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Most likely returning roku

T2urtle

T2urtle

Diamond Member
So I got the highest model roku.

Had it for a week and most likely its going back. I don't really see how this could be a replacement cable box. Everything needs to be a channel, like the USB port. Then it randomly freezes on shows I am watching. I thought there was some live streaming channels and found nothing.

I can't even figure how to turn it off.

I think I'm better off building a $500 micro or mini atx computer.

Any roku owners have suggestions for me?
 
I returned mine and built a htpc myself. Mostly because no streaming device has all the same features. No regret.
 
was the return process easy? I assume call/email and get a RMA and be done with it. I ordered mines directly from them.

I'm not very big with apple products, I just wanted something to could play media from my USB flashdrive and then some.
 
T2urtle said:
was the return process easy? I assume call/email and get a RMA and be done with it. I ordered mines directly from them.

I'm not very big with apple products, I just wanted something to could play media from my USB flashdrive and then some.
Click to expand...

Roku can do that (can't it?) and can do Plex too...
 
I bought a Roku for a family member mainly to stream Netflix and it does it perfectly. I don't get why anyone would think it could replace tv/cable box in any way. Plus they're super cheap compared to making a decent HTPC.
 
Eh, the LG BR player I got for the bedroom plays Netflix perfectly, and it was only $70. Plus there was the whole "bonus" of it playing BR discs. 😛
 
T2urtle said:
I thought there was some live streaming channels and found nothing.
Click to expand...

I don't understand, Roku info says there are over 350 channels?

I just got a WDTV Live thinking it would be similar to the Roku plus the ability to access my network drives. From what I could tell the biggest drawback was that the interface on the WDTV Live isn't as good as the Roku. After watching an excellent review on Youtube on the WD unit, it seemed easy enough to me so I bought it.

One thing I missed is that the WDTV Live only has access to a small handful of channels compared to Roku. It doesn't seem like you can add more. Mainly I want Netflix, which of course it has but I was hoping for more free channels as I'm cutting cable.

This is still new to me, about how many of the channels available on the Roku are free? I'd like to be able to at least get a national news channel. There's a list here -
http://www.roku.com/roku-channel-store#a-c


As far as accessing my drives as well as the common favorite channels Netflix, Hula Plus, Facebook, Blockbuster, Pandora etc (but not Amazon streaming), the WDTV Live is awesome.

I might add the Roku HD for the extra channels. When you consider dropping the monthly cable fee, another $60 isn't a bad investment.
 
They aren't "channels" like that. It's just a term for each stream you can get. The naming convention is similar to the Wii. Each Box on your menu is a "channel" and there is a list of them you can add on that main menu. There are also private hidden channels you can add.

There are some "news" streams, but no live streaming news as far as I know.

There are many of these "channels" but most are pay. Plex allows you to stream your own stuff (instead of using USB). The one benefit I see from using Plex vs any other media player is that you don't have to sort your material and add artwork. It does all this for you with 99% accuracy. It is VERY nice. Downside is, you need a PC to stream from.

There are a few "channels" that have some nice free and/or original content, but most of it is pretty short and once you watch them, there's not much else to use it for if you aren't streaming Netflix or Hulu.

It cannot be turned off, it just goes to sleep after awhile if you don't have something playing.

All in All I still prefer to use my PBO with Medebo on it.
 
ImpulsE69 said:
They aren't "channels" like that. It's just a term for each stream you can get. The naming convention is similar to the Wii. Each Box on your menu is a "channel" and there is a list of them you can add on that main menu. There are also private hidden channels you can add.

There are some "news" streams, but no live streaming news as far as I know.

There are many of these "channels" but most are pay. Plex allows you to stream your own stuff (instead of using USB). The one benefit I see from using Plex vs any other media player is that you don't have to sort your material and add artwork. It does all this for you with 99% accuracy. It is VERY nice. Downside is, you need a PC to stream from.

There are a few "channels" that have some nice free and/or original content, but most of it is pretty short and once you watch them, there's not much else to use it for if you aren't streaming Netflix or Hulu.

It cannot be turned off, it just goes to sleep after awhile if you don't have something playing.

All in All I still prefer to use my PBO with Medebo on it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that helps a lot.

My step-daughter has a Roku, think I'll check it out.
 
