sam9s
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Hi Friends, welcome to another review from sam9s, this time its my Roku 3 Box. Its been more then a week, that I have been using the box and I think I have played around with it enough so as to write a small review for my fellow members on Hifi.
Introduction ::::
To begin with let me first make one thing clear, Roku series of boxes or players are not the usual Media Players like Xtremer, or HDLink or HiMedia .... they are basically streamers, to offer online content as explicitly as it can to be streamed to your display device. They can act as a very basic media player to play content off from your HDD or NAS, but the functionality and number of formats it supports is limited.
As an online content streaming box Roku excels in all department, I must say, provided you do have a decent net connection. An 8mbps 100GB FUP, is the least I would suggest to enjoy something like Roku.
To begin with let me tell you that Roku 3 streams Netflix and Youtube like no other box does. I have used Xtreamer, WD TV Live, Asus O Play and AC Ryan Play on HD and I can confidently say none gave as smooth experience streaming you tube as did Roku. I tried Netflix on WD TV Live with an 8mbps connection and it used to take quite some time before it used to reach 1080p res, and then also it used to shuffle quite often between 1080p and 720p.
With roku 3, it takes seconds to reach 1080p and it stays there....
Other important channels like Amazon Prime Video and HULU and VUDU are all there listed on the first page itself when you switch on the device for the first time.
Coming to channels, the list is like never ending, atleat 1500 official channels and truck load of Private channels are there for you to enjoy. Ofcouse with such a huge market, what is decent enough is something you have to spend time, search and try.
I was able to find quite a few free channels that provided some rare english and bollywood movies for free. Few off them are ...
1. Watch Free Flix
2. popcorn flix
3. Crackle
4. Viewster
5. SnagFILMS
I must say that most of the movies from these channels are B grade or old classics BUT still there are movies you can find which are pretty good, like I found a rare movie from Romania called "Elevator" based on true incident that happened in London 2002, where two teens get stuck in an elevator. A gem movie I must say.
Apart from this we have dedicated channels like one for Charlie Chaplin. Just select the channel and a chaplin short movies is playing. Another one I liked was the loony toon channel where all you get is loony toon cartoons.
Then there are Tech channels that steam content from all digital world like TechSmart, Digital Trends etc.
We have loads of cooking channels, like one called Indian Recipes I have installed for my wife ...
Basically there is huge truck load of entertainment floating out there on Roku making sure you would not get board from the the box any time soon...
Social Media ......
The Roku does have its share of extras, such as games, social media and other options. Its games selection is limited and its Facebook implementation is ok at the best, but most users aren't buying Roku box for those features, and they do no harm, especially given the panoply of entertainment it provides. In terms of pure video content delivery, it's the most flexible streaming box going at the moment.
HARDWARE::::
To begin with the size is something you have to see it to believe, its so small, tiny is the word I should use. The dimensions are not bigger than you palm. The box packs an HDMI (obviously), Ethernet, a micro SD card and a USB port. The wifi is good with 802.11 a,b,g, and n support.
The best part is Roku's Remote. It stylish and provides just enough buttons to control every aspect of the box. The feature I love most is an Audio Jack that is provided on the remote itself and a volume control on the side. I connect my iHOME portable spks with it and it works perfectly for those night movies/TV shows I watch when family is asleep.
Remote also feature 4 dedicated buttons for Netflix, Amazon Prime, HULU and rdio to access the channels directly.
Finally The remote uses WiFi Direct to connect with the box, so you don't need to point it and the box can be stashed out of sight without any issues
SETUP :::
For US users setup is a breeze, they just have to create an account, plug roku and switch it on, access the network, provide the CC information and you are good to go browsing channels.
For Indian public (or public out side of US for that matter), things are different and a bit complicated. For Netflix and most US channels I presume most of you people must know that we need to have a DNS or VPN service running and an account on Netflix (or another channel) obviously.
But the tricky part is Roku has hard coded the DNS to Google DNS and so we can not use the custom DNS (like UNblock US or SmartDNS proxy) just like that. We cannot change the hardcoaded DNS as well. So whats the solution .... well i would not go in to the details, but will surely point you all in the direction and then who so ever is interested can google.
1. Create a DNS account like on smartdnproxy or UNblock us and set you router to use their DNS.
2. Create Roku account online (with DNS running) (DO NOT plugin or start Roku unless you have created a valid Roku account)
3. Ok While creating the account roku asks for Credit card information, This can be skipped if you create the account using the below link ....
https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc
This will give you a skip button when you reach at the stage where you have to put the CC information.
4. Once the account is created close the browser.
5. Bypass Roku's hardcoaded DNS. For this check out the below article ..
Smart DNS Proxy | Static IP Routing for Router / Modem
6. NOW plug in your roku and switch it on. Link it with your account you created in above steps.
7. If all goes well you should see all US channels and should be able to access Netflix.
EXTRAS ::::
Well roku does offer few games and Facebook integration, but the feature that I liked most was the screen Mirroring. That is if your phone supports it. Almost all high end phones should have the feature. Like mine HTC One has "Media Out" under setting, when enabled it searches and lists my Roku 3 device. All I need to do it select and it connects and my phone screen is mirrored on my TV. The transition is smooth and I did not get any breakups, so yes the feature was working as it should.
Rest is taken care of by Roku Android Remote. It also has a "Play on Roku" feature that can be used to play any media content on your phone directly to your TV via Roku.
Last but not the least. there is Google Cast chrome extension that can be used to stream you tube videos from you PC to TV via Roku.
Conclusion :::
Simply the best streaming box out there (in comparison to Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV). The navigation is smooth, no lag what so ever, UI is polished and easy to navigate, and best of all, streaming is butter smooth.
