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Best video streamer? (chrome, roku, apple tv...)

Dr. Nole

Dr. Nole

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We have an Apple tv in the main room...mainly because we thought you had to use an Apple unit as we have all apple iphones, ipads, iTunes etc.

I have no problem getting another Apple tv unit for the tv in the guest room...just though I'd get some input on other streamers.

Thanks
 
I have Roku and absolutely love it. No experience with anything else. I did buy a Chromecast but never hooked it up. @dmm5157 might want to chime in there.
 
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I noticed we don't have Yourube on our Apple TV anymore. Anyone know why
 
Two best overall stand alone units are Apple TV and Roku for content and features. If you have Apple products, as you say you do, then Apple TV tends to make more sense. Native support for iOS products.

It's worth noting that Apple TV hasn't had a hardware update in 3 years. Others (like Roku and Amazon Fire TV) Have some more features like gaming and higher performance hardware now. It's also possible Apple could release a new version soon... But that remains to be seen.

Can't go wrong with either unit, but if you already have an Apple TV, makes sense to keep it simple and get the same for the other room.

3rd place in the race for best stand alone unit is Amazon Fire TV. The interface is a little glitchy at times, but it does support many Android apps via Amazon app store. Also had Amazon Prime video, which is nice although nothing compared to Netflix.
 
Don't have experience with the Roku or Apple boxes, but I love my chromecast. All you need is an open hdmi port and you can even power it with your tv's USB port. Just download the apps on your phone and that's your remote. No separate remote needed. Works with all the major streaming services other than Amazon. Since they opened up the software to anyone a while back, the number of apps has exploded. You can also mirror your pc, tablet, or phone and it works very well. All this and costs about $30. I bought an Amazon Fire Stick to test out Sling TV recently. It was ok, but I actually found having a remote and having to navigate a menu to be more cumbersome. Other than the obvious access to Amazon Instant Video, I didn't see any obvious advantage over the Chromecast.
 
I go with Chromecast for simplicity and all the reasons mentioned above.
 
peezy28 said:
I go with Chromecast for simplicity and all the reasons mentioned above.
Click to expand...

Chromecast is a great device and getting better every day, but not for a spare bedroom type application.

I love mine, but I have a Roku set up for our guest bedroom so house guests can use it with the remote.

Chromecast requires another device to cast to the Chromecast, it is not intended to be a stand-alone system. For that reason, I'd steer away from that consideration.
 
Dr. Nole said:
We have an Apple tv in the main room...mainly because we thought you had to use an Apple unit as we have all apple iphones, ipads, iTunes etc.

I have no problem getting another Apple tv unit for the tv in the guest room...just though I'd get some input on other streamers.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have both (Apple TV 3 and Roku 3) and prefer the Roku. The Roku has a better controller and more apps. The roku also just seems to work better overall.

Youtube was removed from second gen Apple TVs and earlier. The latest Apple TV still has youtube.
 
Chromecast is great and works nearly flawlessly if you have android phone/tablet. It blows chunks from my iPad. hit or miss at best and I can literally pick up my GS5 sitting right next to it and it works perfect.
 
dmm5157 said:
Chromecast is a great device and getting better every day, but not for a spare bedroom type application.

I love mine, but I have a Roku set up for our guest bedroom so house guests can use it with the remote.

Chromecast requires another device to cast to the Chromecast, it is not intended to be a stand-alone system. For that reason, I'd steer away from that consideration.
Click to expand...
That's a fair point, and I didn't really catch that it was for a guest room. On the other hand, if your guest has a smart phone or tablet as most people do, and already has Netflix or Hulu apps loaded on them, they wouldn't have to learn anything new other than to click the little cast icon so they can watch on the TV as opposed to their device. For some guests that might be easier than learning Roku or Apple TV interface if they're not familiar with streaming devices.
 
PoopandBoogers said:
I have an apple tv and it's good for netflix, but the espn app always seems to cut out during live events, so I have to restart the app to get it to work.

Been reading up on the hacked Amazon Fire sticks recently and they seem pretty interesting, there is a 8pg thread on the mb about them.

http://forums.rivals.com/threads/anyone-have-a-rigged-amazon-fire-stick.97644/
Click to expand...

I got my Amazon Fire Stick for $20 when Prime was running their deal and then lost the remote. Then figured out I could make my regular Amazon Fire TV work with the Fire Stick as well, so may have to check out that hacked Fire Stick page to see what the fuss is.

Stock, the Fire Stick is underpowered. Compared to the regular Amazon Fire, NBA TV (my main use for using that product) sucks. Lags really bad, think it's the processor.
 
The fire tv is a small box like an apple tv right? I believe the guy in the thread sells rigged fire tv as well.
 
ericram said:
That is exactly correct. I have not tried it yet, but I added the channel to my Roku. There is a monthly fee for that one.
Click to expand...
Sling TV works with Roku, Amazon Fire TV box or stick, nexus player, or on your pc, phone, or tablet. I signed up for the free trial and it was so-so. When it worked, it was pretty good picture quality. But it's glitchy. Sometimes it would buffer endlessly, even with fast wifi. I am still planning to sign up for it in time for football season and give directv the boot. I am mainly interested in the ability to get ESPN for $20 a month. Even if the Sling App acts up, being a Sling subscriber gives you access to WatchESPN, and that has always worked well for me. So I will be able to watch any ESPN games one way or another.
 
