Customer Reviews

Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player

5 star:		(447)
4 star:		(165)
3 star:		(90)
2 star:		(78)
1 star:		(115)

 

 

This little player, about the size of a hockey puck, is exactly what I was looking for. It's cheap, easy, and fun. I got it to play Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Vimeo, and everything else it does is a pleasant add-on, especially motion-controlled Angry Birds. If you're in the market for a Roku 2, I think you might as well get this high-end model (there are stripped-down versions for less money) since it has a few more capabilities, including a game controller, an ethernet jack, and a USB port for playing external files. The software interface is not slick but everything fast and responsive.

UPDATE: I added a star because this unit has proven itself much more stable than it was at launch, due to frequent software updates. Also, the machine now has the HBO Go app, which allows you to stream from HBO on demand from a huge catalog of movies and TV shows.

How is the Roku 2 different from the Apple TV (which it resembles, and I also considered)? It's physically similar and has some overlapping features, but here are the main differences as I see them:

BOTH have Netflix Streaming and sports channels such as NBA and MLB (subscription required for this stuff). Both have wired and wireless network capabilities. Both are tiny, power-sipping, unobtrusive little devices that could probably be embedded in TV hardware.

AppleTV (not the Roku 2!) has tight iTunes integration, including iTunes movie rentals, streaming from a local PC/Mac with iTunes installed, and YouTube. AirPlay (stream to the box from your iOS device) is supported and works well and adds to the usability of this device if you have an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. At this time, you can only use the "apps" that are included with the box. The AppleTV remote is made of attractive aluminum but relies on line-of-sight infrared signals. AppleTV requires an HDTV to work and displays up to 720p resolutions.

Roku 2 (the product being reviewed! not AppleTV!) has a "channel" installer which you can easily manage via a web app on your computer. This system is a bit less polished, but a lot more open than the AppleTV system. Roku Channel choices include Amazon Prime videos, Amazon rentals, Vimeo, Hulu Plus, Pandora Radio, and bunch of streaming news and movie services. The Wii-like game remote comes with Angry Birds and more 2D casual games are promised. The game controller has built-in accelerometers and game-friendly buttons, and it works well for this game. This layout would be ideal for Super Nintendo style games, too. I like how it doesn't require an IR receiver like the Wii remote does. The tiny Roku 2 box has an IR receiver so you can use a universal remote with it, but the included remote uses RF signals and doesn't need line-of-sight to the box. Roku 2 XS can run on pretty much any TV (it includes composite cables) and can display up to 1080p resolutions.

As you can see, these two machines are similar, but not the same. I chose this machine because it worked with an old SDTV, could play Amazon Prime videos (lots of kids programming on there, thanks Amazon), and offers a nice, standalone alternative to the Apple ecosystem.

First I have to say the negative reviews are puzzling to me, because I dont think those buyers understand what they are buying.

As you know there is 3 versions, I absolutely recommend you spend the money on the XS (99.95) model, the main reason is because it's the only model with a USB port. Which in short term will allow you connect USB HD and play any movies you may of ripped from your DVD's. I have a 4TB array connected with most of my DVD collection, which is close to 1000 movies.

Roku has three type of channels:

Public
Apps
Private

The public channels are the once visible in what is called "Channel Store". Currently there about 300, but channels are added weekly. Looking at fan blogs, there has yet to be a weeks in about 4 months, that at least several channels weren't added.

Now channels can fall into three categories, Pay, Free, and Subscription.

Pay means you pay onetime fee and you get access to the channel, subscriptions are channels like Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc... if you already have those subscriptions, you just add them at no additional cost. If you are an amazon prime customer then you will get access to amazon prime streaming collection, about 9000 movies and shows. You can also rent movies from .99 cents to 3.99. Or you can digitally buy movies, which will then be permanently accessible to you through any device that supports the Amazon channel.

