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Product Specifications
Brand NameRoku
Color NameBlack
Technical Details
- Start watching movies on your TV in seconds using your high-speed Internet connection
- Featuring the largest collection of instant streaming movies and TV shows, from Netflix, Amazon VOD, and more
- Built-in wireless (extended-range Wireless-N) and wired Internet connectivity.
- Plays up to 1080p High Definition video. Works with any TV.
- Simply connect to your TV and to your high-speed Internet service. Does not require PC for streaming.
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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus and more. Listen to music on Pandora, or listen to your own iTunes playlists. Watch major sports, news, or original Internet programming. It's all available whenever you want it.
The all-new Roku XD delivers the highest quality HD video, in the smallest box, at the lowest price. No wonder Roku is the best selling streaming player ever.
- Works with any TV -- up to 1080p*. Roku delivers biggest and best streaming video experience you can get
- It's really easy. Be up and running in 5 minutes. Roku works with any TV.
- No PC needed. Roku connects to your high speed Internet connection wirelessly. With the XD, you get extended-range Wireless-N performance.
- No extra monthly bills. Use your existing subscriptions (like Netflix or Hulu Plus), or enjoy free and on-demand content (like Pandora, Flickr, and Amazon Instant Video).
- It's always getting better. Roku is constantly expanding its library of streaming entertainment, so there will always be something new to watch.
What can you do with Roku?
Roku simply brings the largest selection of streaming entertainment choices to your TV.
Over 100,000 movies and TV shows to watch instantly— from Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus and more.
Premium sports. The top leagues like Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. The main events from UFC and more.
The best tunes. Personalized music from Pandora or MOG, your own iTunes playlists, or radio from around the world.
Plus, tons of other choices, from major network news and original programming to photo and video sharing. More are added every day, so your Roku will always have the most, and the best, in instant entertainment.
Netflix and Roku: the original instant movie partnership
Over two years after the launch of the first Roku Netflix player, Roku still delivers the best combination of streaming movie performance and price. With your Netflix membership, browse and search over 20,000 movies and TV episodes to watch whenever you want. The exclusive Instant Replay button lets you skip back instantly to replay that line you just missed. Plus, there are no extra monthly or yearly fees.
ROKU XD = top video performance
Step up with the Roku XD and get more. Up to 1080p high-definition streaming video*. Extended range Wireless-N technology, so you can get it almost anywhere in your house. We even added an Instant Replay button, so you can skip back instantly in 10 second jumps. It's the only streaming player that can do it.
How Roku works
Setting up Roku is as easy as 1-2-3
- Plug it in. Roku is compatible with virtually any TV
- Add it to your home network. Whether your home is wireless or wired, the helpful on-screen instructions make it a cinch.
- Enjoy! Choose your entertainment, and control it with the handy remote. (Popcorn sold separately.)
Included with the Roku XD Streaming Player
- Remote control with Instant Replay
- Two AAA batteries
- Audio/video outputs: HDMI, Composite A/V (red/white/yellow)
- Connectivity: Wireless B/G/N, Ethernet
- Composite (red/white/yellow) A/V cable
- Power adapter
- Getting Started guide
- One year manufacturer warranty
*What you need
To use Roku, you need a high speed Internet connection with a speed of at least 1.2 Mbps (such as mid-level DSL). For HD video, we recommend 5 Mbps (if you're not sure what your speed is, go to www.speedtest.net and run the simple test). Note that not all content partners enable HD or 1080p streaming video. You may also need a wireless or wired router if you cannot connect Roku directly to your cable or DSL modem.
