Roku Developer Program

[buenafe]

I might dive into Roku programming on weekends I have XDS model connected to our main TV.
I can do my programming/learning when the TV isn't being used.

However I'm wondering if it would be better to isolate my Roku programming environment, i.e. get a second Roku
so I don't mess anything up with our main Roku box.

Can I get buy with older or cheaper model Roku for development?

[RokuKevin]

You can put any of the models in developer mode, so you could use any of them to do development. Probably the biggest difference you will notice from a developer perspective is going from 9 to 12 buttons on the remote control from the low to high end skus.

--Kevin

[destruk]

Your development on a roku box is entirely sandboxed from the rest of the device - so you wouldn't be able to damage anything.
Having two rokus would allow you to leave one in 4:3 display and one in 16:9 display without needing to ever change back and forth to verify layouts.