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In December I reported that my favorite Christmas present was a Samsonite spinner small suitcase. On a family trip to Florida, however, another present has proven its worth: my new Roku LT Streaming Player. My wife bought it for me because it was on my Amazon.com wish list, but she had no idea what it was. Basically, it’s a box that streams TV and movies from the internet to your TV. If you already have a Netflix Watch Instantly subscription, a Hulu Plus subscription, or an Amazon Prime subscription, you can use this box to watch TV shows and movies for free.
When we travel, my family likes to make the most of each day and then relax at night, often by watching a movie or some shows. What we don’t like are the high prices that hotels charge for in-room movies! With the Roku box we were able to connect to the hotel’s internet and connect the box to our hotel’s TV to watch TV and movies without paying extra. We have now tried this in two hotels and were amazed both times that even with spotty internet, the Roku streamed movies without a single hiccup the entire trip! While our iPods and iPads struggled to maintain internet connectivity, the Roku somehow managed to keep plugging away. I don’t know how it did it, but it was awesome!
The device is small and light so can fit easily in your luggage. Also, Roku offers a free iPhone app that works as a remote control so you don’t even need to bring along the included remote! FYI, the Roku LT sells for about $50. It’s true that if you have a laptop along, you can make it do basically the same thing as the Roku, but trust me that this option is much more convenient. Just don’t forget to also bring along your travel router to ensure good connectivity (see Better Hotel Internet for more).
Thanks Mrs. Miler!
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The Roku is great! Another thing to think about is if you have a smartphone/tablet you can get a HDMI out cable and link it directly to the tv, displaying netflix, or a movie/music that is on your phone/tablet. I just bought a micro-usb to HDMI cord for my Samsung skyrocket and it’s tiny, and great for travelling!
We got one for Christmas, and it didn’t even occur to me to travel with it. Great suggestion!! Now I love it even more.
Good idea for travel. I’d get one with both USB and ethernet inputs. Not sure but I think the Roku 2 is the only one that offers either. It’s that much more useful to have a library of movies to watch any time via USB (or NAS without the hickups of a wifi connection).