Roku HD Player

Other products by Roku

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B001PIBE8I
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (317 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Electronics > Televisions & Video > Digital Video Recorders
  #20 in	Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Audio & Video Accessories

• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 12, 2009

Product Description

Manufacturer's Description -- April 21, 2009

Manufacturer's Description -- April 21, 2009 The Roku player instantly delivers HD-quality movies and TV shows directly to your TV over the Internet. The affordable Roku player is compact, easy to set up and intuitive to use.

The Roku comes with everything you need to start watching within minutes of opening the box - the standard yellow, white and red cables, both Wi-Fi and Ethernet are built in, wireless remote and batteries. Start watching instantly anywhere you have a TV and a high-speed Internet connection. More than 50,000 titles are currently available from Amazon Video On Demand and Netflix, with may available in HD.  The Wall Street Journal, CNET, WIRED, and other publications have given the Roku player overwhelmingly positive reviews. For even better audio and video using the Roku player with your HDTV, home theater or A/V receiver, look for the Roku digital video player plus premium cable pack.

As Easy As 1 - 2 - 3

	1. Wired or Wireless, The Choice is Yours You can connect the Roku player to the Internet using most broadband providers (such as a cable modem or DSL connection.) You need at least 1.2 Mbps to watch movies instantly on the Roku digital video player with decent quality. The faster your connection, the better the quality (although this rule-of-thumb peaks out at about 5mbps). Use the built-in Wi-Fi capabilities to connect to your wireless network, or use the Ethernet port for a wired connection. It's easy either way.
	2. Connect to Virtually Any TV, New or Old The player comes complete with everything you need to get connected right away. It even includes the standard yellow, white and red cables. Or use the HDMI or component connections with your new HDTV.
	3. Control is at your Fingertips and Easy to Understand The Roku player is easily controlled using the handy included remote. Choose the item you want to watch, play, fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume play later, just like watching a DVD.

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Rent or Buy more than 40,000 Titles from Amazon Video On Demand

With Amazon Video On Demand Roku customers can now instantly watch more than 40,000 commercial-free movies and television shows, including hit new releases and the latest episodes available in HD.

	Using an intuitive interface, customers can order movies right from their couch and enjoy instant playback without waiting for lengthy downloads or annoying commercials. Prices start as low as $.99 and no subscription fee is required
	Find Choose from thousands of movies and TV shows by browsing in the Amazon Video On Demand section on your Roku. Access and add to your virtual library of purchases via Amazon Video On Demand’s Your Video Library and re-watch anytime on the Roku Player, your PC or Mac and other compatible devices.
	Rent or Buy Renting and purchasing titles is a snap with the power of Amazon’s 1-click purchasing. Order new release movies and the latest TV shows right from your couch and you’re watching within seconds. Prices start as low as $.99.
	Watch Using your Roku Player, enjoy Amazon Video On Demand’s high quality video on any TV. Videos playback instantly, without waiting for a download. Purchases and rentals are added to Your Video Library and stored online by Amazon so you can conveniently watch them on your Roku Player, PC or Mac, and other compatible devices.

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Watch Netflix Movies and TV Episodes Instantly

Netflix instant streaming ready Netflix members can now easily access over 12,000 movies and TV shows – including some new releases and hundreds of options in HD – instantly from Netflix over the internet. Netflix members can watch as much as they want and as often as they want without paying more or impacting the number of DVDs they receive. Start watching movies and TV episodes instantly in as little as 30 seconds.

	Roku Player is Netflix Members' #1 Rated Streaming Device If you are like most Netflix customers and on a Netflix Unlimited plan (any plan that costs $8.99 a month or more), there are no limits to how much you can watch instantly. You can watch as much as you want. There is no extra charge for online viewing, and of course you still get DVDs by mail.
	Fill Your Instant Queue Use the Netflix site to browse a growing library of over 12,000+ instant movies and TV episodes – including hundreds in HD. Place choices in your Instant Queue, add more whenever you want, and keep them as long as you like.
	Choose and Watch on your TV From your couch, use your remote to browse your Instant Queue and choose something to watch. Pause, fast-forward, rewind, or watch a favorite over and over — just like owning a DVD.

