Roku Boxes Come To The UK - For All Your Netflix And, Er, Angry Birds Needs

[Brendon Connelly]

With Netflix now running nicely in the UK and Ireland, and with me comfortably snuggled in, enjoying at least one film a day, and the odd TV episode too, I've been looking for the best way to stream the content to my TV.

My iPad is pretty good for when I can get it real close, and my laptop can hook up to the TV too, but those are back up plans and far from ideal.

I don't have a PS3 and I don't have an X-Box 360, and I don't really want to buy one just for this functionality. I do have a Wii, but that only gives me SD Netflix, and I don't want that. I want the best picture and sound quality I can get.

So, lucky for me, that Roku have just launched their popular little boxes here in Blighty. I was familiar with them from the US, and am happy to see them following me across the Atlantic. Can all-night diners now do the same, please?

There are two models of the Roku box, priced at £50 and £100, all but for a few pence.

The cheaper one streams up to 720p, while the more expensive one can handle the full 1080p and 5.1 sound. And it has Angry Birds preloaded, which is... a distraction. As well as Netflix they offer Vimeo, Crackle and a bunch of other services with Lovefilm, iPlayer etc. to follow, hopefully in short order.

While the Roku LT and Roku XS are both available for pre-order from Amazon now, Roku say that other retailers will come along eventually. The shipping date for pre-orders will be January 27th - so less than a fortnight away. I'm deliberately putting off the viewing of some films so I can get the best out of them.

I'll let you know how I get on, though CNET's review of the XS is already pretty compelling:

The good: The Roku 2 XS is an ultrasmall Wi-Fi streaming-media box that offers dozens of Internet video and audio services, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, Pandora, NHL, NBA, and MLB, among many others. It works with HD and standard TVs, and it includes a Wii-like motion controller for casual gaming (Angry Birds is included).

The bad: The best streaming channels require paid subscriptions or pay-per-view fees. The Roku 2 XS doesn't currently support DLNA access (streaming media from networked PCs), and USB file support is very limited. Don't expect a full-blown Wii-like gaming experience; Angry Birds is currently the only game available.

I hope I don't really hate it now.

I'm sure I'll be using it for Netflix a minimum of 90% of the time, at least until the UK TV catch-up services come along.

[Fysh]

If you've got a full-HD capable TV, a dedicated media centre (with optical drive for Blu-Rays, since you've indicated elsewhere that you like the format) would be your best bet. This'd also give you the option of a wired connection.

You could do worse than look at something like the WDTV Live boxes - I had one of the old WDTV units and it was excellent. The only reason I don't still have it is that, as good as it was (especially considering I picked it up for about £75) it was never going to be able to compete with a dedicated full-size laptop that lived under the TV.

Of the current WDTV options I'd say the Hub would be better suited to your needs, but since that comes with a 1TB drive the price will have gone up horrendously in the last 3 months due to the global hard drive shortage. Amazon has it for £180ish, with the WDTV live going for more like £90ish (streaming only, no DLNA - though some forum posts suggests otherwise, and past experience with the rooted firmware on earlier WDTV models suggests this may change if the relevant groups can get around the newly-encrypted firmware on the current models).

None of this is really relevant to me, though - my TV's only a 720p jobbie, so SD Netflix on the Wii has been fine so far for me. (The laptop that replaced the WDTV box doesn't support HDMI out or HD-type resolutions anyway due to relatively crappy onboard graphics, but since the TV doesn't either I'm not too worried about that...)

[fredmanson]

And what about to build your own media center? A small case (mini IT-X form factor), an IT-X mother board (prefer an AMD E350 instead of an Intel Atlon with bluetooth and Wifi options), 2 Go of RAM, a SSD (or a 2.5" HDD), an IR remote/receptor pack, an optional DVD/Blu-ray drive, a Linux distro or a W7 Home Premium, and to finish XBMC (if you want it).

So, you will have a complete media center: internet, music, pictures, movies, TV, games, for free and you are not chained to a specific paying provider like Netflix.

[Brendon Connelly]

If you've got a full-HD capable TV, a dedicated media centre (with optical drive for Blu-Rays, since you've indicated elsewhere that you like the format) would be your best bet. This'd also give you the option of a wired connection.

And what about to build your own media center? A small case (mini IT-X form factor), an IT-X mother board (prefer an AMD E350 instead of an Intel Atlon with bluetooth and Wifi options), 2 Go of RAM, a SSD (or a 2.5" HDD), an IR remote/receptor pack, an optional DVD/Blu-ray drive, a Linux distro or a W7 Home Premium, and to finish XBMC (if you want it).

So, you will have a complete media center: internet, music, pictures, movies, TV, games, for free and you are not chained to a specific paying provider like Netflix.

The Roku offers a wired connection, which is good.

And I want to pay for my content, whether that's through subscription services like Netflix and Lovefilm, or through purchasing it on Blu-ray or DVD.

But maybe I need a media centre for the other room... you've got me thinking.

[ber7702]

I have a Boxee Box and it does the job nicely. Supports 1080p, has wired connection, supports streaming from PCs. They have Netflix on Boxee US, so hoping it will set up in UK soon. They also have another film site deal, but cant rememebr it. The software is open, so many people develop apps.

It also has 2x USB slots, so I am currently attaching an external with all my movies/music on it.

[Fysh]

And what about to build your own media center? A small case (mini IT-X form factor), an IT-X mother board (prefer an AMD E350 instead of an Intel Atlon with bluetooth and Wifi options), 2 Go of RAM, a SSD (or a 2.5" HDD), an IR remote/receptor pack, an optional DVD/Blu-ray drive, a Linux distro or a W7 Home Premium, and to finish XBMC (if you want it).

So, you will have a complete media center: internet, music, pictures, movies, TV, games, for free and you are not chained to a specific paying provider like Netflix.

Home builds are great if you've got a TV on which you can do substantial PC gaming and you're interested in going beyond what one of the limited commercially-sold black box units can do (eg proper gaming, web browsing, etc), then I wholeheartedly agree. Plus, building machines is fun

That being said, if you just want a streaming/media centre box with the ability to play your music & video files, a black-box unit is not only easier but also cheaper. And crucially, more straightforward for anyone who doesn't have the interest or knowledge to set up their own media centre from scratch.