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The good: The Roku HD is an extremely small Wi-Fi streaming-media box that costs only $60. It offers dozens of streaming video and audio services, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, HBO Go, Pandora, Mog, Rdio, and MLB.TV. PC- and Mac-based media can be streamed via the Plex app. The Roku HD can be connected to HDTVs or older analog TVs.
The bad: The Roku HD currently lacks Vudu and YouTube channels, which are found on most competing products. There's also no Ethernet port, so you'll need a solid Wi-Fi signal in your home theater.
The bottom line: With its ability to stream hundreds of audio and video channels (including Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu Plus), the $60 Roku HD would be our top pick for those seeking an ultra-affordable Internet media box -- if not for the fact that it's nearly identical to the slightly cheaper Roku LT.
What's the difference between the Roku LT and the Roku HD reviewed here? Ten dollars, a different color body, and not much else.
That's the short version. We could go on a tirade about how companies should simplify their product lines, and avoid bestowing on a 2012 product the same (or nearly the same) name given its predecessors from 2011, 2010, and 2009. But you just want to know one thing: should you buy this box?
The answer: if the Roku LT is sold out (or discontinued), yes. That's because the new $60 Roku HD is, so far as we can tell, all but identical to the $50 Roku LT, which remains an enthusiastic CNET Editors' Choice as the most affordable streaming-media box you can buy. Both models offer hundreds of video and audio channels, including favorites such as Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, Crackle, Pandora, MLB.TV, Mog, Rdio, and HBO Go. Both connect seamlessly to your Wi-Fi network. And both can be connected to new HDTVs or any old-fashioned analog TV.
The only differences appear to be cosmetic. The Roku HD has full-size analog RCA video outputs (yellow, red, and white jacks) instead of a single minijack port with a breakout cable. Because of the extra back-panel real estate needed to accommodate those jacks, the Roku HD is a tad wider than the Roku LT. And the HD reverses the LT's color scheme: LT is purple with a black base, the HD is black with a purple base. But the electronic innards, features, and performance of the two boxes appear to be identical.
There are just a few tiny differences between the Roku LT (top) and the Roku HD (bottom).
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
The other distinction between the LT and the HD is one of availability. The LT is intended as an online-only product, while you can find the new Roku HD at brick-and-mortar retailers such as Wal-Mart and Fry's (though it's available online, too).
So, if these are basically the same products in different packaging, why does the Roku HD cost $10 more than the Roku LT? Your guess is as good as mine. That said, the LT is so popular that it's often out of stock at online retailers like Amazon. If you encounter that problem -- especially if you're buying one as a gift -- spending the extra on the Roku HD isn't a bad backup plan. In the meantime, we'll continue to consider these products to be more or less interchangeable.
Design
The Roku HD is a little black box. It's essentially the same size as rival Apple TV, but, as mentioned above, it's a tad larger than the Roku LT, Roku 2 XD, and Roku 2 XS models, in order to fit full-size analog AV jacks on its rear end.
The Roku HD is a little black box. It's essentially the same size as rival Apple TV, but, as mentioned above, it's a tad larger than the Roku LT, Roku 2 XD, and Roku 2 XS models, in order to fit full-size analog AV jacks on its rear end.
In addition to those AV jacks, the rear panel has an HDMI port for connecting to HDTVs. As with all previous models, the analog option makes it possible to connect Roku boxes to older analog TVs, something you can't do with the HDMI-only Apple TV.
The only other things you get in the box are a power adapter (it's a modestly sized wall wart) and a small remote. If you want any other extras -- casual games like Angry Birds, an Ethernet port, a USB connection for enjoying local music or video files -- you'll need to step up to the $100 Roku 2 XS.
The Roku HD has built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi for connecting to the Internet, and while it's not dual-band like the old Roku XDS, we didn't run into any performance issues.
The remote is pretty straightforward. There's a directional pad with an OK button in the center, and there are some basic playback buttons, plus home and back. The asterisk button on the bottom generally brings up more options, such as search, though it can vary from channel to channel. There are also shortcut buttons to the Netflix, Pandora, and Crackle channels.
Here's everything that you get in the box.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
If you prefer, you can also control the Roku over Wi-Fi using the company's free iOS and Android apps. (Note that the Roku HD and Roku LT do not offer compatibility with Roku's Bluetooth gaming remote. But that's no great loss, in our opinion.)
