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Best Buy Roku HD1000 High-Definition Digital Media Player

Roku HD1000 High-Definition Digital Media Player Review

I bought the Roku HD1000 so that I could display digital photos in HD on my TV. I was not disappointed. In fact, the results were outstanding! If you use a memory stick, SD card, or compact flash disk, the setup couldn’t be easier.

If you want to get files from your PC over a network things get more complicated. Not complicated in a technology sense, but in a user interface sense. You need to do a bunch of clicking to get things set up.

If you want to play music from your computer, the interface becomes a hassle. You end up browsing through a hierarchy of folders to find the song you want, and it’s basically not worth the trouble.

I already own an Audiotron, which does for music what the Roku does for photos, and it’s so much easier to use that the Roku will be a photo-only device for me. The Audiotron saves you the endless folder browsing by automatically searching the entire network for music, and then organizing it for you. It allows you to very quickly choose music by artist, album name, song title, or genre. The Roku could do with a lot of improvement in this area.

The irony is that if the Roku had been billed as being for photos only, I’d have given it 5 stars. It’s really the only game in town if you want high definition photo display on a TV, and it’s terrific! For trying to be a video and music solution as well, and being poor to fair in those categories, I deduct a star. If you want a solution for music or video, buy something else.

Roku HD1000 High-Definition Digital Media Player Feature

• High-definition media player supports 1080i, 720p, and 480p outputs for optimal viewing on high-definition and HD-ready TVs
• Designed for convenient living room slide shows and MP3/linear PCM music playback from your memory cards or personal computer
• Compatible with Roku Art Packs and LiveArt (not included) for high-definition wall art from still and motion images
• CompactFlash, SD, MMC, Memory Stick, and SmartMedia slots
• Can be networked with your PC through an Ethernet port or Wi-Fi

Roku HD1000 High-Definition Digital Media Player Overview

The Roku HD1000 is the first high-definition digital media player, designed to make the most of your HDTV’s brilliant color and clarity. Tap into your home computer network or pop in a memory card to enjoy high-definition digital photos, art, LiveArt, music, and third party applications. The Roku HD1000 is based on the Roku OS, an open platform that includes Roku’s advanced media APIs and the Linux Kernel.

Roku HD1000 High-Definition Digital Media Player Specifications

Amazon.com Product Description Early Adopters Pick: October 2003. This is the world’s first high-definition digital media player.

Whether you’re already equipped with a high-definition TV or still using a standard CRT set, the HD1000 from Roku puts all manner of digital entertainment before your eyes and ears. Tap into a home computer network, hook the unit up to a stereo, or simply pop in a memory card–then sit back and enjoy your favorite photos, artworks, music, or LiveArt (full-motion images of beaches, waterfalls, etc.).

While it will work on nearly any monitor, the HD1000 was designed to make the most of a high-definition television’s brilliant color and pristine clarity. The HD1000 makes viewing and sharing treasured digital photos easier and more exciting than ever. Photos displayed through the device will look crystal-clear on your high-definition or big-screen TV. No more crowding around a PC monitor in your cluttered den–the HD1000 lets you relax and view digital slideshows in a leisurely atmosphere.

Not watching a program on your wall-mounted plasma display? Now you can create stunning wall art with a click of your remote. Roku’s Art Packs (not included) are a simple way to enhance your décor and make use out of an idle HDTV. Choose from a range of images–classic masterpieces, stunning nature scenes, or a lifelike aquarium–and bring them to life in your living room. Or, use LiveArt to change your surroundings without changing your location. Bring a rippling mountain lake, a leafy summer forest, or a white sand beach with soothing waves to turn your living room into a pool of peace and tranquility. The HD1000 supports looping HD MPEG2, standard JPEG images, and MPEG clips. (Art Packs come on CompactFlash memory cards; just pop in the card and choose your favorite scenery.)

Next, liberate your growing library of digital music files from your PC and listen to them through a home stereo. Roku lets you listen to files on any of various memory cards (CompactFlash, SD, MMC, Memory Stick, SmartMedia) or over a simple Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection, so you can enjoy your favorite music through the high-quality sound system in your living room. Its attractive onscreen display shows the current media source and displays its contents as well as the media file in play, with full ID3 data for music files.

The HD1000 offers built-in protection to reduce the risk of image burn-in on your TV screen, too. (The unit can’t prevent all types of burn-in, of course–it’s ultimately your responsibility to use your display’s manual and common sense to prevent burn-in.) The HD1000’s Screen Saver mode engages when the HD1000 is your primary video source, and it can even step in whenever one of your other video sources stops moving. When placed in a pass-through configuration–with the signal from a DVD player, say, passing through the HD1000 on its way to a screen–the HD1000 can detect when the video input source is still and will automatically generate a changing Screen Saver.

The HD1000 is based on the Roku OS, an open platform that includes Roku’s advanced media APIs and the Linux Kernel, and for which other companies can design as-yet-undreamed-of accessories.

What’s in the Box
HD1000, user’s manual, remote control, remote batteries (two AAA), a component-video cable, a stereo analog audio interconnect, and an AC power cable.

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Customer Reviews

Good product for the bleeding edge adopter - Paul M - SF, CA. United States
The Photobridge is a nice product if you are looking for a bridge device between your PC and your HDTV. The product is of the most use with the 2.x “beta” version of the software and a couple of third party applications called Mplay and SlimRoku. It takes a healthy understanding of computers to get this device working, and with the above software and a 100Mb network connection there is little this device wont do. If you really want good information I would recommend looking at the forums on www.rokulabs.com and look under the Third Party applications topic for the Photobridge.

It’s so not what it could be - B. Goldberg - bay area
I had high hopes for this unit and quicky discoverd it ain’t what I’m loking for. For starters, the company openly states their goal as being to use their consumer electronics products as simple proof-of-concept products to highlight what the hardware and softare can do. They’re not their to provide end-solutions - they’re an OEM manufacturerer. That justifies the beta software, which I installed and ended up frying my machine, so it’s going back tomorrow. Also keep in mind that it’s a shell with bare-bones functionality, and you’re expected to downlaod and run a thrird party app to actually mke it run, There are 2 or 3 available, but that’s a lot less palatable than having the functiomality built it.

Good Luck!’

Not what I expected - Robert Dodd - Baltimore
Purchased the HD1000 for audio streaming and photograph display. The high definition digital display of photographs is great. Easy to set up and use. The audio capability is much more limited and not at all easy to use. I believe Roku is somewhat misleading in their claims about the audio capability of this unit. Many popular formats are not supported although Roku suggests using third part software. This is very limited and I am not a fan of having to use third part software to upgrade a product to meet its marketing claims. If audio is important to you, look elsewhere. I am disappointed with the device.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Feb 09, 2010 07:34:03

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Tags: Digital, HD1000, High-Definition, Player