How would you change Roku's Netflix Player?

Now that you've had a little over a month to cram down popcorn while enjoying your shiny matte new Roku Netflix Player, we're interested to find just how pleased (or displeased) you are with the $99 purchase. Has it lived up to your expectations? Is the quality sufficient for you? How does it look on your HDTV? Is wireless performance up to par, or were you practically forced to run an Ethernet cable all the way downstairs? We already know what the paid professionals said -- we want the cold, hard facts straight from the users themselves. Let us have it comments below.

[Nick Catalano @ Jul 4th 2008 6:34PM]

HD support?

[Ben @ Jul 4th 2008 6:38PM]

Dito. Blurry PQ is bad mojo.

[AndrewP @ Jul 4th 2008 6:40PM]

It WILL support HD in the future. It even has Component and HDMI connections. The problem is that none of the Netflix Instant Watch content is available in HD. When Netflix releases High Definition media for Instant Play it will be ready for it.

[Sean @ Jul 4th 2008 8:00PM]

I doubt HD content is coming anytime soon. It can barely stream the content there is now, and I have a fast connection, the problem lies with Netflix. The IQ varies temendously, from 4 dots at times, down to 2. At all levels the quality is not great on my large HD projector screen. Also the movie selection is horrendous. All the movies are in Stereo only, supposedly surround 5.1 is coming, but who knows why it is not there yet. So far I am not very impressed. But I knew these issues going in. I am hoping for the future. In the meantime though, my Apple TV is getting a LOT more use, despite having to rent the things I watch, simply because it works so much better, and the image quality is great and the selection is WAY better, despite having fewer overall numbers of movies available.

[Sean @ Jul 4th 2008 8:13PM]

I just wanted to add some more negatives.... there is no closed caption support (although that is also lacking on the Apple TV). No browsing on the box itself sucks, although once you have a long que it is not so bad. Hate that most movies are in 4:3 format instead of 16:9. NEEDS TO SUPPORT NETFLIX PROFILES!!!

Positives are lots of documentaries, and older TV shows. I like how little power it uses (5 watts according to my Kill-a-Watt while streaming over wireless) and it stays cool. It is simple to use.

For now this and the Apple TV are perfect for each other. Apple TV for quality movie releases and HD, YouTube, Video Podcasts, Streaming music and ripped DVDs (I have almost all my DVD collection ripped to an external HD for watching on the Apple TV), and the Roku player for documentaries, and old TV shows. They compliment each other well.

BUT if I had to choose one to win, based on how each work currently, there is no contest, the Apple TV is by far the more capable system, although having to rent everything I watch, sucks. I would rather it has a subscription type service like Netflix.

[midiwall @ Jul 4th 2008 10:04PM]

@sean...

Most of your comments are Netflix issues... The shifting quality dots can be a number of things, take a look at the Networking 101 thread on the Roku forum (link below). The box will support 5.1 when Netflix streams it. 4:3 vs 16:9 is a Netflix issue. Netflix profiles are going away anyway. The lack of titles is a studio license issue, not Roku or Netflix.


@everyone... You really need to head to the Roku forums and get some background on what you're complaining about - and to let ROku know directly what you'd like to see. There's a dedicated "Feature Suggestions" thread that Roku is watching.

New firmware will be coming - Roku's gotta let this sit a bit, shuffle through the suggestions and then prioritize them based on capabilities of the box, and the server backend (Netflix).

ref: http://forums.rokulabs.com/viewforum.php?f=28

[caleb @ Jul 4th 2008 10:27PM]

@sean - AppleTV does have support for closed captioning. The option is under Settings-->Video. I just found this out a day or two ago because I somehow managed to switch it on and the movie I had rented supported it.


I personally think Netflix needs to make this available as a software package for Xbox 360/PS3/AppleTV. I would have already forked over my $99 for it if it didn't mean *another* box sitting under my TV.

[Russell @ Jul 5th 2008 1:26AM]

Concerning the player itself and not the firmware that can be changed:

1) Power Off button so that it uses NO electricity whatsoever.
2) More intricate remote. It's kinda basic...and small which I find myself looking for it most of the time because it's just so easy to misplace. More thought could have been put into the remote control functions before rolling out the firmware as it was. The firmware could have had more functionality as well. However, I welcome the excitement I will have when I read about the new firmware on Engadget while I am at work...where I want to get home to download it and check out the new stuff.

Otherwise I love mine. I did lose functionality and had to factory reset it already. It wouldn't connect to the netflix site at all even after several unpluggings...factory reset did the trick. Had to go online and input a new code.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 5th 2008 4:16AM]

Agreed.