Setup
Setup is straightforward and relatively easy. The only real annoyance is that you'll need to create a Roku account, which involves entering your credit card information or linking to a PayPal account, so you can purchase premium channels. Virtually every channel we're interested in is free or billed separately through the channel provider, so we'd prefer it if the credit card step were optional.
Setup is straightforward and relatively easy. The only real annoyance is that you'll need to create a Roku account, which involves entering your credit card information or linking to a PayPal account, so you can purchase premium channels. Virtually every channel we're interested in is free or billed separately through the channel provider, so we'd prefer it if the credit card step were optional.
You'll also need to link your Roku box to each individual streaming service, which usually involves entering an activation code on a Web site, so expect to spend some time in front of your TV with a laptop during setup.
Content and user interface
The home screen has a basic interface, with a horizontal row of channels to choose from. The Roku HD comes preloaded with the most important channels: Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, and Pandora. The first three are an outstanding trio for cable-cutters, letting you mix and match subscription and pay-per-view content to catch up on your favorite TV shows.
The home screen has a basic interface, with a horizontal row of channels to choose from. The Roku HD comes preloaded with the most important channels: Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, and Pandora. The first three are an outstanding trio for cable-cutters, letting you mix and match subscription and pay-per-view content to catch up on your favorite TV shows.
The home screen is basic, but simple.
(Credit: Matthew Moskovciak/CNET)
The user interfaces for the major services are good, although we've seen better. The Netflix UI here looks similar to the one found in the Sony PlayStation 3 interface, although fewer titles are visible on a single screen. Unlike on those very first Roku boxes, you can search through Netflix's streaming catalog, as well as browse titles that aren't in your instant queue. The current Rokus also support closed captioning on Netflix.
The Netflix interface is similar to the one you'll find on the PlayStation 3.
After a front menu screen, the Amazon Instant interface is almost identical to the Netflix one. It works, but it's not nearly as nice as the new and improved Amazon or Vudu interface you'll find on the PS3, or the general Apple TV navigation experience.
If you want more content, you'll go into the Channel Store. Here you'll find lots of excellent mainstream apps like HBO Go, MLB.TV, NHL GameCenter, Epix, Crackle, Picasa, Flicker, Mog, and Rdio, as well as more niche channels like TED Talks, Revision3, TWiT.TV, NASA, and CNET. (Disclosure: The CNET Channel --and some other Roku channels -- feature content that is produced by CNET and its parent, CBS.) You can see a full list of available channels on Roku's Web site.
The real annoyance is that at least two of the most desirable channels (HBO Go and Epix) require "authentication." That means that you need to subscribe to those channels on your cable or satellite system, and your cable or satellite system needs to allow online access on the Roku for each channel. None of this is Roku's fault -- the same issues apply to those channels on other boxes, such as the Xbox 360 or Samsung TVs -- but anyone hoping for a no-strings-attached cord-cutting solution will be disappointed.
The Channel Store can be overwhelming.
As we mentioned in the "setup" section above, some of these channels are free, some of them are premium (like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu Plus, which require a paid subscription or account set up through the provider's Web site), and others are just "clip hubs" that offer little or no substantive content. There are also dozens, if not hundreds, of channels that appeal to niche -- some might say fringe -- programming interests. But parents need not fret: password controls are available to ensure that only the Roku account owner can add channels. And, because you can add and delete channels as you see fit, you see only the programming you want.
The Channel Store itself is as overwhelming as the amount of content in it, presented as a huge grid of channels. The lack of a search function can make it annoying to track a specific app and even though there are filters, like "Most popular" and "Movies and TV," it's still easy to get a little lost as to what you're actually looking at. Luckily, once you add a channel it shows up on the home screen, and you can arrange home channels in whatever order you'd like.
Private channels, missing channels
There are also dozens of unofficial "private" channels built by third-party developers using standard Web tools. These include everything from quasilegal re-streams of Web and international video channels to adult content. They're accessible using special codes available online; check out the Roku Channel Database and Nowhere TV for a full list of Roku channels. Just be aware that some of the private channels are unsupported, so they could be shut off without notice.
There are also dozens of unofficial "private" channels built by third-party developers using standard Web tools. These include everything from quasilegal re-streams of Web and international video channels to adult content. They're accessible using special codes available online; check out the Roku Channel Database and Nowhere TV for a full list of Roku channels. Just be aware that some of the private channels are unsupported, so they could be shut off without notice.
