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Review of the Roku HD1000 Media Player
Animaether writes "Digital Producer magazine are running a review of the Roku HD1000 HD media player hardware. Between 'The unit crashed so much while I was testing it, I practically beat a path through the carpet to the unit's location on the shelf...' and 'Roku HD1000 misses by such a wide margin, it isn't worth buying', the review paints a pretty grim picture of this unit, and appears to put part of the blame on its Linux-based OS and software. The Roku HD1000 was previously covered here in December 2003."
Simon.
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Erick
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I doubt the Linux aspect is the problem. Linux is a well weathered, known quantity. I would probably place the blame on the vendor created software running on top of Linux.
appears to put part of the blame on its Linux-based OS and software.
I doubt it is Linux itself but the person(s) who set it up on that box. Probubally didn't really know what they were doing.
Evolution or ID?
A negative review and front-page linkage on /.? Good luck recovering from this one, Roku!
This is my United States of whatever.
There are just too many electronic gadgets on the market that are poorly designed and frustrating to use.
Engineers have a lot of great ideas and can even make them happen but there are a lot of angles they don't see or even think of. Many of the engineers aren't even the target users and don't really understand how something gets used.
This is one place I will give props to the military. They require Quality Assurance and testing by the user before they will sign off on something.
Evolution or ID?
It seems clear from the review that the application stack in the Roku is not ready for prime time, but that is not really the fault of Linux.
Other embedded-Linux applications have successfully made boot-time a non-issue.
Unfortunately, in an embedded application, the presentation is monolithic -- it either works or it doesn't. So, this is going to seriously adversely affect the image of Linux in Set-top-box applications.
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
And this is news how? I won't even look at this unless it supports Ogg-Vorbis and Bob's crazy obscure audio format
First?
Just because you use Linux doesn;t necessarely mean that it will be good... You have to make it good.
Yes, it can do these things, but because of its awkward Linux-based operating system and sluggish response, the thing acts like it doesn't want to.
My guess is that the reviewer is talking about the "operating system" of the Roku in a broad sense, and not in the sense that computer geeks do. He probably means "interface", and should not have included "Linux" in that sentence; after all, he does go on to praise the Tivo, which is also Linux based (as he himself says). Just bad writing, if you ask me.
What I like about this article is not that is blasts Linux, but Roku's implementation of it. I had considered getting one of these instead of modifying an Xbox to play media files (and yes, I've heard of the "Windows Media Center" machines, and I'm too damned cheap for that - I've decided to modify an Xbox myself and save the $).
;) ).
Anyway, the reviewer takes pains to note that the Tivo, which is also Linux based, is fast, responsive, and doesn't crash all of the time. Maybe this was a beta unit the reviewer recieved, but it seems as though the company hasn't tightened down the Roku's implementation and gone through a good QA session.
Too bad, really. I wouldn't mind finding a box that I could plug into the TV and stream my (personally, using Handbrake for OS X) XviD videos to my TV (to save wear and tear on my DVD's and keep my kids from getting thier fingerprints all over them) over my 802.11 connection.
Looks like I might as well get ready to order that Xbox and mod chip to "do it myself", since nobody in the industry seems to have a solution that does what I want yet. (Note: I know the Tivo can evidently tie into iTunes and iPhoto, but I haven't of it being able to read through a AFP or SMB share of movies and just play them. I'm willing to bet I'll see 10 responses regarding Myth or some such, so advise away - I'm holding off on the soldiering kit as long as I can
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
I have never heard this brand of media players but the snazzy-ness in the name implies as if they are trying to be the next TiVO. But after reading this review, I do not think that they stand even a slim chance.
/. article as the reviewer made a good point of Linux being used creatively and in a positive way in Tivo interface, but he says, Roku fails to use it properly.
Also, I do not agree with the "blame it on Linux mentality" point in the
These people like makers of Roku, in my opinion, lacks a business minded person on their board of directors, at least one very good example of this kind. Idea is good but marketing it half-baked is not going to do this company any favor. On contrary, they have a long way to back paddle from this point on. Wish them good luck but I know it will take more than just luck...
__________
The more I know people, the more I love animals
Article Abstract:
Everything crashes and is slow. It sucks, it must be related to linux, but Tivo uses linux and is fine. The remote and user interface is horrible. Add broad comparisons with linux, windows, and MacOS X as if the people who made these OS's also made this device.
if you're producing a device like this for the general public, you'd better not make it hard to use or install.
