Roko Streaming Stick - Replaced with a Fire stick

[peakbagger]

My first dip into streaming video to my TV was a Roku stick. It worked but always was buggy when scrolling around the aps. I put up with it and when I searched for a fix on the internet I never found anything that worked to reduce the problem. I finally switched to a basic Amazon Fire Stick. It does everything the Roku stick did but it doesn't have the scroll issue. It seems to have better integration with the aps.

I realize that these streaming sticks are just data collection devices so they sell them cheap to give them access to viewing data. Living in NH, Roku's ads are mostly regional ads from random area around the country most of the time, but when it gets on the run up to an election they become pure politics, sometime the same ads multiple times in row. The Fire ads seem to be more national ads. It will be interesting to see if things shift when the next election cycle comes up.

Roku is at the point where they are selling TVs where the HDMI port is not installed so they can serve ads on direct connected peripherals.

 

[Ashful]

I did the same, peakbagger. Started with a Roku probably close to 10 years ago, when our Sony smart TV didn't have one of the streaming app's we wanted at the time. Replaced that with another Roku a few years later.

Both were absolutely terrible. Their remotes didn't work half the time, and they were almost unusably slow, despite 1Gbps internet connection and good WiFi signal to the Roku.

When one of our other Smart TV's also needed a stick to get a newer app, I decided to try the Amazon Fire Stick in that one, and quickly learned how much better they are. They actually work! And instead of having to search each app independently when hunting a movie or show, you just tell the stick to go find it for you. It will automatically search each streaming service, and tell you all your options for getting that content, and the associated pricing of each. Awesome.

I've since replaced both of the old Roku's with Fire Sticks, and have bought a few more for our various TV's. We don't watch a ton of TV, by hours, but due to the spread-out nature of our house we 8 Smart TV's or "Sticked" TV's. As you noted, they're pretty cheap, now.

As to the content collection, I guess I don't care if they know I prefer MASH over Barney Miller, or Jack Ryan over James Bond.

 

[stoveliker]

Interesting.

I have a Roku TV (i.e. a TV that has the Roku platform installed, and not a stick).
Indeed the remote is not very durable (with kids dropping it when they stand up from the couch being a large factor in its demise, I presume).

However, there is no lag here. It's hardwired though, not wifi (the router is right next to it so that's the route I went).

And our TV does allow to search for content across all platforms. (i.e. no need to search each app independently). This TV is 4 years old.

I therefore guess that Roku improved since you walked away presuming that was more than 4 years ago.
(Both being normal: customers walking away because they find something better, and then businesses improving because customers walk away.)

And Jack Ryan beats Bond...


Edit: I do not know if this may be a difference in the stick vs. the TV.
(And I suspect that for some the Roku TV models may not reach their wishes in features, leading to a stick in a higher-end TV to be a better option.)

 

[begreen]

I've always had fire sticks and they have improved over time. I'm no big fan of being beholden to Amazon, but for the most part other than the main menu, they stay out of your face. My son has a Roku TV and it works too, but it is a bit convoluted to watch OTA broadcasts.

 

[EbS-P]

Well now all you will get is is adds for Amazon owned products. We were an Apple TV family. But the cheap fire TV stick won out. I even have the DVR for OTA broadcasts that Amazon sold for a while. It’s been decent and integrated well with the sticks. I try to watch all the shows on it vs YouTube just so I can skip adds. It was only 720p that should give some idea of its age and why it’s no longer being sold. But when the internet goes down we have a large catalog of shows to watch.

I’m about to go back to Apple TV. Just to get away from some adds that always play in the Home Screen. Didn’t used to be that way.

 

[begreen]

I canceled prime last year. No ads for me. I recently tried watching a show on Peacock which had ads and it drove me nuts. The mute button is the most used on the remote.

 

[ABMax24]

We run the native apps on our Smart TV's. From my experience they deliver way better picture quality than a firestick or chromecast anyway.

In Canada we're pretty limited on what we can get for streaming apps, and our TVs have apps for everything that is available.

 

[begreen]

We noted a significant improvement when upgrading to the 4K firestick.

 

[Northern NH Mike]

Interesting.

I have a Roku TV (i.e. a TV that has the Roku platform installed, and not a stick).
Indeed the remote is not very durable (with kids dropping it when they stand up from the couch being a large factor in its demise, I presume).

However, there is no lag here. It's hardwired though, not wifi (the router is right next to it so that's the route I went).

And our TV does allow to search for content across all platforms. (i.e. no need to search each app independently). This TV is 4 years old.

I therefore guess that Roku improved since you walked away presuming that was more than 4 years ago.
(Both being normal: customers walking away because they find something better, and then businesses improving because customers walk away.)

