<p>One of my kids asked for a Roku for Christmas. I thought I was set on the Roku LT($49) but then saw that the Roku 2 XS ($98) includes angry birds, which her BF loves to play. We have a Roku on one of our tv’s and it’s great, just can’t decide on another model. Do you think it’s worth paying twice as much for the XS? Any other Roku experiences?</p>
<p>Not interested in any other streaming devices.</p>
<p>I have the Roku 2 ($79) on the TV in my sewing room at the far end of the house from my wireless router. It has a great picture and pulls in the wireless signal that my laptop often has trouble finding.</p>
<p>Is there a monthly charge for Roku, like there is for Tivo?</p>
<p>No. Roku itself is free, but some content providers (Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, etc.) charge.</p>
<p>Roku is pretty darn awesome, I just cannot decide which one! [Roku</a> Box | Roku Streaming Player](<a href=“http://www.roku.com/roku-products]Roku”>Roku)</p>
<p>Ok, I am slightly confused by all this neat stuff. I just bought dh a wireless blueray dvr player (sony). Would we still want a roku? My head is spinning about all these things.</p>
<p>A Roku streams videos from sites like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon. It’s simple to install and no computer is needed. Yes, you need one! ;)</p>
<p>I’ve been actively searching for Christmas gift ideas for DS and stumbled upon the Roku. I’ve been trying to do some research over the past day or two - so this is very timely. Would love to hear more about it. My ds has Comcast - but has told me he doesn’t really use it much. He needs to watch shows on his timeframe - not the Network’s. He says he uses his computer mostly for Hulu and Netflix, etc. He also has Amazon Prime - at least for now - the student one. So, would you all think this is a good gift for a college student? And as the OP states, which one? Hope i’m not hijacking this thread - it’s just very timely for me and I’m hoping to get more info.</p>
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<p>Probably not. At least not on the same TV. I just bought a wireless streaming sony blu-ray DVD player (for the TV in my family room as a replacement for the 12 year old dvd player in my home theater system). I haven’t hooked up the blu-ray player to that TV yet (because I’m still figuring out how to work around the satellite system), but according to the specs, the blu-ray player will also function as a streaming media player–which is what a roku does.</p>
<p>If the blu-ray won’t play nice with the satellite, I’ll move it to the sewing room and give the roku to D2 since she has wireless but not cable in her apartment. (I had to explain to her that the reason she can’t get “free” local channels off the cable outlet is because she doesn’t subscribe to cable and that she can get local over-the-air stations if she’ll use an antenna. Novel concept for her! She can’t ever remember seeing a TV with rabbit ears…)</p>
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<p>ljrfrm–if your son watches TV shows/movies on his computer and also owns a TV, then roku would be great gift. The roku functions to let him watch his streaming services on the bigger screen of his TV. The set up is easy.</p>
<p>As for what model, the base model is fine if he doesn’t have a huge screen. Roku LT and HD have 720p resolution; the roku 2 XD and XS have 1080p resolution. The roku 2 XS is optimized for gaming and has a USB port.</p>
<p>The Roku site explains it pretty well. [Meet</a> Roku | Roku Streaming Player](<a href=“http://www.roku.com/meet-roku]Meet”>Roku) I bought one last Christmas for our downstairs tv and my sons set it up in just a few minutes. We use it mostly for netflix movies. Amazon student prime does not include streaming unless you’ve upgraded it to the regular Prime membership - [Amazon.com</a> Help: Amazon Student](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200500380]Amazon.com”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200500380) </p>
<p>I’m hoping to buy one for my out-of-the-nest college grad. For my college kid, I would probably get the Roku LT. In fact, I might get that one for mine if he doesn’t give me a better list pretty quick.</p>
<p>Editing - WayoutWest Mom, the other thing on my daughters wish list is a flat indoor antenna!</p>
<p>LOL! I told D2 she’s getting an antenna for Xmas. (Or more accurately her BF is getting an antenna for Xmas and he’ll love me because then he’ll be able to watch football on [her] TV again.) </p>
<p>I bought a Terk Indoor Amplified HDTV Antenna–because I have had one for the last 12 years and it works great. I just point it at the top of the mountain above my house where all the local TV stations have broadcast repeaters and I get great reception.</p>
<p>This is starting to sound tempting for myself! DS has various cables that allow him to hook his laptop up to the TV and essentially use it as a monitor. Would he get any additional benefit out of a Roku?</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. I think I’ll get one for DS. He also has cables to hook the computer up to the TV - but I’m thinking maybe Roku will free up his computer so he can be doing other things while watching TV? </p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>kathiep do you know of any difference between the two other than including angry birds? We are also in the market.</p>
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No - the DVD player does the same thing as the Roku as far as streaming although sometimes the content can vary between the different streaming devices but even this can change on a code update. If the Roku has a must-have ‘channel’ (streaming content) that the DVD player doesn’t have then maybe it’s worth considering. </p>
<p>I have a Sony DVD player with streaming as well although I haven’t signed up for any paid content (Netflix, etc.).</p>
<p>If someone doesn’t have a Blu-Ray player and were considering getting one then they shouldn’t buy a Roku as well since Blu-Ray players from all the major manufacturers have the streaming capability now and it’s not that expensive for the streaming capable player.</p>
<p>Some TVs now have the streaming built-in and with those there’s no need for a Roku type external box either.</p>
<p>This link (same one I posted above) shows the differences. [Roku</a> Box | Roku Streaming Player](<a href=“http://www.roku.com/roku-products]Roku”>Roku) My older son said that the quality of games on roku was not that good so the gaming features might not mean anything but I don’t know about the other few differences like “plays full HD video (1080p)” or “ethernet port and usb port” does one really need that? I would guess that the full HD video might mean slightly better quality. That much better??</p>
<p>Thanks for chiming in GladGradDad. We have a Blue-ray player but stream through an apple tv on our upstairs tv. Maybe my husband didn’t know that the blue-ray streamed when he hooked up the apple tv, or maybe it has different choices for streaming?</p>
<p>So would the Roku really pick up the signal from the second floor where the wi fi router is all the way in the basement family room?</p>
<p>Our wifi works throughout our house and our router is in the basement. I found this [What</a> compatible Wi-Fi devices work with my Roku player? : Featured Questions](<a href=“http://support.roku.com/entries/215674-what-compatible-wi-fi-devices-work-with-my-roku-player]What”>http://support.roku.com/entries/215674-what-compatible-wi-fi-devices-work-with-my-roku-player) which may help with wifi questions.</p>
<p>It depends on the signal strength of your router. </p>
<p>Assuming you have a wireless laptop, you can use online software to measure the signal strength (there’s a how-to on CNet <a href=“http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20100207-285/how-to-measure-wireless-router-performance/[/url]”>http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20100207-285/how-to-measure-wireless-router-performance/</a>) before committing to a roku.</p>
<p>The compatibility charts above ^^ deals with signal bands/protocols supported by the roku, but won’t tell you if the signal strength on the second floor is strong enough for the roku to pick it up</p>
<p>This techy bulletin board might answer some of our questions: [Roku</a> vs. wi-fi blu-ray - AnandTech Forums](<a href=“http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2285319]Roku”>http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2285319) The discussion here is blu-ray versus roku. Will investigate later…</p>