I bought my grandparents an original lowest end Roku for Christmas last year and they loved it. It cost me $50, is extremely easy to set up, super simple for my grandmother to use, and she can watch Netflix all day on it. Its the most-used device in their house now besides the TV itself. My grandmother has a rare disease related to muscular dystrophy, so she has trouble holding her laptop in front of her to watch a movie, as the light from the screen can cause her skin to become red and irritated. But she loves Netflix, because living out in the country its not easy for her or my grandfather to drive half an hour to town to pick up and return a movie. So the Roku was really a blessing to my grandmother who can' easily leave the house now.
 
AnMig said:
apple tv. + xbmc

Returned my roku last year couldn't even access my shared movie folders
Click to expand...

HELL NO.

I have this combo. My appletv2 is upstairs in my bedroom and my XBMC setup is in the basement. They are connected by 10/100 wired ethernet.

I cannot watch anything on the xbmc from the appletv. It should be called the bufferTV because all it does is play a short clip, buffer, play a short clip, buffer. Its a joke. I gave up on it about 5 months ago because it couldn't play any of my 1080p or even 720p encoded blu rays (which is almost everything I have).

The appletv2 is decent for netflix, and thats about it. Even then, sometimes the audio and video aren't synced up and I have to reset the unit.
 
Last edited:
slag said:
HELL NO.

I have this combo. My appletv2 is upstairs in my bedroom and my XBMC setup is in the basement. They are connected by 10/100 wired ethernet.

I cannot watch anything on the xbmc from the appletv. It should be called the bufferTV because all it does is play a short clip, buffer, play a short clip, buffer. Its a joke. I gave up on it about 5 months ago because it couldn't play any of my 1080p or even 720p encoded blu rays (which is almost everything I have).

The appletv2 is decent for netflix, and thats about it. Even then, sometimes the audio and video aren't synced up and I have to reset the unit.
Click to expand...

Plays ok here. Did u get the latest nightly build of xbmc, from mid-December? How old is your build? Full release or beta?
 
dclive said:
Plays ok here. Did u get the latest nightly build of xbmc, from mid-December? How old is your build? Full release or beta?
Click to expand...

Plays everything I have perfectly. Most of my stuff is 720p mkv but I do have couple 1080p mkv. I run wireless on all three of my AppleTV and I get zero buffering or studdering. I'm on regular XBMC release on all three.
 
dclive said:
Plays ok here. Did u get the latest nightly build of xbmc, from mid-December? How old is your build? Full release or beta?
Click to expand...


No, I gave up on it when devs from xbmc.org said it was a limitation of the memory and chipset on the atv2. I take it from your post they found a way to make it work well?

I'm running the latest XBMC on my htpc in the basement from a week ago.
 
slag said:
No, I gave up on it when devs from xbmc.org said it was a limitation of the memory and chipset on the atv2. I take it from your post they found a way to make it work well?

I'm running the latest XBMC on my htpc in the basement from a week ago.
Click to expand...

What is "the latest"? From the dev channel, December 10 nightly build, or v10.1, released 9 months or so ago?

You don't need anything on the SMB server in the basement ... Just share out your media directory and then "attach" to it (mount it) on the atv2 xbmc. I'm worried you are upnp'ing or have some other non-windows-share setup; don't. again, quit xbmc in the basement ... Use normal windows shared directories.

The hardware is perfectly fine with playback of any content .... It just renders at 720p, which is fine for me.
 
Cant believe you are looking to replace Roku...

Let me add my 2 cents as well to this discussion...

I am a nerd with 3 PC's at home for blueray, hypervisors and gaming, I love W7 though its just not good enough to be operated with dedicated remote which can allow to play on XMBC/boxee and media center, there are lots of customization and headache you need to go through to make things work and then there are lots of updates.... and finally in the end your experience is not as smooth as Roku XS (blue ray support is phethetic with windows media center softwares such as WMC/Boxee/XMBC)

I have tried very hard (quite an advance user and automation expert) to make it work though in the end its too much hassle and not the best experience...

Another amazing plus with Roku is 2-3 watts of power consumption only, amazing considering electrivity bill can easily add around 10 bucks/month for your PC...and remember ROKU is dead silent

Netflix/Huluplus have the best experience anyday compared to any other software/media player.

Also my experience with XS (wired networking) is the best and no issues/delays noticed. does USB MP3 playback very nice and MYmedia channel allows to play everything (photo/video/music) from my PC, this experience is very very smooth (caveat MP4 video is only supported, i guess MKV support is there as well though didnt work for me)

Now experience of streaming channels and selection is just amazing, other than usual if you add provate channels (nowhere, though it hung sometimes for a min, not while playing but while navigating) you are able to get several latest podcasts and TV channels

I got my first Roku 2 weeks back and I am realizing how much time I had wasted trying to build a perfect media center PC, WMC is still not matured in my opinion, lots of hacks though functionality is just not increasing within software...