It should be simple to use and the OS should be transparent to the user. It should be about as easy as using a DVD player. So simple my mom could use it. And if there is ever a problem a simple turning it off and then on again should fix.
Evolution or ID?
if so then there is value in there!!
I hope this apparent lack of quality won't also be apparent in Roku's Soundbridge product, I've been pretty excited about that one. It looks like a good [non ugly] alternative to the Slim Devices stuff. The pricing is a little jacked though, the only difference between the 2 models is a bigger display and they want $250 for that.
The real question here is: How are we going to blame this on Microsoft?
does the reviewer get style points, for using a haiku in his review?
I get the sense that it's more an issue of lack of polish on the UI, and either buggy drivers/hardware/software rather than blaming linux for the unit crashing all the time.
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
Linux doesn't crash! Seriously, if this company has that much of a problem with designing their interface to be stable, perhaps they shouldn't be in the consumer electronics game.
"Just bad writing, if you ask me."
Yes I agree and if you are a reviewer of hardware and software you should know better then to make mistakes like that.
This guy's credibility went out the door before I even knew who he was.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
Hauppauge MediaMVP stream the content from your existing PC to your TV for like 88beans street price... *shrug* it's not for everyone, but my buddy has it and I was surprised at how how well his quasi-pvr/home media center worked.
I'd rather build my own mini-itx htpc of course though =)
e.
PS I also believe there's quite the mediamvp hacking community (it doesn't support linux out of the box, from what I understand)
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
He does harp on the fact that it runs Linux pretty often, even when it's insignificant-- like the OS has something to do with a poor user interface.
Roku: Convergence in the Making .ts extension, and as long as it keeps from crashing. You could get these files onto your computer by recording them onto a hard disk with an HD tuner card, all of which are hardly beyond the experimental stage at this point. If your network can handle the 19mbit/sec. bandwidth required by these files, it can even play them back over a network. But if you have any other type of video files (how about Windows Media 9? DivX?), they won't play back unless you have a third-party player. I downloaded such a software application, this one called MpegPSPlay, and it locked up the unit so tight it had to be unplugged again. I tried a mp3 jukebox application written for Roku, and the same thing happened. Crash. The system, along with its half-baked third-party attempts at software, has a distinct beta-testing feel to it. That's frustrating because what this unit is capable of and what it actually executes are far apart at this point, but if it could just be refined a bit it could be a useful tool for playing back anything on your network.
HD media player not there yet
By Charlie White
Roku HD1000 ($280) is a device that's billed as a high-definition media player for consumers. It can play digital media, including stills, music files and graphics, and even video if it's a certain type the unit can read. It's designed to bring the world of computer graphics, music and video into your living room, where your HDTV resides. Yes, it can do these things, but because of its awkward Linux-based operating system and sluggish response, the thing acts like it doesn't want to. By the time you're done with Roku, neither will you. Here's a review.
For my testing I connected the Roku into our Midwest Test Facility theater, where we have a wired 100 base-T network connection at the ready and an NEC HT1000 HDTV projector. I also hooked up the Roku to our 5.1 surround audio system, and plugged in a CompactFlash card containing the optional Roku Gallery Collection Art Pack. With everything connected, I hit the On button and the unit began booting up, just like a computer, and after about a minute, it was ready to go -- not exactly instant-on. Based on the Linux operating system, Roku runs its own user interface that looks slightly like that of TiVo, another Linux-based set-top box that's seen significant success as a personal video recorder (PVR). A key difference between these two is that Roku has no hard drive -- it gets its media either from a variety of flash memory cards such as CompactFlash, Memory Stick or SD, or can access media files over a computer network.
It all sounds good. But it's not, at least not yet. The unit crashed so much while I was testing it, I practically beat a path through the carpet to the unit's location on the shelf, the only way to unfreeze it being a complete unplugging of power from the back of the unit. I would attempt to play an mp3 while showing a slide show of pictures from a digital camera. Crash. The thing would completely lock up.
