- 300+ channels with movies, TV shows, music, sports & more
- High-definition streaming up to 720p HD
- Works with virtually any TV
- Built-in wireless (Wi-Fi b/g/n)
- Smaller and more energy-efficient than any other streaming device
The Roku2 players are very compact, being about the size and shape of a hockey puck. The LT shares the same new housing and having such a small footprint means not having to worry about finding space for yet another home theater device. The Roku LT will fit just about anywhere. In addition, they use very little power, which is a good thing, as the unit remains powered on as long as the power pack is plugged in. There is no power switch on any model Roku player, so if you prefer to turn your unit off, you will need to consider using a switched outlet, such as a power strip. I use the switched power outlet on the back of my home theater amplifier. When the amp is powered down, the Roku player is also powered down.
When you open the box, you are greeted with a well packaged Roku LT player and accessories, including a remote control (2 AA batteries included), a power pack and an analog stereo mini-jack to RCA cable for connecting the unit to your TV. However, I recommend using an HDMI cable, which is supported by all versions of Roku player. Using HDMI provides the best video (720p HD on the LT), as well as surround sound. Using the RCA cable only provides standard definition video and stereo sound. You will also find the standard warranty information (90 days) and warning information in a small pamphlet.
The Roku LT is the most basic unit offered by Roku, so many of the bells and whistles found on other Roku players are not available on the LT. For instance, the LT only supports wireless connection to your home network, it has no Ethernet port. You won't find a USB port on the LT, either, so you cannot view images or listen to MP3s on this unit like you can some of the other models. For details on which Roku units provide which options, interested readers should visit the Roku website.
Setting up the Roku LT is very easy, with step-by-step instructions provided on-screen, as well as a comprehensive instruction booklet that also includes troubleshooting and contact information, in the event that you experience any problems. Simply connect the unit to your TV using the provided RCA cable or an HDMI cable, and plug in the power pack. The Roku LT takes about a minute to boot up, at which time you will be presented with the first configuration screen. The first thing you have to do is connect to your home network via wireless Internet. Once connected to your wireless network, you will be prompted to register the unit to your Roku account. If you don't have a Roku account yet, you will need to go to the Roku website and create a new account. Once you have a Roku account and you register the unit, you will be prompted to upgrade the unit's software before you can begin using it. This only takes a few minutes, depending on available bandwidth, after which the Roku LT will automatically reboot.
Once the unit reboots, you should be presented with the start menu, which includes a settings icon (more on this later), the Channel Store icon and an icon for the current highlight channel. You use the remote control to move around the menus. The remote has a large purple D-pad, similar to a game pad, with an OK button in the center which you use to select whatever is highlighted on the screen. There is a Home button which returns you to the main menu from any channel. There is also a left-arrow key that will return you to the previous screen. Finally, there are Play/Pause, FFW and RWD buttons, and an Option button.
One of the best things about streaming movies or other video content is the ability to choose what you want to watch and when, as well as to pause, FFW or RWD that content. The Roku remote for the LT is well made and works using IR. You can use more than one remote with the same Roku player and Roku offers remote controls for sale separately on their website, for those who would like to have more than one.
The Channel Store is equivalent to the Android Market or the app store for Apple products. It includes channels that stream movies and TV shows, such as Netflix, Crackle, Amazon and Hulu Plus. There are also games, news and sports channels, along with specialty channels for things like Anime, comic books, cooking, even a NASA channel. Some of these are free, just add the channel to your player and it will appear on the main menu, or you can immediately go to the selected channel and start viewing content. For channels that require a subscription fee, you will be given a code that has to be entered on the Roku website under your account, after you have made payment arrangements. For instance, I am a Netflix subscriber, but I also use Amazon occasionally to view new release movies. The difference is that Netflix requires a monthly payment for unlimited viewing, whereas Amazon allows you to "rent" a single title for a number of hours for a minimal, one-time fee. New release movies on Amazon cost a few dollars and you can watch the title as many times as you want over a 24-48hr time period, in most cases. Netflix provides a large catalog of streaming titles, all of which can be viewed as often as you like with your paid subscription.
The settings menu provides some configuration options, including audio, video, network and time. There is also a screensaver that can help reduce the possibility of image burn-in on your TV screen. I like to set my screensaver to show the current time, date and weather conditions. The default is a bouncing "ROKU" on a black background screen. You will also find an information screen that provides information on the Roku player, such as current network settings, software version and model number. There is a Factory Reset option on the settings menu, and if this option is used, the unit will be reset. When it reboots, it will ask you to register the unit, as if it was a brand new unit being setup for the first time. The factory reset will not revert the software version, just FYI. In the event the player locks up for any reason and you cannot get to the settings menu, there is a hard reset button on the back of the unit just above the power connector. A quick push on the button will make the unit reboot, but this is not the same as Factory Reset. Holding the reset button in for 45-60 seconds will cause the unit to Factory Reset, which is the same thing as using that option on the settings menu. This information is not included in the troubleshooting information provided in the booklet that comes with the Roku LT.
While testing the LT for this review, I was pleased to find that Roku automatically adds all the channels I am already subscribed to after registration, free or otherwise. Note that you will need to provide your account information for channels that require monetary subscriptions. As for how the player works when streaming, I can say that the LT works as well as any other Roku player. Whether you are streaming a movie, TV show or music, it provides a smooth viewing and/or listening experience. The more bandwidth you have the better, and using a newer generation router (802.11 g/n) will make for easy integration with your home entertainment system. The Roku players will work with older routers, too (802.11b).
