Roku!

We've been pretty happy with the Roku Netflix player. It's tiny, easy to setup and use, and the streaming is quite smooth. There's no additional subscription charge, just $99 for the unit. All you do is add to your "Instant Queue" and it shows up on the player, ready to stream. While not perfect, the interface is good for a first run. Buffering takes some time, but considering the high quality, it's actually not bad. It automatically resumes programs and you can fast-forward / rewind / pause to your heart's content. The "chapters" are a little weird and you can't view special features or change languages like a regular DVD. I'm hoping they upgrade to include those features (they are supposedly upgrading for HD soon as well). It hasn't been a huge problem for us, since we've been mainly watching TV episodes.

The selection could use a boost (I guess it depends on what deals Netflix can arrange with studios) but we've been pretty satisfied catching up on 30 Rock, Doctor Who, and random documentaries, like 3 hilarious hours of Kevin Smith and a deep introspective of the Helvetica font. There are a number of respectable shows, including Dexter, The Office, Heroes and Weeds, as well as classics like Knight Rider, The Hulk, and all nine episodes of The Tick! I haven't paid much attention to the movie list, but at first glance, seems pretty decent.

I think Netflix has done a good turn on this one. As long as they can keep the choices growing, I really hope this endeavor is a huge success for them!