Comments for David Gulbransen

Comment on iPad2 Review by family attroneys

family attroneys — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:02:33 +0000

Yes, it’s cool that it senses when you close the cover and puts the overall ,to this falls solidly into lame territory for me…

Comment on Boxee Box vs. Roku by trailmix

trailmix — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:18:51 +0000

There is also a media server software called Gabby. The client side is a Roku channel and the server side installs on the PC to serve up photos, videos and music. Enjoy.

Comment on PlayOn by Scott

Scott — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 13:55:58 +0000

Dave – thanks for your insightful reviews on Boxee Box | Roku and Playon. Very helpful.

Comment on Boxee Box vs. Roku by Kate

Kate — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:16:08 +0000

The lack of Hulu support finally made me disconnect the boxee box and put it back it its box. (In the closet.) We’ll keep it for a 2nd TV upstairs one day.

I whipped out the bucks and bought a new mac mini with HDMI output. First thing out of Jena’s mouth when she saw it, “But you spent a half an hour telling Dave how the Boxee is a better buy than the mini.”

Whoops. Did I? I forgot about that.
But we needed Hulu streaming. The ability to pop a DVD in the front slot. And the super stable networking that only the mac can provide. Plus, I was toying with the idea of getting an HDHR3 and running EyeTV as a DVR. But that may not be necessary. We have yet to find a show that’s not easily available through streaming or download.

It’s fun being on the cutting edge of cable cutting.

Comment on Boxee Box vs. Roku by PlayOn

PlayOn — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:30:20 +0000

[...] week, I wrote up my experiences on the Boxee Box vs. Roku and I mentioned that one of the frustrating limitations of the Roku was the inability to view local [...]

Comment on Boxee Box vs. Roku by Dave!

Dave! — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:45:03 +0000

If you’re looking for a “cable replacement” kind of box, I’d probably start with the Roku, too. Amazon and especially Hulu Plus are super nice… I wish Boxee would get their Hulu act together.

Another friend also suggested checking out PlayOn (www.playon.tv) on the Roku. It looks like a very interesting way to get some cable channels via streaming! If they added the Big 10 network, I think we’d have a winner.

Good luck! And share your experiences when you get things up and running!

Comment on Boxee Box vs. Roku by IrishDaze

IrishDaze — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:28:20 +0000

Thanks SO much for your prompt and thorough reply! My three unequivocal needs are (1) Amazon streaming (2) Netflix streaming (3) local content playback. Since both boxes accomplish these three items, it’s the ancilliary features that have me stuck, but your head-to-head comparison and and answers to my follow-up questions have clarified matters a bit.

What I’m really hoping for in the way of additional-to-the-above functionality is something as close to “the cable tv experience” as I can get. Per a PCMag (I think) review, this means the Boxee should be my choice, but, when it comes right down to it, is “the cable tv experience” a NEED or a LIKE? I will probably end up going Roku and then adding a Boxee later if the Roku “channel” approach leaves me wanting (as some reviews have mentioned).

Comment on Boxee Box vs. Roku by Dave!

Dave! — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:55:44 +0000

1) Yes, the Roku will play local media off the USB port (I’ve only tried thumb drives, but I can’t see any reason a hard drive won’t work). It’s not perfect at it, though, sometimes I’ve had difficulty getting files to play.

2) Yes. As long as you have the HDMI ports on the TV, you can hook them both up to the same TV at the same time. The Roku (the XD/S model) also has component video out, so if your TV only had one HDMI input, you could use that for the Boxee and use component for the Roku. The quality won’t be as good as with HDMI, but for most streaming video it will be fine.

Comment on Boxee Box vs. Roku by IrishDaze

IrishDaze — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:46:56 +0000

Hi, Dave —

Thanks so much for this, I’ve been looking for a comparison like this one for quite a while now.

Two follow-up questions for you from your practical experience

(1) Will the Roku play media from a simple external hard drive connected via the USB port [rather than a NAS] and

(2) Can one attach both a Roku and a Boxee to the same televison concurrently so that you have the functionality of both always available?

Comment on Blawg Review #291: Sua Sponte Thanksgiving Edition by Kevin Thompson

Kevin Thompson — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:13:45 +0000

I’m thankful to Jonathan Bailey for his even-handed post on the George Bush plagiarism controversy, posted at Plagiarism Today – http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2010/11/16/the-george-w-bush-plagiarism-controversy/.