Choose Your Roku
 Roku HD |  Roku XD |  Roku XD|S | |
| Works with virtually any TV (standard definition or HD) |  | | |
| Plays high-definition video (720p) | | | |
| Built-in wireless (Wi-Fi), plus wired (Ethernet) connector | | | |
| HDMI video output for HDTVs | | | |
| Plays 1080p HD video | | | |
| Enhanced remote with Instant Replay | | | |
| Extended-range Wireless-N (b/g/n compatible) | | | |
| Dual-band wireless technology--the latest standard | | ||
| Component video and optical audio outputs | | ||
| USB port for playing stored photos, music, and videos | |
Product Description
Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and more. Listen to music on Pandora, or listen to your own iTunes playlists. Even watch major sports, news, or original Internet programming. It's all available whenever you want it. The all-new Roku XD delivers the highest quality HD video, in the smallest box, at the lowest price. No wonder Roku is the best selling streaming player ever.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
200 of 203 people found the following review helpful
We were a longtime Dish Network customer paying $80 a month for video service. While we had no complaints about Dish, we decided this past summer to take the plunge into internet video to see if we could save some dollars. My family was shocked the day I unplugged all of the Dish receivers and sent them back to Dish Network. "What are we going to watch?" "What about my favorite shows?"
As a 3 HDTV family and not knowing the best hardware option to use, we decided to try a selection of devices. For our main living room TV, we purchased a Roku device. For the den, we used our Wii and for the master bedroom a Sony Blu Ray Internet DVD player.
For content, we have moved our NetFlix usage from DVDs in the mail to internet streaming. We also installed playon.tv on our PC for access to Hulu (primarily), CBS (Survivor and Amazing Race) and Comedy Channel. Both NetFlix and Playon streaming to all of the devices we use work fine. This includes the Roku via playon, despite reports that Roku pulled the plug on playon (continues to work fine to this day).
We also purchased Comcast Basic (Limited) Cable ($14) for local news and sports. This is the plan that just uses the cable, no digital cable boxes required, allowing us to wire cable to all of our TV's. What Comcast will not tell you is with HDTV's we get full HD channels for ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CBS, etc. without having to purchase a digital plan or rent their digital boxes.
Comparing the Roku, Wii and Sony Internet DVD devices, we like the Roku the best of the three. In fact, we just installed a second Roku, moving the Wii back to a game system. The reason was primarily ease of use. Some of the reasons include the following:
- Roku Remote is the simplest to use than the Wii and Sony remotes with fewer and easier to understand buttons
- Roku provides access to NetFlix suggested titles and search. This is also available for the Wii but not the Sony Internet DVD player
- The Roku seems to do a better job at buffering the streaming content resulting in less video interuptions
In conclusion, we have a better video experience today than when we were paying $80 for Dish. Netflix gives us access to movies and past seasons of TV shows. Playon with Hulu gives us DVR access to all of the latest TV shows, we love the Hulu favorites Queue and the emails letting us know the latest episodes are in the queue.
Outside of our internet connection (need 2MBPS or more) which we already had in place, our total internet video monthly fees are $12.95 for NetFlix and $14 for Basic (Limited) Comcast Cable. A great savings with a better video experience.
As a 3 HDTV family and not knowing the best hardware option to use, we decided to try a selection of devices. For our main living room TV, we purchased a Roku device. For the den, we used our Wii and for the master bedroom a Sony Blu Ray Internet DVD player.
For content, we have moved our NetFlix usage from DVDs in the mail to internet streaming. We also installed playon.tv on our PC for access to Hulu (primarily), CBS (Survivor and Amazing Race) and Comedy Channel. Both NetFlix and Playon streaming to all of the devices we use work fine. This includes the Roku via playon, despite reports that Roku pulled the plug on playon (continues to work fine to this day).
We also purchased Comcast Basic (Limited) Cable ($14) for local news and sports. This is the plan that just uses the cable, no digital cable boxes required, allowing us to wire cable to all of our TV's. What Comcast will not tell you is with HDTV's we get full HD channels for ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CBS, etc. without having to purchase a digital plan or rent their digital boxes.
