Netgear Internet TV

What is it: Internet-based set top boxes are pretty hot right now, so we got to check out Netgear's contender — the Netgear Internet TV. This set top box hooks up to your TV via HDMI (or component) and can stream free content from various sites like YouTube, CNN Video, NBC.com, and others. It'll even support files you get from BitTorrent. The unit we saw worked fine, but was still in prototype form. The final version will stream wirelessly or via Ethernet.

In addition to free content, it also plays nice with subscriptions from CinemaNow. Unfortunately, it doesn't support the big guys like Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Video. Not yet at least, a Netgear rep told us their goal is to stream content from those sites as well.

Price:$199
Available: Spring 2009
Verdict: At $199, the Netgear box has a lot of potential, but as far as value — it doesn't quite beat the Roku Netflix Player ($99). Nor does it offer the variety you can get from Apple TV, which is just a few bucks more. It'll be interesting to see how Roku reacts in response to Netgear's player, especially since Roku just added support for Amazon Video. Unless Netgear adds Hulu support and can bring the price down to at least $149, we'll have to stick with Roku as the budget streaming set top box to own.