Streaming Player Review

Top of the Line Roku

Buy Roku XDS for $99.00

Below are five different reviews of streaming players.  All fantastic little boxes that deliver great entertainment.  All great deals below $100.00

The Roku XDS brings you endless movies and TV shows, music, news and major sporting events whenever you like.

The Roku XDS is the top of the line streaming player from Roku. It has 1080p streaming video, high end wireless technology and instant replay.

This is the best selling streaming player of all time.

And at $99.00 very affordable.  Get it at Amazon by clicking here.

 

Technical Details

• With a high speed connection you are watching movies in seconds
• You have access to the largest collection of TV shows and movies via Netflix, Amazon VOD, and more
• Dual-band Wireless-N and wired Internet connectivity
• Work on any TV and plays up to 1080p High Definition video
• No PC needed for streaming
• 5 minute set up
• Just connect to your high speed internet and TV

What current customers say:

 

 

*WARNING* HIGHLY ADDICTIVE

ToneCity,

*WARNING* This product is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE.

We plugged in our Roku XDS and haven’t looked back since.

This comment was paraphrased, see the original by clicking here

Terrific!

Sean L.,

I like the full color interface and the ease of use.

I’m not going to complain but I’m very surprised it doesn’t cost more.

Original comment found here

 

Pros:

• Setup is a cinch. You are walked through the process
• The size is allows you to travel, it weights almost nothing
• Every simple navigation
• Will connect to almost any device
• USB thumb drive –The USB is in beta so there may be occasional problems
• Wifi or Ethernet
• High Def with 1080p
• Excellent price point
• Looks good

Cons:

• No On/Off button
• No HDMI included

Bottom Line

• Roku rocks. Good-bye cable TV

The silky new Apple TV

Available for $97.99

 

Apple TV is a very small device that delivers loads of entertainment.

If fact, it’s 80% smaller than the previous model and even has a built in power supply, which makes it easy to find a perfect location for this beautiful machine.

It’s very enerty efficient and stays cool without a fan, so it will never be noisy.  And if you are not watching vidoes it uses no more power than a night light.

It’s available now from Amazon and ships free with Super Saving Shipping.

Technical Details

• From iTunes you can stream HD movies and TV shows plus content from Flickr, YouTube, Netflix, and MobileMe
• Refined and redesigned connects to Wireless-N or Ethernet it has HDMI and digital optical audio output.
• Is only four inches square
• From PC’s and Macs you can stream videos, music and see your photos.
• You can control is with your iPhone, iPad or iPod. An apple remote is included.

What current customers say:

Wonderful little black box from an actual owner!!!

John RN,

This little black box is stupendous!  I’ve always been hessitant about Apple TV but since it’s only $99.00 and has Netflix streaming, I had to have it.  Setup was very easy.  As with all Apple product, it just works.

This comment was paraphrased, see the original by clicking here

Phenomenal little box; best Netflix Instant Watch I’ve seen

J. Moran,

For my birthday I got an Apple TV.  I’ve been test driving it for about a week or so and really driving it hard.  I also own a BluRay player and Wii.  I will compare the three in the review below.

Original comment click here

Pros

• Interface for Netflix is great
• Free buffer for Netflix
• Media streaming is superb
• Very small unit
• Makes no noise
• A wealth of features
• The setup is instantaneous

Cons

• HDMI only
• The best resolution is 720p which is not a problem for most
• No HULU availability yet.

Mid-Range Roku XD

Buy Roku XD for $79.99

Roku is a small box that allows you to immediately stream online entertainment.

