Roku 3

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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3 is basically replacing the 2xs, except the 3 now adds a headphone jack in the remote and dual band wifi.

Big selling points of the 2xs and 3 over earlier models are Bluetooth remote and 1080p, iirc. BT remote eats batteries faster but let's you hide the unit out of sight, like behind the tv.
 

johnmd20

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As an unabashed Roku fan, I can't see too much of a reason to get the 3 when I had the 2HD. But it might be worth getting so I don't have to move it around the house when I change TV's.
 
Roku is pretty awesome, so much better than the TV apps or blu ray players that come with the components. And it has Amazon VOD, which I use just about as much as Netflix.
 

Barbara

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johnmd20 said:
As an unabashed Roku fan, I can't see too much of a reason to get the 3 when I had the 2HD. But it might be worth getting so I don't have to move it around the house when I change TV's.
 
Roku is pretty awesome, so much better than the TV apps or blu ray players that come with the components. And it has Amazon VOD, which I use just about as much as Netflix.
Hmmm. help me understand.  I have a Roku 2XD in one room with a TV, the router (is that what it is? Husband is MIA), and a desktop.  We have wireless.  If I get the 3 would I just move the Roku to the bedroom and watch games from there?  Or does the remote do it?  The guide wasn't clear.  Currently, if it's late and I want to finish the game, I just watch on the Driod.  Being able to watch from the bedroom (games and Amazon VOD)  is worth the $99 to upgrade.
 
BTW the Seinfeld shorts on Crackle are pretty good.
 

johnmd20

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Barbara said:
Hmmm. help me understand.  I have a Roku 2XD in one room with a TV, the router (is that what it is? Husband is MIA), and a desktop.  We have wireless.  If I get the 3 would I just move the Roku to the bedroom and watch games from there?  Or does the remote do it?  The guide wasn't clear.  Currently, if it's late and I want to finish the game, I just watch on the Driod.  Being able to watch from the bedroom (games and Amazon VOD)  is worth the $99 to upgrade.
 
BTW the Seinfeld shorts on Crackle are pretty good.
 
Yes, if you want to watch in the bedroom, you should get a 2nd Roku. It will make things easier and then you won't have to watch on your phone.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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So we just got a great deal on a 64" plasma (Samsung 64e8000) and am considering purchasing a Roku 3. Never had a streamer before either.
 
We haven't had cable in about 5 years, and don't miss it. However, we would like to stream content from our laptop (movies and TV shows), but it has to display subtitles (.srt or .sub files). 
 
Is that possible with Roku and something like Plex? Is the quality decent enough (i.e., average 1080p content)?
 
Also, anyway to get NFL games on this setup?
 

SumnerH

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SeoulSoxFan said:
So we just got a great deal on a 64" plasma (Samsung 64e8000) and am considering purchasing a Roku 3. Never had a streamer before either.
 
We haven't had cable in about 5 years, and don't miss it. However, we would like to stream content from our laptop (movies and TV shows), but it has to display subtitles (.srt or .sub files). 
 
Is that possible with Roku and something like Plex? Is the quality decent enough (i.e., average 1080p content)?
 
Also, anyway to get NFL games on this setup?
My experience is with the Roku 2 so hopefully someone will chime in if things have changed with the 3--I did a little googling and nothing is obviously different.

First, the Roku only supports a very limit set of codecs (.mkv and .mpg with h.264 and mp3/aac) so anything else will have to be transcoded.

The Roku can display .srt or .sub files from locally connected media (E.g. if you're playing from a hard drive or USB thumb drive). You can't mount Windows shares from a Roku, so you'll need to use Plex to stream files to the Roku--but that means that the device can't see the subtitle files, so you'll have to transcode the video into one with hardcoded subs. Plex supports transcoding of .srt files perfectly; .sub files I never got working. Streaming from Plex (or whatever) in general is a little flakier than straight playback and when combined with transcoding means that seeking within files is incredibly slow. If you're willing to double your storage space you could store the recoded (hard-subbed) files and stream them directly.

You're not going to do high-quality 1080p encoding realtime on your laptop, that'd need dedicated hardware (e.g. the Matrox MXO2 mini can do it IIRC) and wiring that through Plex could get tricky. You can get pretty decent-looking high-def streams, but they're going to sit more around good 720p quality unless you have a really beefy machine doing the transcoding.

