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."

Comments

More about design problems than system ones

[Space cowboy]

The story-text is misleading - the author is complaining about the poor design choices in the GUI, not the OS itself, witness:

That leads us to the OS and its foibles. As we've seen with TiVo, it's possible to create a snappy user interface using Linux, a modest processor and a remote-controlled series of screens. But I have to tell you, even though this Roku interface (see graphic above) reminds you of TiVo in the vaguest of ways, it's doesn't even distantly resemble the near-perfect user experience of TiVo.

... at which point he compares it unfavourably with the TiVO experience. All seems fair enough to me.

Simon.

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[lukewarmfusion]

He does complain about the OS itself:

"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."

One problem with his review, though, is that he looks for "features" from other products like an OSX transition - "why not have that with the Roku?" has asks.

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[DrEldarion]

I think he just used a poor choice of words. It doesn't seem like he's complaining about the Linux OS, it seems like he's complaining about the browser's OS, which just happens to be based on Linux.

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[BigBir3d]

not just bad GUI choices. everything is slow (1 minute to boot!!!) from start-up to navigating thru a big directory.

just because it uses linux (cost saving measure it sounds like) does not mean it will be a good, or usefull, product.

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[AKAImBatman]

Not to mention...

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.

These people need to understand, Linux is NOT a feature! In a device like this, the OS (whatever it is) should be as transparent to the user as possible. The only person the OS should make a difference to is the manufacturer. Using Linux or BSD should allow them to pull "off the shelf" software in the same way they build it with "off the shelf" hardware. Instead, it sounds like they took Fedora or something and crammed it into a consumer device.

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[Space cowboy]

My point is that Linux isn't "awkward" in this sense, it's the badly-designed remote-control interface that he's complaining about. The 'Linux-based' isn't part of the complaint, at least that's how I read it.

My take on his interpretation of 'operating system' is more in the vein of an amplifier 'operating system' or similar - it's the GUI he means.

Simon

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[lukewarmfusion]

Good call. He worded it in a way that sounds like a Linux criticism, but his complaint is really against the implementation of it.

I'll retract my first statement... wait, I can't find the edit/delete button!

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[lenhap]

He was complaining about the OS...thats why continuously throughout the article he mentions how the thing froze and locked up...if that isn't OS related, what is? Sure he has many misconceptions of what is and isn't the OS, but he is right about the locking up.

The sluggish response can also be do to the OS. Anyone ever run windows and have everything completely slow down for a few minutes while the OS goes and takes a dump out back somewhere? It no doubt is probably due to a poor implementation of Linux, but none the less half the issues he mentions are do to the OS, not necessarily to it being Linux. He mentions how he knows Linux can be exceedingly good, but this particular implementation is crap.

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[geomon]

Instead, it sounds like they took Fedora or something and crammed it into a consumer device.


Which, by itself, wouldn't have been a *bad* thing provided you didn't install EVERY freaking library and application that came on the install media.

As for Linux boot times - I've seen the Zaurus boot before and it was nearly "instant on". It was certainly faster than my Nokia cell phone.

Re:More about design problems than system ones

[AKAImBatman]

Which, by itself, wouldn't have been a *bad* thing provided you didn't install EVERY freaking library and application that came on the install media.

No, it's not. An OS like Linux can be made to boot super-fast by properly tuning the system, and preloading everything into ROM memory space. Since no disk access is necessary when the device is turned on (remember, it's already in memory), only a quick initialization procedure should occur.

Amazing

[erick99]

When you read this article you wonder how all of these problems can be possible with this product. It seemed to me that the reviewer was competent and very patient. It makes me wonder if there was any user testing and quality control in this process or was it someone's "good idea" and rushed to market? There are just too many electronic gadgets on the market that are poorly designed and frustrating to use.

Take care!

Erick

Ouchhhh... bye bye Roku

[KevetS]

A negative review and front-page linkage on /.? Good luck recovering from this one, Roku!

Re:Ouchhhh... bye bye Roku

[241comp]

But the problem is that the 1.5 million slashdotters are the part of the population that everyone goes to for recommendations when they are buying electronics and computers. I know that I personally have about 15-20 people who usually talk to me before they buy anything more expensive than a cheap DVD player. If each of those 1.5 million has 10 million people that ask them for recommendations then that is 11.5 million who won't buy. Each of those 10 million probably have 3 or 4 friends who tend to try to keep-up-with-the-jones so those 30 or 40 million also won't be buying one (they'll get the better X brand item). That means that somewhere around 50 million people could potentially be affected by a very bad Slashdot review.

Quality Assurance

[millahtime]

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.

Why diss Linux?

[Quixote]

No, not a Linux zealot here, but I do take issue with the following from the article (yeah, I RTFA, shame on me):
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.

Re:not linux....

[lukewarmfusion]

Does it strike you as odd that a consumer product should require that one "know what they were doing" when they purchased it? Shouldn't the product be easy to install and use?

I'm not sure you RTFA, but your response sounds like a knee-jerk to me. If I buy a Tivo, I don't want to have to spend hours and hours getting it to work. I also shouldn't need any programming or configuration expertise.

If you're producing a device like this for the general public, you'd better not make it hard to use or install. So that would be a problem with the product.

Not Just a Linux problem

[Dark Paladin]

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 ;) ).

Re:not linux....

[dejamatt]

I agree with you, but I think (hope) he meant the people at Roku who set up the box didn't do a very good job of customizing it for what they were using the system for before they shipped it.

Guys, guys...

[ticeton]

The real question here is: How are we going to blame this on Microsoft?

Yes...

[Anixamander]

'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.

Instability Not Because of Linux Software

[william_lorenz]

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.

Re:Love the responses we are seeing here

[DaHat]

If this unit was Microsoft made, the OS would be blamed left and right.

Ahh, at least I'm not the only one here who sees the double standard.

* Anything Linux Based Product: Good!
* Any Linux Bug: Unskilled and/or incompetent Users
* Anything Window Based Product: Bad!
* Any Windows Bug: Unskilled and/or incompetent coders

I own a Roku

[notanatheist]

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.

A favorable review

[SimReg]

Home Theater Spot gave the unit a favorable review here . Based on their reveiw, the unit looks pretty nice.