Hi, I'm Molly Wood from Cnet.com and I'm here to show you how to get started with the Roku digital video player.
Okay, first, what the heck is the Roku digital video player? Well, in a nutshell it’s a $99 set top box that you plug in to your TV and your internet connection and then you can stream Netflix, watch now movies of TV shows. Or Amazon video on demand, movies and shows to your television.
Now there's no monthly fees for the Roku box, but you will have to pay for a Netflix subscription and of course, ala carte for the Amazon video. But overall, it’s a good way to get rid of your cable, if you don’t mind the slightly small selection.
So now that you understand what it does, here's how to set it up.
Once you unbox the box, you’ll see HDMI, component video, S video, and composite video ports, as well as a digital optical port and of course the standard red and white analog stereo outputs here. If you want your video to look at all decent or you have an HDTV, you will need an HDMI or component cable. Sadly, you only get this standard composite AV cable in the box. However, since the box does have composite and S video connections, you can hook it up to pretty much any old TV or even a computer monitor as long as it has a TV tuner.
You do get batteries for your remote in the box, but be aware that the remote is annoying. To put the batteries in, you have to pinch this and slide it down and then pop it out. And then to get it back in you can't just slide it straight down you have to put it back and kind of the same position, not like this, but like this. And then make sure it pops in. it’s kind of weird and kind of annoying.
Alright, time to plug in the box. Now I have an HDTV here so I am using an HDMI cable and of course don’t forget the power next to it. Next you want to connect the box to the internet. You can use Ethernet and that cable is also not included or it has built in wifi, so then you can follow the on screen instructions for entering your SSID and your password. And press select to begin here. We choose wireless. And of course it will look for wireless network. There we go. So we’ll choose CBS interactive. And you can see it gives you this nice status buttons on the screen here. You just follow the on screen directions basically to search for your access point.
Alright. We’re all set up. Start.
Now you're back at the home screen and we can set up our Netflix options. Now if you're not a Netflix member, do not bother starting up on this screen. You’ll select no start my free trial and then you’ll end up in a screen that tells you to go to your computer. And it gives you this special Netflix.com/Roku URL for a free trial. But it’s the same trial that you get from Netflix.com. And when you click continue on that Roku’s specific page, you just end up at the Netflix homepage. So if you're not a member yet, just become one online before you even bother with the box.
If you are a subscriber, click select. And then choose yes, activate streaming from Netflix. The Roku box will generate a code once you hit that select button again. And then you can take this code over to Netflix.com/activate and type it in there.
Now if you run into problems getting your code, you might not be connected to the internet. That happened to me a couple of times. If you didn’t start with the settings menu, go back to the home screen and configure your wire to wireless connection and then start over.
Once you’ve got the code and entered it in to the website, then your box should give you this little congratulations message and you are ready to start watching. Once you put some movies in your instant queue. You have to do that at Netflix.com first, which is kind of a pain. But once you’ve add a bunch, you're all set for next time.
Okay, that’s it for Netflix. The other option on your Roku box is Amazon video on demand. These are movies and TV on a pay per view basis. Now once again, before you can start buying or renting, you need a purchase pin from Amazon. So go to amazon.com/videoondemand/paymentsettings. Which I know is very catchy. Then you choose a 5 digit pin and click save settings.
Now most movies are about $3.99 to rent and about $14 if you want to buy them. And that if it’s available to buy. TV shows are about $1.99 per episode.
Let choose one here. And now we have to go to amazon.com/Roku and enter this code so that that is activated as well.
Now whenever you find a movie or TV show you want to rent, you just enter your pin, hit select and sit back and relax. And there you go. You're ready to dump your cable and live off movies and on demand TV.
Well you know. Once Amazon and Netflix have slightly bigger libraries. But this is a good place to start.
For Cnet.com, I'm Molly Wood. And you’re welcome.
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