Roku 3 Streaming Media Player

Bought this at a seemingly discounted price. This model does NOT have the voice search feature, if you are interested in. We watch the Roku constantly. Navigation is snappy and there is very little lag. Video quality is excellent. Setup was easy. I found that LAN connection works remarkably better than Wi-Fi. Loading times are much quicker through LAN and Wi-Fi speeds tend to be less consistent, so if a wired connection is possible, it is worth connecting. Compared to other streaming video players, the ROKU is by far the best. They have the biggest selection of channels, and we never have to worry about getting logged out on the Roku, unlike on the Wii and our Sony Blu-Ray player. One caveat, beware of channels that auto-terminate. Netflix will usually require you to press a button after it has automatically played 3 episodes of a series consecutively. We once watched a video on YouTube and turned off the TV, and found the next day that it was still autoplaying video after video. Wasn't a huge deal for us, but if you are worried about using too much data, just make sure you press the HOME button before you turn off your TV for the night. We found that we enjoy the Roku a lot more than having cable TV, and we have saved hundreds of dollars over the past year. Definitely a great option if you're not a sports-addict!

Prior to buying the Roku, I would use my Wiiu to stream movies or shows from Netflix or Hulu. The Wiiu worked fine, and the interface was vastly improved from my old method of accessing streams via my Wii. However, I was limited in the Wiiu with what services I could gain access to. So after doing a little research, I found that a product I had never really heard of before seemed to keep popping up as a suitable replacement. I remember thinking that having a single device solely for streaming would be wonderful; allowing me to connect to multiple services from one source instead of using the Wiiu for a few, then my computer or iPad for others. So, I went ahead and took the plunge, and boy am I glad I did. The 4200XB is everything I thought it would be and more. It was easy to set up, small and compact, and even has an option to mount to the back of the TV. After the initial set up, I began browsing the interface which ran surprisingly smooth. Loading up a service like Netflix seemed to take far less time than on the Wiiu. And once in Netflix, the smooth browsing continued through an extremely easy to use interface. Now, after establishing my core services (Netflix, Hulu, Anazon), I kind've went a little crazy adding other options to my home menu. I could not believe everything that I now had access to! I even discovered services that I never knew existed. And what's even cooler (more cool(?)) is that the Roku in your house is linked to your Roku account online. So even if you are not home you can access your account and add or remove any services you deem necessary. A few days later I popped back on and bought one for my media room upstairs. It has nearly been a year, and I still find myself contemplating just how cool (and powerful) this little box is. I am now a Roku fanboy for life.

I was a bit hesitant about buying a refurb product but so far this has been a good buy. The only problem I had was with pairing the remote, for some reason Roku doesn't put it in the very beginning that this has to be done. I thought that it would automatically connect. The Roku box itself had a few faint scratches on the top which I expected from a refurb, but the remote looks brand new. So far it does not get overly hot, but I have it resting on a cake cooling rack so don't know if that makes a difference. The remote works well when I tested it with Angry Birds. I have a slow Internet connection (2 mbps) but streaming has been good with Netflix and Amazon, only some documentary channels have a buffering issue. I bought a second refurb unit and so far it is working well, it was in even better physical condition than the first. Both units are connected via ethernet. When both units are used at the same time, there are buffering issues but that is due to the slow Internet. UPDATE July 24, 2014 Now that I've had the two units for a while, I've had to reconnect to the network (despite being hard wired) on one unit three times (this morning); and on the second unit I had remote issues - can select home and ok buttons for some things, but not play, re-pairing the device worked the first time for Netflix, but it's happened again today and putting in new batteries and re-pairing hasn't worked for Netflix, but the buttons work in Amazon Prime, so not sure if it's a Netflix problem. It was working earlier in the morning. Decided to unplug Roku, wait 10 seconds, plug back in and re-pair remote. Play and OK Buttons are now functional again. Hope it doesn't mean the units and/or remotes are starting to fail!

I had a Roku 2. I really like it but then I got "feature envy." I read some tech reviews comparing Roku to the Apple TV. I took a chance and bought the Apple TV, hoping to really like it. Mistake. I have many Apple tech devices and they work well. Except for Apple TV. I was constantly "fighting" with it; it took forever to launch Netflix, took forever to launch other apps, configuring was NOT easy. I was ready to pull my hair out. And then I saw an offer on factory re-certified Roku 3. The Roku 3 has all the features I am looking for plus the reputation or (and my own personal experience) Roku, at a great price. Boom. Problem solved. So far I love my Roku 3! To steal a tag line - It just works! Everything works smooth. Apps load quick and you're watching your fave programs in seconds, not minutes. The remote is useful, well laid out and the headphone jack is handy for late night marathons. If anyone is in the market for a (very) slightly used Apple TV, I have a bargain for you.

