I’ve had a Netflix account for many years and when they introduced streaming content last year, I was at first excited and then a little annoyed. I’m primarily a Mac user and Netflix did not (and does not) support streaming to the Mac. When I talked to Netflix customer support, they hinted at a possible solution in the future, but there were outstanding issues with displaying protected content on the Mac; The representative implied that Apple was being too proprietary with their DRM solution.

Enter the Roku Netflix Player. After creating a queue of streaming content on your Netflix account using your computer, you can then view this content on any standard definition or high definition TV set using this Player.

It took me a while to take the plunge and purchase the player. We recently bought an Apple TV, which we love for music and our own recorded content. (I record many hours of PBS shows using an Eye-TV on my Mac.) After buying the Roku Player, we’ve really become attached to it. Shows on the Apple TV can be expensive, making it difficult to budget. Our Netflix account, however, costs the same fixed amount, month to month, regardless of the amount of streaming content we enjoy.

Pros

• The Player works well with both High Definition and Standard Definition televisions. Connectivity is achieved by composite, component, S-video and HDMI outputs. Audio output is provided via stereo RCA plugs or through optical output. When playing standard definition content, the usual pixellation issues will occur, but this is most likely an effect of the resolution of the content and not the player.
• Setup was quick and easy. After connecting through an ethernet cable or a wireless network, the device will present you with an alphanumeric code. Using your computer, log on to your Netflix account and enter the code. Your Player will now be coupled to your account.
• Netflix charges a fixed subscription cost, as low as $8.99 monthly for unlimited streaming along with 2 discs out at a time. My wife and I have chosen a lower cost subscription, cutting the number of discs we get, because of the unlimited streaming content now available.
• The hardware costs only $99 plus shipping and handling. When compared with the cost of an Apple TV, it’s very affordable. As mentioned above, you might also find yourself down-grading your Netflix account because you’ll no longer need so many DVDs.
• The device is small and portable. My wife and I trivially move the device from room to room.
• I almost forgot the clean and easy to use interface. Part of this ease of use may rely on the fact that you need to manage you content list on the computer.

Cons

• The library of content is still limited. If you have a Netflix account, I would suggest taking a look at what’s available to see if it’s for you. There are a lot of bad movies, but quite a few gems as well. The amount of children’s content is very limited.
• The content play list must be managed from a computer. This can be a hassle if you need to get up and boot your computer to find content — A Mac can easily be used to manage this list, by the way.
• For how long will streaming content be unlimited? I foresee either the throttling of the amount of content you can watch (when the streaming service was launched, Netflix limited you to a number of hours of streaming content equal to the dollar amount of your subscription) or extra charges for some content. As the content library expands, either of these become more likely.
• A number of ISPs have suggested they will begin to limit the amount of content users can download through their broadband connection. For example, AT&T may make changes later this year, perhaps capping the amount of content based on the tier of service for which you pay. This type of limitation may hit streaming services, whether Netflix or Apple, hard. If you’re paying a $1 per gigabyte for a 2 or 5 gigabyte streamed movie, you might think twice before using the service.

Links

• Netflix
• Roku Netflix Player

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Computers, Movies, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.