Ever since Netflix started streaming movies on demand over the Internet I’ve been skeptical. Sure, it might occasionally be nice to watch a movie on a laptop and yes, it’s technically possible to hook a PC up to a television and watch a movie that way. But let’s face it — watching movies on your typical computer screen isn’t an optimal experience, and hooking your PC up to a television usually isn’t the most practical solution. So I basically ignored the streaming part of Netflix’s service while I continued to enjoy new DVD’s showing up in my mailbox as fast as I could watch them.

However, the one drawback to a service like Netflix is the lack of immediacy. There are nights when I feel like watching a movie. A dumb movie. Something with round-house kicks and fart jokes. And then I realize the only DVD’s from Netflix currently in the house are Bergman and Fellini flicks. What to do? For awhile I’ve tried running out to the grocery store where they have DVD rental vending machines that let you rent any of the (mostly new release) movies in the machine for $1 per night. Not a bad deal, but ultimately there were two problems with it. First, the stupid machines are broken more often than not, typically when trying to return the movie. Which means you have to call the rental company and complain about it being broken so they don’t continue to charge you for the movie while you wait for the machine to start working again. Second, running out to the grocery store to rent a movie kinda defeats the whole purpose of subscribing to a DVD delivery service in the first place.

So, imagine my delight when I noticed that Roku, makers of my beloved Soundbridge, had introduced a “Netflix Player.” Intrigued, I spent some time Googling the appliance and was surprised to see overwhelmingly postive reviews for it. Even better, the player cost only $99 which made ordering one an easy decision. I spent the next few days anxiously hopping from foot to foot waiting for FedEx to drop off my Netflix Player. And yesterday they finally did. The player arrives in a box about the size of a typical hardcover book. In the box is a “Quick Start Guide,” the player, composite cables, a small remote, and a small power supply. The player itself is surprisingly small — about the size of a paperback book. Nevertheless, Roku manages to cram in HDMI, component, composite, and digital outputs, along with wired or wireless internet connectivity. Setup could not have been simpler. I removed all the items from the shipping box and scampered downstairs to install it into my home theater. I plugged in the power supply, and connected the player up to my TV using the included composite cables. Next I turned on the TV and switched to the video input into which I had plugged the Netflix player. Immediately I saw a screen prompting me to go through a setup wizard. First I had to choose whether to use a wired or wireless connection. After choosing to go wireless, I selected my wireless network. The player immediately connected to the network and tested the internet connection. Finally, it displayed a code on the screen with instructions to visit my Netflix page on a PC and enter the code. I did so, and upon returning to the room I saw that my movie queue was already displayed on the screen. Giddy, I selected “Breaker! Breaker!” (Roundhouse kicks, yes. Fart jokes, none.) The screen went blank and I watched as the movie buffered, which took about 30 seconds. After that, I watched the movie as if it were a DVD sitting in my local player. So was setup easy? I’d say that going from opening the package to watching a movie in under 5 minutes qualifies as pretty easy.

Is it perfect? No, not quite. Currently there is no HD video available, though that is supposed to come by the end of the year. Apparently the lack of HD is a Netflix thing, not a limitation of the hardware. You can’t browse through all of Netflix’s movies through the player — it only shows movies in your queue, which means you do have to move things you want to watch into your queue using a computer before sitting down with the player. Also, the player seems unable to work with multiple queues. Still, those are minor quibbles and if Roku continues to upgrade the software for the Netflix player like they’ve done for the Soundbridge I’d imagine those quibbles will be dealt with sooner rather than later. All-in-all I’m so impressed with it I plan on ordering a second for another room in the house.