And Jack Ryan beats Bond...


Edit: I do not know if this may be a difference in the stick vs. the TV.
(And I suspect that for some the Roku TV models may not reach their wishes in features, leading to a stick in a higher-end TV to be a better option.)

I purchased a Roku TV two years ago and am having scrolling issues only with Netflix. Otherwise I am pretty satisfied with how it performs and providing access to what everyone in the house is interested in. I despise NESN360.

As far as Jack vs James; I like them both these days. Bond story lines have developed into more beleivable plots like Ryans. As far as actors, in Ryan films and series I have to go with John Krasinski and for Bond, Daniel Craig.

 

[Ashful]

Krasinski has grown on me, but the best Jack Ryan will always be Harrison Ford, IMO.

Better question, which is your favorite Jack Ryan movie? I'm not sure it's objectively the best one, by any measure, but my favorite has always been The Hunt for Red October.

 

[stoveliker]

And that ties them together: Sean Connery (both Bond and Jack Ryan).

 

[xman23]

Here's what I did, About a year ago, canceled the wired cable service in 2 houses. a huge savings. Roku TV's in two houses. Update internet. One place has the new wireless internet box. Cheep! And fiber in the weekend place. Both places are the minimum speed, but since they are the newest internet services they run perfect.
I pay for Direct TV stream. It allows multiple locations and lots of connections at one time. Perfect for 2 houses and pay for 1. Of course if you don't want to pay for direct TV stream, there are hundreds of free channels.

 

[Northern NH Mike]

Krasinski has grown on me, but the best Jack Ryan will always be Harrison Ford, IMO.

Better question, which is your favorite Jack Ryan movie? I'm not sure it's objectively the best one, by any measure, but my favorite has always been The Hunt for Red October.

I'm going with Patriot Games. I like the story, broad locations and the way Sean Bean plays the Miller character.

 

[Ashful]

I'm going with Patriot Games. I like the story, broad locations and the way Sean Bean plays the Miller character.

Definitely a strong contender. Aside from Bean and Harrison Ford, you also have James Earl Jones carried over as Greer!

Although, I have to admit, I really like Wendell Pierce as Greer. His character became so much more part of the plots in the TV show, than in any of the earlier movies.

 

[Northern NH Mike]

Definitely a strong contender. Aside from Bean and Harrison Ford, you also have James Earl Jones carried over as Greer!

Although, I have to admit, I really like Wendell Pierce as Greer. His character became so much more part of the plots in the TV show, than in any of the earlier movies.

I'm liking the Ding Chavez treatment and actor in the newest series. Both he and Greer's characters are being developed nicely.

 

[semipro]

Roku is at the point where they are selling TVs where the HDMI port is not installed so they can serve ads on direct connected peripherals.

What a terrible idea. None of our smart TVs seem to get their firmware updated as often as needed, like in years.
All of our smart TVs now have a Roku and/or Chromecast.
Our experience with the Roku Soundbar and Stick has been good with none of the issues mentioned by the OP.
We have found that casting via the Roku from mobile devices is slow though, hence the Chromecasts.

 

[Ashful]

What a terrible idea. None of our smart TVs seem to get their firmware updated as often as needed, like in years.
All of our smart TVs now have a Roku and/or Chromecast.

Same. I often think it'd be easier to just buy a "dumb" TV, with nothing but a half-dozen HDMI ports, and then just populate it with my preferred peripherals. We have something like 8-10 smart TV's in the house, and NONE of them kept up with their firmware past maybe 5 years. Most are Sony, but one is Samsung, and two are store brands. They are all the same, in that regard.

Want the latest streaming channels? Gotta buy a FIreStick, or similar. At that point, just keeping up with userid/password combos for the native firmware on the TV's becomes more a hassle than it's worth.

 

[EbS-P]

I’m ditching fire stick (and Roku if i had one) and going back to appleTV

 

[Ashful]

I’m ditching fire stick (and Roku if i had one) and going back to appleTV

I did the apple TV thing for a period, and it was pretty good. I got it originally, just so I could watch Tom Hanks' Greyhound, which was exclusive on ATV. But since my wife absolutely refuses to drop our $250/mo FIOS package with TV, I found ATV redundant... we basically never used it.

 

[EbS-P]

I did the apple TV thing for a period, and it was pretty good. I got it originally, just so I could watch Tom Hanks' Greyhound, which was exclusive on ATV. But since my wife absolutely refuses to drop our $250/mo FIOS package with TV, I found ATV redundant... we basically never used it.

I have not subscribed to their tv service but was referring to their set top streaming box. Apple Music and tv+ for the family was like 25$/month.