- Quality sucks
- No HD
- No 5.1 surround sound
- No new releases


Fix those problems, and you might have something...

[eric f. @ Jul 5th 2008 11:35AM]

@midiwall,

Netflix is keeping profiles...

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/netflix-hears-your-laments/

I agree, I would rather pay for a PS3/360 plugin for Netflix streaming then add another box to my system. >$50 is a better price point for that.

[midiwall @ Jul 5th 2008 2:17PM]

Thanks Eric - I missed the update.

[Eric @ Jul 6th 2008 12:15PM]

@Sean: I've never had a problem with fluctuating PQ on Netflix. I've always seen the highest PQ available. I think it's time you looked at your ISP, local LAN or computer for the source of the problem.

[DefPo3t @ Jul 4th 2008 6:37PM]

If they really do make the software open-source im willing to wager that a good portion of anything that i would want it to have someone out there will make it.

[Snitch @ Jul 4th 2008 6:39PM]

I'll give it real content and axe all the current crap being offer on it, that crap is giving netflix a real bad name

[GatgetMan @ Jul 5th 2008 1:47AM]

Absolutely! And while you're at it, install an HD-DVD drive!

[robothouse @ Jul 4th 2008 6:40PM]

Let me browse Netflix Instant Play movies and add to my queue from the box instead of having to go to my computer.

[Nate L @ Jul 4th 2008 6:46PM]

Completely agree. I really dislike having to use my computer for something that seems like it should have initially come with the box.

[AndrewP @ Jul 4th 2008 6:42PM]

The only thing you need to know is that all seasons of Quantum Leap can be played with this little box. That alone is worth the $99 asking price.

[Nate L @ Jul 4th 2008 6:44PM]

I'm enjoying mine very much. For $99, I feel like I'm getting what I paid for. I've currently got it hooked up via HDMI to my 32 inch Samsung HDTV and the picture quality is pretty darn good, considering it's streaming. Definitely DVD or close to DVD quality on everything I've watched.

As for wireless performance, it's good, but my modem is right next to the box anyway, so I generally just hook it up so I can get the best possible quality.

My main gripe with the box(besides it not being very attractive) is the lack of HD titles, but whatever, they're coming soon enough.

[patsy @ Jul 4th 2008 6:51PM]

I've enjoyed mine a lot so far. Watched all available Dr. Who and the last season of Heroes, plus a (small) smattering of movies, and it's been fine. Granted, I'm only watching it on a WVGA projector (Optoma H31), but Heroes was incredibly crisp anyway on highest quality. Even on 3 bars it looks quite good. The projector has good signal processing, but average or bad SD usually looks quite bad, blurry and washed out.

They need to make skipping around more responsive, currently you're almost sorry you pressed that FF or REV button. And of course, more content. The promise of more "major" providers later this year is encouraging.

[FREDDY PAULINO @ Jul 4th 2008 7:19PM]

Overall picture quality is good at 480p wireless performance is great

depending on your speed audio is in stereo which is fine to start but 5.1

is needed and it would be a better experience also they need to Release

firmware update so that you can select your movies from the Roku not

the Pc that sucks.Another Huge problem I have Is the Poor Selection

movies they have and how often they add them and they need to add

better titles why do they have men in black realesed in 1997 but they

haven't added T2 older movies like back to the future all are back catalog

Its weird to me why they haven't added all movies from 2000 on back to

1970 Why not netflix.

[RikF @ Jul 4th 2008 7:20PM]

Because Netflix doesn't get to chose?

[jason @ Jul 4th 2008 7:57PM]

Freddy seems to have removed his period key to use it as a caps-lock key.

[Reader @ Jul 5th 2008 8:02AM]

Dude, it's 2008, you don't have to manually insert line breaks, it does it all on it's own.

[muddyh2o @ Jul 5th 2008 9:30AM]

what is this? are you writing a press release from the short bus?

[KP @ Jul 4th 2008 6:58PM]

Very neato!~

[Philippe @ Jul 4th 2008 6:59PM]

I haven't got mine yet, but lack of closed-caption might end up being a deal breaker. Hopefully that could be fixed with some firmware update and Netflix getting its act together since, AFAIK, it doesn't offer closed caption on the PC either.

Closed caption is one of those things that were made first for hearing-impaired people, and turns out a huge plus for every body, so the TV volume doesn't need to be turned way up whether to not wake the baby, when the A/C, dishwasher, [put your loud appliance here] is running, and so on...

[Brian @ Jul 4th 2008 7:02PM]

More like... when HD support is available, the content will be ready.

Either way. Lets talk about what it does today.

