Roku 2 XS and or boxee

[marrandy]

So we already have hulu available within LinuxMCE (congrats to all the developers for the 0810 Final release, by the way).

So does anyone here have the Roku, or for that matter, a boxee ?

I mentioned the latest Roku version, 2 and XS as that also comes with an ethernet connection.

Can people who have it explain in detail the benefits of buying it.  

Any problems in using/accessing it via LinuxMCE

I wouldn't mind dropping my brighthouse cable if I could find a similar replacement.

Thanks.

[merkur2k]

any a/v device that can be controlled by a LinuxMCE supported control interface (infrared blaster, rs232 serial, ethernet, etc) will always be able to be integrated into the system. I believe there is already a device template for at least one version of the roku box, but device templates for these kind of devices are very easy to make.

[joerod]

I use a Roku XD and it works great (well I'm fixing the remote a little using a newer protocol for conection instead of the old telnet) but as it is it works great.  as with any video device connected it has a delay from when you click the remote button and it actually happens, but again it serves its purpose very nicely. and since mines connected via svideo the quality isnt great.... but it works good.

[marrandy]

OK - thanks merkur2k & joerod.

Anyone else have a roku who can give some feedback and opinion ?

[Murdock]

I have a roku attached to 2/3 of the tvs in my house, though right now im not controlling via mce. My ultimate goal is to get rid of all IR remotes and control everything via the orbiter but im not quite there yet.

[marrandy]

What version and what are your opinions of the system and what is available ?

For example, did you give up your cable ?

Are there enough channels to satisfy you ?

That sort of thing.

Thanks...Martin

[esev]

I also have a Roku, the original base model.  I was able to control it via the ethernet connection.  I used a Hauppauge HD PVR to bring the video into LinuxMCE.  The HD PVR was flaky and the video would freeze at times.  Also, like joerod mentioned, when you do this there is a delay between when the remote is pressed and when the effect of the remote button is seen on screen.  This can be minimized by hooking the Roku directly up to your screen and having LinuxMCE change the screen's inputs to the input the Roku is attached to - but when doing this you lose a lot of the benefits of LinuxMCE (i.e. being able to watch the same thing on multiple screens).

Note: I haven't tried using the Roku with any of the latest releases of LinuxMCE or with the newer Roku devices. I believe the last version I used was around released around the December/January time frame.

[Murdock]

I got it before there were versions so im thinking its v1??

Yes i got rid of cable, and no i dont miss it at all!

Regarding channels, i primarily leverage netflix and amazon instant video. And im evaluating cancelling netflix in favor of amazons 'prime' service.

I would also like to focus on getting a media option into mce that would allow me to access my amazon service so eventually i wont need the roku at all (if i can get away from netflix)

[marrandy]

I got it before there were versions so im thinking its v1??

Yes i got rid of cable, and no i dont miss it at all!

Regarding channels, i primarily leverage netflix and amazon instant video. And im evaluating cancelling netflix in favor of amazons 'prime' service.

I would also like to focus on getting a media option into mce that would allow me to access my amazon service so eventually i wont need the roku at all (if i can get away from netflix)

I agree, but except for HULU, its not there yet.

[huh]

Hey,

I want to again thank esev for making this PnP with the systems.  The below is meant purely as my experiences and my WAF with the device- it is not meant in anyway as a criticism of LMCE or the integration of pieces into it.

After reading the posts I really don't have a lot to add.  I think the "delays" that others mention are something to seriously consider- in my experience, we're talking a second or so between pressing a button and having the roku respond to the command.   I had mine connected, btw, via ethernet to my gigabit network (think the roku is only 10/100) to my PVR-150.

For me, the rather long delays coupled with the standard def- the roku has hi-def outputs, but there's no good (read: cheap) way (other than Hauppauge HD PVR) to connect the roku to your network.  As it turned out, woot or 1saleaday or one of those type sites had a deal a while back on a WD Live that essentially does the same as the roku without the telnet.  I bought two of the WD's and have those placed in the master BD and family room as to have netflix where we want it and currently do not utilize LMCE with it.  I really think a big step forward is being logged in ticket #757 (http://svn.linuxmce.org/trac.cgi/ticket/757) with the integration of Coherence.  If I understand correctly, we should then be able to have similar functionality as Dianemo being able to push streams to a very light weight box (or even directly to the TV).

But I'm way off topic... for me hulu (the free hulu, not hulu premium) has not been enough dump cable in our household.  I'm not sure it's so much the content as much as the change from being able to press up/down/EPG to see what's on and choose accordingly vs having to navigate within hulu to find soemthing. 

I control our cable box with a USBUIRT which is about as responsive as the roku.  I think the big difference is that Thom has added the EPG to the live tv which allows me to quickly search for something to watch and then click the button to tune.  It takes a bit (maybe 1.5 seconds to type in all 3 numbers and then press enter) but I've already determined what I want to watch and so the time to change the channel is a big up-sell over paying the cable company for more cable boxes.  I would guess that if you got used to selecting what you wanted to watch on Netflix from their website (phone app, etc) and only relied on the roku to watch what you've selected previously then it is great.  If you plan on using the roku to search for something to watch, I think you will find the delay frustrating. 

These are my experiences, but I should admin that currently my Roku is in a box and was recently used in a demonstration at work showing the possibilities of LMCE