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Specifications

• Networking:  Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) with WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support; 10/100 Ethernet (RJ-45)
• Video Outputs: Composite video, S-Video, Component video (Y/Pb/Pr), HDMI
• Video Modes: 16:9 HD (720p), 16:9 anamorphic (480p), 4:3 standard (480i)
• Audio Output: Stereo (L/R RCA), Digital Optical (Toslink), Digital over HDMI
• Remote Control: NEC protocol, supported by various universal remotes
• Power Input: 5V, 1.5A provided by included AC adapter
• Power Consumption: 5 watts peak, 3 watts in standby
• Size: 5 x 5 x 1.75 inches (130 x 130 x 41 mm)
• Weight: 11 oz (300 grams)

Product Description

With Wi-Fi and High Definition playback capability built-in, Roku HD Player is the easiest way to stream top-quality instant movies and shows directly to your TV - over 50,000 and counting, from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and more. The best-selling HD Player has everything you need to start enjoying endless entertainment from the comfort of your couch. No wonder it's Netflix members' top rated streaming player.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

290 of 295 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing product and brilliant bang-for-your-buck, March 3, 2009

By	D. J. Hampton - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this in January, 2009 to add some additional value to my Netflix subscription. It has far surpassed my expectations, and has proven to be one of the best $100 I have spent in a long time. This is true especially in a down economy.

Here are the pluses, and the minuses, I have seen in the product after 2 months of daily use

Pluses:
1) Huge money saver: Having this box has allowed me to drop from 3 disks unlimited to 1 disk unlimited as well as drop cable entirely. The addition of Amazon on Demand is an even bigger value in that newly released movies will also be in abundant supply.
2) Ease of Set-up and use: I am a die hard apple fan because of their ease of use, and the set-up process was the easiest I have ever experienced. In less than 4 minutes I was watching a Netflix stream on my Sony HD TV. Also, the user interface is as straightforward as possible. A lot of thought went into it, and it shows. Bravo for one of the simplest interfaces I have ever utilized.
3) Clarity of picture: Unsrupassed and almost full HD. Often forget we are streaming over the internet.
4) It just works as advertised!
5) Customer Service: Video was skipping and contacted the customer service. You would never believe that a real live person answered the phone within 5 minutes on a Sunday night. Turns out it was a nework problem (see below). Amazing customer service!

Minuses:
1) The quality of your picture is tied to your internet speed. This has only been an issue once. My Charter Cable modem service averages above 4 meg downstream, but every once in a while the network performance drops. A call to charter fixed it. This is in no way an issue with the device, just something to be aware of. Check with your service provider on your speed before buying.
2) Direct Ethernet connection recommended for best picture: This is a limitation of my wireless network, but you may also have a similar set-up. My laptop has a G wireless card, and when it gets online the whole network slows down, and wireless video quality suffered. Solved it by using a direct ethernet connection, and recommend for everyone who is able to. Much more stable and very limited intereference.

That is my review to date. If you have Netflix and want to get Amazon on Demand there are few things that will be a pleasure to use and that will provide as much bang for your limited dollars. Thank you Roku, Netflix, and Amazon for such a wonderful product.

126 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My best-spent entertainment dollar ever!, February 5, 2009

By	Musashi (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

I was already a rent-by-mail convert -- switching between Blockbuster and Netflix for a couple of years. For an extra $99, this box has already piped in hundreds of hours of tv shows and movies, filling in the wait times between disks. The Netflix instant movie selection started out not great, but recently they have rotated in some big films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, pop hits like Superbad, the original "Grindhouse" double feature package, as well as lots of older and more obscure releases for adventurous cineastes like me, with NO extra charge to a regular Netflix membership. The addition of Amazon streams will soon make a good thing even better, and more providers should be coming into the mix soon (Netflix has mentioned adding an HBO-on-demand service soon). I've had the player since its introduction in summer 2008, and I've gotten enough milrage out of it that if it blew up today, I'd have gotten way more than my money's worth. I've heard a fair number of technical complaints from other owners, but mine hasn't even had a single glitch since purchase. With the exception of occasional problems at the Netflix servers, and rare errors in Netflix video encodes (for instance, they sometimes accidentally put the director's commentary track onto a video intead of the theatrical soundtrack, but I think they've tightened up the quality control recently in this respect), it JUST WORKS! In these economic times, there's a lotta bang for the buck in this tiny box!

86 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kill the cable, February 26, 2009

By	Nomad (Portland OR USA) - See all my reviews

This little box rocks. I have killed of all but my local channels on cable. This may have been the best $99. I have spent in years. My sons and I use it everyday. At first I was concerned about content, but there are like 12000 things to choose from...We have watched season 1,2 and in the process of season 3 of Heroes. You have no idea how cool it is to see shows like this with no commercials. Tons of movies to choose from. I really like the fact that the company has more than delivered on what they promised. I bought the box to add to my Netflix and now I can get amazon video on demand as well, and it didn't cost anything for the upgrade. How often has that happened...I am getting a ton more than I paid for. LOVE IT.