Watch Instantly on your TV with Roku for $99

The Netflix Player by Roku is now available. For $99.99 you can play on your TV instead of your PC.

It connects to the Internet using WiFi or Ethernet, and connects to your TV using Composite, S-Video, Component or HDMI. Audio includes optical out.

TV output can be switched to 16:9 from the default of 4:3.

I've been helping test it, so I've had one for a while, it works! I have a 54" TV, and hooked it up via WiFi to an Airport on a 3Mbit DSL. I mostly get the top quality feed, and to me its just like watching a DVD or Digital Satellite sources. Video quality is very good, on a big screen I find it depends a lot on the quality of the source material and encoding. On a PC screen you don't see the difference as much. A show that has visually stunning photography like the BBC Life of Mammals series looks great.

Setup is very easy, you configure the network then it shows a four character code on your TV and tells you to enter the code on the Netflix website at www.netflix.com/activate - thats it, the box and Netflix connect and your Instant Queue appears on your TV.

There was more demand than expected, and there is a week or so wait from order to shipment at the moment.

I started an activation thread, so people can post as they get their boxes.

There is also a Roku Forum for users of the Netflix Player by Roku

Roku have disclosed the NXP made MIPS32 CPU based system-on-a-chip that they used.

There is a separate discussion if you are also interested in the Xbox 360 option for watching Netflix on your TV, and another for the Netflix enhanced LG Blu-Ray player.

Adrian from Netflix

David Pogue Video from the New York Times
Hacking Netflix - Video review using the box
LA Times talks to Anthony Wood
New York Times Review
Newsweek video review
Crunchgear Review
Gizmodo Review
Newteevee Review
C|Net Blog
C|Net Review
PC Magazine Review
Wired Review
Associated Press

Tags: roku

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on July 3, 2008 at 10:12pm: If you have a mac you can still access your queue (even Instant Watch queue) and all that stuff, you just won't be able to view the movies on your Mac; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by J. Alcantar on July 6, 2008 at 11:24am: Thank you.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by wowwee123 on July 6, 2008 at 5:03am: I've been asked to help out, by UncleBob, with the Instant Watch Treasure Hunters group, I'm inviting everyone here, if you haven't yet, to join the group, and if you already have, to check out some new threads that have been started, and also to start some discussions over there, and let's make the group the #1 source for everything Instant, except of course for, coffee.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Octavean on July 10, 2008 at 6:44pm: Well the Roku is clearly an interesting product that will continue to grow with respect to HD movies and added source services. It obviously fills more then a small niche segment. The price is good too.

However, users of other hardware such as the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows Media Center Edition and Vista Home Premium / Vista Ultimate PCs already have powerful hardware connected to their TVs / HDTVs. Since I have such hardware I’m a bit torn. On one hand it’s a neat little device which I could see buying but on the other hand Media Center integration and gaming platforms are officially going unused in this respect. An Xbox 360, stand alone or as a Media Center eXtender, and Playstation 3 are well suited for such a task if not even better suited then the Roku.

Moving on though, I’m a bit concerned that the Roku will eventually truncate its feature list due to the obvious security related analog hole issue. One must assume that the Roku is viewed by its backers as a secure device and it most certainly is not if the component output is active. This is even more true once HD becomes functional through firmware updates. I suspect that they will either disable the analog output altogether or limit its resolution.

I just wish they would let us use an Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 as well as a Media Center Plug-in. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Roku is great but in some respects its just another box to buy.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Clovous on July 10, 2008 at 7:01pm: I bought the Roku and I absolutely love it! I'm actually thinking about cancelling my cable. There is so much to watch!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jampony on July 11, 2008 at 5:24pm: After waiting what seemed like FOREVER for FedEx to straighten out and finally deliver my Roku I finally got my Roku today. The box was a mess but the innards looked okay. Imagine my disappointment when I got home and found out the internet connection that went down last night still wasn't fixed. Then imagine my disappointment when I found out it will never be fixed; they're pulling out of my complex with no notice and I have to get Comcast now. COMCAST! Shit!!! I hate Comcast. And I'm stuck using dial-up until they can come. :insertsuperpissedoffsmileyfacehere:

Anyway, I'm really excited I got my Roku and I can't wait to try it out. It's funny, though. I originally bought it because I heard it handled streaming better than WI on the computer and since I ~~have~~ had a not-so-great internet connection, I thought I'd give it a try. Now I have to get Comcast which is, like, three times as fast as what I had so I probably won't need the Roku player after all. Ironic.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cat G on July 13, 2008 at 4:54am: insertsuperpissedoffsmileyfacehere:

I know whatcha mean about Comcast. I have 'em and they're the ones slowing down the conncections so that you can't watch. I think they're pissed about their bandwidth raging off the charts.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Desperate Living on July 13, 2008 at 8:53pm: I love this little box. It has been so convenient and a super-simple user interface. I don't have cable and this has been a great way of seeing new movies/shows that I didn't want to rent via mail.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cat G on July 15, 2008 at 12:57pm: I received our second remote for the Roku, yesterday. I just wanted to tell Uncle Bob and everyone else who had a problem getting the little thing open, to insert the batteries - that they recognized the problem and put a (don't know what to call it) thing-a-ma-bob on the battery cover slider, to make it easier to open.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by The Real Uncle Bob on July 15, 2008 at 1:46pm: cool!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jampony on July 17, 2008 at 11:13am: I thought you all were just a bunch of weenie-armed wimps -- then I got my box and spent like ten minutes trying to open the stupid battery compartment. I think it took longer to do that than to set the whole thing up.

So here are my specs, for future Roku buyers: I ordered it on July 2 and received it July 11. I didn't buy the premium cables, but at only $20 I feel like I should have, just because that seems so cheap.

I found out my internet connection is 768k/128k so I guess I'm not doing too badly when I have some pauses and delays on my Watch Instantly on the computer. On the Roku I got two dots on the first movie I tested and it didn't look that bad. Of course, I'm watching it on a small TV (13" I think) so I don't notice what those of you with bigger TVs would see. Oh, yeah... I just remembered... I'm using it wirelessly with my LinkSys WRT54GS router so I'm thinking two dots is probably pretty good.

I can't wait to play with it more over the weekend and really test out my connection (and hopefully avoid switching to Comcast).

PS: Cat... I'm totally stealing your pissed off smiley guy. Hope you don't mind! :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on July 17, 2008 at 11:25am: I found out my internet connection is 768k/128k
UB, I couldn't find your connection-speed-to-resolution matrix you provided some time ago, but shouldn't she be getting more than 2 dots at 768?; ▶ Reply to This