4 Comments

Roku Creates The First (and Affordable) NetFlix Set top Box

May 20, 2008 by in Random with 4 Comments

The IPTV space has been getting mighty crowded lately. There is the AppleTV, XBox, PS3 and the Vudu (HEY GUYS, REVIEW UNIT PLEASE!). The space gets a bit more crowded today with the Roku $100 Netflix set top box.

The device has HDMI, Progressive, Composite AV connections as well as a wired and wireless network connection to allow instant on demand movie watching. Now how useful the unit will be is the question. A subscriber only has to pay a $100 hardware fee and there are no monthly reoccurring costs. Netflix selection of online streamable content is paltry at best though.

Would you be interested in a Netflix set top box or do you think this is a flash in the IPTV pan?

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  • Wally

    Having recently spent $600 to build a computer do much the same thing, I would have bought one of those in a heartbeat!

  • chad

    I have a computer for my TV and I’m still buying one of these just for the fact of being able to jump over seasons of TV shows without having to get off the couch, and IE 7 keeps throwing errors for no apparent reason. Will also be buying my parents one of their boob tube as well.

  • marc

    The price is right – but IMO the concept is wrong. I think I have reached my limit wiht a cable box, a Tivo, an AppleTV and a DVD player, not to mention the game consoles, stereo equipment, etc. Netflix should have gone for this concept by releasing an API that would allow other device manufacturers to provide this functionality.

    The problem seems to be that everyone out there making hardware thinks they are going to “win” this whole streaming/rental business. With such a limited scope this feels like just another box to me, and while the price is great, I dont think Ill be getting one of these. Add this functionality to any of my existing devices though, and I will gladly pre-pay for the next 3 years of Netflix service.

  • Nick

    Watching SD video on my HDTV is really hard to do. Even “HD” on demand or anything that is broadcast. I couldn’t enjoy watching stuff with this thing. Definitely not having fees helps, but still. I’m just picky.

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