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What were you saying about HEVC being too expensive to be available in less-expensive devices?

$40 for a 4k HDR h.265 Roku is pretty much mainstream. Which means aV1is dead-in-the-water.

AV1 hardware acceleration will be TWO YEARS behind the $40 Roku, and you can be sure that it will cost OVER $100 o release (like the first 4k Roku).

HEVC enjoyed early adoption beause of early phone spec war. My Galaxy S4 had HEVC playback built in,

HEVC encode support was added to devices after the S4 a Apple, because video storage space is limited on a cellphone. The TVs have actually been slow to adopt HEVC compared to the rest of the industry, but 4k TVs with HEVC haw been around fo five years now, an 4k BluRay is almost two years old. Both are standard devices that don't support AV1.

The other upcoming standard hat will also kill AV1 is ATSC 3.0.

https://www.atsc.org/newslette...

No, Google isn't the problem here. Amazon is trying to keep their content off of everyone else's platforms, while retaining everyone else's content.

Total fucking bullshit. You can watch Amazon content on all the most popular platforms.

Google just wants to spy on you, they're generally very happy to do so in an accommodating cross-platform way.

So why are they blocking the Youtube app on Prime? Which, by the way, runs Android! This is not only an attack on Amazon, and on users, but also on Android, which they control! The daft bastards are attacking their own reflection!

Amazon wants to spy on you and be a monopolistic walled garden.

Google has a web store where they sell Android devices. In that web store, they only sell Google-branded devices. It is completely discriminatory. It promotes their Android devices over all the other Android devices, because it is the only official web store from the owners of Android. This argument is literally over Amazon not being willing to carry Google-branded Android devices in their store. Google has enshrined their Android products over everyone else's by creating that web store, and now they want Amazon to help them defeat Amazon's own Android-based products by putting them in their store as well. And since they refuse to carry them, which is reasonable because of Google's undue influence over Android (Operating Systems must belong to the users, in effect, not used to bludgeon them) then Google sees fit to punish them by restricting access to content which the internet depends upon.

Google controlling the operating system and the content is exactly like ISPs who are also content providers controlling the internet connection and the content. They control both the content, and the means by which you consume the content, and they are attempting to force you to consume their content first. Every Google-branded Android device is a means of shoving a Youtube app in the user's face whether they go looking for it, or not. But you have long been able to install a Youtube app on your Fire TV device, which is why Amazon is not acting anticompetitively here. Google is. They are leveraging their OS monopoly to force Amazon to do their will, exactly like the Microsoft of old.

That anyone can root for Google here shows how brainwashed people are, due to their overbearing influence on the market. That Slashdotters will do it just makes me sad.

You don't need a credit card, but I do believe the Roku account is required. To register without a credit card, use the following URL: https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc

Roku does not charge monthly fees like a cable company.

Actually, they do:

7. When creating a new Roku account, you will be required to provide a payment method. The payment method allows you to purchase subscriptions to popular channels, rent or buy movies and TV shows, or make other purchases from the Roku Channel Store.

The real difference between Roku and a cable company is that Roku doesn't own the cable or fiber line to your home.

You should learn to read your own quotes. Your payment method allows you to purchase extra stuff. Or not.

And the fact that it doesn't own the line to your house is just another reason why Roku is nothing like a cable company.

Roku does not charge monthly fees like a cable company.

Actually, they do:

7. When creating a new Roku account, you will be required to provide a payment method. The payment method allows you to purchase subscriptions to popular channels, rent or buy movies and TV shows, or make other purchases from the Roku Channel Store.

The real difference between Roku and a cable company is that Roku doesn't own the cable or fiber line to your home.

Yep. A cheap Roku TV (<$150) and a 16G USB stick, and you can pause OTA TV for up to 90 minutes. Start your show, pause it, go off and do other things for 30 minutes, then come back and FF through the commercials.

HEVC is out now

VP9 is out now and has broader use than HEVC.

as well as software players like Microsoft and Apple

Microsoft supports VP9 in Edge.

VP9 has virtually zero mindshare outside the Googleplex

Netflix uses VP9. Wikipedia uses VP9. And, of course, even though it's inside the Googleplex it's difficult to ignore that YouTube uses VP9. YouTube no longer offers 4K video to Safari by default due to Safari's lack of VP9 support.

set top boxes, etc. that support VP9

Roku has VP9 support, Chromecast Ultra has VP9 support, Android phones have VP9 support, etc, etc.