Another tantalizing feature was its ability to use third party software to do even more tricks, such as play back various types of video files. The unit can play back HDTV files, but only if they're in the ATSC-compatible HDTV transport stream format, the same format used to broadcast HDTV in the US. Roku provided us with its HD1000 Gallery Collection (a $200 option), a CompactFlash card with all of its available Art Packs -- The Classics, Nature, Aquarium, Space, Holiday and Clocks. Some of these packs include MPEG transport stream files in full-rez HD which looked splendid. And it indeed does a creditable job of playing back HDTV media files, as long as they are MPEG transport stream files and have a
Roku can play back stills as advertised. Many digital still camera users may not be aware that 3-megapixel digital photos are well within high definition resolution. That's why still pictures look so beautiful when displayed by the Roku. Alas, it's not a convenient experience to play back pictures on the Roku, nor i
'The unit crashed so much while I was testing it, I practically beat a path through the carpet to the unit's location on the shelf...' and 'Roku HD1000 misses by such a wide margin, it isn't worth buying', the review paints a pretty grim picture of this unit
Yes, yes, but can it run linux?
and appears to put part of the blame on its Linux-based OS and software
Oh.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball(TM)
How can it be bad? It runs linux! Does this mean linux is bad? I don't understand.
You would think with the hardware always being the same, that Linux would be configured perfectly. On my systems, they dont lock up, because I set it up right. Maybe the manufacturer didn't configure the OS correctly??
it's possible to write a bad implementation in linux too?
Since most of the problem seems to come from the 3rd party apps, what would really help them is a certification scheme. Though since when do reasonable people complain about 3rd poarty apps crashing and place the blame on the 1st party?
I'd do something interesting, but my server can't handle a slashdotting.
Probubally didn't really know what they were doing.
Ah the classic Linux cop-out.
If this unit was Microsoft made, the OS would be blamed left and right.
What's the obsession to run linux everywhere? Does it really need to do everything to be a good O/S? Maybe someday it will operate my refrigerator. init 0 to enter the Daddy-only food and beverage mode.
kind of zen-ish... how do you /. /.?
I don't believe that the instability of this unit is because of the Linux-based software it runs. There's many other stable Linux-based media devices out there, such as Sigma Designs EM8500 DVD players, the Dreambox DM7000S DVB Satellite Receiver, Hauppauge Media MVP, and more. Bravo manufactures Linux-based standalone DVD players using the Sigma Designs chipset, as one LKML message points out, for example. I myself put the instability onus squarely on the shoulders of Roku's product engineering, having seen myself some very successful applications of embedded uClinux technologies.
I could only read about half of TFA because it was so biased, but it seems that for ~$300 bucks to get a media capable computer is a great deal and value, no matter what technical glitches they experienced.
They thrash it for serveral things: taking 1 minute to boot up (ok, but other OSes take that long too), it crashes (like they won't fix bugs as they come out?), proprietary extension name (get used to it), must use 3rd party player for other formats (at least it supports other formats), when playing a slideshow there isnt a dissolve (OMFG, the world is ending).
Anyways, I think that you get what you pay for. As a consumer, to get all these features for that low of a price is a refreshing change.
Looks like I'm stuck with my squeezebox for now. Wish someone would solve the recent problems with Lame and AAC files.
At the beginning of the article, they blame the problems on "the awkwardness" of Linux. Then at the end, they say that Tivo has proven that the problem isn't Linux. Am I missing something here?
The way this article hints that Linux is to blame is utterly unfair. What of all the other appliances (such as Tivo) which run Linux and work flawlessly? And would another OS (such as Windows) work better? I should think not. One should not place blame on the OS when it can be better attributed to poor engineering.
" the review paints a pretty grim picture of this unit, and appears to put part of the blame on its Linux-based OS and software. "
Well so much for conquering the planet.
OS the problem? Not in my experience. My home computer doubles as a jukebox (60 gigs worth of FLAC files, over 200 discs total) running XMMS on Linux. No problems whatsoever, let alone crashing. Attributing problems to "the OS" is just plain silly, considering the many other factors that are much more likely to be the source of problems.
Got Roku? True 'dat!
It don't work - it's total crap
Sucks? Just blame Linux.
They call me the working man. I guess that's what I am.
Sure it sucks, but does it support OGG?
Viv
Gmail invites for ip
"That's what they get for not using a production ready operating system. Why would anyone choose Linux when they can use Windows CE?"
