Since receiving my Roku as a Christmas gift, I have been amazed, on a regular basis at the content available for my streaming pleasure. The Roku Channel Store, alone, provides hundreds of options.You can stream channels such as Hulu Plus, Netflix, Crackle and Pandora directly through your little black box. If you are unable, or unwilling, to afford the high prices of cable TV, this box will suprise and delight you.
I have been using Hulu Plus since I began my Roku adventures, and have been quite pleased with its performance. The Roku box came with a free two-month subscription to Hulu Plus. It has great perks, like their queue, which allows you to store movies and television shows to watch later. It also has a subscribe option to have new episodes put on your queue automatically. These features make planning your viewing easy, and I must say, the streaming quality from Hulu Plus is awesome. However, I am not really impressed with their selection. There are very few movies, and no big box office hits. And some of the things that I could watch with regular Hulu, I am not permitted to watch through my Roku. That’s not nice. Don’t be so money hungry, Hulu.
That brings me to my newest discovery, Play On. I have read a couple of reviews on this app, and they really tend to beat it down. But I would like to give kudos to the Play On team for their content. It blows Hulu Plus away, and at a cheaper price. Yes, you have to put up with some low quality streaming,and the app works through your PC. It’s older technology, but I sure hope the Play On team keeps working to improve it because their content is to die for. If I watch Hulu through Play On, I am technically streaming through my PC. So I have access to all original Hulu content, like The Simpsons. Play On also delivers content from all the major networks , CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX. As well as other networks like, adult swim, Comedy Central, MTV, Spike, You Tube, and lots more.
So, to sum things up, I am torn. I do enjoy being able to watch Hulu Plus while my son is playing his games on the computer, which is not so much an option with Play On, as it stands now. But, I also enjoy being able to stream content from all these other networks. What to do? I think Roku , Play On, and Hulu should all play nice together. Come up with something that works for everyone, and give the people what they want. If you give the customers what they want, they will come. And I can tell you, from a customers point of view, “We want good, quality streaming, with lots of viewing options, at a low price.” Don’t you agree, folks?
