Roku as a gateway to the universe. That's the best part about it, they don't have their own content to push like Amazon does with their Fire Sticks and boxes.

I just bought a Roku 2 last night and it is pretty cool.

As for the Op...get a Roku 2 instead of a Roku 3. They are identical except for the remote control. Walmart has the Roku 2 on sale for $59.99 right now.

 
A fucking pain in the ass.

I found roku 3s online brand new for $75

If you want it, go for it. I was just pointing out the Roku 2 is cheaper (I've seen them for $50 on eBay) and is exactly the same as the Roku 3. The only thing you get with the Roku 3 over the Roku 2 is voice search via the remote control and a head phone jack also on the remote control.

I have the fire tv stick since we have Amazon prime. They used to have all sorts of kick-ass content, but now they're not as generous. Still, there's enough kids' content to keep mine happy.

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I've been looking at those as well. What does the Fire TV get a Prime member that isn't already available on the free Amazon video app that can be downloaded to any of the streaming devices? Basically what I'm asking is why should a prime member choose a fire TV device over a Chromecast, Roku, android TV...etc?

Intel nuc or another ultra mini PC running whatever OS you want. Why fuck around with it?

I have a roku for the bedroom but a mini htpc for the main TV was the best media purchase I've ever made. Download/stream/watch whatever you want with no limitations. Connect to your NAS/PLEX if you want or just run an external HDD if you dont want the hassle.

The biggest thing was the ability to stream sports games online. At the time I built my NUC, there was no way to do that other than on PC. My guess is its still the best option for it but I could be wrong.



+

Sadly, yes. I only have because it is free with Prime.

I don't know anything about Fire TV, I have a Chrome stick to cast and use Netflix.
.

That keyboard is the best one I've ever used in a HTPC environment.

+MLB TV Package (every game) 89.99 a year (mil discount)
+ Direct TV NFL Package 250.00 a year (Have to have direct TV rep say that sat is not avail in your area. I live in woods)

So I'm at around 60 a month.. +60 for Cable internet service.

I can't get over how superior my old ass boxee box is to everything else out there today.  You just point it to a share and it figures out all the media there AND sorts it into a fruity interface that's easy to use.  


I've tried kodi and it seems like trash.  It would crash every time I tried to use it on my gbox q and nobody could tell me why.  I assume I have some file it doesn't like somewhere but I can't prove it.  Upgrading the OS on the gbox q was impossibly hard as well.  I get the impression all the android boxes are pretty much the same stuff.


 

Amazon Fire with Playstation Vue.

It really depends on your viewing habits.

We cut the cord 6 years ago.

I have a Tivo in the den for the kids (4&7yrs) - $10/month and they have an easy to use DVR that we record kid appropriate OTA content to.

Amazon Firesticks in the den and our master bedroom lets us watch the occasional movie or TV series.

None of us watch much TV in general, and being a season behind on a series to get it free is OK for us.

Simple, cheap and fits our needs.

Decided on the Roku 3, I saw bestbuy has a deal going HERE

If you prepay 3 months of sling tv you get $50 off any Roku

I've never used Amazon's box, and my parents Roku seems to have some better options than my Apple TV.  I just got one of the XMBC boxes from Amazon and haven't formed an exact opinion of it yet- it's slow sometimes, some of the movies won't load, some will have horrible picture/sound quality- but it looks to be the only option to get live sports through a set box and some of there is still a lot of new movies that come through just fine.  I may look at something like the Asus chromebox next time.

What about NFL games do you get channels like ESPN and the NFL network?

I have had both Sling and Playstation Vue. The Vue Kills sling for channel selection. Sling has odd package selections for sport stuff.

Good call!

https://www.sling.com/?mkwid=XUDYnwc3%7Cpcrid%7C6781560351%7Cpkw%7Csling%20tv%20channel%20lineup%7Cpmt%7Cbe%7Cpdv%7Cc&cvosrc=ppc.bing.D_B_Sling%20TV_Extended&cvo_crid=6781560351&matchtype=be&campaign=D_B_Sling%20TV_Extended&group=SlingTV%20Channel%20Guide&cvo_keyword=sling%20tv%20channel%20lineup&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=D_B_Sling%20TV_Extended&utm_term=sling%20tv%20channel%20lineup&utm_content=SlingTV%20Channel%20Guide

The only answer is Amazon Fire TV and a Playstation Vue subscription for $30 a month.   55 channels, the GOOD channels, plus DVR.  Local broadcasts depending on your market.

I have been a long term user of Roku, but now that I decided to try the Amazon Fire, there is no looking back.  The Roku interface for Playstation Vue is clunky.  The Fire TV interface is almost as slick as DirecTV.

Update:

Im enjoying the Roku 3, but Amazon video sucks. All the shows that we like that show on amazon video cost $1.99. I thought everything was suposed to be free if we got the prime membership?

How to you watch network tv and sports on ESPN, fox, like nascar and football?

