Roku anyone?

[katz]

We recently purchased a Roku 1 box and my initial feeling is that it seems pretty cool. Lots of free content if you search around on it awhile. One annoying thing I have noticed, however;

There is a "jittering" or slight jumping when you load a channel screen - the screen that give you maybe 10 or so episodes/clips to choose from. It's kinda hard to explain, but if any of you have a Roku and have seen this, you know what I mean...

I notice that if I let it sit on that screen and "load" for a minute, it will then settle down and stop jumping. My initial thought is that the system is buffering and that is causing this annoying glitch.

Anyone else experience this?

Also, is there an online channel list of all of the free channels? I did a bit of searching and found it to be hit or miss.

I'm also a bit annoyed that some of the "run of the mill" tv shows, etc. charge such outlandish prices...$30 for a season of glee? lol - I think not. Even the kids cartoons are steep. Not sure why the pricing is like this, when you can get much more bang for buck with satellite.

Anyway, that's my initial read on it. For a $29 box, (Newegg special deal) it is a neat toy and the content that is provided is worth that much at least.

Oh yeah, this thing gets hot after using it for awhile!

Roku users out there? Tip/tricks/favorites? Please share!

 

[kwest]

I have 3 roku 3 boxes and have never seen that. I am guessing the roku 1 is slow to process.

 

[phaZed]

Had a Roku and it was pretty slow. It doesn't surprise me that you get "loading jitters".

I moved over to Amazon's FireTV which has "3x the processing power" of Apple TV and the Roku 3 - Fast as glass.

 

[jkurgeek]

I had a Roku 2 and also switched to a FireTV. Big difference in performance. Navigating menus and searching was excruciating at times on the Roku.

 

[acscva]

We have 3 Roku 3's in our house and only noticed this on 1 of them because the wireless signal isn't the best there. Love them and has saved a ton on monthly cable bills!

 

[nlinecomputers]

I have a Roku 3 and never had any issues. Those that do always have slow internet connections or poor wifi.

 

[mraikes]

I've been using two Rokus for 3-4 years now. Haven't had any problem like that with either of them. Of course there's occasional buffering, but I've never experienced anything I'd describe as jittering or jumping - just pausing.

EDIT: And as far as usage, I pretty much stick to Netflix and occasionally Amazon Prime Videos (which I have a habit of forgetting about). Also had a Hulu subscription for a long time but at some point I realized it had been months since I'd last looked at it. So I dropped Hulu. I've never really bothered to explore what is available in the free channels, but probably should.

 

[commodore64]

2 roku 3's running with no issues. Always responsive.

 

[katz]

Maybe this jittery/jumping effect is just something inherent to the Roku 1. The box is only about 4' from the wireless router with an excellent signal. My son's xbox is in the same area (wireless) and he has no issues with it. My shop is further away and I use wireless there with no problems...so I rule out signal.

Guess like anything else, the first generation or lowest unit on the totem pole is more crappy and experiences more issues like this. I did see a few similar posts on the net referring to my issue, but not widespread. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I don't plan on paying for any of the "premium" stuff becasue I really don't enjoy much of the programming these days, TBH.

 

[SpaceSquad]

I have a Roku 1 and a Roku Streaming Stick. No complaints from me. A little slow? Maybe. Get the Roku 3 or FireTV etc then...can't exactly directly compare as they are twice the price of what I have.

Saying that if it was hooked up to my main home theatre (the Roku 1 is in the bedroom, stick in the living room), then I would spring for a 3 or something else. Right now I have an HTPC running Ubuntu, XBMC, Netflix app on my "main" TV.

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

curently use a dedicated HTPC so much easier knowing it will play anything thrown at it.

Having said that now that amazon have decided to release the firetv in the UK i have just ordered one which should arrive on uk launch day at end of october.

 

[Galdorf]

I also have a dedicated htpc Lenovo Q190:

Running xbmc i use to have boxee,roku ect. i gave up mfg only support these things for 2-3 years max before next one and it's limited.
I have yet to find a remote as good it has an optical thumb mouse pad and on handle part a scroll pad the keyboard is also backlit.
This thing sits behind a tv or monitor has a vesa bracket and has a 500g hard drive which can be upgraded.
Once you use xmbc and ontapp.tv it links all network sites in a cable tv type menu that you can stream from the network's website.

 

[TechLady]

I went from a Roku 1 to a Roku 2 to an Amazon FireTV. They all have their pros and cons. The Roku had more choices (especially free ones) and you could plug in a USB with your own media, but yes, they get REALLY hot for some reason. My version 2 was a refurb and was crashing half a dozen times a day. The Amazon FireTV is faster but that USB port in the back is disabled and you can't play your own media, which sucks really bad. So I have to fill in the gap with the Chromecast and this has had mixed results to say the least. I don't regret the Amazon FireTV purchase but I might go back to Roku after next generation.

 

[TechLady]

Double-post, oops

 

[katz]

Our Roku is a refurb too. It is working out pretty well for us. So far, no major glitches, other than that occasional screen jumping thing that I originally posted about. I like the free & private channel offerings. I am thinking that down the road we will move into the xbmc, but this is serving the purpose for now.

 

[zoom1200]

picked up a roku3 last week
with so many people cutting the cord i figured i better test a few solutions

so far I am enjoying it I like the carbon channel for hunting and fishing stuff
i get the mlb package and nhl package and will probably get the nfl package for next season

use netflix and hulu for everything else..