I will admit that half the pay channels are bad, so do your homework before laying out money for any channel that requires either a onetime fee or subscription. You have to understand the Roku is a streaming device, they are not a content provider, so they don't have anything to do with setting prices. That said there are 100's of free channels, especially if you are fan of Video Podcasts from companies live Revision 3 or TWiT. They are all there in HD, and free.

I imagine as time goes on more pay services will become available as well as free once. To give this device a bad rating because you have to pay for some channels, is just typical spoiled attitude. Remember folks who provide these channels have to pay for servers that store the content, bandwidth that delivers the content, and sometimes licensing of the content.

Roku 2 operates on a modified Linux OS. This gives this device a lot of flexibility. Roku has also given out an API so others are writing applications for the device. There are already some games available, again some free, some pay. If you buy the XS model you get a motion controller, similar to the WII one. It's obviously that it's very early in the devices API development. Even though Roku 1 has been around for years, the API flexibility really didn't open up until Roku 2. There is also SD slot so you can upgrade internal memory so you can store games and apps, which you will likely have use for in the coming months, as more apps come out. For example there is one very useful app for Netflix users, called Instant Watcher, it's a onetime fee of $2.99, and give you a lot more flexibility and power to browse the Netflix Streaming Library, you link you Netflix account through this application, and then it allows you to do everything from managing your queue to browse various lists. I discovered a few movies and shows, I would of probably never found on my own.
Second category is Application, which also includes games. That's where the motion controller that comes with the XS model comes in. XS comes with a full version of angry birds, which actually looks and plays quite well. I don't see using Roku to replace my PS3, PC, or WII as gaming platform. But I can see a few possibilities like network wide scrabble; poker, etc... type games and tournaments. There also application, some free some are pay. For example if you got the XS model you have a USB channel, to enable its use for a HD connection you have download a free application. But there is also a pay application, which will allow you to stream audio and video from your server or PC's in the house. There are few other apps, but nothing of any real value at this time. Since the API relatively new, I would expect we will see a lot more apps coming in the next few months.

The last type of channel and probably one most people will not know unless they are told or stumble on it on the forums are "Private Channels". These channels are not advertised or visible through any Roku channel. There are dozen plus sites that track them. Simply google Roku private channels and you will see quite a few. Again some are free, some require a subscription. Channels range from Adult content to one person operations. Some are quite unique like a live stream of ABC in Australia. Like Public channels, private channels go up all the time, and because many of them are one person operation they also go down just as quick sometimes. Adding private channels is quite easy you login to your Roku web account, and there is an option to add a private channel, you enter a code that each private channel provides, and it will then show up on your roku. It says it may take up to 24 hours for a private channel to show up, but most show up within seconds or minutes.

Negatives: You have to buy your HDMI cable, it does come with analog cables, you have to provide your own USB cable. Adding many channels is a major pain, Many times you will get a screen with a code that requires you to go to the channels web site, register, and then enter the code. This isn't Roku's fault, because the channel provider configures how they will allow you to add the channel, and of course many of them want your email so they can market to you. This is especially a pain, if you don't have access to internet while you are in front of your roku, I do, but still this is a major pain. Roku should require providers make channel addition seamless. There is no reason why you cant allow them to pull the info they need for registration from your Roku account if you give permission. I bet in fact its already in the API. There are a lot of garbage channels, and some pay channels are not worth the money. So DO YOUR homework before you spend your money. Roku has a great forum community and you will get straight answers most of the time.

My final recommendation is that this is the best streaming device on the market today, better then Apple TV, Google TV, Boxee, and any other. It simple to use, has amazing amount of variety, and the future for this device is very bright. Streaming is the future of media, but you can get a good taste of it now with this device. I do recommend you buy the XS model, if fort no other reason, the USB port, will eventually act as DVR, there is already buzz that apps are being written to be able to record streaming shows to a HD for later viewing.

I've been using Roku 2 XS for a few days now and I must say I like the device, but there are quite a few hiccups. So first the good stuff.