If that quality's not good enough for you, you can reencode ahead of time rather than on the fly (again requires 2x the storage space).


(FWIW, I returned the Roku 2 and got a WDTV Live SMP that supports .srt and .sub files and can remotely mount Windows and NFS shares so that it can see the subtitle files and display them without needing to transcode; it also supports a much wider array of video codecs than the Roku, pretty much every mkv/avi/mov/mp4/mpg that I've thrown at it works no problem.)
 

Curll

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Got a Roku 3 last week, set up PLEX, and I am amazed at how great this is.
 
PLEX lets me watch The Daily Show, Colbert, and Conan. All of my downloads are organized into seasons with box art. 
 
I've got a Netflix and Prime account, so that basically takes care of all my video needs.
 
My only question: Is there any way to get live Red Sox games? Does MLB.TV still black things out on it/is there a way around this on Roku?
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Bumping this, as I needed another Roku or two to go with the new TVs we got in the past month.  Big discounts on new and refurb 2XS, and a number of B&M (RadioShack and Office Depot) running unadvertised instore special of $79 for new 3s.
 
By all reports, the 3 flies (especially with Plex) and leave past models in the dust, so just pulled the trigger on a 3 combining it with the cashback AmEx is offering at select retailers.
 

kwa1430

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Only negative with Roku is Comcast blocks HBO Go app.  Very annoyed.  Dont have option to switch to Verizon Fios because it is not available in my area.
 

johnmd20

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LoweTek said:
If you have multiple Rokus, don't you need a sub for each, e.g. Hulu?
 
No. One sub required per app, and you can use them on multiple Roku's. That said, I haven't used Hulu, but Netflix, Amazon Video, and MLB.tv all work on all 4 Roku's I have.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Roku3 got YouTube today.
 
And if it hasn't been pointed out:  you do NOT need to give a CC to register/activate a roku.  Just call their 800 number and register it old-school:  it may take 15+ minutes on their end, but it can be done without attaching a CC to the account.
 

jercra

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SumnerH said:
My experience is with the Roku 2 so hopefully someone will chime in if things have changed with the 3--I did a little googling and nothing is obviously different.

First, the Roku only supports a very limit set of codecs (.mkv and .mpg with h.264 and mp3/aac) so anything else will have to be transcoded.

The Roku can display .srt or .sub files from locally connected media (E.g. if you're playing from a hard drive or USB thumb drive). You can't mount Windows shares from a Roku, so you'll need to use Plex to stream files to the Roku--but that means that the device can't see the subtitle files, so you'll have to transcode the video into one with hardcoded subs. Plex supports transcoding of .srt files perfectly; .sub files I never got working. Streaming from Plex (or whatever) in general is a little flakier than straight playback and when combined with transcoding means that seeking within files is incredibly slow. If you're willing to double your storage space you could store the recoded (hard-subbed) files and stream them directly.

You're not going to do high-quality 1080p encoding realtime on your laptop, that'd need dedicated hardware (e.g. the Matrox MXO2 mini can do it IIRC) and wiring that through Plex could get tricky. You can get pretty decent-looking high-def streams, but they're going to sit more around good 720p quality unless you have a really beefy machine doing the transcoding.

If that quality's not good enough for you, you can reencode ahead of time rather than on the fly (again requires 2x the storage space).


(FWIW, I returned the Roku 2 and got a WDTV Live SMP that supports .srt and .sub files and can remotely mount Windows and NFS shares so that it can see the subtitle files and display them without needing to transcode; it also supports a much wider array of video codecs than the Roku, pretty much every mkv/avi/mov/mp4/mpg that I've thrown at it works no problem.)
I know I'm replying to 9 month old post but just because this thread has been bumbed I thought I'd chime in.  I'm using Serviio instead of Plex and I like it WAAAAY better.  It does on the fly transcoding and has a profile for the Roku built in so there's no need to figure out any settings.  With the Roku 3 I got through work last week and the Roku Media Player app,  everything is looking great and super easy to setup.
 

