Netflix Roku Player

[scuzzy]

WOW!

For Christmas, I bought a Roku instant Netflix player for my father-in-law. The unit allows the user to hook up into the home's network via wireless or LAN. Once connected it accesses the user's Netflix account, through the Internet, to watch "Instant" movies on the TV.

I have to admit that I'm very impressed. Setting up the unit via wireless-g only took a few minutes. My father-in-law's bedroom is directly below the office where my Linksys router is located, and the signal to the router is excellent. Once I activated the unit through my Netflix account, I used my computer to add several classic TV shows and a few movies to the "Instant" queue. I then went back to my father-in-law's TV and began watching shows in surprisingly good quality. Everything looked great on his 42" Panasonic plasma TV.

The entire thing is simplicity at its best. The small remote control has only a few buttons, providing control for forward/reverse/home, etc. The unit itself is very small and there is no external antenna to mess with. Accessing shows from the Instant queue could not possibly be any easier, and the shows can be paused indefinitely. The overall quality is dependent on the connection to the Internet.

I have a good Internet connection (averages 3000 kbps) and I would equate the video quality to something in between VHS and DVD.  The unit showed a connection of 3 "dots" out of a possible 4. The sound is equivalent to television broadcast quality. Considering that the only additional cost is what I paid for the unit (about $115 including S/H), I can't complain. Although the selection is far from unlimited, there is plenty to keep my father-in-law happy for years to come; and the inventory is constantly growing. Currently there are over 12,000 titles to pick from.

Scuzzy; next Christmas Santa is gonna get one of these for me - if I can wait that long.