There is free content for prime members.

There is also pay per view content.

Yeah ive figured that out. It seems like alot of the shows that ROKU showed as being on Amazon are pay per view. Im still running on my first free month with Hulu and Prime, so Ill shake em down a bit more

Roku allm ay long... I have them all Apple TV, Amzon Fire, chrome stick, etc.... Roku coupled with Sling Tv and Google fiber is all one needs

haha you sound like my wife



 

Wife and I cut the cable years ago - never looked back. Everything we watch is on Netflix, Hulu, HBONow, and Amazon Firestick anyway.

I have a Roku 2, Roku 3, Roku 4.

Don't bother with the Roku 2. The Roku 4 has the benefit of playing 4k video and can find your lost remote. The Roku 3 is the work horse but we have to reboot every once in a while because I guess the buffering in the RAM gets corrupted or something.

I love my Roku 3.

I especially love the voice-search feature.  Just speak into the remote whatever show you want, and it finds a source for it. The voice recognition is excellent and it is very fast.

I'll sell you my barely used Roku 3 for a great price. It works great but we ended up switching to PlayStation Vue.

This.

Sling sucks balls. I have a badass Internet connection and the quality was shit. Vue always run in crystal clear HD.

Prime members also get music streaming.

Been using it almost a year now and enjoy it.

Only if one's IQ is below 70.

I never watch sports.

Network tv I wait for shows to appear on other services.

what else with kodi?  just got one and have exodus, need more if there are any good ones.  

Can you get FOXNews on any of these devices?

 
Bullshit.  Trying to find a working stream for a newly released TV episode was an exercise in futility.  We would pick 10 of them before finding one that worked halfway decent.  It wasn't worth the aggravation.


 

Just use plex on a Roku, fire tv, or appletv.  Get your episodes like any other file and stream from your desktop/laptop.

I've never had a problem.  Every tv show I've ever watched has been up in HD within an hour of the show ending.

SALTs
Specto (my personal fav.)
1-channel

those plus Exodus are pretty much all you need really for TV shows/movies

Fire TV with prime

For the last 5 years.


We have the usual apps on the fire tv but we also have Sling TV.

Amazon Firebox with KODI installed. The only reason for this is to have a controller for people who cant manage to set up their own linux box to do the exact same thing but an all inclusive package makes it quite simple for them types.

 It takes a bit to map out the best live streams for TV, but I watched the bulk of all the football games I wanted to watch live this past weekend without issue.

roku 3 please.

Roku

i will add that you can get amazon on your roku and rent the same titles.  I dont know how many channels the a.fire has but the roku has shit tons of streaming channels to choose from that are free as well.  I use netflix, hulu, and amazon prime the most.

Double tap.

I just picked up the latest generation Apple TV (4th gen, to replace my 3rd gen).

After moving to Texas, I didn't order anything other than Internet access through TWC. In fact, the TV wasn't even plugged in for the first 3 weeks I lived here. I didn't really feel like I was missing much, so I guess I became a "cord cutter" by default.

A few days ago, I went ahead and ordered Hulu (ad-free option) for $12.74 (included tax). That covers nearly all of the TV shows my wife and kids watch (and were bitching about missing). I've also had Netflix for years, along with the Amazon video that I consider thrown in for free as part of my Prime membership. But I'm missing a lot of HBO programming, and ESPN is more or less mandatory now that college ball has started up (I'm most interested in Ohio State and Michigan games, which are all on ESPN or ABC). So I'm going to need Sling TV (since I can't buy ESPN all on it's own), and that's going to create some overlap with Hulu. And I've got no way to watch Browns games anymore (OTA is definitely out in Texas...), unless I pay for the NFL's Game Pass or something along those lines. DirectTV's NFL Sunday Ticket isn't available in my area. They literally will not sell it to me. And with NFL Game Pass, I'll have to watch a replay 30 minutes after it's done airing.

So here's where I'm going to be here shortly:

Internet: $46.89 @50/5 Mbps


Hulu Plus:  $12.74
Netflix: $10.66
Amazon Prime: $8.25 (I use this for more than video, so not sure it counts...)
HBO Now: $14.99
Sling TV: $20
NFL Game Pass: $8.25 (averaged over 12 months). And I can't watch my team (or any team) live.

Total: $121.78/mo

So definitely cheaper than my old Internet (at identical speed) + Cable (including HBO) + Amazon + Netflix subscriptions @~$188.81/mo, but not by a lot. Live sports (football in my case) are what kill the savings. And I guess you could kill the Amazon Prime fee, since I'd be paying that anyway even if they didn't offer video. If you don't give two shits about sports and are willing to illegally torrent the premium shows, you'd save a bundle.

I'm basically saving $67.13/mo by being a "cord cutter", with the shows and sports my family watches. It's not a trivial amount of money, but it's not a panacea either. In 2016, it's still kind of expensive to get the content you're used to on cable. I'm confident it'll get better over time, but for now...ugh.

tag