So, parents want to get netflix to stream their instant watch stuff, but they don't have anything besides the TV itself. What is the best option for hooking them up for xmas?

The Roku box might be the least expensive, but ive seen mixed reviews on quality.
AppleTV is an option, but they have no Apple products besides old ipods so I don't know if thats an option (i dont know much on this one)

They dont have a ps3/xbox/wii to stream so those are out.

WHAT IS THE BEST!?!?!

12/15/2010 3:26:33 PM

Maybe this blu-ray player that has Netflix, Pandora, etc.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=blu-ray,+netflix&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11418271399763901945&ei=pyQJTazaIsmr8AaOmb2iAQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB4Q8wIwAA#

12/15/2010 3:27:48 PM

id def go with the blu-ray option if they have nothing but the tv; in case they ever want to add discs to their netflix subscritpion.

12/15/2010 3:39:20 PM

^

12/15/2010 3:43:59 PM

Oh sorry, I should include they do have a basic bluray player. But it does not have netflix built in.

12/15/2010 3:44:58 PM

Roku's are really nice and the quality is good. As with all streaming video, the quality of the source and available bandwidth are really your limiters. Older Roku's didn't all support HD video either, but all the models they are currently selling do. Basically differences are wireless support, and dual band wireless support as you move up the quality levels. There are some other feature differences, but even the most expensive unit is $99.

If you're looking for a unit specifically for streaming, I think it's a solid deal. Works great with Netflix too.

12/15/2010 5:03:45 PM

Blu ray player, and for the love of god get them a hard wire because wireless netflix sucks...or at least when I installed it in most people's homes, except with roku...that was sorta cool..but wired or the powerline things are a great tool.

they can get discs and stream!

12/16/2010 12:08:43 AM

Just for a vote: I already have a BluRay player and I'm not ready to shell out for a PS3 quite yet, so I went with the Roku XD. Coming from a WDTV (several versions/firmwares) it's quite a solid box. All my home movie stuff is backed up in 720p, but they have a more expensive model that does 1080p. Streaming seems to be adaptive in quality - as your bandwidth fluctuates so too does the quality; but that is purely my best guess.

12/16/2010 12:13:26 AM

Get them a Roku. Seriously.

12/16/2010 12:14:46 AM

rockin a Roku XD off a Slickdeal from a couple of weeks ago, love it so far. i usually leave it hooked up to my bedroom TV and run everything wirelessly. it's a solid Netflix streamer, and have had next to zero problems loading / playing videos. my router is in the next room, and i almost always get 4-bar / HD streams. one of my favorite parts about it is how small and out-of-the-way it is. even the power light is very, very dim so it doesn't bug me like other boxes.

FWIW

12/16/2010 12:14:46 AM

If they have other Apple devices (which you already said they don't) get the Apple TV.
If they care anything at all about streaming local networked media (which they probably don't even know what that is) get a WDTV Live Plus.
IF they hate money, get a Google TV.
Otherwise, get the Roku.

12/16/2010 1:10:10 AM

Holy shit. Roku is awesome as hell.

12/16/2010 5:35:39 AM

got my rents a roku for xmas. cant comment yet on functionality but they get good reviews. googleTV may bet better but 300 dollar bucks is mucho denero

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 6:56 AM. Reason : z]

12/16/2010 6:54:46 AM

Quote :

"Oh sorry, I should include they do have a basic bluray player. But it does not have netflix built in."

i'd still get 'em a new one with builtin netflix, and sell the current one. it's worth it to not deal with the pain in the ass of having yet another device to deal with. Especially when we're talking about parents.

12/16/2010 8:42:34 AM

^That. Parents don't like multiple remotes, and most don't like dealing with a Harmony remote (even though it is an outstanding solution).

12/16/2010 9:13:02 AM

roku is great for netflix. Pandora is good also. once you get out of the mainstream 'channels' though, quality can drop off significantly. If you are looking for only netflix quality, roku is fine. If you want to get a roku for all of it's other supposed content, you'll probably be disappointed.

and not sure if anyone else has noticed, but it seems that roku is perpetually on sale or has free shipping lately. I think they are trying to maintain market share with the new big players entering the market.

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 9:15 AM. Reason : .]