* The Box is tiny and the setup is a breeze. I was up and streaming in under 5 mins.
* Netflix, Huluplus, Amazon and Pandora worked fine
* Streaming in 1080p worked fine without buffering (I use Xfinity) and the quality is superb
* The Ethernet option (available only in XS) is very helpful and the Quality of streaming is far better than wireless

and the not so good stuff:
* The Box does not have adequate memory and needs an external micro-SD card for more capacity
* The device re-booted a few times for me when switching between channels. I was initially very upset with this as the reboot process takes about 3-4 mins. I called support and they asked me to uninstall Angry Birds as it takes up huge amount of space. Did that and then on no re-boots. This sucks as Roku 2 advertises Angry Birds big time and the remote is designed for that, but the device is not capable without additional memory
* It is non-sense that I buy the high end XS version for Ethernet and HD support and I still have to buy HDMI cable and Ethernet cable separately!
* I mainly bought Roku for streaming International Channels and to my horror I found that most of the channels do not work in Roku 2!! Apparently Roku 2's video format is different to that of Roku 1. Roku support says that the Channel provider needs to fix it and the Channel provider's support say that Roku needs to fix it!!! So why advertise them and make me sign up for them then??
* Finally, many channels have sub-channels within them. Switching from One channel is only possible through menus and there are no short-cuts. It takes up to 5 to 6 button press to switch Channels and it obviously sucks.

Verdict:
If Roku is serious of competing with Apple TV and Content is the differentiator, then Roku needs to pay more attention to the content and ensure it works and make the user experience better.

With an upgraded processor and design, it carries most of the same features as the original player in a smaller size; the main changes is the Wii like remote and Angry Birds being included along with a small selection of games that you can purchase from their games store.

My main peeve is the same as the first player; the device never powers off. This messes with my auto switcher and I have to unplug the Roku when I'm not using it and want to watch something else or play games. Roku's whole goal with this is so that the unit will always be able to receive updates. Even with them saying that it consumes little power while idle, I would rather have the option to power off. I know I could get a better switching system that would correct this, but I don't feel like spending the money on that part of the system at this time.

I've heard several complaints of no Optical connections, which depending on your setup can be a big hindrance, for me this isn't a big issue as I don't use optical. All else fails, you can always get a HDMI to Optical converter box. This may be a big reason that a lot of customers stay with the original Roku or go for another system all together.

The Roku 2 no longer supports dual band Wireless N, it only works in the 2.4 Ghz range.

The XS model is the only one that comes with an Ethernet port, so if you have poor or no wireless you'll need to get this version to be able to connect. For the extra $30 dollars this player costs you, it includes the spiffy remote, Free Game, Ethernet port and USB option. So if you have any hesitation, opt for the XS.

They've moved the USB connection to the side of the device, but you'll have to wait till September for the full USB functional to be released in a new firmware update. Until then you'll have limited compatibility and functionality.

They've opted for a Micro SD card to increase device memory when you need more space for games or more channels. I know it's smaller in size, but I would have liked to see a Standard SD card slot so I don't have to buy special memory for this specific device. Just personal preference and doesn't hinder the usability.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the future their next system was an all out gaming console. With the new focus on games, it just opens up the possibility.

Overall, I'm a casual TV watcher, I might watch an hour a day or less and it fits my needs. if you don't care about the games and a little bit of added performance your original Roku will work just fine for you. Otherwise, if you care about size, new technology, and the option for basic games. It's worth the upgrade.

First some info about my setup, as I think this is important when reviewing a streaming player:

*Roku XD connected via ethernet and HDMI cables to my HDTV.
*Roku 2 XS connected via ethernet and HDMI cables to my daughter's HDTV.
*High-Speed Internet connection via Comcast's Xfinity Blast! service. My speeds are: 30mbps download and 5mbps upload.
*Modem: Motorola SURFboard eXtreme DOCSIS 3.0 Modem, model SB6120. (Comcast compatible. I own my modem, so I don't pay Comcast rental fees anymore!)
*Router: NetGear N600 Wireless Dual Band 802.11n Gigabit Router, model WNDR3700.
*Ethernet cables: Cat6a throughout (best for carrying broadband video). Cat5 or Cat5e is what most customers have, and do not need to be replaced unless one wants the very best video performance an ethernet cable can provide.
*HDMI cables: Bought the cheapest ones available; they either work or they don't, as the signal is all digital.