Comparing the Roku, Wii and Sony Internet DVD devices, we like the Roku the best of the three. In fact, we just installed a second Roku, moving the Wii back to a game system. The reason was primarily ease of use. Some of the reasons include the following:
- Roku Remote is the simplest to use than the Wii and Sony remotes with fewer and easier to understand buttons
- Roku provides access to NetFlix suggested titles and search. This is also available for the Wii but not the Sony Internet DVD player
- The Roku seems to do a better job at buffering the streaming content resulting in less video interuptions
In conclusion, we have a better video experience today than when we were paying $80 for Dish. Netflix gives us access to movies and past seasons of TV shows. Playon with Hulu gives us DVR access to all of the latest TV shows, we love the Hulu favorites Queue and the emails letting us know the latest episodes are in the queue.
Outside of our internet connection (need 2MBPS or more) which we already had in place, our total internet video monthly fees are $12.95 for NetFlix and $14 for Basic (Limited) Comcast Cable. A great savings with a better video experience.
633 of 666 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I recently bought the new Apple TV, but was curious how the Roku XD compared. After all, while I like the Apple TV, it's tied to the Apple ecosystem, for better or worse. Meanwhile the Roku offered a broader feature set, but not as much of an established brand as Apple.
Luckily, I was able to satisfy my curiosity by getting a Roku XD, and I thought my experiences and opinions might be useful for those shopping for such internet-streaming set top boxes.
---------------------------------------------------------
Quality/Content
---------------------------------------------------------
My first and biggest question was, "How does the quality compare?". 1080p capability is one of Roku's biggest selling points against Apple, because the Apple TV "only" streams 720p. What I found was that it was a mixed bag. Roku has the capability to stream 1080p, but something surprising is that a huge portion of available content isn't HD to start with and doesn't take full advantage of Roku's hardware. Some content you can stream from Amazon and Netflix looks little better than VHS quality, while some looked somewhere between DVD and HD broadcast quality.
The vast majority of Netflix, for example, is SD content including most bigger-name movies that make their way to the library. Thus, the HD capability of Roku is MOST noticeable in Amazon Video On-Demand's vast library of HD TV shows and movies.
Amazon Video On-Demand offers everything you could find through Apple TV's store and then some, but it has a superior pricing model. You can PURCHASE TV shows for .99c vs. .99c rentals on Apple TV, and you may save a buck or two renting older movies, especially if they're SD.
A drawback (maybe an advantage to some) to the Amazon's On-Demand store is its availability of soft-core porn, so parents be ready to tweak parental controls a little more than you'd have to with Apple TV, which limits its offerings to R-rated major studio movies.
---------------------------------------------------------
Flexibility
---------------------------------------------------------
The biggest selling point of the Roku in my opinion is the flexibility already established with its "channels" store, which is basically like an app store for your Roku. The big-three apps are "Amazon Video On-Demand", "Netflix" and "Hulu+ (coming soon)", but you can also choose channels from "Pandora" (if you like listening to music on your TV), or "UFC" (though the UFC channel is a bit of disappointment since they want to charge you $45 a pop to view past UFC events!).
Apple TV doesn't currently have an app store, though one is probably coming, and it will soon pick up the ability to stream a variety of content from an iOS device via something called "AirPlay", but Roku is clearly a bit more flexible at this point.
That said, a big feature I like about Apple TV that isn't available in Roku is the ability to view iTunes content. I like being able to watch movies on my TV then take them with me on my iPhone for my kids to watch on car trips or plane rides, and Apple has a better, more integrated ecosystem to support such capability.
I also like watching YouTube, which I can do on my Apple TV, but not straightforwardly on the Roku as far as I can tell (EDIT: apparently there's a secret beta YouTube channel if you Google for it, but it's not highlighted in the channel store).
---------------------------------------------------------
User Experience/Interface
---------------------------------------------------------
I think the biggest disadvantage of Roku vs. Apple TV is in its user experience. The Roku is slightly more complicated to set up (for instance, you need to find the TV settings menu then designate that you have a 1080p TV before you can watch HD content), and the user interfaces for many features, while good, just don't match the smooth feel and responsiveness of the Apple TV. With Roku, you tend to get longish, frequent load animations when navigating between channels. Plus Roku's content suggestion features don't work quite as well as Apple TV, and with Roku you don't have an "Apple Remote"-quality iPhone app to let you control the device.