AV1, on the other hand, looks very compelling... it actually has broad industry support, from big players like Microsoft, Cisco, Netflix, Google, all the way down to silicon makers like Broadcom, Xilinx, RealTek, ARM, AMD, and NVIDIA.

Right. Just like VP9. When will Apple add VP9 support?

It's disingenuous to complain that Apple isn't going to include AV1 when it isn't - and won't be - ready before High Sierra.

Show me where I complained that AV1 won't be in High Sierra. Quote me. Maybe re-read what I wrote.

In the meantime, let's acknowledge that Apple hasn't joined the Alliance for Open Media. When will Apple join?

I had the same problem. I ended up getting a Roku. CBS, ABC, and BBC have pretty good free global news channels. And there's a channel called NewsON which gives you access to local news feeds. (The app used to be really flaky and crashed a lot, which is why its rating on Roku isn't very high. But an update this summer greatly improved reliability and usability.)

And I would get a Roku 2 instead of a Roku 3. The button layout on the 3 remote is brain-dead. The select (OK) button is below the navigation buttons, instead of in the center. And the voice search button is right next to select. If you accidentally hit voice search instead of OK, when you cancel it it dumps you back to the home screen and you have to start your navigation all over again. And this annoying voice search button has replaced the extraordinarily useful instant replay button entirely (to replay the last few seconds you just missed). The two Roku boxes themselves are identical - I paired the Roku 3 remote to my Roku 2 before returning the 3, and all the Roku 3-exclusive functions still worked.

If you really want voice search, you can get the Roku app on your phone - it has voice search, the search and navigation doesn't interrupt what the Roku is currently playing, and it will automatically control your Roku when you've picked a selection. The main thing you lose is the RF control on the Roku 3 remote (don't need to point it at the Roku box). The Roku 2's remote is IR, and not very good IR. It's the only remote I have which doesn't work when bounced off walls. I ended up getting a Logitech Harmony Companion. It's also a RF remote and controls the Roku over wifi. And since I run my A/V through a receiver, it's handy for turning on/off both my TV and receiver at the same time. It's expensive though - more than the Roku. The RF control is well worth it IMHO, but be aware that it means you can't just drop the remote on the sofa. If you accidentally sit or roll onto it, the buttons still work even though there's no line of sight. You have to be careful to place the remote on the armrest or table.

I had the same problem. I ended up getting a Roku. CBS, ABC, and BBC have pretty good free global news channels. And there's a channel called NewsON which gives you access to local news feeds. (The app used to be really flaky and crashed a lot, which is why its rating on Roku isn't very high. But an update this summer greatly improved reliability and usability.)

And I would get a Roku 2 instead of a Roku 3. The button layout on the 3 remote is brain-dead. The select (OK) button is below the navigation buttons, instead of in the center. And the voice search button is right next to select. If you accidentally hit voice search instead of OK, when you cancel it it dumps you back to the home screen and you have to start your navigation all over again. And this annoying voice search button has replaced the extraordinarily useful instant replay button entirely (to replay the last few seconds you just missed). The two Roku boxes themselves are identical - I paired the Roku 3 remote to my Roku 2 before returning the 3, and all the Roku 3-exclusive functions still worked.

If you really want voice search, you can get the Roku app on your phone - it has voice search, the search and navigation doesn't interrupt what the Roku is currently playing, and it will automatically control your Roku when you've picked a selection. The main thing you lose is the RF control on the Roku 3 remote (don't need to point it at the Roku box). The Roku 2's remote is IR, and not very good IR. It's the only remote I have which doesn't work when bounced off walls. I ended up getting a Logitech Harmony Companion. It's also a RF remote and controls the Roku over wifi. And since I run my A/V through a receiver, it's handy for turning on/off both my TV and receiver at the same time. It's expensive though - more than the Roku. The RF control is well worth it IMHO, but be aware that it means you can't just drop the remote on the sofa. If you accidentally sit or roll onto it, the buttons still work even though there's no line of sight. You have to be careful to place the remote on the armrest or table.

