Finally Netflix offers up HD for the Roku player. The Roku player which lets you stream about 13,000 of Netflix “Watch Instantly” titles for free, as long as you’re a subscriber—started getting the HD firmware upgrade over the weekend.

Only about 300 streaming Netflix titles are currently available in HD (720p, to be exact); still, it’s a major step forward for the bargain player, which before now had a top video resolution of just 480i. Even better: A message on the new Roku splash screen promises “a number of great new channels” for 2009.

Meanwhile, on the $299 Vudu set-top box—which now offers more than 1,000 HD titles for rent—just got a $200 price drop, bringing its sticker price down to $99, same as the Roku player. One caveat, according to Engadget HD: You must cough up an additional $50 in pre-paid rentals for the (temporary) $99 sale price.

So what will you choose? Neflix Roku that only offers 300 HD titles, but thousands of SD movies or the $99 Vudu with more than a thousand HD titles, many of them new releases, but with a rental pricing of $5.99 to 99 cents each?

It’s your choice.