Roku RT Streaming Player

I just bought a Roku LT Streaming Player player. I bought the “cheap” RT model, which is limited to 720P, partly because Amazon was having a sale on it, and partly because I didn’t really think I’d see much difference between 720P and 1080P. The 720P looks pretty good to me, but then I watch DVDs quite happily as well.


I also have a first generation Apple TV, which I don’t use as much as I had originally thought I would. I use it to occasionally rent a movie, but I do that so infrequently you could probably count the number of movies I’ve rented this past year on the fingers of one hand.

The reason I bought the Roku was not because I was looking to replace the Apply TV, or I was unhappy with it in any way. Rather, I got it because I have an Amazon Prime membership, and the Roku, unlike the Apple TV, will stream Amazon movies.

And with Amazon Prime you get access to quite a few movies and TV shows for free. It’s not endless, but as a free add-on (free after the $50 for the box, and $75 for Amazon Prime I’m already playing) it’s pretty good value! I’ve also watched Amazon movies on my MacBook, and even on the iPad (using the Amazon player app). Both work very well, but sometimes I’d rather just watch a movie on TV.

The player and it's remote

Installation is simple, though I wish it had come with an HDMI Cable rather than the old RCA cable. I had to spend another $5 to buy a cable from Amazon. The power supply is in a small brick attached to the power plug, which is always problematic when you are plugging them into a power strip.

When you set up the box, you do have to register it with Roku, and give them a credit card. I actually used a Gift Card that I had to register the device.

Operation is simple and straightforward. It’s much like navigating the Apple TV, though when scrolling through a list of movies it has the habit of repeating the same movie multiple times in the list (at different places.) That’s probably an Amazon issue rather than a Roku one.

Cables, adapter and batteries for the remote are the only other parts included

The image quality at 720P on my TV is very good. I watched four movies over the course of about five days, and they all played well except for one. Towards the end of Clear and Present Danger the movie started hiccupping every minute or so, and even flashed to a green frame at one point. I don’t know whether there were problems with the download, the transmission, or the encryption of the movie. It’s not something I’ve had happen with Apple TV; though I have had that pause because it was unable to complete downloading a movie, but it’s never hiccupped. I’ll be interested to see how often this problem occurs.

But if you have Amazon Prime and haven’t been making use of the free movies, then I’d recommend this device.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sony GV-D200 review

Image
Sony GV-D200 I've been using a Sony GV-D200 deck to transfer old Video8 and Hi8 tapes. Some of these tapes are over twenty years old, and no longer having a Hi8 camcorder that worked I was concerned that if I didn't do something about transferring them to a more modern format soon, I might never be able to. While Sony no longer make camcorders that use these tapes - that I know of - Sony does still sell the GV-D200 deck (or Video Walkman, as it's sometimes labelled.) They also offer the GV-D800, which is almost identical but adds a small LCD screen for about $120 more. I didn't think I'd need a screen since I was using this to capture to the computer, but you will need an external monitor when you first set it up. Physically, the device is small. At 5 7/8" wide, 5 3/8" deep and 2" high, it's the smallest video deck I've encountered. I used to have a Video8 deck that I thought was small; and it was twice as deep and twice as high. The t...
Read more

Response: Which iPhone to Get?

Image
In response to my iPhone musings, I got the following reader email which actually sums up a lot of my second and third thoughts too: You might have a point about the fancier camera, but otherwise I would buy the smaller model. Its screen is about the same size as that of my Nexus 4, and I don't feel at all like it limits me with a too-small screen. But I do sometimes stretch to get my thumb the reach to the other corner of the screen. It is plenty big for a phone. A phone is a pocket thing. (Well, in my case it lives an ancient REI soft sunglasses case that I have on my belt.) Ubiquitous, handy, convenient, almost always with me. Small is crucial for all of that. Certainly a large screen is cool, but you need a place to put it: don't break a fundamental feature of a pocket phone by getting too big. That is what your small tablet is for. I have my phone with me almost always. I have my Nexus 7 tablet with me nearly as much. The bigger screen is great, yet it fits in some...
Read more

Should you buy the Sony NEX-FS100 Kit Lens?

Image
The Sony NEX-FS100 is available in two configurations: B & H : NEX-FS100U Camcorder only $4,999 B & H : NEX-FS100U (with 18-200mm lens) $5,599 But what does that extra $600 get you? It get's you this: Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens for NEX Camera This lens is also available separately for $799.99, so at $200 off you'd think everyone would be jumping on it. But not so fast... In his article about switching from the Canon 5D Mark II to the Sony NEX-FS100 , Paul Antico  at Need Creative says of the kit lens: 7) Its 18-200 F3.6-6.3 kit lens absolutely sucks and should be avoided (thankfully, you can order it without one) [ 1 ] But is it that bad? At B & H 's site, 43 reviews give it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. That's not a bad rating, though many of these people are using it for stills, and the most common complaint noted is how large and heavy it is. Of course this feeling of size would be exacerbated when you put it on a tiny camera ...
Read more