The last few days have been a revelation of sorts; I have rediscovered the fact that I love television. Never, in my life, have I watched as much television as I have since purchasing my Roku XDS.
Pros:
+ Size: It’s small, very, very small; even smaller than a CD case.
+ Apps: Roku has tons of free apps including Amazon On Demand, Netflix, Vimeo and Hulu Plus.
+ Build Quality: Seems like a fairly well built device to me. The remote control is excellent with nice rubberized buttons.
+ Image Quality: High definition content really pops on my Vizio 37” LCD television. My television is a 1080i device (I’ve set my XDS to transmit a 720p signal), but that doesn’t stop the little black box from streaming up beautiful images. Although Roku claims 1080p compatibility, I have my doubts about this device's ability to keep up. Oh yeah, the XDS definitely won't replace your Blu-Ray player either. Nevertheless, the XDS is good: very, very good.
+ Wireless: Dual-band wireless adapter. 2.4/5Ghz gives you some flexibility when connecting to your wireless router. Unfortunately, my mixed mode network is running at “G” speeds most of the time. Not the XDS’ fault…
+ USB Port: Allows you to connect and play various media through built-in USB port. Yay!
Cons:
+ Heat: Supposedly the XDS consumes 5-6 watts in standby mode. The little guy gets fairly warm when idle. I suspect the RAM chips to be the culprit. No active cooling, or even passive cooling, just the bare board and a honey-combed top-cover…
+ Mystery Hardware: The decoder chip has been identified, as has the RAM, but the wireless chip is still a mystery. Roku doesn’t seem forthcoming with “hard specs”.
+ Wireless: I had trouble connecting the XDS to my network initially, but this was my fault. Upon resuming from standby mode, the XDS’ wireless chip seems to need a bit of time to “catch-up”. Video quality seems to suffer…
+ Off/On Switch: None, as in, the XDS lacks a On/Off switch. I am a big believer in powering down devices when they are not in use, so the lack of a physical hardware switch is somewhat disturbing to me. However, I could easily remedy this problem by powering down my surge protector…
+ Size: It’s small, very, very small; even smaller than a CD case.
+ Apps: Roku has tons of free apps including Amazon On Demand, Netflix, Vimeo and Hulu Plus.
+ Build Quality: Seems like a fairly well built device to me. The remote control is excellent with nice rubberized buttons.
+ Image Quality: High definition content really pops on my Vizio 37” LCD television. My television is a 1080i device (I’ve set my XDS to transmit a 720p signal), but that doesn’t stop the little black box from streaming up beautiful images. Although Roku claims 1080p compatibility, I have my doubts about this device's ability to keep up. Oh yeah, the XDS definitely won't replace your Blu-Ray player either. Nevertheless, the XDS is good: very, very good.
+ Wireless: Dual-band wireless adapter. 2.4/5Ghz gives you some flexibility when connecting to your wireless router. Unfortunately, my mixed mode network is running at “G” speeds most of the time. Not the XDS’ fault…
+ USB Port: Allows you to connect and play various media through built-in USB port. Yay!
Cons:
+ Heat: Supposedly the XDS consumes 5-6 watts in standby mode. The little guy gets fairly warm when idle. I suspect the RAM chips to be the culprit. No active cooling, or even passive cooling, just the bare board and a honey-combed top-cover…
+ Mystery Hardware: The decoder chip has been identified, as has the RAM, but the wireless chip is still a mystery. Roku doesn’t seem forthcoming with “hard specs”.
+ Wireless: I had trouble connecting the XDS to my network initially, but this was my fault. Upon resuming from standby mode, the XDS’ wireless chip seems to need a bit of time to “catch-up”. Video quality seems to suffer…
+ Off/On Switch: None, as in, the XDS lacks a On/Off switch. I am a big believer in powering down devices when they are not in use, so the lack of a physical hardware switch is somewhat disturbing to me. However, I could easily remedy this problem by powering down my surge protector…
+ Pay To Play: Gotta play for Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon. While a good deal of content can be had for free, the premium stuff costs money. This ain't Kansas anymore Dorothy!
So in summary, the Roku Box XDS is a great little device and well worth the $99.99USD I paid for it. Take into account the affordable nature of both Netflix and Hulu Plus and the fact that any content you choose to purchase using Amazon is yours to keep and you simply can’t go wrong with this amazing little device!
Back are the days when I come home and actually look forward to watching some television!
Back are the days when I come home and actually look forward to watching some television!
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