Breaking: Hulu Plus Just Launched On Roku

Man, I’ve been waiting on this forever. Finally, Hulu Plus just launched on Roku. But rather than babble on about how cool it is or what you can expect from the user interface, how about we start off with what is included.

And yes, I actually took my iPhone 4 and did an HD recording of what it’s like to hook up and enjoy, Hulu Plus om the Roku.

What you need to view:

1) A Roku box. Any generation works, but newer is obviously better.

2) Decent wireless connection. Again, if you can spring for a decent high-speed connection, bundled with 802.11n, the experience is going to be much better.

3) HDMI to a Plasma or LCD TV. You could use RCA connections I suppose, but who the heck wants that?

How to update your Roku box?

Assuming you haven’t already added the Hulu Plus placeholder previous to launch, do the following. Be sure you have already ran the latest Roku update from Player Settings, Player Info.

1) Home screen

2) Channel Store

3) It will refresh

4) Click on Hulu Plus placeholder

Assuming you have already added the Hulu Plus placeholder previous to launch, do the following. Be sure you have already ran the latest Roku update from Player Settings, Player Info.

1) Home screen

2) Channel Store

3) It will refresh

4) Click on Hulu Plus placeholder. you will be prompted to update

What rocks and what sucks?

Haven’t dipped too far into the new Roku app yet, but there are some things missing.

1) Lack of resume function when leaving a partial show. Really need this one guys. When I leave Hulu Plus, having this feature is kind of a big deal.

2) Settings? What settings? Where do I make changes to my settings for Hulu Plus? While some stuff is available on the website, I’d like this included on my Roku.

3) Navigation is a bit messy. Video navigation is not too bad, but it’s terrible if you own an older controller. Best bet is to use DVPRemote on your iPhone as seen from the screenshot here.

4) All Hulu content. Yes, it’s annoying that there are some select shows that are not made available. But realize this is not Roku or Hulu’s fault, thank the cable companies and the networks instead for restricting this.

Hitting the mark with good stuff.

1) The video quality is fantastic. Using a first generation Roku box works really well via HDMI to my Plasma TV.

2) It’s cheaper than cable. With the pricing reduced to $7.99 and now Hulu Plus now available to everyone, this is a no brainer even with the reduced content and commercials. Yes, the commercials are there, but they are way too profitable to expect Hulu to dump them. Get over it, they are not that bad.

3) It makes my Roku box that more valuable. With me already loving Netflix and Amazon Onebox, adding my existing Hulu Plus subscription is just icing on the cake.