Because of the type of Internet service one uses, along with the equipment they use to access the Internet (modem & router), there may be a wide range of personal experiences that have little or nothing to do with the Roku player itself. The only issue I've read so far that makes some sense, excepting the occasional report of a bad Roku unit, is that the Roku 2 XS has a problem with it's storage capacity when the game Angry Birds is played. Many have reported this problem and one of the fixes is to uninstall the Angry Birds game. Another possible fix is to simply purchase a microSD card when buying a Roku 2; Roku sells a 2GB card for $5. That is exactly what I did when I ordered the Roku 2 XS from their site, and neither I nor my daughter have had any problems whatsoever with the game or the Roku player trying to reboot/recycle.

Both the older Roku XD and the new Roku 2 XS work extremely well for what they were designed to do - stream video. I've had both units connected wirelessly and via ethernet cable. Both units were a little slower with a wireless connection when compared to being hard wired. Too, a wireless connection was much more likely to downgrade the video quality from 4 dots to 3 or 2 when in Netflix in order to play a video. (Netflix uses 4 dots followed by HD, if the video can play in HD, when it is loading a video. This looks a bit like this: **** HD). Downgrading video quality does not happen very often when using an ethernet cable. However, I was surprised the Roku 2 XS responded faster wirelessly and didn't downgrade the video quality as often as my older Roku XD. This could be a difference in the hardware itself, or it might be that my Roku XD's extra distance of about 10 feet from my router caused the slower performance.

Advice to prospective customers wanting to buy a Roku streaming player:

I would recommend the Roku 2 XS over the other Roku 2 models simply because it comes with an ethernet port for a wired connection. For some customers this could make a big difference when a wireless connection is difficult to achieve or slow at best.

Too, those planning on wireless, and want the best, most reliable performance, use an 802.11n router. However, if one only has an 802.11g router, a Roku player might work just fine; try it before you buy the faster 802.11n router.

Finally, one should have a fast Internet connection. DSL speed may offer erratic streaming at best. Even basic Internet service via cable may not offer the consistency of streaming that high-speed Internet service does in some areas for some folks. Most cable companies offer varying speeds - I pay $10 extra a month for Comcast's Xfinity Blast! high-speed Internet service, for example. New Roku users should try the service they have first and then upgrade, if necessary.

When one has good equipment and a (consistent) high-speed Internet connection, these Roku players perform extremely well. I'm very pleased with both units we have working off the same Internet connection.

Oh, one last thought: I like the Roku 2 XS remote much more than the one that came with the Roku XD. The buttons all set up higher, making them much easier to use, and because of it's use of Bluetooth wireless to control the Roku 2 XS, one need not point the remote directly at the Roku, which I do have to do with my remote for the Roku XD.

I owned a last-generation Roku HD prior to purchasing the new Roku 2 XS so jumping from the budget model to the newer deluxe model was a big leap for me.

The size is much smaller, smaller footprint than Apple TV, but just a bit taller. Still the trademark jeans tag but no more optical audio, component video, or dual-band wireless. None of these things really affect me, but I though I'd point it out. There is a new SD card slot. Upon inserting one it will ask you if you want to format it. It'll then use the card for additional storage. Even without the SD card, there was clearly more space on the player. I didn't have any room for more channels on my old Roku, but on this one I added at least 6 more including Angry Birds and still had space. Again, there is no power button, but the power consumption is very little in standby mode. They claim it's to push software updates to the system, but I think that's a lame excuse. My computer gets software updates all the time without me having to keep it on 24/7. Every once in a while it gets to the point where you can tell it needs to be restarted, so you have to unplug it and plug it back in. Start-up time seems a bit long, takes several minutes.

