Got the update last night.

As others have said, the movies are absolutely terrible, but I chose one and forced the box into HD mode from the debug menu (yes debug menus is the same). It requires 3.5 Mbps to stream HD.

Quality is mixed - it's definitely closer to DVD than Blu-ray; I would say a little below what you get through HD channels on cable. I think the problem isn't resolution but refresh rate. Slow moving video of people talking looks super crisp - you can see every strand of hair, no pixelation, and overall great quality. However, faster moving video doesn't look great. Best example was looking at a scene of ocean waves. These had clear pixelation and came across as choppier than you'd get even with DVD.

In the end though, it's a very cool feature, and I'm sure that they'll constantly work to improve their quality. Just waiting for more good movies to come out...

As for the PS3 vs. Roku box argument - I have both, and tried using PlayOn on my PS3 before I got the Roku. It was just too buggy though. I've got a fast laptop and fast internet connection, but it wouldn't play about 1/4 of the time that I wanted to watch a movie. Plus, as someone said, the PlayOn software just takes over your laptop when it's decoding. The Roku box was a cheap, quick solution, and I love it (although I still use my PS3 for upscaling DVD, Blu-Ray, etc. and think it's one of the best purchases I made last year). If budget isn't a major issue for you, I highly recommend getting both the PS3 and Roku box.

If they can get the price lower, I actually see this as being crucial in developing countries. With populations growing in developing areas, cheap electricity and clean water are two extremely important basic necessities.

I can see this playing as important of a role as medical support and OLPC can play.

I don't really see why anyone would spend money on this. It's not the road warriors that create problems at airports. I don't mind pulling out my laptop and taking off my shoes.. I've basically got it down to a science by now. It's the grandma who's flying for the first time in year, or the parents with 4 children who make the line move slow. They're the ones who hold up the lines and make the whole process slower.

Let's think about this. Did some quick math - $14B/ $300M residents = $46.66 (repeating, ofcourse) per person for the census. We pay that much to have every person counted.

Even more math: $14B/$117 (number of taxpayers in U.S.)= $119, which is the average price every taxpayer pays for the census. I could understand if this was to get us to Mars, introduce renewable energy, or even buy tanks, but to count people?!?

This makes the Big Dig look like a minor mistake.