The NSA uses Linux. It is more than production ready. I've never modified my Xbox, but it does crash from time to time. My TiVo has not. And let us not forget that Microsoft has used its OS in a PVR before, their very own UltimateTV, which failed in the face of TiVo.
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
I saw ads for the Soundbridge, and had been waiting for the first review -- hoping it would be the ideal device to play music stored on my (MacOS X) fileserver over a household wireless network.
So if the Soundbridge sucks, what is the consensus on the alternatives?
Yes, I'll agree it isn't perfect but it is interesting. It will pick up smb shares without a hitch from browsing your network. There is info available for doing NFS as well. I've got the weather plugin working perfectly. It's also nice viewing all my photos on a 42" HD Plasma. Most "media PC" type machines don't offer component out especially with support for 1080i which is what I run. If you buy one be sure to grab the latest firmware and also install the copy/delete programs so you can easily delete some of the built in stuff. You can also do all that through telnet too. I would like to know if it's possible to overclock the CPU. I'd willingly put a larger heatsink on mine if it'd help performance. Video support still needs more work too. All in all, I do like it.
The reviewer seems to stress the fact over and over again, with a much redundnacy, and many repeats, simply restating the idea that the unit locked up a lot. Maybe *gasp* he had a defective unit...
And it doesn't seem he has anything against Linux besides a poor word choice. He even sort of commends Linux on the TiVo.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
HBO did a funny movie about military QA a while back. I think it still exists on video. Nothing I would buy, but it's a good rental.
Free Mac Mini Yeah, it's
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
I am surprised that the review was this bad. I don't own one of these, but I have been following some discussions about them on avsforum.com, thinking I may soon buy one.
On avsforum, there are certainly complaints, and people asking for more features, but nothing as bad as this guy's review.
Also, I think the review may have been a bit aggressive. The advertised features of the Roku are for display of digital images and audio - in an HDTV environment. The other things this guy reviewed are not part of the advertised features, they are third party applications and extensions. These extensions are encouraged by Roku.. they talk quite a bit about their open Linux platform. But, you can't really condemn Roku because of bad third party apps.
He also says that the third party apps had a distinct beta feel. Well, that's because they are beta apps.. or even alpha. If Roku provided the apps, they made a tactical error. If the guy downloaded them himself, he didn't read the descriptions very thoroughly.
Based on what I have read from Roku users, my feel for the product is this: The core feature set of HD display of images via flash or network connections works well. As does playback of MP3/AAC audio files over the network. The third party apps - to stream HDTV captures or DVD VOB files is in its infancy. They work for some people, but are not mature or reliable enough for common use. I am waiting for HDTV streaming and control before I buy one. I would like to use the Roku for playback of HD files captured with a MyHD PCI card - the combination giving something close to PVR functionality (record one program, while watching another).
Home Theater Spot gave the unit a favorable review here . Based on their reveiw, the unit looks pretty nice.
Do you post in her guestbook? Under which name?
However, like the Roku, the sucker is unstable and crashes at least once a week. I mean, the whole bloody thing just shuts down, and you end up with an awful burst of snow and white-noise on the TV. Then, it takes something like 5 minutes for it to boot back up again. It's either poor hardware design, or poor software engineering to support the hardware.
Tivo showed us that a company is fully capable of doing the right things with Linux. But, what's amazing is that nobody appears to have bothered to learn from Tivo as an example in how to do things right: whether Roku or DishNetwork.
As an aside, according to this, older versions of the DVR ran XFS for file management. My 522 DVR probably does as well. I wonder if the file system is unstable?
= 9J =
Here's a suggestion: MS intentionally paid for this shitty device to be built, in order to show the /. community (after all, who is ever going to hear about this device, never mind the fact that it runs Linux) that Linux based things can suck, too. It's all a giant conspiracy. [Conspiracy theories tend to be popular here]
As so many people are wont to say, Linux isn't an Operating System. It's just a kernel. The Operating System is the series of tools that work on top of the kernel.