---------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
---------------------------------------------------------
While Roku markets its device as higher quality than devices like the Apple TV because of "1080p", limited content and bitrate minimize any noticeable advantage. The fact is that if you REALLY care about quality, you get a Blu Ray player, not a media streamer from any manufacturer. Nevertheless, the Roku is at least as good, if not better than competing streaming devices if you're viewing the right content.
It lacks a few of the iTunes-specific features of Apple TV, and the user experience isn't quite as good, but if you don't care about those things, the Roku is more flexible, cheaper both in purchase price and content prices, and offers more content than the Apple TV.
Overall, the Roku XD is an EXCELLENT device that's priced to move! For $80, why not try it?
Luckily, I was able to satisfy my curiosity by getting a Roku XD, and I thought my experiences and opinions might be useful for those shopping for such internet-streaming set top boxes.
---------------------------------------------------------
Quality/Content
---------------------------------------------------------
My first and biggest question was, "How does the quality compare?". 1080p capability is one of Roku's biggest selling points against Apple, because the Apple TV "only" streams 720p. What I found was that it was a mixed bag. Roku has the capability to stream 1080p, but something surprising is that a huge portion of available content isn't HD to start with and doesn't take full advantage of Roku's hardware. Some content you can stream from Amazon and Netflix looks little better than VHS quality, while some looked somewhere between DVD and HD broadcast quality.
The vast majority of Netflix, for example, is SD content including most bigger-name movies that make their way to the library. Thus, the HD capability of Roku is MOST noticeable in Amazon Video On-Demand's vast library of HD TV shows and movies.
Amazon Video On-Demand offers everything you could find through Apple TV's store and then some, but it has a superior pricing model. You can PURCHASE TV shows for .99c vs. .99c rentals on Apple TV, and you may save a buck or two renting older movies, especially if they're SD.
A drawback (maybe an advantage to some) to the Amazon's On-Demand store is its availability of soft-core porn, so parents be ready to tweak parental controls a little more than you'd have to with Apple TV, which limits its offerings to R-rated major studio movies.
---------------------------------------------------------
Flexibility
---------------------------------------------------------
The biggest selling point of the Roku in my opinion is the flexibility already established with its "channels" store, which is basically like an app store for your Roku. The big-three apps are "Amazon Video On-Demand", "Netflix" and "Hulu+ (coming soon)", but you can also choose channels from "Pandora" (if you like listening to music on your TV), or "UFC" (though the UFC channel is a bit of disappointment since they want to charge you $45 a pop to view past UFC events!).
Apple TV doesn't currently have an app store, though one is probably coming, and it will soon pick up the ability to stream a variety of content from an iOS device via something called "AirPlay", but Roku is clearly a bit more flexible at this point.
That said, a big feature I like about Apple TV that isn't available in Roku is the ability to view iTunes content. I like being able to watch movies on my TV then take them with me on my iPhone for my kids to watch on car trips or plane rides, and Apple has a better, more integrated ecosystem to support such capability.
I also like watching YouTube, which I can do on my Apple TV, but not straightforwardly on the Roku as far as I can tell (EDIT: apparently there's a secret beta YouTube channel if you Google for it, but it's not highlighted in the channel store).
---------------------------------------------------------
User Experience/Interface
---------------------------------------------------------
I think the biggest disadvantage of Roku vs. Apple TV is in its user experience. The Roku is slightly more complicated to set up (for instance, you need to find the TV settings menu then designate that you have a 1080p TV before you can watch HD content), and the user interfaces for many features, while good, just don't match the smooth feel and responsiveness of the Apple TV. With Roku, you tend to get longish, frequent load animations when navigating between channels. Plus Roku's content suggestion features don't work quite as well as Apple TV, and with Roku you don't have an "Apple Remote"-quality iPhone app to let you control the device.