The biggest difference is Netflix. It now supports 1080p, Dolby Digital Plus, and instead of determining your bit-rate and then playing a constant bit-rate quality until the end, it now doesn't show the usual 4 dots or HD gauge, it just starts playing right away at a lower quality and increases the quality on the fly once it gets a caches for a few seconds. This provides very short loading times and minimizes re-buffering.

The user interface is familiar. Some difference are the white and navy color palette are swapped with dark grey and purple, a bouncing animated boot logo, new loading screens, and a more user-friendly settings menu. I'm disappointed that the menus are still so static other than the new boot logo and the loading spinner. Switching between channels is like watching a slideshow of static images. There is no movement or animation with navigation other than in the Netflix channel or channels that use that same layout.

I was interested to see if Hulu Plus would work better on the new, more powerful Roku players. My reasoning being that maybe it crashed and lagged because of a lack of memory or powerful system. Sadly it is still quite buggy.

My favorite feature of the gaming remote is actually that it's Bluetooth and you don't have to point the remote at the Roku as you do with the regular infrared remote. Since the only game that uses the gaming functionality is Angry Birds, I can only comment on my experience with that. I was actually very surprised when I saw that you could aim the remote at the screen to move a cursor around, just like on Wii. I didn't think this was possible without a sensor bar, but it works quite well although not perfect. The remote features both a gyroscope and an accelerometer, so it's basically the same technology motion sensing technology as the Wii Remote Plus minus the sensor bar. I wouldn't expect anything crazy in terms of the games that will be available on Roku, I'm thinking the quality will be somewhere around what you get on Android Market or Apple App Store, none of the super advanced 3D stuff you'd see on actual gaming consoles, but they are aiming to have games be budget priced at 5 bucks or under. I'm kind of wondering if Nintendo will do anything legally about the gaming remote. The design, button layout, motion sensing and wrist strap screams Nintendo! The system supports two players and additional gaming remotes are available, including for people with HD and XD models that don't include one at all.

Rather than having Ethernet in every tier, only the XS has it now. If you are going to play HD video, you really need an Ethernet connection or an N-band router. I've tested my older model on a B/G wireless router and it was never enough bandwidth to play HD.

The USB support is pretty minimal: WMV/ASF up to 480p, MP4 and MOV up to 1080p. MKV was supported, but there are problems with support for it at the moment according to customer service. They actually removed it from the list of supported formats on the website. Audio formats supported are MP3 and AAC. Image formats are JPG and PNG. They promise a software update in September 2011 that enables "Full USB functionality" and I really hope that includes AVI and MPEG support! Several people come on here to write reviews only complaining about how it won't play their local files and all I have to say is that is that Roku is a streaming internet video player. If your focus is playing local files, buy something like a WD TV Live. Their local file support is great and full-featured, but their streaming internet video is lacking to say the least. It's really a question of which is more important to you as neither is perfect at both.

******UPDATE******:
-Roku has removed any mention of a the September 2011 update that enables "Full USB functionality" and it looks like they have no intention of fixing MKV support. This is very disappointing as they were advertising it when the device first was released and everybody bought it.

-Second thing to point out is that programs like Plex media server now work on the new units. Some people returned the player or wrote bad reviews because it wasn't initially working, but now it's fine. Plex is a private channel that allows you to stream video files from your computer over the network. It syncs up with online databases to provide artwork and information for your videos.

-Still no revamped YouTube channel as promised.

-After some time with the unit, I can tell you that the batteries in the Bluetooth remote drain much faster than the standard remote, and investing in an additional IR remote may be ideal. I just wish they offered the the new remotes for purchase separately because they are still selling the last generation ones.

-Roku promised strong game developer support, but so far there are about a dozen games and the only decent ones are Angry Birds. The gaming idea was a dud if you ask me.

-I've been using the Roku on an HDTV, but recently used it for a while on a standard definition TV. I had the settings all correct, but the clipping was REALLY bad. It cuts part of the image off of every side. It's so bad on Hulu Plus that almost the entire bottom-right logo is cut off. How is there not a setting to adjust the over-scan like other players?! Also, the composite video is very prone to electrical interference. None of my other components deal with this problem and it's almost impossible to position the player so that there is no interference...the screen buzzes, pulses, scan-lines flicker. It gets worse with brighter video content and can be quite distracting.

