Service Plans with Roku

[Tecmo SB Guy]

Hi. Newbie here. I just got a Roku 2XS for Christmas and I love it.

I got it at Best Buy but I didn't get a service plan with it.

I was wondering, when you guys get a Roku do you guys usually also purchase a service plan with it in case something happens to it?

I love this thing but also wouldn't want to see it break after the 30 day period when I can return it to Best Buy is up. And then I'd have to spend another $89 to $99 to get another one.

Or are these little things pretty durable where I shouldn't worry about getting a service plan?

[Gilgamesh]

Service plans are always a bad idea. Sure there are individual people that benefit by it but the VAST majority of service plans sold only work out to be free money for the seller.

The warranty is long enough to provide for any manufacturing defects and the reliability of solid state devices is quite high so the service plan will probably expire long before any failure.

Think of it as gambling. The seller is the house and the house always wins.

[kc8pql]

+1 Don't waste your money. Dead Rokus are rare.
My oldest box, now going on 3 1/2 years old, when all it did was stream Netflix, is trouble free.

[mommom]

My oldest Roku is almost 3 years old.You can get a Square Trade warranty from Amazon for around $25,but in my opinion it would be wasted money.

[jeffrok]

People always seem to confuse the "return period" with the "warranty period"..

I believe the warranty on the Roku 2 is 90 days.. The older Rokus were a year.. Even if the most commonly failed part, the power supply, goes bad, they are under 15 dollars to replace. And even though the power supply is historically the most commonly replaced item, the newer ones are much more reliable than the ones that came with the first generation boxes.

[robertm]

It has been my experience that most electronics tend to fail in the first few weeks or not for many years and often never. That assumes you have clean power of course.

The one notable exception has been my Dish Network DVRs that have hard drives that can't seem to handle the workload and fail around the 18 month mark. But we really work those things to death.

[bennor3814]

Service plan on a sub $100 electronic item? No. Service plan, generally, are money makers for the stores. I've seen horror stories by relatives who had service plans and tried to use them. Usually there are lots of restrictions on the service plans. I even had Best Buy try to sell me a service plan on a 4gb Sandisk Clip+ MP3 player ($39.99 at the time).

As others have said most electronic items tend to fail within a few months of purchase. Only time I've ever bought a service plan was for a laptop that was more than $500 since most items on a laptop are expensive to replace (LCD screen, keyboard, etc.).

[Tecmo SB Guy]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Best Buy is offering 2-year protection for $13.99 and 4-year protection for $19.99. But I probably won't get it now.

So what are the best ways to maximize the life span of my Roku player?

I looked through the manual which said not to put anything on top of it. I'm not. Also I read some on these forums how some Rokus overheat. How do I avoid that besides not putting anything on top it? I know the manual said leave it plugged in all the time. I actually don't do that and unplug it whenever I'm not using it because I notice it feels a little warm sometimes after I've used it. I also removed the plastic covering that was placed around it because I was afraid that might raise its temperature.

[Gilgamesh]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

So what are the best ways to maximize the life span of my Roku player?

... Also I read some on these forums how some Rokus overheat. How do I avoid that besides not putting anything on top it?

Except for some intermittent posts I have heard nothing about Rokus overheating. I have had an early model for a few years and an R2 for many months and I have seen no overheating at all.

I know the manual said leave it plugged in all the time. I actually don't do that and unplug it whenever I'm not using it because I notice it feels a little warm sometimes after I've used it. I also removed the plastic covering that was placed around it because I was afraid that might raise its temperature.

Although there is some debate I believe the heat/cool cycle caused by powering down devices like a Roku actually shortens the life of a Roku. The recommendations to keep it powered up all the time are correct and will, probably, give you the best life span for your Roku.

It is quite normal for devices like a Roku to feel a bit warm but it is nothing to worry about.

Also the recommendation to not place anything on top of it is probably rooted in the fact that it is not designed to be load bearing rather than a concern about heat.

[robertm]

Power strip and make sure it has some air flow. I have 3 that I have had for 3 and a half years that have pretty much always been "on".

There is really no way to predict if the 2's will do as well but there is also no reason to doubt it.

[jeffrok]

When he says power strip, he means surge protector .

[mommom]

By plastic covering do you mean the case?
If so put it back on.

[robertm]

When he says power strip, he means surge protector .

Too bad the OP is a guy because there is a joke in there but yep that is what I meant.

[Tecmo SB Guy]

By plastic covering do you mean the case?
If so put it back on.

No, not the case.

It's like the plastic they stick on the electronics when it's in the box so they don't get scratched while it's being transported, I guess.

[kc8pql]

I looked through the manual which said not to put anything on top of it. I'm not.

That's because the circuitry is fastened to the top of the box, which acts as a heat sink.
The lower 2/3 of the box is empty.

Also I read some on these forums how some Rokus overheat.

There were a few reports that the R1 XDS got a bit warmer than you would expect.
Mine has been plugged in for a year and a half now with no problems.

Also note that the new R2 models use less than half the current that the R1s use.
The R1 uses about 5 or 6 watts, the R2 uses only 2 watts full tilt streaming HD.
The two versions use completely different hardware so can't really be compared.
Just leave the box plugged in as Roku suggests and don't worry about it.
It's not a problem.