Therefore, the Linux OS used by the NSA, the Linux OS used on my webservers, the Linux OS that's on the Zaurus, the Linux OS on the Tivo, and Roku's own Linux OS, are all COMPLETELY different systems. There are many similarities...but you can't make a blanket statement like "Linux is ready for prime time." It is for some implementations of the OS, and not for others. I certainly wouldn't consider an HDTV driver that crashes as often as this reviewer suggests to be ready for prime time -- and I hope this machine isn't using the high level encryption that the NSA uses in theirs.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
The only other thing I've found as unreliable as mplayer is samba, which (again, speaking of redhat9 experience) is badly broken. Opening the network browser once ensures that the very next time you open it, nothing is going to work right - you won't even get workgroup browse icons. The gnome browser will have to crash and samba be restarted before you can browse again (for one more session, then repeat.)
The problem with open source efforts such as mplayer and samba seems to me to be that since there is little or no profit to be had from the effort, many times people aren't continuously motivated (or forced by management, if required) to create the best possible product.
In these two cases, MS's technology is far superior to at least what came with my Linux OS. That doesn't bode well for a product that is likely to live on a network with PC's, and plays media. I can imagine the trail in the rug to the device, truly I can.
And before you dismiss me as some rabid MS fan, believe me, I'm not. I'm strictly a Linux user, except at work, where I do not have that option.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Riko who?
Hmmm.
I bought one of these because the ads and the prior Slashdot article sold me on the idea of having Bill Gates' art walls in my house, and while I will give credit to Roku for putting together a good concept, the review is spot-on with regards to slow response to the remote, slow moving between media files and crash crash crash. I spent several hours on the phone with one of the software developers at one point because I just couldn't get it to play music out of my network share (100baseT wired to Win2K3 server) without stuttering every few seconds. We tried everything and then, it just started working, with no apparent reason.
Some other problems we noted -- the single USB port is too close to other important jacks so using a USB Wireless ethernet "thumb" puts a lot of strain on the jack. The on-screen keyboard for entering share names and passwords doesn't support anything but letters/numbers, so share names with dashes and underlines and complex passwords can't be entered unless you telnet into the Roku box and set things that way. I have to jam on the buttons for the remote to have them register even when I touch the tip of the remote to the sensor eye (fresh batteries, too). And on and on. Coupled with the slooooooow response and picture flipping, and I don't use this box at all. The box needs to have a SPDIF optical port out also.
BTW, can I mention how slow? I have a music share with about 375 albums and thousands of songs, organized by artist/album. It usually takes over 30 minutes (yes!) to read through that the first time and display it for choosing. And don't leave the directory once there, because it has to reload it again with the same wait. On a 100baseT switched unemcumbered network, no less.
As an aside, for purely music functions, the Squeezebox network player from Slim Devices is the opposite of the Roku in every way. Small, fast, sounds spectacular, easy to configure, loaded with useful features... put your money on that.
-- Gary Goldberg KA3ZYW 301/249-6501 AIM:OgGreeb Digital Marketing Inc., Bowie, MD
From the article:
The only problem is, this Roku can almost do all these things, but "almost" only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons? As in, "we almost found nuclear weapons in Iraq"?
I was in touch with the author. He in no way meant to slander Linux. He is actually a big fan. He lamented that he may have mixed up the parts of the OS with the hardware specific drivers and interface. I thought it was a decent article and upon second reading I see how you can easily assume one way or the other about his stance on Linux.
The review is by Charlie White.
Now, it may well be that the thing is not ready for prime time, although some other reviewers seem to think it is.
It's just that, I've read Good Old Charlie's stuff before, reviewing things I'm intimately familiar with.
His experiences, conclusions, and pretty much everything else conflicted with mine so much that I now simply trash anything with his byline without reading it at all (I didn't notice his byline on this article until the bottom of page 2; in other words, the end. I wish I'd noticed it earlier, coulda saved some time).
i second that
The catch is that the HD1000 only has a very limited amount of memory, and it's quite easy to run out -- at which point lockups and other bad behavior are not surprising.
For example, its SDK comes with a native toolchain that runs directly on the HD1000. But if you try running gcc on there without first setting up a swap device, you're in for a world of trouble.
If you do have swap enabled (not something the typical end-user can do), then the machine is quite solid. I have mine up for days a time while doing development on it and generally the only time I actually have to reboot is if I call some API the wrong way putting the hardware into a confused state.
I didn't see any mention of firmware revision in the linked review. Roku labs has released several updates to improve speed and stability, but out of the box there's no guarantee you'll have the latest one already installed. Samba apparently eats up lots of memory for each mounted share, so I think recent firmware revisions will refuse to mount more than four of them. But I don't know if older revisions have that self-protection built in.