Bought two of these refurbished units. The first one (6/2014) was perfect - no problems and it looked and worked like new. The second unit ( 11/2014) was very used in condition with a lot of scratches on the case. The remote was dirty with fingerprints, had scratches on the plastic, and dead batteries as well. The unit behaved erratically with numerous glitches, reboots, and wired connection loss. It was promptly returned for a refund which was processed the moment the return shipment was delivered to UPS. I decided not to try another refurbished unit and bought brand new which has worked flawlessly. Buying refurnished is a gamble - perhaps not worth the $12.00 savings with tax over a new one at today's price of $84.99. Return and refund was easy and prompt.

This is my second Roku 3, and it's every bit as good as the first one. We found ourselves moving the first one back and forth between 2 HDTVs, and eventually I decided it would be easier to just have another Roku. Every review I've read (not just here on Amazon) says the Roku 3 is the best of the streaming devices, and I can't argue with that. It never gives us trouble with lags or screen freezes or anything else. It just works. This Certified Refurbished unit was about $5 less than a new one (until Amazon put the new one on sale today -- darn!), but you'd never know it's not brand new, except possibly for the different packaging. Everything looks new, the documentation is included, and it functions like brand new. Just no issues with the refurbished model, except possibly one .... My remote was not paired with the main unit when I received it, unlike the first (new) Roku 3 I bought. Fortunately, this situation is one of the topics covered in the included booklet, along with how to pair them. It's easy and it takes less than a minute, so no big deal. If your unit doesn't seem to respond to your remote, go to the back of the booklet, run the manual pairing procedure, and you'll probably be good to go.

I bought the Roku 3 for the fast processor. It came with one live battery and the other was dead. I checked them before starting my setup. I had to call support because I just had the Roku sign moving around the screen after the PC setup. They told me to unplug power and re-power. It started to load my PC setup channels. They said it should be ok now. It did not complete. Unplugged again and it finished the process but the remote would not work even though it worked to get this far. I removed the batteries and put back in and everything worked. Watched two Netflex movies last night and it worked perfect. There directions of watching a light every time you press the remote is misleading and may cause people to send the unit back especially the refurbished. It's hit and miss for setup. Unplug and re-plug power not listed but should be to get this thing going. I was ready to send mine back. I believe that's how they get the refurbished from poor set up directions and people give up. My unit looked brand new except for the crack across the top that I thought was a design. Another clue to doubt the unit as faulty and give up. This is a heads up for future customer purchases. I believe some may have no trouble out of the box but if you do give yourself a couple of hours to get things right. I dropped cable a couple of years ago and use an antenna. I don't miss it because I watched the local channels which are now free. I will enjoy movies without commercials from Netflex. Good luck.

I have been a Roku user since they released their original device - circa 2008. At the time I purchased it as an alternative to cable. I have been using it as my primary streaming device both with and without a cable subscription up until this summer (2015) when Roku dropped their support of "Classic" roku devices. While Roku was generous enough to offer a small discount on their upgraded devices, it didn’t really seem like a consolation for the fact services were being dropped from a device that I bought primarily because it was a "one time cost" for access to channels like HBOgo and Hulu on my TV. I opted instead for the more economic option that would provide access to nearly all the same channels, the Chromecast. While, I do like this device and especially its pricetag, I realized after a few months that I much prefer a roku box and remote option to a device driven solely by my (often dead or dying) cellphone. While the Chromecast does provide nearly the same functionality as a roku, there is something about the roku interface and separate remote that make it feel more like a replacement for a cable plan than its understudy. Putting the Roku vs. Chromecast debates aside, I also had reservations about purchasing what appeared to be the same product that I already owned simply because the manufacturer decided to stop supporting their original product. None of the upgraded features seemed significant enough to me to warrant an additional $50-100 when my device still did its intended job. After letting my stubbornness on this win out for most of the summer, I am happy to say that the upgrades are in fact significant. The new roku interface itself is more intuitive and aesthetically pleasing. The main change is away from a scrolling-strip-style menu system to a tile-based one. Now up to nine channels can be displayed at once on the right side of the screen, while a persistent quick-navigation bar—for My Channels, Channel Store, Search, and Settings—is displayed on the left side of the screen. The responsiveness of the device is also greatly improved from the classic roku. Obviously technology eventually begins to decline after a certain amount of time, but my classic roku would occasionally have delays or struggle to find/keep internet connections even fresh out of the box. More recently my old roku began spontaneously restarting and encountering more and more "glitches" in streaming. This seemed to be more related to the device itself than internet speed, so it is likely a result of age and the fact that roku stopped pushing software updates to this model. Overall, I am not sure that I would have recommended an upgrade from any of the earlier versions of the Roku if not for the fact that services are being dropped from certain models. I am happy with this product overall and as compared to my older device, but they are not game changers from one version to the other. If you are completely new to Roku or still on the fence between all the streaming devices out there, this one does get my recommendation over Chromecast, game consoles, etc. It feels and looks very much like a smart TV rather than an ad-hoc streaming option.