Worth a product....
Comments and Queries are welcome ..
Introduction ::::
To begin with let me first make one thing clear, Roku series of boxes or players are not the usual Media Players like Xtremer, or HDLink or HiMedia .... they are basically streamers, to offer online content as explicitly as it can to be streamed to your display device. They can act as a very basic media player to play content off from your HDD or NAS, but the functionality and number of formats it supports is limited.
As an online content streaming box Roku excels in all department, I must say, provided you do have a decent net connection. An 8mbps 100GB FUP, is the least I would suggest to enjoy something like Roku.
To begin with let me tell you that Roku 3 streams Netflix and Youtube like no other box does. I have used Xtreamer, WD TV Live, Asus O Play and AC Ryan Play on HD and I can confidently say none gave as smooth experience streaming you tube as did Roku. I tried Netflix on WD TV Live with an 8mbps connection and it used to take quite some time before it used to reach 1080p res, and then also it used to shuffle quite often between 1080p and 720p.
With roku 3, it takes seconds to reach 1080p and it stays there....
Other important channels like Amazon Prime Video and HULU and VUDU are all there listed on the first page itself when you switch on the device for the first time.
Coming to channels, the list is like never ending, atleat 1500 official channels and truck load of Private channels are there for you to enjoy. Ofcouse with such a huge market, what is decent enough is something you have to spend time, search and try.
I was able to find quite a few free channels that provided some rare english and bollywood movies for free. Few off them are ...
1. Watch Free Flix
2. popcorn flix
3. Crackle
4. Viewster
5. SnagFILMS
I must say that most of the movies from these channels are B grade or old classics BUT still there are movies you can find which are pretty good, like I found a rare movie from Romania called "Elevator" based on true incident that happened in London 2002, where two teens get stuck in an elevator. A gem movie I must say.
Apart from this we have dedicated channels like one for Charlie Chaplin. Just select the channel and a chaplin short movies is playing. Another one I liked was the loony toon channel where all you get is loony toon cartoons.
Then there are Tech channels that steam content from all digital world like TechSmart, Digital Trends etc.
We have loads of cooking channels, like one called Indian Recipes I have installed for my wife ...
Basically there is huge truck load of entertainment floating out there on Roku making sure you would not get board from the the box any time soon...
Social Media ......
The Roku does have its share of extras, such as games, social media and other options. Its games selection is limited and its Facebook implementation is ok at the best, but most users aren't buying Roku box for those features, and they do no harm, especially given the panoply of entertainment it provides. In terms of pure video content delivery, it's the most flexible streaming box going at the moment.
HARDWARE::::
To begin with the size is something you have to see it to believe, its so small, tiny is the word I should use. The dimensions are not bigger than you palm. The box packs an HDMI (obviously), Ethernet, a micro SD card and a USB port. The wifi is good with 802.11 a,b,g, and n support.
The best part is Roku's Remote. It stylish and provides just enough buttons to control every aspect of the box. The feature I love most is an Audio Jack that is provided on the remote itself and a volume control on the side. I connect my iHOME portable spks with it and it works perfectly for those night movies/TV shows I watch when family is asleep.
Remote also feature 4 dedicated buttons for Netflix, Amazon Prime, HULU and rdio to access the channels directly.
Finally The remote uses WiFi Direct to connect with the box, so you don't need to point it and the box can be stashed out of sight without any issues
SETUP :::
For US users setup is a breeze, they just have to create an account, plug roku and switch it on, access the network, provide the CC information and you are good to go browsing channels.
For Indian public (or public out side of US for that matter), things are different and a bit complicated. For Netflix and most US channels I presume most of you people must know that we need to have a DNS or VPN service running and an account on Netflix (or another channel) obviously.
But the tricky part is Roku has hard coded the DNS to Google DNS and so we can not use the custom DNS (like UNblock US or SmartDNS proxy) just like that. We cannot change the hardcoaded DNS as well. So whats the solution .... well i would not go in to the details, but will surely point you all in the direction and then who so ever is interested can google.
1. Create a DNS account like on smartdnproxy or UNblock us and set you router to use their DNS.
2. Create Roku account online (with DNS running) (DO NOT plugin or start Roku unless you have created a valid Roku account)
3. Ok While creating the account roku asks for Credit card information, This can be skipped if you create the account using the below link ....
https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc
This will give you a skip button when you reach at the stage where you have to put the CC information.
4. Once the account is created close the browser.
5. Bypass Roku's hardcoaded DNS. For this check out the below article ..
Smart DNS Proxy | Static IP Routing for Router / Modem
6. NOW plug in your roku and switch it on. Link it with your account you created in above steps.
7. If all goes well you should see all US channels and should be able to access Netflix.
EXTRAS ::::
Well roku does offer few games and Facebook integration, but the feature that I liked most was the screen Mirroring. That is if your phone supports it. Almost all high end phones should have the feature. Like mine HTC One has "Media Out" under setting, when enabled it searches and lists my Roku 3 device. All I need to do it select and it connects and my phone screen is mirrored on my TV. The transition is smooth and I did not get any breakups, so yes the feature was working as it should.
Rest is taken care of by Roku Android Remote. It also has a "Play on Roku" feature that can be used to play any media content on your phone directly to your TV via Roku.
Last but not the least. there is Google Cast chrome extension that can be used to stream you tube videos from you PC to TV via Roku.
Conclusion :::
Simply the best streaming box out there (in comparison to Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV). The navigation is smooth, no lag what so ever, UI is polished and easy to navigate, and best of all, streaming is butter smooth.
Worth a product....
Comments and Queries are welcome ..
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