I've actually removed a star from my review because the excitement of owning something new and shiny has worn off with the realization of a few less than ideal issues and I really don't like when companies go back on their claims, and then act like they were never made! After seeing the new WD TV Live line which is a big improvement over the last generation, I'm enticed to make the switch. It supports Netflix, Hulu Plus, Spotify, YouTube, CinemaNow and Blockbuster, plus has a superior user interface that supports themes, local file playback through USB or network streaming with any media format, optical digital audio out, parental controls, programmable remote, power button, and USB keyboard support all for the same price as the Roku XS. Their more pricey Hub model also has 1TB internal storage, component video out, and acts as a media server. It's on my Christmas list!

The Roku 2 is really amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to cut their huge cable bill. It was easy to set up and everyone in the family is still happy. Yes, even without Comcast cable, we're still happy.

To put this review in context, my wife and I both work and we have two children (3 years old and newborn). The 3 year old likes to watch cartoons/movies on the weekends. We had Comcast Cable with DVR and all of those channels. Most evenings, after the kids were asleep (8:30), we rarely found ourselves watching cable and when we did, we couldn't find anything on the channels to watch anyway. Quite often, my wife would order ONDemand movies from Comcast for $4-5. Our cable bill with those movies was about $90-100/month. We subscribe to Netflix streaming only, Amazon Prime and recently Hulu Plus after liking the one month trial. We're not huge TV watchers but like to watch a movie every now and then. Our goal was to stop paying so much for cable when we don't have time to watch much TV anyway.

Setup - It was easy and it'll take about 10-15 minutes. It's best to have an iPad or laptop nearby that is online. I connected the Roku 2 to my router via ethernet cable so I cannot speak to a wireless setup. Once connected, the Roku box walked me through the setup. It updated the software and then I began adding channels. I added Netflix, Amazon and Hulu to start. You are prompted to either login using your username and password or you are given a code to enter in online. It's really easy and haven't had any issues since the setup.

Content - With these three channels (Netflix, Amazon and Hulu Plus) we have more content than we could ever need. For my 3 year old there are so many cartoons to choose from and all the episodes - Caillou; Backyardigans; Word World; Sid the Science Kid; Dragon Tails; Madeline. We haven't even scratched the surface on kids cartoons. There are kids movies that we found on the three channels - Tangled; Toy Story 3; Curious George; Ponyo. That's more than enough TV for weekends. As far as TV for us, Hulu Plus has tons of good TV to watch and with Plus you get full seasons worth. With Netflix, we get full seasons of other TV shows and decent movies - although I will say, Netflix needs more titles. The Amazon Prime account gets us even more free streaming content that I've yet to really explore. It looks only ok but the great thing about the Amazon Channel is that you can rent newer releases for $3-4.

Picture Quality - My TV is only 720p but the picture-quality is really good for those programs in HD. Overall, the amount of programming in HD is not as high as Comcast but I'm ok with that. The quality is still really good. The other day I went on to Vimeo Channel (like YouTube) and found some cycling videos and I was amazed at how clear the footage was using Roku. It was HD quality. Also, I've yet to have any problems with skipping or delays (again I'm hooked up with an Ethernet cable).

UI - The user interface is easy. Roku could make it more slick but why? It just works.

COST SAVINGS!! - We were paying $7.99 for Netflix and just added $7.99/month for Hulu Plus. We were setup on Amazon Prime already. So, the total bill per month went from $90-100 to $8. I'm sure we will rent new releases from the Amazon store but we were doing that with ONDemand anyway. Plus, Amazon movie rentals look to be cheaper per movie anyway.

If you are in a similar situation as my family, I think the Roku 2 is the way to go. Saving $80-90 a month worth it and Roku may get even better with more content. For $99, it's worth trying it out.

