MatthewPhillips - To answer your question I purchased an Apple TV (the original one) a while ago so I could rent movies from iTunes and play them on my TV. I also liked streaming my music to my surround sound system on my TV. I never used the Apple TV to store content though, as it was originally purposed to do.
I actually just purchased a Roku the other day and connected it to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. Prior to that I was using my Xbox for these services (not Amazon). Roku is pretty cool but very buggy and slow to load. I am not as impressed as I thought I would be.
I use it for the content; the other boxes don't offer as much variety. I think the PS3 probably comes the closest though. I wish they would offer a cheaper streaming only device.
I bought a Roku about two years ago; it's been a wonderful little device; have had very few problems, and most of those were down to the content providers and not the box itself.
I actually just purchased a Roku the other day and connected it to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. Prior to that I was using my Xbox for these services (not Amazon). Roku is pretty cool but very buggy and slow to load. I am not as impressed as I thought I would be.