Definitely see my recommendation for Roku in my other post, then. I was a one-device guy before Roku. Great UI, even if Netflix subverts it a bit too much. https://www.roku.com/how-it-wo...

On the contrary, Roku TVs are apparently a thing that nobody but me has heard of, and have - so far - none of the issues that LG and especially Samsung TVs have.

You mean a Roku like this?

Sorry, I wrote that for a comment on a thing a few posts higher, but for people who hate smart TVs and love Rokus, well... there's actually a good solution, and you may find you don't hate smart TVs as much any more. Primarily, because their software stack's been hammered on for years, and secondarily, by not overpromising and underdelivering. The software is more responsive than my old Roku, and when they EOL this thing and the software updates stop flowing, I'm no worse off than when I had a dumb TV - I'll plug in the latest Streaming Stick or Fire Stick or whatever, and hope that it supports HDMI CEC so I can one-remote the whole show again. I mean the stick supports it, since the TV sure does.

Seriously, why do people buy software solutions from Samsung? It's like their record with Android updates isn't pervasive yet, or people hold out hope...

Seriously, why? That's not a rhetorical question, or ragging on you. I actually want to know the answer, so I can better handle family members who don't have the vocabulary to discuss electronics purchases.

x_x

You mean a Roku like this? I have one, and it rocks. It rocks the socks off my old Roku. And the new ones have all the "enhanced remote" shit that I shrugged and figured I wouldn't miss when I picked out my cheapest-1080p-tv-on-the-market (really good sale) but kind of do. Still, the old Insignia Roku TVs hit way above their weight class.

Not a shill, just a happy customer.

You mean a Roku like this?

A SmartTV with built-in Roku would be great.

I hate this fucking conversation. I have one of these on my desk.

The new TCL UP130 series have all the niceties of the Roku 4 remote - voice search across ALL OF THE CHANNELS, remote finder, and a headphone jack. Mine’s the old Insignia 32” model, which was cheaper than dumb TVs of crappier spec; the cheapest small 1080p screen in sizes where others only make 720p sets.

It’s here, it doesn’t suck, and it works better than my old Roku.

https://channelstore.roku.com/...

Roku has been offering sports through its platform for a few years now.
https://channelstore.roku.com/...
I don't think avid TV people do too much serious research about cutting the cable cord unless they really have to. FYI, I've been cable-free (internet only) for 10+ years now, and have noticed the validity of arguments against cutting the cord rapidly diminishing. When I see commericals for Xfinity X1, I actually feel the same way about that as I do about the commericials for "free tv" that are really just selling TV antennae-- disingenuous overselling of underwhelming products. My regular antenna works just fine. ;)

With Roku there is a link you can use to skip the credit card portion of set up. https://my.roku.com/signup/noc...

enjoy

I run a very simple (tomcat hosted) jsp based web page which reads my disk structure and renders a hideous html page which allows you to: 1) Play the movie in the browser (for the kids' iPads mostly, or 2) send a REST call to the Roku to play it on the roku (using a custom "channel" I wrote, which consists of about 5 lines of Roku's proprietary Brightscript.

The Roku channel I wrote can also parse an xml file that my hideous jsp can generate, which will build picture based menus on-screen on the roku. This was so my 4 year-old could find and play whatever the hell they wanted to play. My one design requirement "4 year old can use it"

For the grown-ups, we just have an amazon fire stick (17 dollars on sale) plugged in to the TV. Side-loaded XBMC (now Kodi or something) and pointed it to the same network fileshare that the tomcat server serves up.

My setup is a patchwork, but it works on Android, FireTV, Roku, iPad, and desktop, and it was free, and I have made barely any changes to it beyond adding content for the past 2 years. The biggest downside to all of it is when less techie people come over they always ask "can you set this up at my house?" and my answer is "um, uh, not really." If it were more portable and "standard" it would be better... but it works for me and my family.

40" TCL 1080p 60hz dumb tv (got it for $250 on sale).

