like NBA GameDay, MLB.com. We're going to test out antennae viewing next.
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