Roku is good because it has an ethernet port and you don't need to rely on wireless. I use powerline adapters to run the signal through my electric lines and make a hard wired connection to the Roku. The wifi is not strong in the room where the TV is.

Chrome to me is identical to the Roku except you have the ability to "cast" from your phone (mirror the phone screen on your TV). However the lag was horrible when I did that, perhaps because of the mediocre wifi signal. There was not much issue with Chromecast when I was running an app on it. The Chrome also sits in the back of your TV which makes the wifi signal worse. You can probably buy an HDMI extender to resolve that.
 
You can cast your Android phone to Roku as well. I have done it with showbox from my Samsung tablet.
 
Does anybody know if Roku or Chrome (or any of these devices) works overseas? i'm moving to China and i wouldn't mind having something like this with me.
 
all you would need to have access to the interwebs via wifi. now being in China is a whole nother story.
 
My vote is for Amazon TV hacked to run XBMC. That's what I've got, but it's hardly "plug and play" as some will have you believe. Much better off if you enjoy tinkering.

That said, I pretty much love it and would put my "cord cutting" setup right up there with anyone's. There's one final piece, and that's integrating OTA tv dvr into it. I do have it, but I'm not satisfied with the solution. So I still switch to an HTPC for my OTA viewing/DVR. But when I decide to drop the money on a Tablo device (or something similar that comes on the market), I will have a single device that delivers all content beautifully:

- Local content (music, movies)
- All streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, WatchESPN, Amazon Video, etc)
- Live OTA TV
- DVR'ed OTA TV
- Sling TV cable channels
- Spotify
- Youtube
- and theoretically, although of course I would never imagine it, video from hundreds of perhaps less than legal video streaming sites
 
Nole Lou said:
My vote is for Amazon TV hacked to run XBMC. That's what I've got, but it's hardly "plug and play" as some will have you believe. Much better off if you enjoy tinkering.

That said, I pretty much love it and would put my "cord cutting" setup right up there with anyone's. There's one final piece, and that's integrating OTA tv dvr into it. I do have it, but I'm not satisfied with the solution. So I still switch to an HTPC for my OTA viewing/DVR. But when I decide to drop the money on a Tablo device (or something similar that comes on the market), I will have a single device that delivers all content beautifully:

- Local content (music, movies)
- All streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, WatchESPN, Amazon Video, etc)
- Live OTA TV
- DVR'ed OTA TV
- Sling TV cable channels
- Spotify
- Youtube
- and theoretically, although of course I would never imagine it, video from hundreds of perhaps less than legal video streaming sites
Click to expand...
Lou, do you already subscribe to Sling TV? If so, what's been your experience?
 
MIKE_G said:
Lou, do you already subscribe to Sling TV? If so, what's been your experience?
Click to expand...

I've heard of myth TV that runs on opensource linux for OTA DVR, but I have not tried it. My friend has it setup.

I didn't know you could cast an Android phone to the Roku. I may have to try that and get rid of the Chromecast.
 
surfnole said:
I've heard of myth TV that runs on opensource linux for OTA DVR, but I have not tried it. My friend has it setup.

I didn't know you could cast an Android phone to the Roku. I may have to try that and get rid of the Chromecast.
Click to expand...
Program is called Allcast.
 
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Let me ask this question since I see ESPN is available now through Sling TV. Is there anything out there that will allow Live streaming of NBCSN and Fox Sports 1&2?
 
MIKE_G said:
Lou, do you already subscribe to Sling TV? If so, what's been your experience?
Click to expand...

I do subscribe. My kids watch it a fair amount for the food network.

It seems fine, but I watch it pretty rarely, I'm so totally off the "what's on TV" habit that it's not of all that much use to me. I've had it probably six months, and watched it a total of 90 minutes maybe. I think it could have better navigation/control at least on the FireTV. We'll see when football rolls around, then it will get a bit more of a workout.

Honestly, I pay for it more on principle than usage. I've played around enough in the gray areas of content, on the personal commitment that it was only until proper alternatives became available. As they have, I've subscribed. I was a big Grooveshark user until Spotify let me pay for basically the same thing for $5/mo or whatever. It's a rationalization of course, but I do follow through to reward these options being finally made available. I'm set up to watch almost anything you could imagine for free, but enough options have come available over the years that I can pay for almost everything appropriately now.
 
Thanks for your feedback. I subscribed Sunday and canceled Directv yesterday. I chose the Roku 3 deal. Should get here this week. For now I can only play it on my phone or computer. I tried it with a fire stick last month, but Sling no longer offers a deal on Amazon devices. From what I can gather, it sounds like the service works best on Roku 3 (not the stick). I only really care about access to ESPN. The other channels are just gravy. I get the locals with an antenna and have a cheap and flaky iview 3500 tuner/dvr. Tablo TV sounds much better as an ota dvr. Maybe one day.
 
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