What Gadgets do you plan on Buying this Holiday Season?

[Laridae]

I think I'm pretty well set for e-reader tablets, but maybe a new smartphone is in order.

The new Nexus 4 perhaps, to be available in the next couple of weeks.

Note to self:

Better be extra-nice to Santa for the next little while.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

I will have to see if I can sneak something past my wife....

Not a good idea.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It's my favorite "reading" device. I always have it with me in my pocket. In the words of that AmEx commercial - "don't leave home without it"

Spoiler:

"Who is that, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo. Baba O'Reilly.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm gonna go nuts and buy a Roku.

The Roku is nice and you are able to get Closed Captioning with Netflix on it.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Hope you enjoy yours. I love mine! They just added (within the last few days) a search feature that searches across content "channels". If you haven't already, bookmark Roku Private Channels Directory. Not that there aren't enough "official" Roku channels to keep you busy, but it's always good to have more options!

Thanks for that link.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I thought about going that route, but I just don't buy, rent, borrow, or even currently own very many DVDs... at all. A UHF antenna, a Netflix account and Roku will easily satisfy my weekend visual-media needs.

Plus, don't know if it's important to you, but streaming with the DVD players, you cannot get Closed Captioning. I have bad hearing and need it. My husband who has normal hearing also likes it cause sometimes the music is so loud and the dialog is soft. And sometimes you just cannot understand what they are saying.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Cool; it'll be great for taking family portraits

Why did no one ever smile in these old photos.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by sadievan

Plus, don't know if it's important to you, but streaming with the DVD players, you cannot get Closed Captioning. I have bad hearing and need it. My husband who has normal hearing also likes it cause sometimes the music is so loud and the dialog is soft. And sometimes you just cannot understand what they are saying.

You can also try a soundbar and/or wireless earphones. I have some Sennheiser wireless headphones, hooked up to the soundbar. I found out that over the last 10 years, the price has come down considerably, now under $100 (I had to buy another pair when the dog chewed on mine). I use the earphones when I watching TV while my husband is sleeping (he doesn't want to watch Knitting Daily or Hoarders, imagine that!) or when a lot of people are talking at once (Mahr is great example). But the difference in watching the news with just the soundbar on is amazing. It really makes it a lot clearer and crisper.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by sadievan

Plus, don't know if it's important to you, but streaming with the DVD players, you cannot get Closed Captioning. I have bad hearing and need it. My husband who has normal hearing also likes it cause sometimes the music is so loud and the dialog is soft. And sometimes you just cannot understand what they are saying.

Your husband and I are kindred spirits.
My hearing's fine too, but I get tired of constantly trying to regulate the volume (down for blaring anthems, up for mumbled dialog), so I pick a comfortable level and turn on the closed captioning.

I knew that CC wasn't available with many of the Netflix apps on different devices (and many of the apps are older on TVs/DVDs), but I was unaware that it was a Roku feature. Another pro. Thanks!

Are there firmware updates available for Roku very often, or do you basically get what you get; when you get it? I've gone through several love/hate relationships with the various versions of the Netflix app on the Wii.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

You can also try a soundbar and/or wireless earphones. I have some Sennheiser wireless headphones, hooked up to the soundbar. I found out that over the last 10 years, the price has come down considerably, now under $100 (I had to buy another pair when the dog chewed on mine). I use the earphones when I watching TV while my husband is sleeping (he doesn't want to watch Knitting Daily or Hoarders, imagine that!) or when a lot of people are talking at once (Mahr is great example). But the difference in watching the news with just the soundbar on is amazing. It really makes it a lot clearer and crisper.

I used to use wireless headphones, but my hearing has deteriorated so bad that I cannot use them. I did get a new hearing aid (had to go with behind the ear for more power) and it can link to the TV through a wireless box directly to the aid. Even with that though it is hard to follow some of the dialog. Especially if it is a British show that we have become fond of. The accents are hard for me to grasp.

[Sydney's Mom]

I understand that--if only they spoke English!!!

The soundbar is a lot more clear than the speaker that comes with the TV. Dialogue is where we enjoy it the most, but we are blessed that our hearing hasn't gotten that bad (yet). I saw the Who at Summerfest in Mailwaukee when I was in college - my ears are paying for it now.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Your husband and I are kindred spirits.
My hearing's fine too, but I get tired of constantly trying to regulate the volume (down for blaring anthems, up for mumbled dialog), so I pick a comfortable level and turn on the closed captioning.

I knew that CC wasn't available with many of the Netflix apps on different devices (and many of the apps are older on TVs/DVDs), but I was unaware that it was a Roku feature. Another pro. Thanks!

We just recently found out about the CC on the Roku. I am extremely hard of hearing and it was getting hard for me so I started to research some. Netflix listed devices that support CC on their site and Costco had the Roku. Amazon still does not do CC on streaming.

Are there firmware updates available for Roku very often, or do you basically get what you get; when you get it? I've gone through several love/hate relationships with the various versions of the Netflix app on the Wii.

We just got the Roku a couple of months ago so I haven't noticed any updates yet. I would think they would just update over the WiFi automatically cause it is always on. There is no option to turn it off. It just goes to 'sleep'. In fact they may have and I just may not have noticed it.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I understand that--if only they spoke English!!!

The soundbar is a lot more clear than the speaker that comes with the TV. Dialogue is where we enjoy it the most, but we are blessed that our hearing hasn't gotten that bad (yet). I saw the Who at Summerfest in Mailwaukee when I was in college - my ears are paying for it now.

We do have a Bose system on the TV and that helps out a little. Actually the TV ears used to be good as they would up the dialog a little and downplay the background. But my hearing is to a point I cant use them anymore.

We have become hooked on some of the British shows. If they start talking fast, I'm sunk Really like Waking the Dead but don't know if there is any new episodes available yet. We used to like Frost too but that is finished. And Murder in Suburbia.

[mizzlia]

Im looking into the samsung galaxy note 2 maybe a windows 8 tablet

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by sadievan

We just got the Roku a couple of months ago so I haven't noticed any updates yet. I would think they would just update over the WiFi automatically cause it is always on. There is no option to turn it off. It just goes to 'sleep'. In fact they may have and I just may not have noticed it.

The latest update started rolling out this week. I think they stagger them for automatic updating, but you can go into settings > software update and check for updates and manually install from there. If you've got the latest update, it should also prompt you to add the new search channel to use the new feature.

To answer DiapDealer, I've had mine for about 5 months and I've received two updates. Channels sometimes get updates, but much of their functionality is server-side so they only need updates for major functionality changes. I think those updates get pulled in next time you access that channel iirc.