Roku 3 ($99)(1st version, no voice search)

Philips 2.1 sound bar w/ virtual surround. $80

I have a fairly small living room and this setup does the trick.
Certain videos and shows (mainly youtube stuff) have a strange "laptop speakers" effect through the sound bar unless I disable the virtual surround. It must have something to do with the way the soundbar encodes the audio into separate channels?
I also have an old dvd player that I use once in a blue moon for library rentals
On occasion I will move my PC across the living room to the tv and do some couch gaming when the wife isn't around. She always lets out a distinct *sigh* whenever I make a move to my computer desk, as she knows once I've started the machine there will be no netflix&chill for the remainder of the evening.

the Apple TV will have an App Store. [...] You don't get that with a Roku.

Roku apps are called channels. There are plenty of them, some unlisted (so that they don't show up in the channel store if they don't have to), and there's no $99 per year fee to develop your own channel.

You don't have to make a deal with Roku to be in their platform, just write an app.

First of all, do you know Brightscript? I don't know many people that do...

Now compare that with the number of people who know the iOS SDK.

Also on Roku you are just making a "Channel", not an app. You don't have much in the way of a controller. You don't have any integration with media (iOS apps can be built to read and do things with all iTunes media). The Roku SDK is very content-presentation centric, instead of being an app with the full breadth of capability we've come to expect from mobile apps.

I like the Roku box but to say it has "apps" in the same sense as HOPEFULLY the AppleTV does (we still do not know for sure if the AppleTV has apps this time, it's been expected for years now) is to ignore all practical factors at work. I had looked before at platforms to build apps for TV but all of them were really limited compared to mobile app SDK's.

As for being tracked, it is sad, but there are no (legal) options for watching on-demand programming without be tracked. Let's check out Roku's (so-called) Privacy Policy, shall we? "Cookies enable Roku and others to track usage patterns and deliver customized content, marketing, and advertising to you.... We may use information collected using third party cookies and Web beacons on Roku Sites and in our emails to deliver Roku advertising displayed to you on third party sites..." etc etc. Read the rest of it and tell me if you think it limits them in any significant way at all?

(Unless you call timeshifting broadcast TV "on demand").

Can I Sream.It is a must-have smartphone app (or website). Anyone who makes one of these streaming boxes should just license a version that searches the catalogs of whatever services you've installed on the box. That alone would make all of these boxes tremendously more useful - it's really the missing key to this puzzle. That and more content, although a lot of progress has been made on this front - compare with Netflix's initial pitiful streaming selections.

I know Roku supports centralized search for some of their "channels" (apps).

Just bought one of these "Roku Ready" TV's (An Insignia 39" 1080p). The Roku-readiness comes in the form of a sticker on the box, and the back of the TV next to the MHL-compatible HDMI input. You plug in a Roku streaming stick, and use the TV's remote, which includes play/pause/rewind etc. buttons, to drive it.

That's the current model. The ones coming out this fall (from TCL and HiSense) won't require the stick, they'll actually have the Roku software built in.

http://blog.roku.com/blog/2014...

Roku 3

also:
Chromecast

AppleTV

yes

Just started getting into Roku programming in the last month, and I kind of like the ifPosterScreen's "arc-landscape" 1-D metaphor — for small numbers of objects, it's easier to see the selection when it's placed front and center (as a result of your right-left arrowing) than to just put a little highlight box around it like AppleTV does. CoverFlow does nothing for me on iOS or (especially) Mac, but on Roku it seemed to work pretty nicely.

And it's not like this is the only menuing system available on the Roku SDK. Many apps with a large amount of content -- your Netflixes and Crunchyrolls and what have you -- use a 2D grid of horizontally scrolling lists. I think this is the ifGridScreen, but I haven't used it myself yet, so I'm not sure.

Anyways, this didn't seem like something that desperately needed to change, but I assume they know what they're doing. Roku's picking up steam and they're going to be fine. Would be nice if there were a real YouTube app for it, but I suppose we can't have that until Google gives up on the GoogleTV fiasco.

Just started getting into Roku programming in the last month, and I kind of like the ifPosterScreen's "arc-landscape" 1-D metaphor — for small numbers of objects, it's easier to see the selection when it's placed front and center (as a result of your right-left arrowing) than to just put a little highlight box around it like AppleTV does. CoverFlow does nothing for me on iOS or (especially) Mac, but on Roku it seemed to work pretty nicely.

And it's not like this is the only menuing system available on the Roku SDK. Many apps with a large amount of content -- your Netflixes and Crunchyrolls and what have you -- use a 2D grid of horizontally scrolling lists. I think this is the ifGridScreen, but I haven't used it myself yet, so I'm not sure.

