Tuesday, June 10, 2008

my Roku is here and I am in love.

But I'm not throwing away the Apple TV, not yet and not ever. These are two totally different machines with different purposes. The Roku comes with an 802.11b/g wireless connection, Ethernet, composite video, optical audio, S-Video and analog RCA jacks on the back. All that on a SMALL and VERY LIGHTWEIGHT body. I slapped the unit in place using Ethernet to my Time Capsule, RCA cables (both composites were taken by high def players).

Setup was simple: power the unit up and go through the simple setup screens. Because I was using hard-wired Ethernet I didn't have to worry about setting up wireless so I was on-line and downloading and update within minutes. Once the software was updated I was presented with a "authentication code" and I was instructed to log in to Netflix.com and proceed to netflix.com/activate where I would enter the provided activation code. Because I had logged in on my laptop my Roku knew who I was when I presented the code so there was no need to log in via the Roku.

After that step I was watching a movie within minutes. It's fantastic!!!

I saw what might be a problem, however. I don't think the Roku is 802.11a capable. This is bad for use at the beach because I don't have an Ethernet connection where the TV is located (the wireless gear is in the bedroom) and EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE has 802.11g. That makes for a very congested 2.4 Ghz spectrum and that could cause some problems. I might have to contact property management to see if it is possible to run an Ethernet cable from the bedroom to the TV. I expect not. It would be the best method to connect the two.

1 comment:

Mark Turner said...

Yes but how does it look, both the exterior as well as the movie picture quality?

This Thread Is Useless Without Pictures (tm)