Foreword
When it comes to streaming media online there is no shortage of products available however when it comes to quality products at affordable prices, the market suddenly gets tighter and far more competitive.
The Roku LT is the budget model of the Roku series which includes the Roku LT and Roku 2 XS in the UK and the Roku LT, Roku HD, Roku 2 XD and the newly announced Roku 3 in the US.
Price & Where From
Priced at just £49.99 you can pick up the LT Player from a number of places (and in some places you save 1 pence).
In The Box
- Roku LT Streaming Player
- Remote Control
- RCA Composite Cable
- Power Supply
- Product Guide
Specs
- 802.11n Wi-Fi (b/g/n compatible) with WEP, WPA and WPA2 support
- 480i (over composite video)
- 480p (over HDMI)
- 720p (over HDMI)
- 720p high-definition (HD)
- 16:9 anamorphic
- 4:3 standard
- Analog Stereo (mini-jack to left/right/composite video RCA)
- Digital over HDMI (5.1 surround sound pass-through and stereo)
- Less than 2W (typical) when streaming HD video
- 5.2V – 1.0A power adapter
- 84mm x 84mm x 23mm
- 85 grams
Device Layout
The layout of the device is very minimalistic. The front of the player simply has the product name and the rear has a 3.5mm RCA port, a power adapter port and an HDMI port.
The top of the device has the letters LT embossed into it to signify the product name (obviously).
The remote control (UK Variant) is again a very simplistic design and is very light weight.
Software Overview
The software for the Roku LT is a customised software running apps created in a Roku-specific language called BrightScript.
BrightScript is a scripting language similar to VisualBasic so if you know your stuff then there is a good opportunity for you to do something neat via their developer programme.
It’s worth mentioning here that the interface and software for the Roku LT is being upgraded in May 2013 to support the new interface being launched on the Roku 3.
Hints & Tips:
- Set up your home router with a service like UnoTelly to unlock the US content for the UK (Box must be set up from scratch using this method)
- Take a look at the Roku Private Channel List as there are some great ones like JustinTV and NowhereTV
- Keep a laptop or phone nearby when setting this up as you will need it to use some of the channels
- Download the Roku App to use as a Remote Control, it helps for those “where is the remote” moments
- When adding a new channel go into the channel store then back out to apply the update immediately
Good Points
- Size
- Weight
- Design
- Speed
Bad Points
- No advanced network settings
- Does not come with HDMI cable
- Channel Sign Ups
Conclusion
Let’s start out with getting the negatives out of the way then such as mot having advanced networking settings. This was a major let down for me in truth, I have a Sky Broadband service and they don’t (stupidly) allow you to change the DNS settings. Using a proxy to get the US content is something that I now can’t do so please Roku, add advanced network settings to the UI.
One of the most annoying things about the Roku box is the fact that you need to sign up via websites to a lot of the channels, not because they cost money but because they require activation though that said, the major channels like Netflix, Spotify and BBCi Player do not need this level of sign up.
Moving on to the channels themselves, a lot of the channels are aimed at the older clientele and when I say older, I do mean older with a lot of them featuring programming from the 1940’s and 1950’s which when you consider the average age of those buying this to be 18 – 40 I would say is a little too old.
In summary, the Roku LT is a great piece of technology for it’s price. Though it lacks some of the more advanced features that the others Roku boxes have, the LT holds it’s own in market that it’s set out to tackle.
SCORE
[rating rating=’3.5′]
