Roku slashes prices on streaming video set-top boxes in preparation for Google TV

Jeez, good timing on selling mine I guess

It's only a matter of time before "TV" the way we know it goes away. Though I'm sure there's going to be local channels of some fashion remaining.

I couldn't agree more pwrjam, I think we're on the verge of a huge shift in how we watch TV and I think it's pretty dang exciting to be right in the middle of it! If you're interested, check out the articles I've written about the subject on my site. Home System Integration is a very exciting field these days!

Tom

Speaking of, how does everyone think these new technologies like Google TV, Apple TV 2, and Boxee will impact the current cable and satellite industries? I figure they've got to do something to address this challenge. I personally am thinking pretty seriously about ditching my Comcast DVR, I hardly use it any more!

I wrote an article on that one too! Technology rocks!

Tom

Google Tv won't catch on, The 200 box is history. Apple tv may not dominate but it will do Apple's Drm and interface your TV to your itunes nicely for a hundred bucks. Hulu not playing ball with Boxee, Popbox, and Google TV will hurt them. The public at large won't pay over a 100 dollars for a box, Apple and Roku have reset the market.
I wouldn't ditch the DVR quite yet

Looking forward to it. I just dumped pay TV this past month, and I don't miss it.

Does the Roku box have wifi? That seems to be one advantage of AppleTV.

Yes both models have it.

I made a comparison chart:

I'm all about the free or significantly reduced. I got rid of cable and use an antenna. I have a server running MythTV and I record using an HDHomeRun box. My only cost is the annual $20 subscription to import the TV schedule into MythTV. I'll have to look into these to see if they would enhance my setup.

Still, I picked up an xbox 360 for $100 in June. I largely use it for Netflix, but I have the option of gaming and whatever else the 360 can do. Sure, its an extra 50 a year for the xbox love gold subscription, but it was worth it for all the additional stuff it can do over even the top end Roku. Even if I wasn't going to get a 360, I'd still at least get a bluray player with Netflix built in. I'm really not sure why you'd buy these single-use devices.

One year ago they were a cheaper alternative to a Blu-ray player but now not so much, the Roku and the Sony will have over 50 channels to choose from as opposed to a handfull on a Blu-ray player. Sony's high-end Bravia HDTV's will get the same channels though.

thanks for the great chart. Those were the four that I've been looking at and based on you info, I think I'm going for the Roku. I already have two HD units and the fact that I don't really care about TV and other content (I'm 99% movies for my HT) and that they will be upgrading the XR makes it at least a little future proof and hopefully give me better PQ on my Netflix streaming to my 65" plasma. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Roku continues to add channels, maybe some of the more mainstream like Hulu etc. again, thanks for the effort. One thing I have heard is that the Sony may end up being priced much lower, maybe even around $99 because of Apple TV.

I am just confused by what the point of these things are...

I had a Roku but if you get a blu ray player that has all the built in netflix, pandora and amazon ect and also supports USB drives (at least fat32 for music), then what is the point of this unless you set up a HUGE media server to stream all your blu rays to these boxes which will cost a lot more???

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Now that Net Neutrality is (apparently) toast, I'm sure your internet provider (who is probably also a tv provider) will be more than happy to charge you a hefty bonus for streaming or downloading video from sites that they don't control.

ARG!

You have a point, but if they charge me more for streaming you can bank I'll be switching ISP's or even move over to a business plan. With business plans you can typically do more such as setup servers, monthly bandwidth caps are either much higher or don't even exist (unlimited data).

I'm very disappointed in Roku's recent announcement, because I bought the HD model because I use wired ethernet and don't need the wireless-N of the HDX (my router is literally 3 inches from the Roku). But for whatever reason, Roku is disenfranchising their wired customers and not giving those using the technically identical HD model WHEN USING WIRED ETHERNET the option of 1080p. A Boxee Box may be in my future.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?! That's straight up stupid
Is there a new firmware available for the box that enables 1080p?

There is no 1080p yet for any Roku box, but they now say it will be enabled with firmware update in the future. Not sure why they would do that for only that box, except, I've heard (but have not confirmed) that the "N' capable box also has a bigger power supply or a more robust power adapter. No idea if either of these are true, or if it would make any difference, but it does make you think that there might be additional variations between them which have not been advertised. Another possibility is that the update might require the USB port , something that the other Roku boxes do not currently have. Interesting that they'd be willing to update ANY of them, rather than forcing a new hardware purchase on us early adopters, so it's hard to quibble with the fact that the 2 yr old units might not be ready for 1080p. It'd be great if it could all be handled with software, but I'm guessing it's a throughput issue so they're limiting it to N wireless (and a wired connection might work fine after all). Hard to know what they have in mind... I think their main goal was to keep people buying now w/o fear of obsolescence, and to offer something to compete with the 720p solution from Apple. An under $100 upgrade might be worth it by then, if 1080p is something you'd value. Personally, I'm grabbing an extra roku because I want to keep component out option.