What is the Best Media Streamer for the Price?
Now that Apple has revealed its new Apple TV device (apparently
available sometime in October) many people are going to start to get
serious about purchasing a media streamer. While I still think there
is far more flexibility with purchasing a small computer tower or
laptop for your media, the media streamers hitting
the market now are so affordable they are getting tempting.
The main streamers on the market now (including Apples future machine)
is the Roku XR, Pop Box, LG BD550 and Apple TV. How do they stack up?
Well, as far as price goes, the cheapest options are the Apple TV and
Roku players at $99, but the others aren’t far behind at $130 (Pop
box) and $150 (LG BD550). As far as their capabilities, they vary
more than their price, mostly on what type of files/services they can
play. For example, some can play downloaded files, while others rely
on services like Netflix and YouTube.
So, which media streamer should you buy? It really depends on what
type of content you like to watch and where you get the content.
Pros and Cons of Available Media Streamers:
Apple TV
Pros: The price is pretty good at $99, and like most Apple devices,
they are generally easy to use. Another positive of this machine is
the size, it’s amazingly small and has the neat Apple look we have
come to expect. Another great option, which we should expect nowadays
is that it handles a WiFi connect.
Cons: The video quality tops out at 720p and doesn’t offer a 1080p.
The content is limited to HD TV shows from ABC & Fox for $0.99/piece,
HD Movie rentals for ($4.99/3.99), and Netflix, iTunes, and YouTube.
So don’t expect to download or stream your content from random sites
with this box.
Roku XR
Pros: The Roku is also fairly small in size and offers more content
types than the Apple TV. Another plus is that it also accepts a WiFi
connection and will soon have a 1080p upgrade (currently 720p). One
content that stands out from the rest with this box is that it accepts
an MLB.tv account, so baseball fans, this is the choice for you.
Cons: The only available content is Netflix, Amazon VOD, $0.99 HD TV
show purchases from Fox and ABC, MLB.tv, UFC, NBA GameTime, YouTube,
and Pandora.
Pop Box
Pros: Finally, an option where we can download some of our own
content, this machine can play XviD, MPEG-4, MKV, AVI, h.264, and WMV
files. Like the others so far, the Pop Box also a WiFi, but it’s an
optional adapter. Lastly, this machine does 1080p.
Cons: It’s fairly large and slightly more expensive than the others.
It does handle some subscription content (YouTube, Revisions3,
Blip.tv, but not as much as the Apple TV or Roku player.
LG BD440
Pros: This unit has the best audio option with 7.1 audio, DTS-HD MA,
Dolby TrueHD audio (the others all have 5.1 audio). Also, this machine
is a Blu-ray player, which none of the others even have a disc drive
of any kind.
Cons: Again, the content is limited (Blu-ray discs, VUDU, Netflix,
CinemaNow, YouTube, Pandora, Napster). Another major con of this unit
is the lake of WiFi, this will have to be wired to the net. As far as
size goes, it’s a little big, but about what you would expect from a
Blu-ray player.
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Comments
Agree Roku is the best streamer right now for web content. Fr local content, try Boxee Box / WD TV Live plus.
Here is a more updated list for 2011.
http://reviewhorizon.com/2011/01/best-media-streamers-players-2011-%E2%80%93-top-10/
Roku just announced a price drop from $99 to $69. That model doesn’t have wi-fi, but if you can plug in then you are good to go.