Anyways, this didn't seem like something that desperately needed to change, but I assume they know what they're doing. Roku's picking up steam and they're going to be fine. Would be nice if there were a real YouTube app for it, but I suppose we can't have that until Google gives up on the GoogleTV fiasco.

I'm sure both Roku users are happy, but for the rest of us - how about a link to e.g. the project's website next time?
Like this. Roku.com

translation: package your product how i want it or i'll steal it.

Well ... yeah. Not me in particular, of course, but the internet-faring populace at large has demonstrated that companies who do not adapt will simply be circumvented. I'm not saying it's right, but it's fact. Standing on ceremony and crying "It's not fair, it's not fair" has not slowed down piracy one bit

The entertainment industry needs to grow up, learn that life isn't fair, and adapt.

now let's define "how i want it". pretty hard to do in a universal fashion. for a good portion of the population, it means "free". there's a lot more people with more time than money than the other way around.

not to mention, it's getting hard to beat the torrents on ease of use and convenience.

"How I want it" was your question, not mine, and it's a question I've already answered : Netflix. That's a great method for distribution. The interface is simple and effective, setup is easy on almost any game console or most newer TVs (my freaking grandma figured out how to set up Netflix on her Wii) At worst, a dedicated device is $50. http://shop.roku.com/ Is Netflix the 100% perfect solution for everyone? Maybe not, but it's a pretty good starting point. We might be able to find that perfect solution if we could actually let it grow, instead of breaking it's kneecaps.

But it doesn't necessarily have to be Netflix. That's just one company. The studios could start their own businesses: SonyFlix, ParamountFlix, FoxFlix. Maybe with slightly more creative names, but you get the drift. The studios could still keep control over their products, and all revenue would come back directly to them. They might try to mix it up, have a rotating list of movies available instead of a fixed set or establish pricing tiers that allow access to newer content sooner, with cheap $1-3 "rental" fees for the very latest releases. Adapt, work with the systems in place instead of trying to fight them.

Fighting the pirates has proven to fail. They can keep trying the same thing, expecting different results ... but that seems pretty insane to me ;)

I'm not a gamer, but even I saw the potential in this.

I'm a gamer and I don't get how this is any diffrent from a Roku or any other set top box with apps.

Maybe that it can already run a wealth of Android software, but isn't locked down by the telcos? That, and the built-in support for gaming input devices.

However, I hope they signed up some good talent for the flagship games -- that's what Nintendo has always needed to do to shift their hardware.

I'm not a gamer, but even I saw the potential in this.

I'm a gamer and I don't get how this is any diffrent from a Roku

roku uses exact same chip as Rasppi, anemic cpu + strong (but closed) gpu.

I'm not a gamer, but even I saw the potential in this.

I'm a gamer and I don't get how this is any diffrent from a Roku or any other set top box with apps.

15 years ago I hooked my computer up to a 25" TV when Comedy Central wasn't on the local cable lineup and I wanted to watch South Park on a TV. That used a VGA-TV converter. The audio line out went to a stereo. South Park compresses pretty well and played fine full screen on Real Player. Today you can go straight VGA, DVI or HDMI. You can buy a remote for a computer for less than $10 and with XBMC you can use a smartphone or tablet as a remote.

People picture a computer sitting next to the TV but mine sits inside the entertainment system and it's not even seen. If you don't want to mess with a computer at all and you just want to try out streaming on your TV you could always get a Roku. Even when I watch an SD stream I think it looks better than SD on cable. I think cable makes SD look worse than it really is.

I'm not much of a sports fan myself. I'll watch an occasional baseball game or football game on one of the local digital OTA channels* but that's about it.

Anyhow, I've got a couple of Rokus and I've poked around the Channel Store to see what's available. The sports section has major league baseball, the NBA, the NHL, and others. The notes for the MLB channel state that the games it offers live are in HD. Don't know about the others.

So far as I know, the NFL still insists on only allowing access to streaming content through their own website, so that one isn't easily available. To my disappointment, the streaming live Olympics coverage from NBC is only accessible if you've got a cable or satellite TV subscription. Clearly, there are a few sports sources out there that don't quite get it yet. :-) Still, there are opportunities to watch streaming sports out there that look pretty decent.

