Several months ago I bought a Roku 2 XS streaming player for my living room. I wanted something simple, economic, and quiet to play media (movies from my Home Server via Plex) or web content (Netflix and TWiT). It worked great with Netflix and other online streaming services. Most MP4’s were fine but some were jittery; that seemed to sort itself out over time … I guess an update to the software fixed it. My Sky satellite box had a cabling fault so I couldn’t watch much TV. It was like that for months, and I didn’t care. Why? I was watching stuff via the Roku more than I was watching broadcast TV. Broadcast TV became the filler between things I wanted to watch online or streamed from the home server.
When I bought my house I decided not to put a TV in the bedroom. The reason is that from time to time I just can’t fall asleep and I wanted a simple clean room with no distractions. It turns out, that no distractions is a distraction for my overactive mind. So today I finally relented and bought an LED HD TV for the room. I hate cabling and I didn’t want to put in a second Sky box (with the additional subscription cost). I didn’t want to put in an Xbox360 with the noise it creates. Instead, I decided to go for the lower end Roku LT. That’s all I need; it’ll play from Netflix, it’ll stream from Plex on my home server, and there’s even a channel that has the network stations from the USA. It’s not going to play 1080p HD like the Roku 2 XS but it’s half the price and is enough for the “small” screen TV.
Luckily I work for the Irish distributor of Roku and of the brand of TV that I bought so the package didn’t cost me too much 
If you’re outside the USA then note that the number of channels available on Roku is much smaller.
I did have the choice of going Apple TV (we also distribute Apple) or even an Android thing from Noontec. But the Roku has done the job.
Aidan, I agree. The roku rocks. My wife and I are on our 3rd (living room, bedroom, office). I plan on buying a 4th for when I travel. They are small, compact, and I can get the great ‘home experience’ from the hotel.
We also broke our ties with cable TV several months ago, and we are not looking back. My wife agrees, this was the best decision ever. The only thing we are now in the market for is a good DVR solution for our local broadcast channels. Know of any? 🙂
I don’t – I’ve never even used a DVR. There’s so little broadcast stuff here worth recording. I get everything I want through … alternative means … because the local networks do such a shocking job at scheduling desirable programming on a regular or even predictable basis. About the only “network” that gets the way to distribute is the NFL Network, and I subscribe to their international Gamepass product for HD streaming of any game I want plus the NFL Network, which I can watch anywhere but inside the USA.