With all the "short cycle" expectations of the electronics industry, the software outgrows the chips on higher end electronics before the expected end of life of the electronics. In our case, the TV still works beautifully, and can display the 4k material that is available - as planned - but the built in streaming chips can no longer be updated with the new streaming software sooo, glitches, cutouts, failure to load.... To extend the life of our current entertainment electronics we needed a new streaming chip. This fits the bill perfectly! The price is right, it connected easily to our existing system and provides a new chip to do the streaming function. The software for the install worked easily, and we were up and running again. It has the voice recognition stuff included, but we find that more trouble than functional - voice recognition is not quite there yet, it misunderstands too often, so we have disabled it for now - since we didn't use it before, we don't consider that an issue, but if that is important to you, you will need to test it out. We also have 1 minor criticism - the remote is all smooth and curves, which is a very pretty design, but it slips and slides in the hand resulting in unintentional button pressing while trying to pick it up - often interrupting the program or muting the sound when we just wanted to adjust the sound up or down - this is in part due to the sound buttons being on the sides of the remote. Cute, but not functional. Also, with the programming for this remote, it has each subscription defined to use different buttons for the simple functions so you have to stop and think which subscription (am I in Netflix, Amazon, or Roku....) you are using before you can navigate the screen. Not a deal breaker, but this could have been done better. Very happy with this system, and pleasantly surprised at the additional material offered by Roku! We will buy an updated version of this when THIS chip is exceeded by the software. Ok, back for an additional comment. We have been using this 6 months, and only 1 issue. the Roku overheated the day the air conditioning was on the fritz. This is not uncommon with many very small models of an electronic form. If it gets too hot, it malfunctions in a weird ways. If it isn't working for no apparent reason and feels warm, try disconnecting and letting it cool down for 20-30 minutes before panicking. We now keep ours on a small baking rack to allow air circulation - end of problem. Others on the tech network have suggested a small air circulating fan, especially if located near other heat generating electronics. This is not a major issue for us, but it is good to know when planning location (no completely enclosed spaces that have no air circulation) and for troubleshooting - before you go buy new cables, pitch it, or other drastic measures.