* Side note: An interesting geek project if you have some patience is to build your own small fractal tv antenna for less than $50. I built a couple based upon the increased fractal layout that the article's author links to in the comments. They work pretty well. I'm pulling in several more channels with those than I could see through my Dish Network subscription.

I'm not much of a sports fan myself. I'll watch an occasional baseball game or football game on one of the local digital OTA channels* but that's about it.

Anyhow, I've got a couple of Rokus and I've poked around the Channel Store to see what's available. The sports section has major league baseball, the NBA, the NHL, and others. The notes for the MLB channel state that the games it offers live are in HD. Don't know about the others.

So far as I know, the NFL still insists on only allowing access to streaming content through their own website, so that one isn't easily available. To my disappointment, the streaming live Olympics coverage from NBC is only accessible if you've got a cable or satellite TV subscription. Clearly, there are a few sports sources out there that don't quite get it yet. :-) Still, there are opportunities to watch streaming sports out there that look pretty decent.

* Side note: An interesting geek project if you have some patience is to build your own small fractal tv antenna for less than $50. I built a couple based upon the increased fractal layout that the article's author links to in the comments. They work pretty well. I'm pulling in several more channels with those than I could see through my Dish Network subscription.

The Raspberry Pi uses the same Broadcom BCM2835 multimedia SoC as the wildly successful Roku 2 media player, which has sold over 4 million units. So much for your "dead out of the box" nonsense.. :-)

But you're missing the entire point of the Raspberry Pi anyway. It's not intended to give you a cheap media player. You can get lost as far as the project goals are concerned. It's intended to provide a cheap computer for education, not to turn kids into media consumers.

Your objections fail completely.

I'm not willing to pay $3 to watch a 27 year old movie. I'm ESPECIALLY not going to do so on top of an $80/year subscription to have the 'privilege' of paying those kinds of ridiculous fees.

Nope, Netflix at $8 or $9 a month is about right for just about everything I want to watch. When I can't find what I want to watch there, Hulu Plus for another $8 a month fills in the holes. (Although I'm finding that my faimly just doesn't care as much about Hulu Plus as I thought they might be.)

Then there's all the free or cheap movie resources of all kinds to fill up your evenings, specialty channels, streaming music, news, private channels created by the community, and more galore!

Forget using your MythTV box for anything other than a basic media center for serving up your ripped DVDs and CDs. Drop your cable TV subscription and get yourself a Roku instead. :-)

I'm not willing to pay $3 to watch a 27 year old movie. I'm ESPECIALLY not going to do so on top of an $80/year subscription to have the 'privilege' of paying those kinds of ridiculous fees.

Nope, Netflix at $8 or $9 a month is about right for just about everything I want to watch. When I can't find what I want to watch there, Hulu Plus for another $8 a month fills in the holes. (Although I'm finding that my faimly just doesn't care as much about Hulu Plus as I thought they might be.)

Then there's all the free or cheap movie resources of all kinds to fill up your evenings, specialty channels, streaming music, news, private channels created by the community, and more galore!

Forget using your MythTV box for anything other than a basic media center for serving up your ripped DVDs and CDs. Drop your cable TV subscription and get yourself a Roku instead. :-)

I'm not willing to pay $3 to watch a 27 year old movie. I'm ESPECIALLY not going to do so on top of an $80/year subscription to have the 'privilege' of paying those kinds of ridiculous fees.

Nope, Netflix at $8 or $9 a month is about right for just about everything I want to watch. When I can't find what I want to watch there, Hulu Plus for another $8 a month fills in the holes. (Although I'm finding that my faimly just doesn't care as much about Hulu Plus as I thought they might be.)

Then there's all the free or cheap movie resources of all kinds to fill up your evenings, specialty channels, streaming music, news, private channels created by the community, and more galore!

Forget using your MythTV box for anything other than a basic media center for serving up your ripped DVDs and CDs. Drop your cable TV subscription and get yourself a Roku instead. :-)

I'm not willing to pay $3 to watch a 27 year old movie. I'm ESPECIALLY not going to do so on top of an $80/year subscription to have the 'privilege' of paying those kinds of ridiculous fees.