12/16/2010 9:15:07 AM

ordered a roku box through amazon for $20 off retail

12/16/2010 9:44:08 AM

i got a Zotac Z-BOX a month ago and have it running win7...

installed an HD decoder mini-pcie chip on the mainboard and netflix HD is blissfully smooth now.

for anyone going the nettop route, i'd recommend getting the latest ION/Atom out there, and HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting an HD decoder card on your mobo.

Here's what I bought, def on the pricey side, but very slick: http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-Intel-Blu-ray-Mini-PC-ZBOXHD-ID34BR/dp/B0044DE7XK/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

12/16/2010 9:49:36 AM

^link to the PCI-E card?

i decided if i ever go back to a HTPC, i'd consider something like this (^or the Zotac, but Hulu was terrible on Atom/ION for me):
http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=Core%20100HT-BD

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 12:30 PM. Reason : .]

12/16/2010 12:29:51 PM

keep in mind NetFlix doesn't use Flash, it uses MS Silverlight... and I don't know what Hulu uses.

So the Flash 10.1 acceleration advantages are wasted on NetFlix on the ION.

If you buy the Zotac ZBOX above, or just about any other NetTop HTPC, I strongly recommend purchasing this card:

http://www.logicsupply.com/products/bcm970015

It's the newest chipset from broadcom...

I had choppy/shitty NetFlix HD streaming before on the ZBOX above, now it streams NetFlix HD without issues.

Hope this helps!

12/17/2010 2:48:42 PM

^dang man; we're up to $550 for arguably what a roku can do for $99.

And you'd still need a wireless keyboard to make the best of it.

Definitely a complete, and elegant solution. But also waaaaaaaaay out of my price range for something I use like 90 minutes/day.

12/18/2010 12:03:09 AM

so a few things:
1) blu-ray
2) i kind of like being able to browse around if i want and use a fully-functioning PC. there are just more things you can do with win7 than roku.
3) MOUSE + KB ... i don't think i'd like having a remote and slowly typing in what i want letter by letter.

but all in all, i def think i overspent for what i got... so you have a point there i splurged on this one.

12/20/2010 12:05:52 PM

^^roku i got from amazon was $20 off...paid $59.99 for it.

12/20/2010 3:54:10 PM

Quote :

"keep in mind NetFlix doesn't use Flash, it uses MS Silverlight... and I don't know what Hulu uses."

Hulu uses Flash. Even Flash 10.1 was terrible. You're talking to someone who's had a HTPC since 2003.

Quote :

"So the Flash 10.1 acceleration advantages are wasted on NetFlix on the ION."

Never had an issue with Netflix on the ION, because it uses Silverlight.

Quote :

"If you buy the Zotac ZBOX above, or just about any other NetTop HTPC, I strongly recommend purchasing this card:"

Again, my point about going Core 100 is that it has HD decoding BUILT-IN, no need for a separate PCI-E card.

My $100 Blu-ray player does:
a) Blu-ray
b) Netflix
c) Hulu Plus
d) Pandora
e) YouTube
f) DLNA streaming (stream from PlayOn, Windows 7 or WHS)
g) USB drive support
h) Dolby TrueHD & dts-HD
i) Wireless or Wired network

Aside from internet browsing, I'm not quite sure what advantage a $500 HTPC has anymore. That's why I sold mine.

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 4:33 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2010 4:24:08 PM

Quote :

" i decided if i ever go back to a HTPC, i'd consider something like this (^or the Zotac, but Hulu was terrible on Atom/ION for me): http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=Core%20100HT-BD "

I just got a 50' long HDMI cable, then ran the cable from the computer in the bedroom to my living room TV. I had to upgrade my videocard anyhow, so I got one with a HDMI out, and set HDMI to primary monitor clone. My computer monitor is 1920x1080 native, so a clone of it matches up perfectly to the TV. I already had a wireless keyboard and a mouse, and since the rooms are separated by only 1 wall, the signal works fine. So now i get netflix, bluray, PC games etc in the living room. I am trying to figure out a way to get my IR windows remote to work from the living room. Not sure if i get an IR extender or if I'll just buy a windows remote app on my iphone so I could control WMC and iTunes without the keyboard/mouse.