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kwa1430 said:
Only negative with Roku is Comcast blocks HBO Go app.  Very annoyed.  Dont have option to switch to Verizon Fios because it is not available in my area.
 
HBO Go will work with the Google Chromecast, even if you're a Comcast subscriber.  For $35, it's worth it, IMO.
 

jayhoz

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So i picked up a Roku 3 and have the following set up:
 
Netflix
Amazon Prime
Youtube
Plex Media Server
Unsupported App Store via Plex (any channel suggestions?)
 
What am I missing that is free and not terrible?  Is there a community where people share their Plex Servers?  I don't have HBO / Hulu / NFL / MLB and don't really want spend any more money on content.
 
Thanks.
 

AlNipper49

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Yeah I think so. Its kind of ass - you have no way to guantee upload speeds or quality of the peers. But you can find a ton of random crap.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Some of the Nowhere apps are good.  The main Nowhere has some live TV streams, so I use it for NJ12, which I dont get because I'm on Fios.  There's also an adult Nowhere that has some pretty decent speed compared to other apps of that genre.
 
Crackle.
 
ESPN.
 

Barbara

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Omar's Wacky Neighbor said:
Some of the Nowhere apps are good.  The main Nowhere has some live TV streams, so I use it for NJ12, which I dont get because I'm on Fios.  There's also an adult Nowhere that has some pretty decent speed compared to other apps of that genre.
 
Crackle.
 
ESPN
On Crackle (free) Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" are 15-minute shorts that are pretty funny.  He finds some vintage car, meets the comedian and they go for coffee. 
 

weeba

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Just bought a refurbed stick for $30.  Really disappointed that Comcast has neutered the HOB and SHO apps by not allowing you to authenticate.
 

Saints Rest

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Looking to buy the Roku streaming stick for a second TV in the bedroom (Roku is offering them for $29). I have the Roku Lt and wonder if there is any downside to the stick?

Also will the iPhone Roku remote app work on the stick?
 
EDIT:  Roku is offering the LT for $29 and the Stick for $39.
 

LoweTek

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Looking to buy the Roku streaming stick for a second TV in the bedroom (Roku is offering them for $29). I have the Roku Lt and wonder if there is any downside to the stick?

Also will the iPhone Roku remote app work on the stick?
 
EDIT:  Roku is offering the LT for $29 and the Stick for $39.
If you have more than one Roku in the house, are you able to use the same Hulu subscription, Netflix subscription etc.? I always assumed a second Roku would be considered another device entirely and be subject to additional subscription fees, like Sirius/XM devices.
 

SumnerH

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LoweTek said:
If you have more than one Roku in the house, are you able to use the same Hulu subscription, Netflix subscription etc.? I always assumed a second Roku would be considered another device entirely and be subject to additional subscription fees, like Sirius/XM devices.
 
You can use your Netflix subscription all over the place--on the PS3, on your Roku, over at your girlfriend's house, whatever.  I'd imagine that multiple simultaneous logins would be frowned upon, especially from different IP addresses, but you can definitely just have one account that you use at home/work/travelling/whatever on many devices.
 

johnmd20

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LoweTek said:
If you have more than one Roku in the house, are you able to use the same Hulu subscription, Netflix subscription etc.? I always assumed a second Roku would be considered another device entirely and be subject to additional subscription fees, like Sirius/XM devices.
 
Unequivocally yes. I have multiple Roku's (4, to be exact) and I have used the same subscription for all of them. That said, only one Roku is in use at any time. So I'm not sure if you want to use them at the same time. 
 

jercra

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Netflix definitely has limits on the number of devices you can use simultaneously.  When you sign up you can choose from a different number of streams.  I just signed up for 2 simultaneous streams.  It was $1 more a month than 1 stream.  There is no limit, to my knowledge, on the number of devices that can stream, just the number of streams that can be active.
 

DrBlinky

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Netfix has another plan that is $11.99 for four simultaneous streaming devices. The max number of individual profiles that can be set up is five.

Hulu Plus supposedly is one stream per account though I've had someone tell me they've done multiple streams from when all streams were under the same roof coming from the same IP.
 

jayhoz

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Bump.  Anyone found anything new and worthwhile on Roku?
 
The reviews of the new Plex app that is coming have me excited.