I m buying this to replace the one I took with me to Florida last week and left behind somewhere. I decided to try the factory rectified one for $25 less than new since it had the same warrantee. In general I love this unit and use it every day. I don't have any need for something like HBO or Showtime, nor do I have to record movies on TV with small daily selection and lots of commercials. My major use is Netflix (90%) and some Amazon Prime that I get since I do a lot of purchasing here to eliminate driving all over Hells-Half-Acre trying to find something and have used Prime since it started when we were living and working on our boat in St. Thomas. It save us mucho time and money renting cars and driving all over looking for something not available on the island. Amazon simply shipped it to our marina and we picked up things every week when we returned. Well, thats really about Prime. More on the Roku 3. As I said, I use it mainly for Netflix and the balance is Amazon Prime, PBS, FOX News, and other things like this. I very seldom pay for a movie unless it is something new and especially well rated and then we treat it as Friday at the Movies. We are never without things to watch including many of the great TV series but without commercials. One other great thing is that while Mary is an early riser, I am a night person. With Roku 3, I can plug in my Bose Quiet Comfort 15s into the remote and there is nothing to keep my ever-loving awake. There is only one small item that I should warn folks about, especially those who travel a lot and wish to take their Rokus with them. There is no way to use a hotel or resort internet that requires login and password to use since it does not have the capability. It does, however, use a router signal that requires login-in information so in this way the Roku is slightly "brain dead" or, you might say, "brain challenged." To use it while away last week, I first used my telephone as a mobile hot spot forgetting that this use eliminates incoming WiFi and uses 4G instead. Wow! Did the Gigabytes pile up. I have a 2 GB plan and quickly ran over this several times to a total of 9GB that I am trying to stay under until my service date…5 days left at 8.272 GB used so far. Wish me luck. I did end up using screen mirroring the telephone. I went back to WiFi Netflix on the telephone and plugged in an HDMI cable with a micro-USB adapter to the telephones port and then streamed into the TVs #3 HDMI port. Worked okay.

If you're debating between buying a brand new Roku or this recertified one, buy recertified! I received my recertified Roku 3 on Aug 5. The box and remote were in great physical shape and setting it up was a breeze. I've had no issues with the box and I use it every day. The only "problem" I experienced was that the remote didn't automatically pair with the box during setup, but there was a sheet of paper in the box that provided easy steps to pair the remote. It took all of 30 seconds to pair and then I was able to continue set up of the Roku. I haven't had any issues with the remote since. If you're debating between a Roku 3 and an AppleTV, buy the Roku! I had an AppleTV for ~2 years before switching to Roku a few weeks ago. I switched for 2 main reasons: 1. The Roku interface is nice than AppleTV's. It seems sleeker and more modern. I also like that channels like Netflix and Hulu Plus automatically start playing the next episode once the current one ends. On AppleTV, it takes you back to the episode screen and you have to navigate to the next episode. 2. The Roku has WAY more apps/channels than the AppleTV. The 2 biggest channels missing from AppleTV for me were Amazon Instant Video and Time Warner Cable. I get cable through my HOA and was paying $13 a month for HD. However, with the Roku, I'm now able to watch my Time Warner Cable in HD for free (albeit not all channels, but the ones that I watch are included, plus on demand)! I was able to cut the HD from my monthly bill and save that $13 a month. And, as an Amazon Prime member, I get free Amazon Instant Video and now I actually have an easy way to watch it on my TV. I originally bought the AppleTV because I have an iPhone, iPad, and Macbook, and figured it made sense to 'keep it in the family.' However, in the end, I wasn't even using any of the features like AirPlay (which I found to never work well - I would always have to bust out my HDMI cable because the connection was choppy despite my fast internet) or listening to my iTunes through the TV (because I have a wireless Bose speaker). Once I realized I could save over $100 over the course of a year by selling my AppleTV to a friend, cutting my HD, and buying a recertified Roku, I was excited to make the switch!