Planet TLLTS

Long have I wanted to have a device that would easily tie my Netflix subscription and other streaming internet media to my tv. I have tried lots of nice things, but they all left me wanting something more, that is, until I got a Roku.

I picked up a Roku 2 XD at BestBuy for $79 and figured I would try it out and return it if it wasn’t what I really wanted. To my surprise I really like it!

My first impressions are that it is REALLY small. It literally fits, in its entirety, into the palm of my hand. It’s pretty slick looking for a little black box with a fabric tag sticking out the side. It has the normal input/output ports that you would expect for a device that connects to your tv to have, and, really, nothing else but the remote, which is also quite small.

Once you hook it all up and plug it in, you are greeted by the Roku logo while the system loads, and then you are taken through a series of steps to register your box and your account (free). After that you can start adding channels and enjoying your streaming web content on your tv!

Now the channels on Roku are different than I expected. Each channel is a service. For example, Netflix is a channel and Hulu is a channel and Crackle and Pandora, etc. and the list goes on. I am sure there is something in there for almost everybody. The ones I really enjoy, outside of Netflix, are Crackle, which somehow provides FREE streaming (recent) movies and tv content, Pandora, and Pub-D-Hub, which has all kinds of old movies, shows and cartoons (and even commercials).

The only thing I really do not like is it’s difficult to actually locate the kind of content you are looking for. This is primarily because there is so much available, and, I will have to admit that sometimes it’s fun just searching around.

What’s Good:
Small, Good looking, Quick, Inexpensive, easy to set up and easy to use.

What’s Bad:
Hard to sort through all the content to find exactly what you want.

We saw Avatar in 3D yesterday, not in Imax though. Man was that an awesome movie. The story was not unique but they did put an interesting spin on it. What pushed this movie ahead of the pack was the awesome cgi. Unlike most movies heavy with CGI, Avatar did not leave me feeling a bit tired afterwards. The movie was beautiful and most of the time I did not even notice that it was computer animated. The facial art has come a long way.

I highly recommend seeing this movie in the theater and do try and see it in 3D at the very least. Man, it is worth it.

It’s Saturday night and I go to put in Pirate of the Carribean: At the World’s End so we can put an end to this trilogy once and for all. The disc won’t load and I notice it has a crack in it. Darn! Well, I pop on the Netflix website today and let them know the disc is damaged. They promise to send out another copy the next business day and ask I return the damaged disc as soon as possible. I then receive an email apologizing for the inconvience and promising to send another copy out right away.

Now that is nice. No hassles about the damaged disc, no blame, nothing; no questions asks. Another disc is on the way, please return the damaged one and have a great day. I like that. Thumbs up to Netflix.