Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player $79.99 Shipped @ Amazon Gold Box

FYI: Comcast does not allow their HBO subscribers to access HBO GO through the Roku 2 XS.

$80 pays for my 1 TB hard drive on which I can store movies and videos, record live television, with a cable tuner and cable card, I can save on my cable bill while recording paid cable television, and the computer can play and rip DVDs and BluRays.

The way I look at it, the computer cost about $400. Subtract off the cost of this useless device and it costs an addition $320, eliminates the need for a DVR and Blu-Ray player and is a complete computer my kids and I can use in the living room to play tons of real video games and watch and record all the television we can handle.

This device is for the ignorant. HTPCs are vastly superior in every respect and are worth the difference because they are complete entertainment systems. I am using mine right now to type this response. Then I can go back to playing left4dead. And later when my kids get home, they do their homework on it and play their games all while it records their favorite TV shows.

In case anyone is interested, the link below outlines thew supported filetypes for local streaming from a pc/usb/other source. It's pretty limited.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/490...g-screen/7

Yes, using Plex Media Server.

You're so cool with your media computer and your kids playing their favorite games, and recording their favorites channels :-)

Someone's an A-hole alright...

$80 pays for my 1 TB hard drive on which I can store movies and videos, record live television, with a cable tuner and cable card, I can save on my cable bill while recording paid cable television, and the computer can play and rip DVDs and BluRays.

The way I look at it, the computer cost about $400. Subtract off the cost of this useless device and it costs an addition $320, eliminates the need for a DVR and Blu-Ray player and is a complete computer my kids and I can use in the living room to play tons of real video games and watch and record all the television we can handle.

This device is for the ignorant. HTPCs are vastly superior in every respect and are worth the difference because they are complete entertainment systems. I am using mine right now to type this response. Then I can go back to playing left4dead. And later when my kids get home, they do their homework on it and play their games all while it records their favorite TV shows.

Cablevision (Optimum) too does not allow ... :-(

Will Roku 2 XS work without cable? I'm planning on canceling cable soon. Will Roku work with free OTA signals from an antenna? Also anyone know the difference between this Roku and Roku 2 HD,that's selling on Amazon for $64.99.

Will Roku 2 XS work without cable? I'm planning on canceling cable soon. Will Roku work with free OTA signals from an antenna? Also anyone know the difference between this Roku and Roku 2 HD,that's selling on Amazon for $64.99.

Does this have a USB plug so that I can plug in my HDD and watch .mkv files?

http://support.roku.com/entries/4...el-support

likely, but i wouldn't go as far to say "all" mkv's, but others can speak more on that. it doesn't have .avi support, but if you get the plex channel and stream from your pc it will play ALL formats. it transcodes them, but you can choose quality.

There is also a Plex Channel on the Roku which I use for streaming my content.

http://elan.plexapp.com/2011/05/0...-the-roku/