The Roku XD is Roku’s mid priced streaming player.  It doesn’t have all the shiny objects as the XDS but it does include some enhancements compared to the Roku HD:

• Plays 1080p HD vdeo
• Enhanced  remote with Instant Replay
• Extended range Wireless-N (b/g/n compatible)
• Only$10.00 more than the HD and available at Amazon by clicking here

 

Technical Details for the Roku XD

• With high speed Internet watch any movie
• Streaming movies and TV shows from Amazon Netflix VOD and more
• Built-in Wi-Fi High Definition
• DVD-quality video
• Works with any TV
• Sets up in 5 minutes

What current customers say:

Roku Rocks with NetFlix and Playon

M. Jones,

Our family was paying $80 a month for cable.  We had no real comlaints but we decided give a streaming player a try and save some money.  The whole family was shocked the day I unplugged the dish and turned on the Roku.  It just opened up everything with so many choices.

We all agree we have a better video experice than we did paying $80 a month. With Netflix we have access to movies and past Tv shows and with Hulu we have DVR access to the latest TV show.

This comment was paraphrased, see the original by clicking here

 

A fairly thorough review

Baron,

This leads me to quality of picture.

I was blown away by the picture quality. After watching shows on computers and laptops for years, I was expecting a lot of buffer times, digital squares and blurry images. Despite all of the rave reviews, I was not optimistic. As stated, I was very surprised by what I saw.

Get the whole comment by clicking here

 

Pros:

• Setup is very easy.  Connect the Roku XD to your TV.  Set the connection you will need (wireless or wire).  Choose you network name if wireless and punch in the password.  Select your service and display options.
• Quality is not a problem with a reasonably decent internet connection.
• Connectivity – punch in your Netflix, Hulu or whatever services you use.
• Size  It’s a small, compact box about as thick as a paperback book.  You can hide it many places.

Cons:

• Sometimes it reboots to get updates.
• The remote is basic but I guess that’s all you really need.

Western Digital WD TV Live Plus

Available for $89.99

 

This streaming player gets good reviews.  There was an issure with the firmware in the early days but now it works well.  It has been called a swiss army knife unit becuase it does so many differnt things – it packs a pretty good punch.

And now at Amazon, it’s 30% off at $89.99

Western Digital is a big player and they threw in a lot of bells and whistles.  I don’t think you could go wrong with optical Dolby DTS, 1080p HDMI, network enabled, RCA backups, USB drive reading in a nice, attractive package.

 

• Full-HD video playback and navigation up to 1080p
• Enjoy popular movies, classics, and TV episodes instantly
• See your personal media and Internet content on your HDTV
• Play almost any type of media
• Access media anywhere on your home network
• WiFi ready Supports DVD Navigation
• Turn your USB drive into an HD media player
• Play media seamlessly from multiple USB drives
• Control your media from your computer
• Transfer files easily
• Show photos and movies directly from your digital camera or video camera
• HDMI 1.3, composite video and component video output
• SPDIF digital output
• Ultra-compact design
• If you want to buy this player, you can get the best price by clicking here

Perfect for:

• Full-HD video playback and navigation
• Accessing your Netflix unlimited membership on your TV
• Streaming network, Internet, and premium media
• Playing a variety file formats

What current customers say:

 

Excellent Device

Dwight,

As advertised it works.  After hook up and connection to the internet, a few clicks later all my computers (XP, Vista and Win 7) were accessible.

All portable drives worked.

Ripped content was no problem.

A caveman could hook it up.

This comment was paraphrased, see the original by clicking here.

 

THIS LITTLE THING IS AWESOME!!!

Delta G,

Coolest thing I’ve bought for my living room, even better than my couch and widescreen.  My 700 movie files, pitture and music play flalessly.  I love it and plan to buy one for the bedroom.

Orginal comment click here.

 

Pros

1. Great media hub that supports loads of formats
2. Functional and good looking interface
3. Data access is direct, network and online
4. 1080p greatness
5. Works out of the box
6. Updates often with new features
7. Subtitle control
8. Open source software code

Cons

1. Remote is not that intuitive
2. Might need a bit of help with network set up depending on OS
3. Connected hard drive a bit slow.

Overall

Streaming media players will improve over time.  For now, this device earns five stars because it does everything it’s supposed to, easy acess to video libraries, no DVD’s to fuss with and You Tube and home movies right on the tube.