Why I'm Still Sold on Roku Even as Xbox 360 Promises to Offer Netflix Movies, Too

When the Roku direct to TV film option came out (using the Netflix subscriber base and some of its DVDs), I immediately got one. I'd had other options before, including Comcast's pay per view movie service and Netflix's mail delivery of DVDs. This was so much better! I could simply watch movies whenever I wanted, with no risk of a defective DVD in my mailbox, one with scratches on it.

You can see the original article I wrote here, spelling out the reasons we bought the Roku and what options it offers. I'll go over some of those in a moment.

Why I love the Roku and how it compares to other systems we've used

We do have Tivo as well and it is great, for what it does. I need to be able to record breaking news as well as new television shows and the Tivo does that as needed.....most of the time. However, it can be hit or miss and there is a certain error rate, making me record two or three of the same movies or shows so that I can be sure to have one that is actually recorded from the right channel. That isn't an issue with the Roku.

Pay per view is certainly supposed to be convenient but when we used the Comcast system, all too often we'd get error messages and have to call the company. Sometimes the movie would show up on our television screen and sometimes it would not. Even if it did, we might miss part of it or have the weather or something else affect coverage.

How to know if the Roku is for you or not, especially as the Xbox 360 offers similar options

You can read plenty about the movies offered on the Roku by reading guides and reviews of the movie options on the Roku. I have gotten quite a bit of help from Timothy Sexton's guide to Roku movies, as well as his opinion of them. Here is just one example, one that lists the Robert DeNiro movies available on the
Roku.