^ which model did you get and how is the youtube/hulu interface? Thinking about getting one of 'um for my mom.

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 4:37 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2010 4:34:18 PM

Sony BDP-S370, love it. Netflix & Hulu interface are great, with Netflix the interface is just instant queue only though, just FYI, but quality and playback are fine. It also has an Android/iPhone app

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 4:50 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2010 4:49:47 PM

Got the best Roku box for $40 and free shipping from Amazon this week via slickdeals and the amazon card. Should be great for the free 32" TV we just got in the exercise/gym room

[Edited on December 21, 2010 at 1:47 PM. Reason : .]

12/21/2010 1:32:44 PM

I asked my gf to buy me a Roku for Christmas. Just got it last night and I'm going to mount it and my 32" flatscreen on my bedroom wall tonight. Update on quality to come...

12/21/2010 2:39:36 PM

Definitely let me know. I'm not as worried since ours is going in the exercise room and the PS3 is already covering the main TV (and the quality on that stream is great) but I'm still curious as to the quality with the Roku streaming.

I'm still curious about this post from earlier someone made too:

Quote :

"Blu ray player, and for the love of god get them a hard wire because wireless netflix sucks"

We use the PS3 regularly to stream wireless and I've also used a wii to stream wireless now quite a bit and I have absolutely 0 complaints. High quality and negligible initial load times. What was the gripe you had?

12/21/2010 2:51:36 PM

I'll definitely update after i've tested.

And I, too, have streamed netflix wirelessly to my xbox 360...looked fine to me.

Also stream netflix over 3G to my iPad and it looks awesome!

12/21/2010 3:20:10 PM

I've never had problems with wireless Netflix, and I even have one of the crappiest bargain basement routers you can buy

12/21/2010 3:25:30 PM

You can get the google TV box addon nowadays, can't you?

12/21/2010 3:31:49 PM

Just set up the Roku Box my parents are getting for christmas today. As far as quality goes I think its fine, the box is nice and the remote is pretty solid.

Software wise you can tell this isn't the most robust interface in the world but I think its set up for the intended audience, same with the remote, there's only 8 buttons or so.

My thoughts are that this is not for power users but great to set up for parents or inexperience people who are never gonna touch any of the settings etc since its dead simple.

12/21/2010 7:36:39 PM

Roku XDS for $80 @ Amazon, http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/43909

12/21/2010 7:58:58 PM

I got my parents a Roku last christmas and they love it. Nice and simple.

12/21/2010 9:11:19 PM

So, I installed my flatscreen in my bedroom today and wired up an electrical outlet behind it to hide all wires.

Installed my Roku HD (this thing is TINY) to the back of the flatscreen with velcro. It fit perfectly between the two rails for the wall-mount.

Fired it up and was streaming Netflix to my TV about 4 minutes later. Looks great to me...and I'm using it wirelesssly....not hard-wired at the moment.

As far as loading/lag goes, once I selected a show on Netflix, it takes about 13 seconds for the show to buffer and begin playing. That's honestly no slower than Netflix on my htpc that is wired to my router.

12/22/2010 1:10:13 AM

12/22/2010 11:36:43 PM

I have a Roku XDS, and have been very pleased with the video quality on the HD Netflix streams. If you don't keep your cable, and just rely on internet, then a HTPC is going to be a better option.

1/3/2011 11:41:19 PM

If they have a computer hooked up to the TV so that they could watch it, they could just download boxee... it's free

1/4/2011 12:12:12 AM

We picked up the new Apple TV last week and love it. Netflix looks great and with Home Sharing we can watch and listen to everything in both our iTunes libraries. Internet radio is nice but there are so many stations it would take a while to find what is worth listening to.

My hope / thought is it that they roll out an App store for it to allow access to additional content and features. Right now if you don't have a lot in iTunes or don't plan on spending a lot to buy / rent their content, it probably isn't the best solution. The Netflix interface is really nice, I've found some cool stuff I never saw using their site because it is so easy and intuitive to navigate on the Apple TV. Another limitation is connectivity, if you don't have free HDMI and optical audio ports on our TV / receiver you are out of luck since that is the only way you can connect it.

1/4/2011 10:30:19 PM