A couple of months ago, Tim and I purchased the Roku box (100.00). It allows us to set up instant viewing movies into our netflix account and view them on our TV when ever we want. There are over 14,000 movies and television programs to pick from. What Tim and I like about the box is that on nights when nothing is on tv, we can switch the box on and watch so many great movies. Now that winter is descending upon us and my running will be limited outside, there are a number of exercise programs that I'll be able to view.

Last Sunday the following article was written about the Roku box.

Bypassing Netflix snail mail

Posted: Oct. 25, 2008

Soon many of us will scurry inside to hibernate when winter unleashes its full force upon us.

A simple way to stay sane and entertained is watching DVDs, and the convenience of Netflix makes it even easier to stay in and veg out.

That is, until the flow of delivered-to-your-door DVDs is delayed because your allotment of movies is either in transit to you or on the way back to the online movie rental service.

It's for this situation and others that the Netflix player by Roku is so useful, allowing you to stream movies from Netflix over the Internet directly to your television.

It costs $100 at Roku.com.

This small device connects to a television through composite, s-video, component or HDMI cables and then to your home network, either via Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi.

After it's linked and powered up, the Netflix player shows a short code on the screen that must be entered into your account at Netflix.com" target="_blank">Netflix.com. A minute later, any movies sitting in your "instant queue" are available to watch through the device.

For Netflix subscribers who only do the DVDs, a short explanation of the instant queue is in order. In addition to discs, Netflix lets its subscribers stream some of the movies in its collection over the Internet to a computer.

There are about 14,000 movies and televisions shows in this archive, according to a statement from Netflix released this month that announced a deal with Starz Entertainment adding more videos to the kitty.

Titles under the "watch instantly" tab at Netflix.com" target="_blank">Netflix.com can be viewed via the player, making it easy to see what is available. The Netflix player makes it more convenient to watch these online videos on a big screen instead of a Web browser at work when you're supposed to be writing a column. Oops, just kidding.&ensp.&ensp.&ensp.

Seriously though, setting up the player really is as simple as it sounds - there aren't any convoluted menus or confusing commands to muddle through. If you can play a movie on a DVD player, you can figure out how watch videos on this device.

The system has basic features for moving through video - playing, pausing, fast-forwarding and rewinding. You can stop a movie, go to another, bounce back to the first, and it will remember where you left off. Or you can start watching from the beginning again.

For many movies, rewinding and fast-forwarding unfolds in static frames so you can easily select the scene. There are no agonizing buffering delays when you want to skip a scene; it just jumps to the spot you want to watch.

The video quality can be tweaked to suit your television and the speed of your Internet connection. For example, a user with Road Runner's turbo cable modem access and an HDMI connection to a large television would want the best possible quality, while a smaller set and slower connection would be best served with lower-resolution video.

In my experiments, the player delivered movie after movie with no serious interruptions, although it paused for about three seconds during one viewing session before continuing.

I even tried to challenge the Netflix player's streaming speed by simultaneously downloading songs from iTunes on a laptop and game demos from Xbox Live to the videogame system.

The Netflix player's video continued to flow smoothly and without worry.

Still, even the highest video settings provided only moderate picture quality on a 61-inch television - a bit better than VHS tape. Moving the player to a 27-inch television improved the picture, although it still wasn't as good as a DVD.

A slight drop in quality is a small price to pay for so many movies on demand, especially since using the Netflix player doesn't add extra fees to your existing subscription, and you still get your DVDs in the mail.