Another nice feature is that I can take my player from one TV to another and it works without a hitch. You can even take it with you to a friend's house, on vacation, or just a different room in your home. This applies equally to all Roku media players. Of course, you will need wireless Internet access available at all times to do this with a Roku LT.
In summary, the Roku LT streaming media player is a nice entry-level unit that provides plenty of streaming options. Compared to the price of similar competing products, the LT is easily the most affordable device on the market. It may not be the most feature rich device available, but it packs plenty of entertainment value for the asking price. If you were interested in streaming media players but couldn't justify the cost until now, you will be hard pressed not to give the Roku LT a try. I hardily recommend it!
Buy Roku LT Streaming Player Now
For the most part, the initial reviews here are pretty much accurate, so I'm going to add just a few observations that may be useful to others. Basically, I like the little guy quite a lot and it delivers a lot of value for not a heck of a lot of money. Otherwise:The remote: Unlike some assertions that it uses RF communication (no line of sight necessary), the remote that came with the unit I just set up is ordinary IR. This is a good thing if you plan to use it with most types of universal remotes.
Wireless: It's Wireless "N" at 2.4GHz. In my opinion, this is a pretty poor design decision due to the overwhelming crowding of the 2.4G band in many places. 5GHz "N" has been around long enough that the hardware to implement it is marginally, if at all, more costly than the lower frequency band. I suppose their excuse could be that "most people still use 2.4GHz" or "2.4GHz yields stronger signals in typical houses", but if you can't get ANY signal at all due to crowding, these end up sounding pretty lame.
The physical box: It's very small and light. It's SO light that most (stiff) HDMI cables will push it around to where THEY want to put it, which is not necessarily where YOU want to put it. So you may end up having to put a book or brick on it to hold it down. Or, search around for thin/limp HDMI cables. Such things do exist, but you have to look for them. Since this supports only 720p resolution, the fancy expensive HDMI cables are a waste of money. Well, actually, that's true even for 1080p resolution, but that's another story. Basically, cheap cables will work perfectly fine.
Account setup I: Here's one that was nearly a show-stopper for me. They REQUIRE you to provide a credit card number to activate the box!!! Man, I FREAKIN' HATE CRAP LIKE THAT! Sure, they claim that "we won't charge it unless... blah blah blah..." but I'm just waiting for the news item that goes something like "Roku site hacked and two million customer credit card numbers have been stolen....." followed by the usual "We're sorry" (Yeah, right. Thanks a lot, you idiots.) email, followed by the usual ritual of having to close the stolen CC account and giving the new acct number to all the payees that use it for monthly charges. At least you can block "accidental" charges by requiring that a 4-digit PIN be entered to authorize a CC charge. The bottom line here is that once having bought the device, there's NO defensible reason to require anyone to provide a live CC. This is sneaky, slimy, and abusive in my opinion and should be disclosed in Big Red Letters in the "features" section of the product description.
Account setup II: Maybe I'm just getting old and slow, but it took what I thought was a LOT of fiddely annoying steps (aside from the obnoxious demand for a CC number) to get the box working. Ideally, it ought to be doable from the TV alone, as it was for my LG TV that has this functionality built in. The LG took about 45 seconds to configure for Netflix. The Roku LT .... I'm not even sure. The setup process took a LONG time and many trips back and forth from TV to PC. Had I known that this was as clumsy as it is, I'd have brought a laptop along with me to the TV.
With all that considered, this is still a pretty good deal when you look at the huge amount of content that you can access.
Read Best Reviews of Roku LT Streaming Player Here
New to Roku, so far love it. I was debating which version to buy just as LT became available here on Amazon. Sweet! My only complaint (minor) is that the remote is not the 'new' one with 3 shortcut buttons. Roku customer support claims you only get that version if you buy directly from Roku. He also said it's not available at their online store as an accessory. I wonder if that will change in the future? I was a tad sad but then read you can't remap those three buttons; at least for now they are fixed. If it matters to you buy from Roku. It doesn't matter enough to me to return and repurchase, or to potentially pay shipping. I can't compare LT to other versions as this is my first box. So far it's a winner: minima setup, easy online interface, love the channels, including NBC news programs updated each day. I may be joining the cable cutters very soon now!Want Roku LT Streaming Player Discount?
I own an Apple TV, Google TV (Logitech Revue), and now the Roku LT. I honestly bought the Roku because I wanted simple access to HBO-GO (which isn't available on the others currently).Each device has its strengths and weaknesses, which I would break down as follows:
Apple TV
Strengths: Access to your iTunes content. Access to Netflix content, with slick interface. Airplay is pretty cool.
Weaknesses: Does almost nothing else! No HBO-GO, no Hulu, no Amazon, no Pandora (gasp!).
Google TV
Strengths: Nice interface with TV channels (best if you have DISH Network). Search feature is pretty helpful. Web access works, but is buggy and crashes. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, Pandora and more.
Weaknesses: No HBO-GO. More complicated than necessary. Linking to your own content is more of a pain that it's worth.
Roku LT
Strengths: Simple, elegant interface. Lots of "channels", most of which you'll never know about or need. Access to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Pandora, and HBO-GO. Super portable.
Weaknesses: Picture quality of menu and icons is notch below other streaming boxes, but streamed content looks perfect at 720p. No 1080p on this model, if that's important to you.
For what I need, the Roku LT is the best of the three because it succeeds at the most important task providing access to all of the best streaming sources in one small, portable box. A great deal at less than half the price of the other options.
No comments:
Post a Comment