Roku 2 XD vs. XS

[ElectroLund]

I'm have slight buyer's remorse over my Roku 2 XS, so I'm fishing for thoughts on the model down: XD. Besides the obvious differences, I am wondering about some of the finer details. For instance,

According to RokuTom on this official post, all Roku 2 devices support Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 pass-through and subtitles. I had a chat with a Roku tech to verify this, but didn't get a definitive answer.

I personally don't see much value in utilizing my Roku as a gaming platform, but who knows? In a few years when my kids are older, they may see things differently.

So that leaves me thinking that the only significant differences between XD and XS are:

• ethernet on XS
• motion sensitive remote for gaming on XS
• instant replay button on XS

But I know that all Roku's also have builtin IR ports for working with universal remotes -- I have my Harmony One controlling my Roku 2 XS just fine. But do the XDs have the instant replay feature enabled in IR? Could you send the instant replay IR command to an XD and would it skip back?

If so, I think I would have been just fine with an XD instead of the XS. My results with the wireless on my XS have been stellar so far. I've rented 2 TV shows from Amazon, watched a few other shows on Netflix, and some other miscellaneous channels without ever a studder. So it leads me to think that having the crutch of an ethernet port is really a bloated feature.

Thoughts?

[TheEndless]

The XS also has a USB port and some additional memory. It's worth noting that the bluetooth remote by itself is $30, so that alone justifies the $20 price difference between the XD and XS, if you have any interest in that.

But do the XDs have the instant replay feature enabled in IR? Could you send the instant replay IR command to an XD and would it skip back?

Yes. All models support all IR commands.

[ElectroLund]

Thanks, Endless. Good thoughts. Is the extra memory SDRAM? Is the XD more laggy as a result?

[socantra]

It sounds to me like you are overthinking the whole thing. You've got a player that works well and that you seem to be happy with. Why go to the hassle of exchanging the thing, setting up the new one and the possibility of problems for for a lousy twenty bucks.

I've got the 1st gen XDS (with the USB port) and I really don't use it often, but just the other day a friend sent me a thumb drive with a video seminar on it in mp4. It was kind of nice to be able to pop it into the Roku and watch it on TV.

I'm a relatively poor man and fairly frugal, but I quit having buyers remorse about having spent an extra $20.00 from time to time many years ago especially if I was satisfied with my purchase.

[TheEndless]

Is the extra memory SDRAM? Is the XD more laggy as a result?

Actually, I was wrong about that. The XD and XS both have the same amount of memory. It's the HD that has less.

[ElectroLund]

It sounds to me like you are overthinking the whole thing.

Point taken, socantra. And you're right. I often overthink purchases.

[cwniles]

It sounds to me like you are overthinking the whole thing.

Point taken, socantra. And you're right. I often overthink purchases.

better then underthinking them which seems to be a common problem in this forum