# Considering Roku for Amazon Prime



## sregener (Apr 17, 2012)

I have an older Panasonic Blu-Ray player that I've been using for streaming for a while now. My frustrations are as follows:

1) From turning on the Blu-Ray player until starting the video I want takes about 1:30. There's a lot of steps to navigate. And a connection test every time I start/pause a program that takes over 10 seconds to complete.
2) The player will interrupt programming to tell me that the bandwidth is too low to continue streaming at the current quality.
3) Sometimes, the player will refuse to connect to Amazon to play a stream, even when I can stream it on my computer.
4) The video will frequently only play with 4 bars instead of 5 (5 is HD).

I have 10Mbps Fiber-based Internet, with a provider that actually gives me a little more. I use a hard-wired connection to the router, but I could do 50+Mbps Wi-Fi as well (that's box to router speed, not box to Internet speed.)

Would a Roku 3 help/fix any of the above issues, or will my experience be similar?


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

Netflix and Amazon work perfectly well for me on Roku, I have them on every TV in the house and most are used at least 4 times a week. 

It sounds like your Amazon Instant Video app is an older app that doesn't do adaptive bitrate streaming. If it can't deliver the full bandwidth, your show buffers. More current devices (like Roku or any current device) solve the issue by adjusting your stream quality based on your available bandwidth. 

A Roku won't get you from 4 bars to 5 by itself, but nothing that we watch on Amazon, Netflix or Vudu takes more than just a few seconds to start. You can see your stream quality dip at times, but on my 20/2 connection it's pretty rare. We can have 3 streams going at once and nobody complains about quality.


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## tomspeer46 (Nov 17, 2011)

I replaced my original Roku with a Roku 3 this year. At my summer home in the Adirondack Mountains, the best internet service I can get is 2 Mbps DSL. Amazon Prime streams well, but at 4 bars, not 5. It is hard do discern the lack of full HD quality on a 37" 720p TV. It is certainly better than SD. The new Roku interface is better, and it is very responsive. The few times that it has had to pause to buffer at 2 Mbps, it was just a brief delay and the stream continued after the pause, with no interruption otherwiswe. I highly recommend Roku 3 for Amazon Prime.


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## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

sregener said:


> Snip:
> 
> I have 10Mbps Fiber-based Internet, with a provider that actually gives me a little more. I use a hard-wired connection to the router, but I could do 50+Mbps Wi-Fi as well (that's box to router speed, not box to Internet speed.)
> 
> Would a Roku 3 help/fix any of the above issues, or will my experience be similar?


The only speed that matters is the Internet speed. If you were using a gigabit Router with a 10Mbps internet connection. The Lowest number is the only one that matters. In other words 10Mbps. I used to see people that thought they had 100Mbps internet speed, No they didn't, They were seeing the Ethernet port speed.

Something like this will give you the real figure. http://www.speedtest.net/
My wired connection usually runs around 80 to 90 Mbps speed for comparison. I never have streaming issues FWIW.

Good Luck


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## sregener (Apr 17, 2012)

TBoneit said:


> The only speed that matters is the Internet speed. If you were using a gigabit Router with a 10Mbps internet connection. The Lowest number is the only one that matters. In other words 10Mbps. I used to see people that thought they had 100Mbps internet speed, No they didn't, They were seeing the Ethernet port speed.
> 
> Something like this will give you the real figure. http://www.speedtest.net/
> My wired connection usually runs around 80 to 90 Mbps speed for comparison. I never have streaming issues FWIW.


I know this. Once upon a time I held a couple of Cisco certifications in my pocket. I was clarifying that the 50Mbps was only the local Wi-Fi, and not the actual speed of the Internet connection.

Multiple speedtest tests have indicated that I am getting just above the promised 10Mbps. Upstream has been anywhere from 50Mbps to 100Mbps, which is not usually how these things work. The wonder of fiber!


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## sregener (Apr 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies, I ordered a Roku 3.


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

You won't be sorry. I haven't upgraded any of my Roku 2 models to the Roku 3 yet, but I've not regretted choosing Roku for my streamer.

And I've owned quite a few. WD, Apple TV, Netgear and one more that I can't recall. The Roku is the best of the bunch for me. 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DBSTalk mobile app


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## sregener (Apr 17, 2012)

Roku 3 arrived yesterday. Holy buckets! Everything about the experience is soooo much better. It keeps track of which episodes I've watched, so I don't have to guess/remember every time I turn it on. Getting to the program selection screen is blazing fast. And the picture quality is better! I thought I was getting the best Amazon had to offer when my Blu-Ray player said HD, but the Roku's is sharper and the color depth is much better. Startup to playing a video is about a second, which beats the "connection test/video loading" long wait of the Blu-Ray.

