Replace nowTV box with roku 3?

[gillmacca 17]

This is my setup.

MBS installed on my laptop which is connected to the internet wireless

Media is on a readynas nv+ v2, which is connected to the internet via ethernet

Media is streamed through a nowtvbox, connected wireless to the internet

 

Obviously, the nowtv has a bitrate max option of 3.5mbps, where as the roku 3, i believe can go up to 30mbps.

99% of my content is in SD, but mixed formats.

 

Would it be worth it for me to replace my nowtv box with a roku 3? What sort of benefits could I expect?

 

Many thanks for any info supplied

[CBers 7450]

Which version of the MB client do you have on your Now TV box?

 

I run v1.87 and it quite happily plays 720p and 1080p content on it with transcoding.

 

Not sure what benefit the 3 will have apart from a wired connection and probably a swisher interface due to the better hardware.

[gillmacca 17]

I am running the latest version, but I get quite a bit of buffering, and it takes a while before I can watch a movie (nowtv says retrieving)

[CBers 7450]

That's to do with connections.

 

I assume your laptop does the transcode processing, which is only wireless connected to your NAS.

 

Then the Now TV box is wireless connected to your laptop.

 

If your MBS was on a wired connection it would be quicker to access the files before transcoding them. Where is your transcoded files, on the laptop?

 

Also, it depends on the speed of the processor on your laptop.

 

This all adds up to the delays.

[richspam 1]

Another little benefit with the Roku 3, is that you can plug a headset into the remote.

I'm surprised just how much I like that little feature with mine :-)