Also, usually to reboot you only have to hold down the power button for a couple seconds, rather than actually reaching around back to unplug the thing. If this didn't work for them (perhaps they just didn't know about it) then I'd suspect faulty hardware.
One thing just about everyone will agree on, though, is that the remote just plain sucks :-)
"the review paints a pretty grim picture of this unit, and appears to put part of the blame on its Linux-based OS and software."
And for this, fellow Slashdotters, he MUST BE PUNISHED!!! ARRRGHHHH! MAN THE STOCKADE!
Must be something unique to your setup since I use Samba here all the time with Windows XP without any problems with my Red Hat 9.0 server running Samba.
I've seen the Zaurus boot before and it was nearly "instant on". It was certainly faster than my Nokia cell phone.
That's because your Zaurus doesn't have to deal with a SIM card. Authenticating towards the SIM, and reading a few files from it, plus trying to find a network does make phones slow to startup.
I wonder how hackable this thing is. If it's possible to install a *different* version of Linux on it (or even Win98SE for the mostly non-Linux literate folks like me)and how fast its processor is and what amount of RAM it has. and I wonder if the extra cost would be worth all the component outputs, or if an Xbox would be better for that sort of thing... It would probably cost more and be harder to hack, but might you get better performance? Or would you be better off building your own sub-$300 PC with decent specs or even getting an Xbox for the performance/cost tradeoff?
Hard work pays off tomorrow, but procrastination pays off NOW!
I select the hat (start button), network servers, and the first time through, I get a nice window with "MyGroup" (the linux machines) and "anothergroup" (the PC's the rest of my family uses.) You can click thru, they work just like you'd expect.
Now, I close the window. No more, no less.
Select start / network servers again, and zoink, I get the workgroups, but next level in, underneath them, no icons, folders, etc.
To make it work again, I'll have to reboot or wait for the gnome window to crash. It may be that logging out of gnome is enough - I've gotten out of the habit of using the gnome window samba because its so frustrating.
Ill try it now, then add a note here (as it will cose my browser, of course)
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
It's a workaround, at least.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Obligatory mythtv post, as of yesterday at v0.15.
(New release. Many new features, much UI enhancement)
Absolutely rocks, and is used for HDTV, probably works better than the reviewed box on a fast PC.
http://www.mythtv.org
Although we will of course have to wait for them to get out of Japan, I wouldn't mind buying a product like these nagase or buffalo players, or even this one
They've been out a while now, so most of the bugs should be gone, and I'd say that with the number of machines coming out, within a year they will be as ubiquitous as those supermarket $70 divx dvd players.
I think it's valid to keep reminding people that the Roku is, in fact, a Linux-based device. It simply adds credibility to the reviewer's assertions that the product is "half baked" and not ready for prime-time. If they're crashing that often on a *Linux* based unit, imagine how their code might behave on a less stable platform!
I think many people are starting to favor devices advertising the use of embedded Linux (Linksys routers, for example, or the Rio MP3 Car/Empeg Car players that were out a while ago) over competing products. For starters, they believe in the stability, but also, they know there is potential for 3rd. party modifications to add new functionality. It's important to be aware of exceptions to the rule, like this Roku product - so it doesn't tarnish the rep of Linux-based devices of all types.
I own one of the Roku HD-1000's. I replaced my Turtle beach audiotron with it. I would have to admit, although the HD-1000's is a bit immature, it's not as bad as that review. The only time I had lockups is when you mount a large number of samba/network shares and the unit runs out of memory or you have network problems. After I condensed my shares I've never had a lockup again. (I've owned it for 3 months.) Yes it takes a minute to boot and load the OS. After that it's on all the time. I use this unit to browse over 60,000 MP3's. It uses directory based navigation. If you arrange them logically in directories, navigation works fine. Compare this against the 30,000 limit of the audiotron that must scan all Mp3's or load a vtoc file during it's boot. I also have a modded XBOX with the Media center on it. Out of the Audiotron, Xbox and HD-1000, the HD-1000 sounds much better. Pictures look better. The remote and interface is a bit sluggish, then again so was the XBOX media center. IMO, it's a small price to pay for not having limits on file access and having the ability to install user apps or program your own.