And none in your family is gonna like PC anyway due to cumbersome experience, while Roku always get WAF easily and always on....

I ordered my another Rokuy XD for another room today as there is a daily deal on amazon...

I configured one of my PC with win 2008 R2 as DC/NAS/ISCSI/MyMedia so that in one box I have all media to share, Roku is able to see contents easily, though on MP4 video's are supported.... (i tried converted MP4 from blueray movies i had for Iphone and they worked awesome, amazing amout of clarity on 40" screen)

No media center player as of now plays Blue Ray ISO's the way my popcorn A200 does (again lots of customization and haggling to make it work in MCE and XMBC, as no-one support as default and you have to pay for blue ray software as well)

You will be able to play all type of media's in PC though thats about it, other than that ROKU wins in every department....

Now here comes the roku's shortcoming...

Remote is limited, i like to see a "next video" button included when playing playlist of streamed shows

no sleep timer default, nowhere channel does support it though (it saves bandwidth when you sleep while playing a channel playlist)

XS model has only RF(which is a plus) but not able to configure in any universal remote, newly ordered XD has IR thus will be able to have one remote setup now...

No Youtube (playon software allows that though streaming expoerience is not good at all), there are talks youtube is coming on roku soon

WD live doesn't work as it does not have much of streaming channels (NBC/ABC/CNN/NHL/NFL) as all I prefer to see in morning is latest selected news...

Sorry for any typo's /spellings above
 
Last edited:
heda_p said:
Cant believe you are looking to replace Roku...

Let me add my 2 cents as well to this discussion...

I am a nerd with 3 PC's at home for blueray, hypervisors and gaming, I love W7 though its just not good enough to be operated with dedicated remote which can allow to play on XMBC/boxee and media center, there are lots of customization and headache you need to go through to make things work and then there are lots of updates.... and finally in the end your experience is not as smooth as Roku XS (blue ray support is phethetic with windows media center softwares such as WMC/Boxee/XMBC)

I have tried very hard (quite an advance user and automation expert) to make it work though in the end its too much hassle and not the best experience...

Another amazing plus with Roku is 2-3 watts of power consumption only, amazing considering electrivity bill can easily add around 10 bucks/month for your PC...and remember ROKU is dead silent

Netflix/Huluplus have the best experience anyday compared to any other software/media player.

Also my experience with XS (wired networking) is the best and no issues/delays noticed. does USB MP3 playback very nice and MYmedia channel allows to play everything (photo/video/music) from my PC, this experience is very very smooth (caveat MP4 video is only supported, i guess MKV support is there as well though didnt work for me)

Now experience of streaming channels and selection is just amazing, other than usual if you add provate channels (nowhere, though it hung sometimes for a min, not while playing but while navigating) you are able to get several latest podcasts and TV channels

I got my first Roku 2 weeks back and I am realizing how much time I had wasted trying to build a perfect media center PC, WMC is still not matured in my opinion, lots of hacks though functionality is just not increasing within software...

And none in your family is gonna like PC anyway due to cumbersome experience, while Roku always get WAF easily and always on....

I ordered my another Rokuy XD for another room today as there is a daily deal on amazon...

I configured one of my PC with win 2008 R2 as DC/NAS/ISCSI/MyMedia so that in one box I have all media to share, Roku is able to see contents easily, though on MP4 video's are supported.... (i tried converted MP4 from blueray movies i had for Iphone and they worked awesome, amazing amout of clarity on 40" screen)

No media center player as of now plays Blue Ray ISO's the way my popcorn A200 does (again lots of customization and haggling to make it work in MCE and XMBC, as no-one support as default and you have to pay for blue ray software as well)

You will be able to play all type of media's in PC though thats about it, other than that ROKU wins in every department....

Now here comes the roku's shortcoming...

Remote is limited, i like to see a "next video" button included when playing playlist of streamed shows

no sleep timer default, nowhere channel does support it though (it saves bandwidth when you sleep while playing a channel playlist)

XS model has only RF(which is a plus) but not able to configure in any universal remote, newly ordered XD has IR thus will be able to have one remote setup now...

No Youtube (playon software allows that though streaming expoerience is not good at all), there are talks youtube is coming on roku soon

WD live doesn't work as it does not have much of streaming channels (NBC/ABC/CNN/NHL/NFL) as all I prefer to see in morning is latest selected news...