Nope, Netflix at $8 or $9 a month is about right for just about everything I want to watch. When I can't find what I want to watch there, Hulu Plus for another $8 a month fills in the holes. (Although I'm finding that my faimly just doesn't care as much about Hulu Plus as I thought they might be.)

Then there's all the free or cheap movie resources of all kinds to fill up your evenings, specialty channels, streaming music, news, private channels created by the community, and more galore!

Forget using your MythTV box for anything other than a basic media center for serving up your ripped DVDs and CDs. Drop your cable TV subscription and get yourself a Roku instead. :-)

I'm not willing to pay $3 to watch a 27 year old movie. I'm ESPECIALLY not going to do so on top of an $80/year subscription to have the 'privilege' of paying those kinds of ridiculous fees.

Nope, Netflix at $8 or $9 a month is about right for just about everything I want to watch. When I can't find what I want to watch there, Hulu Plus for another $8 a month fills in the holes. (Although I'm finding that my faimly just doesn't care as much about Hulu Plus as I thought they might be.)

Then there's all the free or cheap movie resources of all kinds to fill up your evenings, specialty channels, streaming music, news, private channels created by the community, and more galore!

Forget using your MythTV box for anything other than a basic media center for serving up your ripped DVDs and CDs. Drop your cable TV subscription and get yourself a Roku instead. :-)

I'm not willing to pay $3 to watch a 27 year old movie. I'm ESPECIALLY not going to do so on top of an $80/year subscription to have the 'privilege' of paying those kinds of ridiculous fees.

Nope, Netflix at $8 or $9 a month is about right for just about everything I want to watch. When I can't find what I want to watch there, Hulu Plus for another $8 a month fills in the holes. (Although I'm finding that my faimly just doesn't care as much about Hulu Plus as I thought they might be.)

Then there's all the free or cheap movie resources of all kinds to fill up your evenings, specialty channels, streaming music, news, private channels created by the community, and more galore!

Forget using your MythTV box for anything other than a basic media center for serving up your ripped DVDs and CDs. Drop your cable TV subscription and get yourself a Roku instead. :-)

I'm not willing to pay $3 to watch a 27 year old movie. I'm ESPECIALLY not going to do so on top of an $80/year subscription to have the 'privilege' of paying those kinds of ridiculous fees.

Nope, Netflix at $8 or $9 a month is about right for just about everything I want to watch. When I can't find what I want to watch there, Hulu Plus for another $8 a month fills in the holes. (Although I'm finding that my faimly just doesn't care as much about Hulu Plus as I thought they might be.)

Then there's all the free or cheap movie resources of all kinds to fill up your evenings, specialty channels, streaming music, news, private channels created by the community, and more galore!

Forget using your MythTV box for anything other than a basic media center for serving up your ripped DVDs and CDs. Drop your cable TV subscription and get yourself a Roku instead. :-)

I just wanted to jump in here to let you know that I did the same thing you did - purchase the old XDS on ebay after I tried one of the new units (XS, and I already had an XDS). My issue with the new units was different than yours (the netflix ramp up in quality at the beginning of the movie was unacceptable to me).

But anyway, I wanted to let you know that shortly after I bought that on ebay I came to find out that roku were still selling the old units on their accessories page: http://www.roku.com/accessories - the XDS shows out of stock right now, but the XD is available. Probably won't work for you because of connectivity, but it could be useful to someone else.

~1Mbps service...is useless for Netflix...

False. 0.5 Mbps is good enough.

You should have went with a Roku. http://www.roku.com/roku-products The thing started out as a Netflix streaming box. They are priced between $50 and $90 depending on model, They do HD. They support Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora and MOG. It has plenty of outputs for older or newer TVs, and it has a standard TV style remote. It also far lower power than any games system.

The Roku 2 supports subtitles for Netflix. Of course, the titles have to have subtitles in the first place, but that seems to be constantly improving.

http://www.roku.com/roku-products

I own an original Roku, and I was debating buying a Roku 2 for the subtitles. I'm going to wait to see how their streaming library changes down the road. I also own a PS3, which supports subtitles, so if you've got that or an XBox360, maybe that'll work for you.

the new Roku2, released about a month ago, does support english subtitles in the netflix channel.

http://www.roku.com/netflix-partner