Roku Announces New Players: Roku SD, Roku HD & Roku HD-XR

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Roku has announced not one but three brand new media players ready for you to take home immediately. These are the Roku SD, Roku HD and the Roku HD-XR players and they are going to be available for $79.99, $99.99 and $129.99 respectively.

The Roku SD might not be your favorite choice but since it’s available for just $79.99 you should definitely check it out. The player connects to your TV with the Yellow-Red-White video/audio cable. It also comes with features like 802.11b/g and Ethernet ports for increased connectivity. As you expect it already, the SD model will only deliver SD shows.

If you’re willing to spend a little more, then you can choose between the Roku HD and the Roku HD-XR players which will let you play all the HD videos you want. Both players connect to your TVs via HDMI or Component video but they also come with S-Video and Composite video outputs. The Roku HD-XR is more expensive since it will come with 802.11n dual-band Wi-Fi for even better connectivity.

Whatever player you choose you will still be able to stream video straight from various content providers like Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand or MLB.TV. Have you decided which one to purchase? Although it seems like a good idea getting an HD version, you’d be better off with the cheaper SD streamer. Roku is slowly growing but the content provider doesn’t have all that many HD titles to offer you yet. For now you can choose from about 17,000 movies from Netflix and 45,000 titles from Amazon’s Video on Demand but only 1,000 of them are available in HD. And since the Baseball season is over anyway, you could wait until next year before getting the HD or HD-XR version.

The players are available right now from either Roku or Amazon, so go ahead and grab the one you want. Right now shipping is free but that might change later.