Roku or DVD/Blu-ray player for netflix?

I have a Roku and like it but If I did not and had a BDP-83 I think I would still just get the Roku because it is the cheapest way to get Netflix to the TV., but if I had money to burn I might get the LG BD390 which does Netflix, YouTube, CinemaNow and more plus they just added Vudu. LG just keeps adding features to that player it does a lot if you never use the Blu-ray.

I was facing the same decision and since I didn't yet have a blu-ray player I purchased a Samsung BD-1590 for $180 at Samsclub. I am very pleased with the Netflix capability. It plays both SD and HD Netflix material well. I don't have a Roku player to directly compare with but I have heard they perform well also. Good luck.

Jay

It happens that I own all three of the Netflix streaming devices mentioned in this thread -- the Samsung BD-1590, the LG BD390, and the Roku. They all do a decent job of streaming Netflix, assuming a fast enough connection. I suppose if one was shopping for a new blu-ray player and also wanted Netflix streaming, either of the blu-ray units would be the most cost-effective solution. But the Roku has a lot going for it.

Here's what I like and don't like about each:

LG 390 - the good:

• Only device of the three with VUDU, high-quality 1080p streaming;
• Includes YouTube streaming in addition to Netflix (also has CinemaNow, but service not competitive with Amazon's);
• Can stream photos and videos wirelessly from your PC;
• Nicely designed player; clean, understandable on-screen interface;
• WI-FI included

LG 390 - the not-so-good:

• No Pandora (included on Samsung device; soon to be included on Roku);
• Its WIFI doesn't seem to work that well in my setup (so I connected it to wired Ethernet; performance much improved, comparable to Samsung via Ethernet or Roku via Ethernet or WIFI)

Samsung BD-1590 - the good:

• Includes Pandora in addition to Netflix;
• Also includes YouTube (with firmware upgrade);
• About 1/3 cheaper than LG 390

Samsung BD-1590 - the not-so-good:

• On screen interface more confusing, less intuitive than LG product;
• No built-in WIFI (its an $80 option);
• Noisy player -- sounds clunky, especially when you first turn it on.

Roku - the good:

• Clean, intuitive, responsive interface;
• Simple, easy to use remote;
• Ethernet and WIFI built in (wireless networking was easy to set up, and works well);
• Includes Amazon Video on Demand in addition to Netflix;
• Rapid startup (since its not also trying to be a blu-ray player);
• Device will soon add up to ten additional streaming services -- confirmed and/or rumored to include Revision3, Mediafly, Blip.tv, Flickr, Pandora, others;
• $99.99 -- with a 30-day money back guarantee;
• 1 year warranty both parts and labor (note: both the Samsung and LG players have only a 1-year parts/30-day labor warranty -- a concern on my end, as my first blu-ray player, a Samsung 1500, died after nine months).

Roku - the not-so-good:

• YouTube apparently not one of the services that will be added soon.
• It's not a blu-ray player (but you knew that)

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I thought for a while that the proliferation of blu-ray players that do streaming and their declining prices might make the Roku less competitive. But Roku's imminent addition of a number of additional streaming services adds a lot of value for this user. It's a simple, elegant little box that just works.

Roku has just come out with two additional models in addition to its original $99 model: a budget $79.99 unit with SD only and no HDMI out, and a deluxe $129.99 unit that adds 802.11n networking, and a USB port designated for future use.

There's one more possible downside to the Roku: if your monitor or AV receiver has two HDMI inputs, and you're using one for a blu-ray player and another for a DVR or a gaming device, you'll be out of HDMI ports and have to connect the Roku some other way. I solved that problem by buying a manual 2 x 1 HDMI switcher for about $16 from monoprice (which worked just fine -- though I later upgraded to a 4 x 1 HDMI switcher with remote for about $30).

I'm going to replace my Roku player with a PS3 slim
- games
- reference blue-ray player
- Netflix player (announced)
- Access to Hulu and other sources thru PlayOn

Rick, did you notice any difference in video performance, sd or hd, between any of the three players? Thanks.

There is not all that much HD content available for Netflix Instant Download, but I've watched a few HD titles, and lots of SD flicks, and I don't see much difference between any of the three devices in terms of video quality, when each is getting a good signal. On all three, what Netflix calls HD can't compare to blu-ray or even what your satellite or cable provider calls HD -- at its best, it's maybe a little better than standard DVD. SD quality ranges from a little worse than standard DVD to really bad VHS -- comparably bad on all three devices. I wish I could have really done an accurate A-B (or A-B-C) comparison -- hard to do with my setup -- but I can still say pretty confidently that the differences in video quality, if any, are subtle. As I mentioned, the LG 390 did look really lousy (grainy, etc.) when I connected it via WIFI, as compared to the Roku connected via WIFI. I tried moving both the Roku and LG players to different locations, and I never got a decent picture from the LG via its WIFI Connection. I'd have taken the LG back, except that when I connected it via an ethernet cable, the picture seemed about equivalent to the Roku. I'm not saying your experience would be the same -- though I'm no expert, I think there could be a lot of reasons why a particular WIFI device might not work well in one enviroment, but might work in another.

On a related subject: if I'd known Netflix was coming to the PS3, I might have waited and considered that option as well -- it'll be interesting to hear how that works out...

I really appreciate the info. Like the op, I've got a bdp-83 and I never noticed a real difference in sd dvd's until I had this player. So I was wondering if any of the three you used were noticeably better than the others. Thanks again for the help.

Hi Rick,

Have you done much streaming from your PC to the 390? I currently stream to my PS3 and although some 1080p and 720p material plays just fine (I have WM 11 running on my PC) some material gets "stuck" after the first 3 seconds. I'm not sure if this is an encoding problem or a Ps3 not liking WM11 problem. That said, I would like to hear if you or anybody else has experienced issues streaming video to the 390. I normally stream M2TS, AVI and MPG files (the PS3 does not support straight MKV).

Thanks!