Geek/techie post
Posted by Michael.
(1) What does the soapboxosphere know about the Roku? It’s kinda an iTV + Netflix thing, where for $99 you get a box that allows Netflix subscribers access to their entire ‘Watch Now’ movie database. No extra fees, no computer necessary. My take is that the aaplTV will provide new/hip/trendy things, while this Netflix things gives you good access to older/nonpremium films.
(2) A recent study concludes that even with HD-DVD defeated, BluRay hasn’t immediately taken off, in no small part due to the fact that Blu-Ray players still cost a billion dollars. Duh. (But I still want one).
(3) Two more uses for AirportExpress:
(4) Finally, if you’re traveling a lot, I don’t see how/why to not get one of these. Screw the Macbook Air, you can put your whole computer in your pocket, as long as you have a host computer to boot on. 160 Gig for $129, and measures in at 12.7 cm x 8.1 cm x 1.8 cm.
May 29th, 2008 at 3:21 pm Using
1) The reviews I’ve read say that the Roku has a horrible interface. Of course, I don’t know if that’s just people being pissy or not. One thing that the AppleTV definitely has over it though is the 720p formatted movies. I think the Roku basically only does compressed standard definition. What I’m waiting for is Tivo to strike a deal with Netflix or someone to rent high-def movies to watch on my TivoHD. Right now you can rent standard definition from Amazon, but it’s just not the same.
2) I had a blu-ray player in my amazon shopping cart and immediately after HD-DVD got killed, the price spiked up. For a while, I was getting warnings from Amazon “an item in your car has increased in price” every week. There just isn’t going to be wide adoption until the player prices come down. At the moment, it’s actually cheaper to buy a PS3 as a movie player than a dedicated blu-ray player. (And apparently the quality is better than a standard dedicated player too.)
4) I got a http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=391 as my backup drive. Just marginally larger than the one you showed, but 320 GB was only $139. Plus, it’s pretty snazzy in red.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:06 pm Using
Good to know, thanks Nathaniel. I had recalled reading bad stuff about the Roku a while ago, but didn’t know if that was still relevant. I have to assume that eventually they’ll upgrade to hi-def but who knows when that will be. Or, as you say, Tivo gets in on the distribution market.
Blu-ray would/will be nice once you can get a good, reliable player for less than $200. Until then, a standard DVD with decent upconversion will look just fine on a 720p HDTV. 1080p is a good way to spend money that really should be in your IRA.
The 320 gig for $140 is nice, where was that? I keep waiting for a flash/thumb drive large enough to hold OSX – then you have a bootable Mac wherever you go!
May 30th, 2008 at 3:02 am Using
For those interested, CNET has updated their review of the Roku box – it echoes what is said here: it’s decent, has potential, and I’ll look into it again, later.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:11 am Using
I got a http://www.maxtorsolutions.com/en/catalog/OT4_Mini/ the other day. It is kind of slow, but 250GB for $89-10%=$80 is not bad. I’ll use it for back-up anyway.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:51 am Using
I got the Western Digital drive from http://www.bhphotovideo.com. They were running a special for free shipping too.
I think that high-def download is going to run into serious problems just because of the size of the files involved. You’re talking about 8 GB/hr, so a long movie might end up being 20 GB. That a lot to download no matter how fast of a connection you have. It brings up the old question, “What’s faster gigabit ethernet or pneumatic tubes?” The answer is the tubes because you could always just physically disks.
As for something to put OS X in your pocket, LaCie has some credit card sized USB devices that hold 40 GB. You can fit a lot into 40 GB.
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm Using
Oh, speaking of MacBook Airs. One of my friends here just got one and he says that he hates his MacBook Pro now. So big and heavy.
Of course, the purchasing people here messed up and got him the SSD drive instead of the regular one… that really adds to teh snappy.