[The Hunger @ Jul 4th 2008 7:03PM]

Selection, selection, selection. That is the primary problem currently with the ROKU, albeit it is not its fault -- the ball is in Netflix's court. Netflix must increase the Instant Viewing library dramatically for the ROKU player to really take off. New movies and TV series need to be available to instantly watch ASAP, not months (or in the case that is now, years for many titles) later. Once the selection is increased, and new titles are available sooner rather than later, the ROKU player will be a perfect add-on for your existing home theater setup.

As for the unit itself...

Quality of the video looks great on a HDTV screen, especially when it is at quality of 4. I'd rank it at DVD and above, I could tell no difference between Heroes on the ROKU and Heroes on DVD, so the quality is simply superb even without it being HD-content. The ROKU player is also capable of 1080i output, so eventually the content will look even better.

The ROKU can be connected to your network via ethernet or wifi, either of which take just moments to setup. The ROKU player takes about 30 seconds for the movie to initially start, depending again on your broadband connection. It will automatically adjust the quality depending on the speed it detects, from a quality of one to four which will be displayed on the screen as bullets that are filled. i.e., four filled bullets is max quality, three filled and one empty is good quality, two filled and two empty is fair, and one filled and three empty is poor.

Rewinding and fast-forwarding is the most annoying feature of the Roku unit, though it is quite an improvement over the Netflix player itself. There is no way to fast forward the episode or movie in the traditional sense, though I must say seeing individual scenes are a real treat when you hit the fast forward button. You then skip ahead to the scene you wish to play, and then play from that scene. Unfortunately it takes around 15-30 seconds depending on your connection speed to 'continue' playing if you choose to skip ahead like this.


Two things that must be added to the ROKU player in the future:

1. Ability to add content straight from the ROKU player rather than have to use your netflix account to do it. It was a poor decision on their part to not have this included at launch, but will be a welcomed 'feature' in the future.

2. Allow the ROKU player to work with Netflix Profiles -- for this to happen, Netflix has to improve profiles and let you be able to watch instantly from individual profiles in addition to the main netflix queue.


With all that said, was it worth the $99 purchase? Definitely. You can take the netflix player with you anywhere that has an internet connection and hook it up via HDMI, component, S-video or composite and have your movies and shows with you in mere moments. Although I don't travel much, this one feature makes it worth the $99 by itself.

[Larrysyr @ Jul 5th 2008 9:07AM]

If only you could use the Netflix player "anywhere". I travel outside the continental U.S. a lot and netflix will not stream content when I travel. So good for travel within the U.S....a no go elsewhere. I wonder if Apple TV has the same limitation?

[FREDDY PAULINO @ Jul 4th 2008 7:04PM]

They NEED TO ADD MORE MOVIES ALL BACK CATALOG SHOULD

BE ADDED INSTANTLY OR 100 MOVIES A WEEK COME ON THIS IS

TO SLOW THEY BARELY EVEN ADD 5 MOVIES A WEEK WHICH NOT

ALL ARE THAT GOOD WHERE IS 5.1 AUDIO AND ALL MOVIES NEED

TO BE 16:9..

[DefPo3t @ Jul 4th 2008 7:12PM]

you need to add an ANTI CAPSLOCK KEY to your keyboard

[gamedude420 @ Jul 4th 2008 8:12PM]

yo mean all movies that were not originally shot in 4:3 should be atleast 16.9 except for movies that are 2:35 they should be wider of course :)

[GatgetMan @ Jul 5th 2008 1:50AM]

CAPS and D o u b l e Space huh?

Too bad this essay was graded on word count, not page count....

[JP @ Jul 4th 2008 7:13PM]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the audio sync problems. More than once, I've had to pause and re queue the move to get the actor's words to match their lips again.

My bandwidth always gives me the 4/4 quality.

[Hilton Wolman @ Jul 4th 2008 7:26PM]

Love it! Been using it far more than my AppleTV. Would prefer a smoother fast forward and rewind and the ability to add movies directly. Using it wirelessly with an Apple Time Capsule.

[Jeff @ Jul 4th 2008 7:34PM]

I'm very satisfied with the player. Quality is always near DVD for me. The selection of current titles may be lacking, but I actually am enjoying watching old movies from the 70's and 80's and the entire series of "Gimme a Break." (So? I had a crush on Sam as a kid growing up. Sue me.)

Like most people, the ability to browse the Watch Now catalog and select from the box would be a huge improvement.

[Todd @ Jul 4th 2008 7:35PM]

- A larger back buffer would be much appreciated.

- Expanded Netflix content

-LAN media streaming support (video/audio from Macs/PCs on the local network)

-Slingbox client support (a snowball's chance, but it would make the roku a KILLER device).