We'd be remiss if we didn't point out the two big omissions from Roku's lineup: YouTube and Vudu. A YouTube channel is apparently in development for Roku, but that's been the rumor for months, and it has yet to appear. And while Vudu's content library is largely redundant if you have access to Amazon's, the fact that the Wal-Mart-owned service now offers a disc-to-digital option, including compatibility with cloud-based Ultraviolet titles , makes its lack of availability on Roku notable. The other curiosity is that both YouTube and Vudu are on scores of competing devices, so it's unclear what's keeping both of them off Roku.
Streaming local files with Plex
Roku boxes have always been good for streaming Internet-based media sources, but their big weakness compared with competitors was that they couldn't be used to access any music, videos, or photos residing on your networked PC or Mac. Thankfully, that's no longer a deal breaker: install the Plex "channel" on the Roku, download and install the free Plex software forWindows, Mac, or even Linux, and you'll be able to stream your local media to your TV with relative ease. (Hardcore geeks can even install a version of the Plex software on higher-end NAS servers, for a PC-free streaming experience.)
Roku boxes have always been good for streaming Internet-based media sources, but their big weakness compared with competitors was that they couldn't be used to access any music, videos, or photos residing on your networked PC or Mac. Thankfully, that's no longer a deal breaker: install the Plex "channel" on the Roku, download and install the free Plex software forWindows, Mac, or even Linux, and you'll be able to stream your local media to your TV with relative ease. (Hardcore geeks can even install a version of the Plex software on higher-end NAS servers, for a PC-free streaming experience.)
We didn't spend a long time playing around with Plex, but we had it up and running within 5 minutes of installing it on a Windows 7 PC. Once we pointed the PC software to the correct video, music, and photo folders, we were able to access all of our files from the Roku interface. No, it's not as slick as the iTunes-to-Apple TV experience, and tech newbies may be flummoxed, but it worked well enough, and was generally smoother to set up and use than some DLNA streamers we've played with in the recent past.
In other words: for the folks who want the local streaming feature, it's now fully baked and available on the Roku if you can handle configuring Plex on your own.
Image quality: Is 720p good enough?
No matter how many times we say 1080p doesn't matter, buyers still get worried when they see that the Roku HD (like the Roku LT) "only" does 720p HD video. Again, we didn't find the lack of 1080p video to be noticeable using the Roku HD, even for high-def streams from Netflix, Amazon Instant, and Hulu Plus.
No matter how many times we say 1080p doesn't matter, buyers still get worried when they see that the Roku HD (like the Roku LT) "only" does 720p HD video. Again, we didn't find the lack of 1080p video to be noticeable using the Roku HD, even for high-def streams from Netflix, Amazon Instant, and Hulu Plus.
Occasionally we'd notice some slight false contouring in the background, but it was minor even to our trained eyes. It's hard to imagine anyone complaining about how the BBC's "Sherlock" on Netflix looks on the Roku HD. Of course, excellent streaming-video image quality is dependent on the quality of your broadband connection as well as on the content itself.
The bottom line is that we don't think buyers should give weight to the lack of 1080p video much, if at all, when choosing a streaming-video box.
Conclusion
We love the Roku LT, so it's not surprising that we also love the nearly identical Roku HD. Yes, it's annoying that it costs $10 more, but we prefer the HD's black design over the LT's purple, so the extra cash may be worth it for those that prefer the HD's aesthetics.
We love the Roku LT, so it's not surprising that we also love the nearly identical Roku HD. Yes, it's annoying that it costs $10 more, but we prefer the HD's black design over the LT's purple, so the extra cash may be worth it for those that prefer the HD's aesthetics.
The downsides of the Roku HD are few and far between, especially when you consider its rock-bottom $60 price tag. If we had our druthers, Vudu and YouTube channels would be added, along with more robust app support (so you could control the Roku's various audio channels without needing to navigate on the TV screen, for instance). But those are quibbles on a device that's otherwise an outstanding deal.
Three great boxes, three different price points, two different feature sets.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
The toughest choice will likely be for those who own other Apple devices: is it worth spending $40 more to get an Apple TV for $100? The advantages are AirPlay connectivity, iTunes (and iCloud) integration, a slightly more refined interface, and a YouTube channel that's not currently accessible on the Roku. The disadvantage is that you get considerably fewer content sources, with the most glaring omissions being Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant. Meanwhile, the addition of Plex support for Roku helps level the playing field for local media streaming, though it's definitely rougher around the edges than iTunes, iCloud, and AirPlay on Apple TV.
Bottom line: if you're not committed to the Apple family of products, the Roku HD (along with the interchangeable Roku LT) should be at the top of your list.
Original Article can be found HERE
