Roku – Stream Movies Direct to Your TV (Giveaway!)

Has this ever happened to you? You are looking for something great to watch on TV, flicking through the channels, only to discover that there is nothing on that interests you? Or have you ever been in the mood to watch a specific movie but hate the hassle of having to drive to the video rental store to get it? This happens to me and my family all the time.

We have a satellite dish with a “gazillion” channels (LOL). I cannot even begin to tell you how many times we flick through the channels but really can’t find anything we’d like to watch. Actually I should say that “we” (my husband and I) cannot find something that “we” would like to watch together. I can usually find something to watch on TV.

We used to rent movies from the video rental store down the street (which has since gone out of business). They charged $4.00 to rent a DVD for 3 days and something like $2.00 extra for each day it was returned late. There were plenty of times we were unable to return a DVD in time (especially in the Winter with inclement weather) which really added up. We finally decided to subscribe to NetFlix. We pay $8.99 a month and we are allowed to have one DVD at a time. We usually keep the DVD for a week so in a typical month we get 3-4 DVDs for that low price. We ♥ Netflix!

NetFlix also offers movies and TV shows that you can view instantly on your TV so you don’t have to wait for the DVD to arrive. We use this option all the time thanks to our Roku. Roku, to quote my Mom, “Is the greatest thing since sliced bread”.

A Roku is a very small converter type box that hooks up to your TV. I personally didn’t hook ours up because we have the satellite dish, a burner, Blu-ray and DVD player plus surround sound. There are way too many plugs and wires to work with. I left it up to my husband. He had the Roku set up in minutes.

I love the small, compact size of the Roku. It barely takes up any space which I appreciate since we already have way too many things for the TV. The Roku also comes with a small remote.

The Roku allows us to stream thousands of movies and TV series from NetFlix Instant View, which is part of the $8.99 plan that we have. I literally have about 200+ movies in my instant view que on the Roku. I love cheesy horror movies so I have plenty of them in que as well as documentaries and shows and movies for the kids.

You can also “rent” movies from Amazon.com and watch them instantly on your TV via the Roku.

The Roku comes with several FREE channels that you can access directly. You can also subscribe to channels via the Roku. Recently Roku added Hulu Plus to their line up. Its a paid subscription service. It allows you to watch the current season of your favorite shows likes Modern Family, Glee, House and dozens of other popular series. That means if you miss an episode and do not own a TiVo you can watch it instantly on your Roku if you subscribe to Hulu Plus.

There are a few premium pay subscriptions for the Roku, however they do offer plenty of FREE channels too. One of my favorites is Pandora. Pandora is an online radio station where YOU get to pick and choose the music you want to listen to. Currently on my Pandora account (on the Roku) I have Christmas music playing. Earlier today as I was cleaning I turned on the TV and Roku, went to the Pandora channel and listened to holiday classics as I cleaned.

Other FREE channels include TuneIn Radio, Roku Newscaster (news), Flixster (current movie trailers), AlloyTV (entertainment), NASA, Vimeo (videos), and more.

Another fun feature with the Roku is the ability to connect with your Facebook account. You cannot update your status or read any text but you can see all the photos you have in your profile as well as the profile of all your friends. I love visiting my cousin’s Facebook pages via the Roku and seeing all of their family photos on my TV. My kids enjoy seeing their pictures on the TV too.

There are so many other channels you can add to your Roku is you wish from independent films to Kung Fu Theater and from Major League Baseball to Cowboy Classics. There is something for everyone on the Roku.

My kids love using the Roku. Its easy enough for them to use.

Another feature I love is the ability to browse movie selections on NetFlix on the Roku. I don’t need to search for movies on the computer. I can do it directly from my TV screen. For example, if I’m in the mood to watch a Hollywood Classic like “White Christmas” all I need to do is turn on the Roku, go to the Netflix “channel” and enter in “White Christmas” in the search box and if the movie is available for instant view it will appear on the Roku.

The Roku works a lot like a VCR or DVD player where you can stop, rewind and fast forward through a movie.

Personally the Roku is a “must have” piece of technology. If someone said to me I was only allowed to have one piece of TV equipment; Roku, DVD player, Blu-ray player, or Satellite Dish I’d choose the Roku because you can do so much with it.

To learn more about Roku you can visit www.Roku.com. The Roku would make a great gift idea for someone who enjoys watching movies and TV. I think this would be great for a college student too.

Roku is available in three different players, HD, XD and XD/S. They range in price from $59.99 to $99.99. Once you purchase a Roku there are no additional fees or monthly service fees (except for the premium channels if you wish to subscribe to them). For the average viewer the HD or XD is fine. The XD/S has the most “bells and whistles”.

Currently Roku is giving away the XD/S player to FIVE lucky winners each day from November 21, 2010 (tomorrow!). Each winner will also get ONE YEARof Hulu Plus service FREE!

There is still time to enter! All you need to do is follow them on Twitter (@RokuPlayer) and tweet the following message (exactly as it appears).

Win a Roku XD|S and 1yr of Hulu Plus! Retweet this and follow @RokuPlayer and @Hulu to win. #HuluPlusRoku

HURRY! There is still time to enter.

Just in case you are not lucky enough to win one of the XD/S players from this contest you can still win a Roku player here on She Scribes. One lucky winner will be the Roku XD player ($79.99 value).Thank you Roku for the generous offer!

To enter please visit the Roku website (www.Roku.com) and check out the various channels. If you click on the top task bar where it says “What’s On” you will be taken to the section with the various channels are found. Check them out then come back here and comment on a channel you would like to have on your Roku OTHERthen Neflix, Amazon and Hulu Plus.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done. Extra entries are optional.

- Subscribe to She Scribes and/or Connect with Google Friend Connect. Both options are found on the right side bar.

- “Like” Roku on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/Roku.

- “Like” She Scribes on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/SheScribes.

- Follow Roku on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/RokuPlayer.

- Follow She Scribes on Twitter (@She_Scribes) and Tweet about this review/giveaway. Be sure to include me in the Tweet so I may see it too. This is limited to three Tweets per day.

- Use any or all of the social networking site buttons found at the bottom of this post to promote this review/giveaway. Be sure to tell me what you did and provide me with a name and/or URL so I can verify.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 30, 2010 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name, mailing address (no PO Box) and a phone number (for shipping purposes ONLY) or a new winner will be chosen.

Other great giveaways can be found on the right side bar under “Win It”.

Kimberly

*I received a sample unit free to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own. Roku will be supplying the prize.

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