I am always looking for ways to save some pennies without sacrificing my quality of life. This is difficult to accomplish while also trying to adopt the latest and greatest technologies on the market. For movie or TV show buffs, there is a product available to satisfy both the ability to cut costs without compromising your inner geek.
The Netflix Player by Roku provides users (who have a Netflix Subscription) the ability to stream movies and shows directly to your television at absolutely no extra cost. All you pay is the one-time $99 retail price for box and you’re done. The collection available to stream is the content found in the ‘Watch Instantly’ portion of Netflix. However, this is one heck of a deal if you ever wanted to catch-up on shows such as The Office, 30 Rock, Dexter or Weeds. With over 12,000 movies and TV shows to choose from, the Netflix Player is a bargain at twice the price.
The player itself is very small, about the size of 4-5 CDs stacked on top of eachother. You can connect it to your TV through RCA jacks, component cables, or even HDMI. This leads to the assumption that, in the future, the Netflix Player will be capable of streaming content in high definition. I currently use the component cables, and the picture quality is wonderful. To connect online in order to stream the content, you have two options. You can either connect an Ethernet cable into the back of the box, or, if you use a router in your home, the Netflix Player can also connect wirelessly.
Setup is easy and should take the average user 3-5 minutes to complete. If you use a wireless connection, allow yourself a couple extra minutes to type in your passwords. Once complete, you will be asked to confirm your Netflix user info. After the simple setup, you will be sent to a screen where you can cycle through the movies or shows you have already added to your ‘Watch Instantly’ queue from your Netflix account. Once you find the movie or show you would like to watch, all you have to do is press Select on your Roku remote (provided, with batteries) and wait around 10-15 seconds for your feature to buffer.
There are a few drawbacks to the Roku Netflix Player. The most popular complaint is the scarce library of movies and TV shows to choose from. I personally do not find this to be a problem because I am a fan of classic and independent film. But Netflix is adding titles almost daily to their ‘Watch Instantly’ library, so eventually this should not be an issue. Also, sometimes the audio and the lips of the actors don’t match up, but I have found this to be a simple fix. Press the key on your remote that looks like a home, go to settings -> display, and change your display to the unchecked option. Once you go back to your program, this problem should be solved. The last biggest complaint about the player is that you are unable to turn it off. I can see why that could upset users, however, if you own a DVR, a Wii, a DVD player or even an alarm clock, those electronics are also always on. With that said, the Netflix Player does not get very hot, unlike your cable box which seems to feel like it will catch fire at any moment.
With my purchase and satisfaction of the Roku Netflix Player, I decided to cancel my cable subscription. I now save over $80 a month in bills, and feel as though I have not lost any entertainment value. There is plenty of content I have found that is enjoyable. If there is a new episode of a show I really want to watch but am unable to now that I rid myself of cable, I can always use Hulu. There are rumors that the Netflix Player may eventually have the ability to stream Hulu content. If that partnership ever happens, the product is a must have for any frugalite!
Overall, I rate the Roku Netflix Player an 8/10. I love the speed, convenience, price and friendly customer service. With slightly more content and (potential) added Hulu streaming, the player can easily become be a perfect 10.
My audio review can be heard on episode 5 of Bytecast Weekly.
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You should’ve let me know you were reviewing it, we could’ve posted it on Grand Central and gotten you some hits. If you ever find time for that mint.com review, let me know. Maybe even a mini review, I have been working on a top 10 college student web apps type thing.
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