Comments on: Why $100 is the sweet spot for the right set-top box

By: RJ

RJ — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 13:37:08 +0000

The $100 price point is right on. Like a previous poster stated, $100 for a tech gadget is not a huge burden, but $200 or even $300 won’t cut it. I personally have 2 of the WD Live Plus devices in my home. My 3 main criteria were Netflix, storage, and networked streaming and the WDLive Plus does all 3 exceptionally well. Picked them up from Best Buy for $99 each.

By: Feech

Feech — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:44:02 +0000

I have to agree with this 100 percent. As a consumer I know that $100.00 for me at least is not that big of a burden if purchasing something tech related. Anything over $200 I start to second guess and delaying purchases

By: GyratoryTech

GyratoryTech — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 11:46:10 +0000

apple vs google

By: Courtney

Courtney — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 03:19:42 +0000

Isn’t the Roku also an open platform? I believe anyone can develop for it. So, I don’t see what it wouldn’t grow and improve as well.

Roku’s recent developer contest had developers creating social channels, games, a sqeezebox client, etc. So, I don’t think it’s limited just because it won’t interface with your dish network box or cable box.

I think some people want to know if these streaming players can replace their existing cable/satellite subs, not augment them. So, not having a dvr isn’t a big deal if you can get the show any time you want. So, the big question is availability of content. If I can buy shows from Amazon that aren’t on hulu plus, then instead of giving directv $1000/yr, I could buy 50 series for a whole year, assuming about 20 episodes per series. And, if I watch less tv than that, and can get much of that programming via hulu plus for $9.99/month, then I’m saving a lot.

The only problem is local news and sports. Roku already has MLB.

By: Mathieu

Mathieu — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:13:13 +0000

I’m all for a 100$ Google TV box but I’m not sure how it’s going to happen.
The Google TV need to process 1080p Flash videos and that requires a lot of power.

By: Roy

Roy — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:58:38 +0000

What about the Boxee box? I’ve played with the software – it has some bugs to work out (it doesn’t do a very good job of correctly identifying movies and tv episodes on my NAS) but has a ton of functionality and is very customizable. It’s only $200 (preordered). I’m still waiting for reviews on the hardware, but I think the price is right, especially when compared to the more limited functionality of Apple TV and the Roku.

By: Dizzle

Dizzle — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:43:11 +0000

The reason the logitiech revue cost as much as it does is because of the keyboard/universal remote. It uses the same harmony technology found in Logiteich’s high-end remotes. The remote for the most part, works seemlessy with your home entertainment center and is fully customizable by setting you keyboard shortcuts.

I own a roku player and a logitech revue. The revue has an overwhelming feature advantage over roku. Google TV is an open platform and will be evolving and improving over time. This makes it future proof. It is not like an appliance that has it’s functionalities and limitations set in stone.

The moment I began using the revue, I soon realized the value of consolidating video media from multiple sources.