[kfly @ Jul 4th 2008 7:39PM]

Had it for a month and love it. HDMI output rocks.

PQ is outstanding on new content. Looks better than Standard Def on my 42 inch plasma. some in widescreen also.. Old content fuzzy and needs to be encoded.(please)

Need more content and HD content. If they get more HD content this box will change the industry.

On wired network only waits 10 seconds before playing full movie.

Kids love all the cartoon content.

[Robie @ Jul 4th 2008 7:49PM]

HD content streaming.

[charles gibbs @ Jul 4th 2008 7:59PM]

media streaming would make this a perfect device.

[jason @ Jul 4th 2008 8:01PM]

Nothing to add that hasn't already been said. Content, content, content, then HD. Then HD content.

[Jason Martin @ Jul 4th 2008 10:07PM]

Maybe make the box look nicer? It looks like a box. Not very sleek or anything. Then again, this is coming from an Apple fanboy. :)

[The_Steven @ Jul 4th 2008 8:13PM]

Give it Linux,HD support, a few USB ports, maybe HACKABLE, yeah, make it hackable.

[Sean @ Jul 4th 2008 8:14PM]

I just wanted to add some more negatives.... there is no closed caption support (although that is also lacking on the Apple TV). No browsing on the box itself sucks, although once you have a long que it is not so bad. Hate that most movies are in 4:3 format instead of 16:9. NEEDS TO SUPPORT NETFLIX PROFILES!!!

Positives are lots of documentaries, and older TV shows. I like how little power it uses (5 watts according to my Kill-a-Watt while streaming over wireless) and it stays cool. It is simple to use.

For now this and the Apple TV are perfect for each other. Apple TV for quality movie releases and HD, YouTube, Video Podcasts, Streaming music and ripped DVDs (I have almost all my DVD collection ripped to an external HD for watching on the Apple TV), and the Roku player for documentaries, and old TV shows. They compliment each other well.

BUT if I had to choose one to win, based on how each work currently, there is no contest, the Apple TV is by far the more capable system, although having to rent everything I watch, sucks. I would rather it has a subscription type service like Netflix.

[Sean @ Jul 4th 2008 8:18PM]

sorry for the double post!

[gamedude420 @ Jul 4th 2008 8:16PM]

maybe a new version with a hard drive and the ability for higher quality downloads for standard def say above dvd quality even. You could have an option to wait a few secs to a ew min for it to buffer a certain amount to the hdd. same with HD content offer atleast a 20mbit video at the very min that way it tops every other download service doesnt beat bluray but its a good rental option then.

[frankiejr @ Jul 4th 2008 8:29PM]

I'd love for a media server client that finds UPnP media servers to be built in. Something similar to what the PS3 is capable of. This is probably wishful thinking since less than one percent of their users would know what the heck to do with it.

And since the actual question is what I'd change on the Roku *player*, I'd suggest offering an alternative to the physical box. I'd pay $100 for a RokuOS that could be installed as an alternative OS on my PS3. Just sayin'.

[greg @ Jul 4th 2008 8:35PM]

My DSL averages 1.4mbps, I always get 2 stars, except for a few high traffic time periods. I would be willing to wait longer to start playing, to buffer more of the program, for an improved picture option.


Can't watch foreign movies because there is no caption option.

the remote is clunky and large (I guess Apple spoiled me there)

I dont care about 5.1 sound

would like to see more History Channel and PBS content.

And it would be nice to be able to get content from other providers, aside from Netflix, this would turn it into cable-tv via internet.

[Jim Smothers @ Jul 4th 2008 8:45PM]

I've had mine about three weeks.

I like the content, and I'm pretty sure the choice as to whether a title is streamed (or not) is determined mainly by the studio, and secondly by the price Netflix has to pay. Older movies, documentaries, and TV shows are less expensive to re-broadcast via stream.

480P looks good! Also, I like A&E/History channel documentaries, so there's a lot of content to keep me busy. The GUI is nice. Very simple.

Btw, it does run on Linux - It's BusyBox! Here's a link to the open-source files for those interested:
http://www.roku.com/community/gpl_nfp.php

Dislikes:
-You can't turn it OFF! And it needs to be rebooted after it's been on for a few days (because it loses its connection!)
-Popping noises when using HDMI or Fiber connected to an amp/receiver (many people have reported this issue in the forums, and still no comment from ROKU)
-No HD, but I expect that it's possible with new content as the ROKU probably supports it
-Wireless WPA password is shown (no dots or stars) simply by returning to Wireless setup screen

I still really like it! All the dislikes can easily be fixed via firmware updates.

-S