Roku 3 HD Streaming Player

After having a very poor experience with Sony’s awful streaming software, and a hit and miss relationship with an original Amazon Fire TV Box, I found the Roku 2 and thought it worth a try. Much to my surprise it was about a quarter the size I’d anticipated, just about covering an adult’s palm. But as the saying goes good things come in small packages. The second surprise was how easy it was to set up. I can honestly say that everything worked first time, and within 20 minutes I had the Roku running Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, iTV Hub, TuneIn Radio, Vimeo and a few others from the large list of channels/ apps. BBC iPlayer is available, but we are among those Defunding the BBC and so chose not to install it. Roku do require that a credit card is registered during setup, but that is only billed if you opt for Pay To View services.The remote is a nifty little thing that feels good in the hand (except for the cloth tab poking out of its bottom) and more importantly it works. Dedicated YouTube and Netflix buttons save time. Alas, the IOS app works only in portrait mode and is very basic. Happily, there are paid alternatives with much greater functionality, if you want more bells and whistles. But whatever control method you choose, the Roku system is mostly intuitive and easy to learn, even for technophobes.External USB drives and SD cards are supported. Have yet to try the latter, but my 120gb USB drive payed movies with no problem, other the some file formats not being recognised by the default (free to download) Roku Media Player. Unfortunately, VLC do not make a version for Roku. Plex is available for those who like that app.There is an ethernet port for users who need or prefer a wired connection, but I chose a wireless setup which worked perfectly via a Netgear range extender. Linking to my Netgear router which is located on the other side of a medium sized house on a different floor. So far the Roku is impressive, and has had no problems streaming anything I’ve tried, and no annoying buffering.What don’t I like? 1) If the TV is turned off the Roku will eventually go into a standby mode, then switch off entirely. But any USB drives still attached remain powered up, with no way to shut them down other than unplugging them. Obviously, this means replugging next time you want to use the drive. So it would be great if Roku updated their software to power down attached drives when the device itself went to sleep. 2) The Home Screen defaults to the controls section on the left hand side. This necessitates using the right arrow to put focus back on the channels. It would be better if channels were automatically the focus when Home was pressed or when the unit booted up. 3) The Roku remote has a dedicated Radio button, which when pressed informs me that the channel has closed down. So how about mapping it to something else? 4) No Air Play. Adding Apple Air Play functionality would enable me to use the Roku for streaming through my Denon amp, via the excellent MusicStreamer (Stratospherix) app from the IOS App Store. EDIT. As of mid November 2020 Roku have added Air Play to their more expensive products... but not this one. AFAIK, it is not a hardware limitation, but a deliberate choice to leave those who purchased this model out in the cold where Air Play is concerned.

I buy a lot of these gadgets and help friends set up etc. So familiar with the Apple TV, Chromecast and Western Digital Media streamers.Hope you find this review useful, as the other reviews left me with a good few unanswered questions.The reviews online and technical specification gives a list of apps that are supported on Roku. However that is the tip of the iceberg. Think iOS or Android App store, and you have a better idea of just how diverse the apps are on Roku. If you can steam it in the via a tablet or PC, I would be willing to bet you can get it on here. The app store is found from within the Roku menus, no installing via computer required.Particular star apps for me:Plex - The reason I bought this device. It lets you play Movies, TV shows and Music that you have on your PC or Mac, using the power of the computer to transcode the video so it can play via the plex app on the Roku, iPad, iPhone etc etc. This means no longer having to worry about movie formats etc. The reason Plex was on my hit list, was the amazing community based artwork and reviews system that you get when it adds your movies to the list. Like browsing a professional on demand movie system but from movies you have simply stored in a folder. Next level way of watching movies, much more than just putting them in an alphabetical list.Screensavers - Great surprise to have apps that allow you to randomise your picasa web pictures, facebook pictures or if you want something eye catching, have a fish tank in your TV or maybe a lava lamp? Awesome for setting atmosphere. Was not expecting this so really pleased how cool these various screen saver specific apps are.Spotify - Not something I had really contemplated using on a TV, but the App is fantastic and can see myself having it on screen next time we have people over.Sky News and other big brand content providers - Never would have thought I would want this until I had a play. The Sky News 'channel' is amazing, it isn't at all as boring as I would have expected, can go right to programs and shows, such as Tech news like SWiPE (20 minute program updated weekly I believe). Really in depth apps, which when opened reveal lots of interesting sub section, think Youtube for the Sky News network. Just have a browse through articles you think you might like and kick back for 10-30 minutes.Remote control is also perfectly adequate, with batteries included and no issues at all with signal or distance (tested with approx 5m away from TV). Not tried the headset that came with it, which you will probably have read allows audio bypass if you want to watch something late at night or have kids sleeping in the room. Not mentioned on most sites, is that you also get a volume rocker on the remote control for when in headset mode. Nice touch.One single negative (minor) thing I have noticed, is that content on Netflix and Crunchyroll take approx 10-15 seconds to go from normal quality to HD, slowly improving during that time. Most apps on computer or iOS that I have used, scale up to full quality HD within 3-5 seconds. Still, nothing to grumble about. (ps. I have 120mb cable, so it's not my connection).Hope you found this review helpful. Great work Roku.

