Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Roku

Last month, I got an Apple TV ... and it's great.

I mentioned that I couldn't compare the Apple TV to a Roku box ... because I didn't have a Roku box.

But I do now.

And I like it.

Actually, I think I like it better than the Apple TV, except for one thing. And that's the fact that it lets me play iTunes content on the TV. That's the whole reason I got it for. The rest of the stuff -- the Netflix, YouTube, and movie rentals -- I didn't need, since I could do all that on the TiVo already.

However, the Roku lets me do that too. And for some reason, I like it better.

The difference is that Roku lets me get Amazon content. Sure, the TiVo does Amazon content, too, but it has to download it first. The Roku lets me stream it.

Roku also does Hulu content, too. Well, Hulu Plus content. Don't get me started on why you can't watch Hulu content on Hulu Plus devices. That's another rant.

It has some other content, too. A bunch of channels to which you can subscribe. Some are pretty good, some are really lame, and some will try to sell you content you can get from free from others.

Still, I like the Roku.

One other nice feature about the Roku is that you have more choices about connecting it to a TV. Apple TV only connects via HDMI. Roku connects via HDMI, as well as (for the $99 model) component or composite video and analog or optical audio.

If I had to choose between Roku and Apple TV, I don't know which I'd choose. Probably Roku. But I don't have to choose. I like them both. And I got them both. They're awesome.

1 comment:

  1. My personal setup is a laptop with the video output connected to a 21 inch CRT monitor.

    In the future, I hope to upgrade to a bigass flatscreen with a similar input option.

    ReplyDelete

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