Over the Top TV (OTT)

Back in August 2010 I bought Western Digital's WD TV Live Plus media player at Best Buy. After taking so long to decide on a media player I didn't want to wait for delivery from Amazon and luck was with me that Best Buy matched Amazon's price.

I settled on Western Digital's media player over the Roku because back then the Roku's features and pricing were more expensive than WD's. The WD TV Live Plus (and the features I mention are available only on the Plus) has:

• External USB ports for connecting an external drive for viewing photos, downloaded video podcasts or your home videos.
• Native 1080p HD viewing (meaning I can view Netflix at its native 720p), Netflix is upgrading to 1080p
• Support for HDMI, component and composite video connectivity
• Ethernet connection, wifi connectivity an option with purchase of wifi adapter

A similarly priced Roku offered:

• No external USB port
• Native 720p HD only
• HDMI support only (connectivity to older TVs not supported)
• Wifi and Ethernet connectivity

So buying Western Digital's TV Live Plus gave me more bang for the buck! Almost six months later the feature / price ratio has changed in Roku's favor as the Roku XD has reduced in price and offers:

• An external USB port
• Native 1080p HD
• HDMI, component and composite video connectivity
• Built-in wifi and Ethernet connection
• Suite of native apps for a variety of services like UStream.TV, YouTube, TWIT.TV, Revision3, Blubrry, Netflix, Amazon Video, HuluPlus, blip.TV, The Onion News Network and finally the iTunes Podcasts library among many others.

I know this because in December I wanted another media player for my bedroom and opted for the Roku XD/S which Amazon featured as a Black Friday purchase for $59.00!

Roku has an online database of channels members can elect to add (most are free) to their My Channel feature and, of all the channels I've added, the iTunes Podcast channel has proven the best. I am now able to access all of my favorite video podcasts via the iTunes Podcasts channel easily and conveniently for viewing on my television.

Most of the video podcasts I was viewing on the WD TV Live Plus media player were those I had downloaded to an external drive and then connected to the WD TV Live Plus for viewing on the TV.

However Roku makes it so convenient and easy that I no longer need to download my video podcasts, save them to an external drive and then connect the USB drive to the Roku. I simply select iTunes Podcasts channel and begin watching!