This streamer works extremely well and is quite simple to set up. I personally installed it on my surround processor so that the audio would route directly to the speakers, while video was sent to my TV monitor. This can obviously be done also by connecting the Roku to your TV set, then routing a digital audio output from the monitor to the processor.The initial set-up was done by following an easy on-screen step-by-step procedure which anyone can do, specially if you've ever mated your router to a mobile device in the past. The 3 step set-up was the finalized by the use of a pass code issued by the Roku upon set-up, which you need to include in a dedicated box on the Roku website where you opened an account.If you find this review valuable, please click yes below.5 minutes or so and I was up and running, using the excellent interface most may already be familiar with if you've experienced Netflix or the like in the pass. With a proper WIFI signal, this baby works lightning fast and my programs are free of any lag or buffer degradation.Rated #1 in th industry by several PC/electronic magazines, I can understand why and I'm very happy to have purchased it.

Sé que el appeal principal de estos dispositivos es la piratería, por lo menos en México. Sin embargo,el Roku como aparato multimedia es un reproductor muy competente.Esta versión en particular, internamente, es idéntica a un Roku 3 2015. Lo que cambia es el control (no maneja comandos por voz o movimientos para juegos). Si tu uso particular es multimedia puramente, no te puedes equivocar con este dispositivo: Es rápido, maneja sonido envolvente a través de HDMI y tiene soporte para virtualmente cualquier app de streaming en el mercado.Además, a través de Plex o DLNA puedes consumir el contenido multimedia que tienes en tu propia red. Para un set up menos complejo, puedes conectar un disco duro directamente al Roku y ver los videos de ahí.Finalmente esta versión de Roku permite usar tecnología Miracast para proyectar inalámbricamente el contenido de tu PC o Laptop (que soporte miracast como con Windows 10) a la TV. Es decir, puedes utilizar tu TV como un monitor extendido para mostrar fácilmente fotografías, power points o lo que se te ocurra. Sólo no es suficientemente bueno para gaming por el lag.En mi opinión, si un Chromecast te queda corto, este es el mejor dispositivo multimedia en el mercado.PD. Amazon me lo entregó al siguiente día con el envío gratis y más barato que ofertas en sitios de subastas.

Excelente, cumple su función, muchas opciones de canales, fácil de configurar, buen precio, opción para reproducir contenido desde usb o micro sd

Pros: It works, it's fast, tons of apps, high picture and sound quality .Cons: Limited expandability - No file sharing on connected hard drive through network, no option for qwerty keyboard, no separate audio out . Can't play music while using another app at the same time (as I could with WD Live) . User interface is lacking options and tweaking - it is intended for ones who will want a very simple operation without getting into detail .I got the Roku because I had enough of hard rebooting my WD Live 5 times a day , and it works... but I miss the options the WD has .

Works just as you would expect. I bought this for my mom who loves watching Netflicks but only has a tablet. Set up is super easy. The controls are very user friendly. My mom loves the fact that you just have to press the Netflicks button to have it come on.