Do you have a Roku? Do you want a Roku? Do you have any idea what a Roku is? Do you care? Would you like to see some info on a Roku? Well too bad. First things first then. What is Roku? From the Roku website:

Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch movies and TV shows from Netflix or Amazon VOD, listen to music on Pandora, catch the latest ballgame, and more — it’s all available whenever you want it.

In the realm of electronics the Roku is categorized as an internet streaming media device. Assuming you already have high speed internet, strap one to your favorite TV and you can stream offerings from Netflix, Amazon VOD, Pandora, MLB.tv, Vimeo, Flixster and more. That’s a large amount of entertainment from a device that only measures 1 inch tall by 5 inches wide. And options? Oh yes friends, Roku has options galore.

Roku is rolling out three, count’em, three new boxes for our digital enjoyment: The Roku HD, XD and XD/S.

The price points on the three offerings are $59.99, $79.99 and $99.99. With such a narrow price margin across the different models it’s easy to talk yourself into buying all the bells and whistle of the XD/S at $99.99 as it feels like a better values. Well played, Roku. How about dollars trading hands after purchasing the hardware? Again, from the Roku website:

There are free and premium entertainment channels on Roku. Free channels include music services (like Pandora, RadioTime), major network news (Roku Newscaster), original programming on current events and culture (Revision3, Twit.tv), photo and video sharing (Flickr, Facebook Photos, Vimeo), and much more. Premium channels include subscription movie, TV, sports, and music services (like Netflix, Major League Baseball, MP3Tunes) and on-demand services (Amazon Video On Demand). Many of these channels provide free trials or make parts of their service available for free. Amazon currently provides a free $10 credit to new Roku customers to apply towards on-demand movies and shows. Some even enable you to use them on other devices like mobile phones and computers. Roku does not charge extra to access any premium channel. For example, a Netflix subscription that provides access to a streaming library of over 20,000 movies and TV episodes starts at just $8.99 per month. Roku simply works with that subscription — there is no extra fee.

You’ll notice they didn’t really name specifics on price points and that’s for a couple of reasons – for one, who wants to have to keep up with the price each individual media provider is charging and for two, and more importantly, not having anything in print lets you adjust what you charge for content without memorized price points reverberating in your customers brain.

And that’s about it kids. In a field with opponents wearing badges from WD, Seagate, Sony, Netgear, Linksys, Apple, Microsoft and apparently even your next door neighbor, the Roku seems like a pretty solid entry.

But what do you think? Love it or hate it – but write us to have your say as to why!