The Sony SMP-N200 (or SMP-N100) is the only streaming player you need; eschew the Roku!

After much searching, buying, and evaluating, I'm convinced that the Sony SMP-N200 (or maybe the older SMP-N100 if you can find it) is probably the best streaming device you can buy. Well, it's at least the best value streaming device you can buy (under US$80). It does everything that a Roku device does plus a little more and is substantially cheaper when you compare apples to apples. The only thing you really lose is the ability to watch trailers in the Amazon Instant/Video-on-Demand application. However, trailers are available in basically every other movie app plus a Flixster application with plenty of trailers.

For US$66.99 on Amazon (and US$69.99 on Best Buy) at the time of this post, you get:

• HDMI output for full 1080p video and 5.1 channel audio
• Optical audio output (if your receiver doesn't do HDMI audio)
• Analog audio output (via RCA connectors)
• Composite video output
• Component video output
• Wired ethernet support
• Wireless 802.11b/g/n support built-in
• USB port (videos, pictures, music)
• DLNA client (and maybe server for that USB?)
• HDMI wake-up (i.e., device turns on and off automatically based on HDMI signal; moreover, this behavior is configurable if you don't like it)
• Very thin and simple remote control powered by a watch battery

  People say this remote is an improvement over the one that came with the old SMP-N100 model, but I disagree. For one, the "Home" button is too close to the down arrow. More importantly, the old remote control was quasi-universal in that you could program it to your TV and it would control your TV's volume, power, and video input. So I basically only need one remote with the SMP-N100 to do everything.

• Android phone and tablet remote control apps
• iOS remote control app
• ...probably more that I overlooked because I personally didn't care

With all of that hardware support, the device is great for a wide variety of home theater systems (e.g., with old TV's or old receivers). You can contrast this with the more expensive Roku that has an HDMI output and a composite output. Those people with older receivers and/or older TV's are not going to enjoy all of the advanced features of modern streaming content on a Roku. This is not as much the case with the Sony players.

And the applications that come on board the Sony SMP-N200 include:

• Hulu Plus (and free Hulu via PlayOn over DLNA, but see CAVEAT below)
• Amazon Instant/Video-on-Demand (although the app doesn't play trailers)
• Vudu (albeit without "Vudu Apps" but with full "Vudu Movies" support, including trailers and promotional credit)

  FYI, the current US$5.99 promotion for signing up a device works even if you've already signed up other devices; so you can keep adding promotion credit to your account... even if you end up returning the device

• Netflix
• YouTube
• CinemaNow (which looks to be a similar selection as Blockbuster On-Demand) – Note that the application is included but currently it tells you that it's "coming soon" when you start it up
• Pandora
• Slacker
• Sony Entertainment Network's Video Unlimited (yet another on-demand streaming service)
• Sony Entertainment Network's Music Unlimited
• Flixster
• DLNA sources (e.g., PlayOn and everything it supports, including free Hulu; CAVEAT: I own a Sony SMP-N100, and I haven't had trouble using PlayOn the few times I've tried. When I tested an Sony SMP-N200, PlayOn worked at least for the few minutes I tested (if I recall correctly), but I've heard that people are having issues with PlayOn now.)
• ...plus a lot more that I just don't care much about (e.g., streaming from Berliner Philharmoniker)

For some reason, Amazon Instant/Video-on-Demand was not advertised anywhere on the box or on the Sony website like it used to be. However, the application still exists on the device. Despite it being the same application that is used to access Sony's own "Video Unlimited" service that supports movie trailers, the Amazon app has no trailer support. That's frustrating and makes me think that Sony has been given financial incentive to de-emphasize Amazon over its other providers. One of those providers includes Vudu, which is provided by the full-featured Vudu application you get on every other streaming device (minus the "Vudu apps" support you might see on a Blu-ray player). Regardless, if you're OK with getting your trailers elsewhere, this is a fine selection of applications. UPDATE: As of a recent software update on my Sony SMP-N100 (and so also likely on the Sony SMP-N200), trailers are available now in the Amazon VoD app. So it is much nicer now to browse for movies within the single app.

And if that's piqued your interest, you should also take a look at the previous model, the Sony SMP-N100. It is nearly identical to the SMP-N100 except that it lacks support for a few providers, of which the only one you should care about is Vudu. It still has Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant/Video-on-Demand (no trailers though), DLNA (which means PlayOn too), Crackle, YouTube (but no movie rental support), Pandora, and much more. However, it sells for at least US$20 less (so US$49.99 on Amazon (same price at Best Buy) at the time of this post) because the new version exists.

So if you're looking for a nice streaming player for a good value, I think most people will point you at the Roku. However, the Sony players (both the SMP-N200 and SMP-N100) are cheaper and do more. The interface is not as clean and cozy as Roku though. Moreover, it might be annoying to you that you cannot play Amazon video trailers. However, trailers are available through lots of other services, and there's a lot of value to having them all on one device (as opposed to having, say, Vudu on your Blu-ray player and Amazon VOD on your Roku).