I'm sure it does far more than I was able to experience last night, but as an Amazon Prime player, this is the "bee's knees."


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## gjrhine (May 16, 2002)

Some channel providers keep track of episodes, The Roku does not.


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## swyman18 (Jan 12, 2009)

Roku 3 arrived yesterday. Holy buckets! Everything about the experience is soooo much better. It keeps track of which episodes I've watched, so I don't have to guess/remember every time I turn it on. Getting to the program selection screen is blazing fast. And the picture quality is better! I thought I was getting the best Amazon had to offer when my Blu-Ray player said HD, but the Roku's is sharper and the color depth is much better. Startup to playing a video is about a second, which beats the "connection test/video loading" long wait of the Blu-Ray.

I'm sure it does far more than I was able to experience last night, but as an Amazon Prime player, this is the "bee's knees."


One thing to keep in mind, there is a known issue with the Roku 3 where the speed of the interface will start to slow down gradually and and become somewhat jerky over the course of a month or so. A restart will restore it's snappy response. 

Otherwise, I agree that the roku 3 is great. 


Sent from my iPhone using DBSTalk mobile app


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

My ISP is offering the Roku2HD for half price, around $30 ...Go for it?

The main differences I see between it and the 3 is the lack of games (which I don't need) and a hardwired LAN port. Are there any functional differences?

I only have 3M DSL, so I'm not sure what to expect there. I might be able to upgrade to 6M DSL, but I'd have to check on that.


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

My ISP is offering the Roku2HD for half price, around $30 ...Go for it?


Functionally, the HD and LT only stream 720p. The XS, XD and Roku 3 all do 1080p streams. 

If you're OK with that, then yeah, go for it. That's better than Amazon's price for the LT and it's not that purple color that many don't like.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Yeah, I caught the 720P difference also, but with 3M service, I don't think it'll matter that much. I only have SD on Dish anyways.

Price was actually $25


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## Reaper (Jul 31, 2008)

SayWhat? said:


> Yeah, I caught the 720P difference also, but with 3M service, I don't think it'll matter that much. I only have SD on Dish anyways.
> 
> Price was actually $25


They sell for more than twice that on eBay so yeah, that's a very good deal.


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## Cyber36 (Mar 20, 2008)

dualsub2006 said:


> Functionally, the HD and LT only stream 720p. The XS, XD and Roku 3 all do 1080p streams.
> 
> If you're OK with that, then yeah, go for it. That's better than Amazon's price for the LT and it's not that purple color that many don't like.





SayWhat? said:


> My ISP is offering the Roku2HD for half price, around $30 ...Go for it?
> 
> The main differences I see between it and the 3 is the lack of games (which I don't need) and a hardwired LAN port. Are there any functional differences?
> 
> I only have 3M DSL, so I'm not sure what to expect there. I might be able to upgrade to 6M DSL, but I'd have to check on that.


Who's your ISP??


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dualsub2006 said:


> You won't be sorry. I haven't upgraded any of my Roku 2 models to the Roku 3 yet, but I've not regretted choosing Roku for my streamer.
> 
> And I've owned quite a few. WD, Apple TV, Netgear and one more that I can't recall. The Roku is the best of the bunch for me.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DBSTalk mobile app


While I'll agree that the best of the streaming boxes is the Roku, I'd still rather have a BD player for streaming. I've tried most of the streaming boxes and I've returned all of them, including two Roku 3s. I finally settled on a Sony BDP 5100 and I'm quite happy with it.

Rich


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## Tubaman-Z (Jul 31, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> My ISP is offering the Roku2HD for half price, around $30 ...Go for it?
> 
> The main differences I see between it and the 3 is the lack of games (which I don't need) and a hardwired LAN port. Are there any functional differences?
> 
> I only have 3M DSL, so I'm not sure what to expect there. I might be able to upgrade to 6M DSL, but I'd have to check on that.


One of the benefits of the Roku 3 enjoyed by my wife and me is the headphone jack on the remote control. Late Friday night when I want to watch The Fast and the Furious 15 I can do so while she peacefully slumbers. And I wake up at 3 AM tangled in headphone wires having missed half the movie. Ah...getting old(er).


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

I know this is an old topic, but the Roku 2 now also includes the headphone jack in the remote.


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