I waited until I used this device for several weeks before writing my review. I have read most of the 5 star and all of the 1 star reviews. I bought this device because I thought the 5 star reviews outweighed the 1 star reviews. After using it extensively for a few weeks I have come to the conclusion that there are SIGNIFICANT problems with this device and I am seriously considering returning it. It worked perfectly when I fist used it...for about a week. Then the problems started. First the remote became completely unresponsive. I had to hard reboot the device by unplugging it several times to get it working again...not fun when the boot-up time takes several minutes. I had to download an app for my iPhone to control the device and found that the app is more reliable than the native remote...in fact when the native remote fails, I have to use the iPhone app to get to the Roku 'Settings' to re-sync the native remote. I have read about the wireless sync issues but I have the XS plugged directly into a Comcast high speed internet connection (Cat 5 Ethernet)...so no wireless issues to blame. Now the latest issue is the audio/video sync is off, so everything looks like a bad '70's Godzilla movie...real fun! This device has serious design flaws. I have heard some say that the first generation works perfectly, so you might want to go with that instead. All I know is that this thing is not ready for prime-time!

***Update - 11/07/2011 - still significant issues. Updates seem to fix one problem, but break three other features...VERY frustrating!!!!

We purchased this item with great expectations of using it to stream Amazon videos to our TV. At first, the device appeared to work, and we watched one movie successfully. When we attempted to watch a second movie, the video stopped receiving the streaming signal after about 10 minutes. We tried resetting the device, to no avail. We then called technical support, and after 45 minutes of restarting, re-registering, and changing the defaults in our wireless router per the tech's instructions, the technician assured us that the device would now work perfectly. Alas, it did not. In fact, it now would only accept a video stream for about one minute before shutting down. We called tech support a second time, and after another 15 minutes on the phone, this second technician declared the device to be defective. Amazon, as always, provided excellent customer service and immediately sent a replacement. We received the replacement quickly and set up the new one, thinking our problems would be over. Not the case! The replacement device behaved exactly as the first device--it could only receive a streaming video for a few minutes before shutting itself down. Unhappily, we returned the device for a refund. We were extremely disappointed. So ... buyer beware: we suspect either (1) there may be incompatibilities at work here, although it should be noted that our computing equipment and television are nothing out of the ordinary--all well-known name brands with no special configuration; or (2) the Roku device is simply not reliable. Given that our equipment is all standard, commonly available brands, we suspect the latter. After doing some searching on the internet, we notice a mixture of outcomes with the Roku--some people use it with success, and others find they are beset with problems similar to what we experienced. We think the Roku would benefit from some continuing technical development. If you choose to buy it, here's hoping you are among the lucky ones who have success with it. We did not.

I wish I could give this a negative star. I already own a Roku 1 and enjoy it. It works as advertised. I have had the Roku 2 XS running for about an hour now. Here's been my experience. I booted it up and configured my wireless. It connected to the wireless, but couldn't connect to the network. I rebooted and tried again. No dice. I got Roku chat support up and suggested I deleted the saved password and reenter it. That worked.

Then I waited for several minutes while it updated it's software. It rebooted, asked for resolution and started updating channels. That took FOREVER. I hooked up my USB drive and went to view videos. I had to do a Google search to figure out that I had to add that channel. (It's way down at the bottom). When I added it, it updated a bunch of other channels including installing Angry Birds, which took FOREVER.

I finally get into my USB drive of all my DVD backups of kid movies that I have accumulated over the years, and nearly 95% of them don't show up. Even the newer MKV files, even though it's supposed to be supported.

I try Netflix, and instead of getting the code to activate, I'm asked to provide my Netflix logon details. Guess what, that didn't work either.

Okay, so lets see how Angry Birds works. Hmmm, not on my home screen. I watched it take 10 minutes to install, where is it? I clicked on Channel Store. What's that? Ah, Channel store has now frozen my Roku and now it won't respond.

This brick is getting returned ASAP. I'll go back to using my old WD media player and Xbox and will be ordering a new WD Live as soon as the return is cleared.