---------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
---------------------------------------------------------
While Roku markets its device as higher quality than devices like the Apple TV because of "1080p", limited content and bitrate minimize any noticeable advantage. The fact is that if you REALLY care about quality, you get a Blu Ray player, not a media streamer from any manufacturer. Nevertheless, the Roku is at least as good, if not better than competing streaming devices if you're viewing the right content.
It lacks a few of the iTunes-specific features of Apple TV, and the user experience isn't quite as good, but if you don't care about those things, the Roku is more flexible, cheaper both in purchase price and content prices, and offers more content than the Apple TV.
Overall, the Roku XD is an EXCELLENT device that's priced to move! For $80, why not try it?
203 of 219 people found the following review helpful
One can make a good case that with Roku you really don't need cable or satellite TV. With a $10 monthly subscription to Netflix you can get more movies than you have time for over the internet at the time that you want to see them. I doubt that one movie that TCM shows is not available this way.
You can listen to almost any radio station in the country free, meeting your needs if you like any particular kind of music or listen to talk radio, sports, etc.
You can watch Youtube clips on your big TV as well and can send the sound to your stereo system, home theater nowadays.
There are lots of other specialized sites, both free and by subscription, that are available. I like Pub-D-Hub which has movies in the public domain for free, many are poor but others can be quite good, I had never seen a picture with legendary Lillian Gish before.
Roku is a winner.
You can listen to almost any radio station in the country free, meeting your needs if you like any particular kind of music or listen to talk radio, sports, etc.
You can watch Youtube clips on your big TV as well and can send the sound to your stereo system, home theater nowadays.
There are lots of other specialized sites, both free and by subscription, that are available. I like Pub-D-Hub which has movies in the public domain for free, many are poor but others can be quite good, I had never seen a picture with legendary Lillian Gish before.
Roku is a winner.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
mediocre build quality
This product worked well for 15 months before it lost network connectivity. multiple reboots, power cycles, and restore to factory settings of no avail. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Mike in San Clemente
love it
cant enough of the roku! its practically everything i like to see on tv when im home.This is a good buy.
Published 6 days ago by gsteelerxl
Works great until it doesn't.
The short story: Works great until it doesn't, and good luck trying to get customer service to help you. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Kristin
Love it!
We've got a Wii and a Vizio TV with VIA Apps, and they're OK, but they don't hold a candle to the Roku box. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Christopher Church
Disappointing - Try a Newer Model
It works, and Roku doesn't actually promise anything it can't deliver, but the overall experience is disappointing. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Chris O.
Constant problems with Roku
I purchased the Roku XD. It worked fine for a while, now using normal viewing for a regular TV, it takes all the bandwith on my DSL wireless. It looses internet constantly. Read more
Published 1 month ago by George Stillman
A great economical way to watch Netflix, Hulu, and other channels so...
Fuzzy Wuzzy's Summary:
**** Recommended with warm fuzzies.
Even though I have enjoyed using this Roku XD for more than one year now, I do not feel inclined to... Read more
**** Recommended with warm fuzzies.
Even though I have enjoyed using this Roku XD for more than one year now, I do not feel inclined to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by ƒůŽźŸ ωŬ≥ζŷ ♥☮♭♩♪♫♬♮☯☺
Product works great, slightly annoyed with the company
I haven't had any problems with the Roku box itself. It's very streamlined and easy to connect. I easily linked it to my Netflix and Hulu Plus accounts, plus I stream photos from... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Joey Marie Bramlage
Surprisingly bad build quality! But I like the product!
I bought two of these devices one for our bedroom and the other for our living room. I also own two of the 3rd Gen Apple Tv's which I LOVE but they are also very limited in that... Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. Breda
Like Roku 2 with minor differences
I've owned this little gem for a year now, and absolutely love it. The other reviews are spot on for how great it is, but I want to focus on the differences to Roku 2. Read more
Published 2 months ago by D. Gage
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