12-27-2010, 08:13 AM

Oh, and with the Roku - all the channels it has - you have to add them to your channel line-up to access them. Only problem is, it has limited memory and once you have some number of channels (haven't figured out how many yet) and you try to add another one - you get this popup message - basically:

"You have reached the maximum number of channels. You need to remove one in order to add this channel."

Ok, now which one do I want to remove so I can check this one out? Another pitr.


My problem with both of these devices, I don't want to spend the time necessary to re-encode all my video. I have perfectly functioning media files that play and stream across the network just fine without all that extra effort, tyvm.

12-27-2010, 02:11 PM

Interesting observations, and thanks for your input Bob. Question though: Are you absolutely sure that the top of the line Roku (XDS) suffers the same "feature" issues as yours does? Is is not possible that some of the caveats you mentioned are diminished some with the $99 version?

I've a friend who got one just recently and I'm pretty sure he said that he was able to access multiple external drives on his wireless network. I'll have to hit him up with all the issues you mentioned.

Thanks again. All of those things make keeping my MBP hooked up to my tv via HDMI a still worthy plan for now. Problem then is, only one MBP to share for working on and such. That's the kicker. And I'm pretty against paying for cruddy cable tv right now. NF and Hulu have most if not all the content I need.

Doug

12-27-2010, 05:26 PM

Let me know what you find out doug. All I've seen is what Roku has on their site about the hard drive/USB feature and it's been indicating attached drive with firmware now due next month. When I bought this one a couple weeks ago, didn't find a review that mentioned this feature yet.

Now the Roku has teamed up with a site called MP3tunes. This site allows you to stream your iTunes content "to" just about anywhere or any device. Only problem is you have to upload your content to their site in order to stream your content. And the free account is only 2GB. Over that and you're paying to stream the stuff you already own. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

12-28-2010, 07:44 AM

I'll have to say that I think the only advantage of the Roku box at the moment is Hulu Plus and the fact that it's 1080p (but that's a minor advantage since most people can't tell the difference between 1080p and 720p anyway, and most steaming video is NOT 1080p except Vudu HDX atm). Amazon VOD to me isn't that great. It's probably the flakiest of the streaming services I've tried as far as picture stability. It's not bad and is usually streams fine, but more often than not, if any of my streaming services are going to have an issue, it's Amazon.

I also have to agree with bob on the pricing and selection differences between Amazon and iTunes. Amazon pricing isn't really better, you don't "own" it necessarily since they also do rental, and overall iTunes and Amazon are pretty similar. Bob really did a nice comparison and contrast above.

But beyond just the streaming stuff, the Apple TV integration with your existing iTunes and other features can't be touched by Roku. Not to mention, most new TVs and Blu Ray players come with all that internet streaming stuff built in now, making Roku's overall model pretty tenuous. Whereas Apple TV gives you access to the iTMS and iTunes content as well as Airplay which isn't built in to any home electronics other than Apple TV.