Sorry for any typo's /spellings above
Click to expand...

Thanks for the excellent post. What I'm trying to figure out is how to get news "streaming channels". So you're saying NBC/ABC/CNN have content available on the Roku? If I can get a decent news channel I could cut my cable bill.
 
Just wanted to let u guys know. If u were to buy a roku, but it in a store. Roku's customer service is horrible to deal with. Both online chat and over the phone.

U get the standard outsourcing phone call. Strong accents and all. Took 30 minutes for no info. Live chat isn't live. Copy and pasted answers only.

I mailed my box back to them, usps tracking shows its there. But they can't confirm that, told me to wait 10-12 days for them to process item. Unless everyone is returning it, how can they not know my box is there.
 
T2urtle said:
Just wanted to let u guys know. If u were to buy a roku, but it in a store. Roku's customer service is horrible to deal with. Both online chat and over the phone.

U get the standard outsourcing phone call. Strong accents and all. Took 30 minutes for no info. Live chat isn't live. Copy and pasted answers only.

I mailed my box back to them, usps tracking shows its there. But they can't confirm that, told me to wait 10-12 days for them to process item. Unless everyone is returning it, how can they not know my box is there.
Click to expand...


Simply contest charges on the credit card.
 
heda_p said:
Cant believe you are looking to replace Roku...

Let me add my 2 cents as well to this discussion...

I am a nerd with 3 PC's at home for blueray, hypervisors and gaming, I love W7 though its just not good enough to be operated with dedicated remote which can allow to play on XMBC/boxee and media center, there are lots of customization and headache you need to go through to make things work and then there are lots of updates.... and finally in the end your experience is not as smooth as Roku XS (blue ray support is phethetic with windows media center softwares such as WMC/Boxee/XMBC)

I have tried very hard (quite an advance user and automation expert) to make it work though in the end its too much hassle and not the best experience...

Another amazing plus with Roku is 2-3 watts of power consumption only, amazing considering electrivity bill can easily add around 10 bucks/month for your PC...and remember ROKU is dead silent

Netflix/Huluplus have the best experience anyday compared to any other software/media player.

Also my experience with XS (wired networking) is the best and no issues/delays noticed. does USB MP3 playback very nice and MYmedia channel allows to play everything (photo/video/music) from my PC, this experience is very very smooth (caveat MP4 video is only supported, i guess MKV support is there as well though didnt work for me)

Now experience of streaming channels and selection is just amazing, other than usual if you add provate channels (nowhere, though it hung sometimes for a min, not while playing but while navigating) you are able to get several latest podcasts and TV channels

I got my first Roku 2 weeks back and I am realizing how much time I had wasted trying to build a perfect media center PC, WMC is still not matured in my opinion, lots of hacks though functionality is just not increasing within software...

And none in your family is gonna like PC anyway due to cumbersome experience, while Roku always get WAF easily and always on....

I ordered my another Rokuy XD for another room today as there is a daily deal on amazon...

I configured one of my PC with win 2008 R2 as DC/NAS/ISCSI/MyMedia so that in one box I have all media to share, Roku is able to see contents easily, though on MP4 video's are supported.... (i tried converted MP4 from blueray movies i had for Iphone and they worked awesome, amazing amout of clarity on 40" screen)

No media center player as of now plays Blue Ray ISO's the way my popcorn A200 does (again lots of customization and haggling to make it work in MCE and XMBC, as no-one support as default and you have to pay for blue ray software as well)

You will be able to play all type of media's in PC though thats about it, other than that ROKU wins in every department....

Now here comes the roku's shortcoming...

Remote is limited, i like to see a "next video" button included when playing playlist of streamed shows

no sleep timer default, nowhere channel does support it though (it saves bandwidth when you sleep while playing a channel playlist)

XS model has only RF(which is a plus) but not able to configure in any universal remote, newly ordered XD has IR thus will be able to have one remote setup now...

No Youtube (playon software allows that though streaming expoerience is not good at all), there are talks youtube is coming on roku soon

WD live doesn't work as it does not have much of streaming channels (NBC/ABC/CNN/NHL/NFL) as all I prefer to see in morning is latest selected news...

Sorry for any typo's /spellings above
Click to expand...

No Vudu for Roku sucks. Maybe they'll get it in the future, maybe not. Dealbreaker for me. Sony Blu-Ray player ftw, it has the big 4 (Amazon, Netflix, Huluplus, Vudu). WD Live is even worse with no Amazon. F that.
 
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