Roku Express - HD Streaming Player

I used to watch NFL football games with the DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket package. But it just became way too expensive to continue. I thought I would be stuck missing a lot of my favorite team's games on TV until a buddy told me about Roku and the NFL Game Pass app. This Roku streaming player is much like Amazon's Fire TV except it is much smaller, and you don't have to pay anything to watch a lot of its available content. There are apps you can subscribe to that you do have to pay for, but these are clearly marked, and you can create a PIN to make sure others don't sign up for these without your consent. After connecting it to an HDMI port on my AV receiver I simply turned on the TV (also connected to the AV receiver), and the little Roku streamer will walk you through getting it set up. If you don't have your TV connected to an audio system you can connect the Roku device to an HDMI port on your TV. I had no difficulty at all in getting it set up and paired with my home Wi-Fi. The Roku device itself is very tiny. It comes with a strip of double stick tape to secure it to your TV, but I used some Velcro to stick it to the upper edge of a shelf on my entertainment center. The included remote control is almost twice the size of the player, but it is simple to operate and not overly large.The Roku player provides you access to many free apps to stream content, and there are also many subscription services available. In my particular situation, I used Roku to download the NFL app. After paying for the NFL Game Pass subscription (which, by the way, is about a third the cost of the NFL Sunday Package cost) I was able to enter my information into the NFL app on Roku and stream NFL football games. It works flawlessly.Even if you are not a sports fan, Roku gives you access to many movies and TV shows that are free of charge to watch (you do have to endure some advertising, though). It is a fun and inexpensive way to gain a lot of TV content that may not be available to you on satellite or cable TV. I highly recommend it.

I'm already a big fan of Roku, so when I saw this, I decided to give it a try. One thing to keep in mind, this one is 720p and 1080p, no 4K. Works for me, all of my TVs are 1080p. It's small size is great for when we go on trips. All you need is the USB cable as it can draw power from it, no need to bring the power supply. In a hotel room just plug it up, connect to the WiFi, and I have all my Netflix, Hulu, etc. for relaxing in the room at the end of the day. Since it draws power from the TV, it turns on and off with the TV. This is great for when I'm going to bed at night, I just set the sleep timer on the TV, and when the timer turns the TV off, the Roku also turns off. I read reviews stating that it was slow, so I was a little worried, but that is not the case. Yes, since it is powered by the TV, it takes a minute for the Roku to power up and be ready to go. But let's be realistic, it's like 30 second or so, not a big deal. Once up and running, works just as well as my other Rokus. It comes with a strip of Velcro so you can attach it to your TV. As with other Roku models, you can control it through an app on your phone, which works via the WiFi, not line of sight. So, you can basically attach it to the back of the TV, plug the included USB cable into the USB port on the TV for power, connect the HDMI cable, and you're all set. I'm super happy with the Roku Express and should I need another Roku, this is the one I will buy, I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

I only give out 5 stars when a purchase exceeds my expectations. I have streamed shows from Hulu, youtube, and comcast on my desktop computer and only youtube was mostly glitch-free. Even though I have fast cable from Comcast, even streaming from them was nowhere near as enjoyable as regular cable viewing.I expected the same lower-quality from the Roku, but it seemed a better choice that connecting my laptop to the TV so my wife could watch all the shows on Acorn.The Roku is surprisingly small and while a wall adapter is provided, it can also be powered from a USB port if your TV has one. You can also use the included adhesive strip (Command removable?) to secure it to the side or bottom of your TV. Setup is pretty easy and while you don't have to register with a credit card, you should if you are going to pay for any services like acorn.The Roku comes with a nice remote, but now we have 3 to deal with where we only had one before. The comcast remote was the only one we needed, but now we need to have the TV remote around because we need to change the "input" from HDMI2 to HDMI3 to use the Roku. It would be nice if the Roku had an button you could program just for changing the TV input.We selected to have about 8 channels including Acorn. All of the programs I tested were as clear and stable as normal cable viewing. The picture quality is really very, very good. I showed my wife how to use the Roku and now she has started bingeing for the first time. She's pretty happy which is a good thing.I am thinking about getting another Roku for myself. Perhaps the Express+ that has composite jacks for older TVs. We have a treadmill in the basement and I am thinking about setting up the Roku with a nice (but old) little 13" TV that we used to have in our kitchen. It would be nice to watch some shows while endlessly walking and getting nowhere.If you travel very much you should consider that this thing is tiny and will work with any TV that has an HDMI jack. And it will work anywhere in the world if you have WIFI Internet access as long as the connection speed is good.