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Media sticks...Amazon fire, chromecast, roku...what do you use?

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I have a Fire TV stick and a Roku ... They're both great, no issues on either. The Fire Stick may be easier to set up and run, it also has added value if you have Amazon prime. There is also the added bonus that it's an android device - so, you can play games and sideload apps.

I decided I wanted an unavailable app to be put on the Fire stick the other day and it was ridiculously easy to sideload it from my phone.
 
One thing I hate about Chromecast - when watching a movie using Vudu or HBO Now - if I don't touch my phone for a while there's a chance my phone will close out the app I'm using to watch the movie. That means I'll lose the ability to control or pause the movie, although it will keep playing through Chromecast. Sometimes I can reconnect to Chromecast and my controls are back, sometimes it doesn't and I can't control the movie any more.

I use a 2014 Moto X btw.
 
Exile20 said:
What? What are you talking about? What are you sending to the chromecast?

For people using tvs, did they get better? My vizio is so slow going through menus etc. Chromecast is fast and switched to the hdmi immediately.
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Mostly YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix from iOS devices amongst my roommates. I feel like almost daily we would stream something from Hulu and then have no way to stop it if the Hulu phone app quit because we were multitasking, and reopening the app would only sometimes correctly realize that we were in the middle of stuff. Having to get up to manually unplug the Chromecast was a huge hassle, but this was almost a year ago, no idea if we were doing something wrong or if it's gotten better

EDIT:

this_guy said:
One thing I hate about Chromecast - when watching a movie using Vudu or HBO Now - if I don't touch my phone for a while there's a chance my phone will close out the app I'm using to watch the movie. That means I'll lose the ability to control or pause the movie, although it will keep playing through Chromecast. Sometimes I can reconnect to Chromecast and my controls are back, sometimes it doesn't and I can't control the movie any more.

I use a 2014 Moto X btw.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about
 
I have used an Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku 3. The Roku 3 has been by far my favorite of the three and I haven't had any problems with it. Im excited to see Apple's new device though.
 
I have a Chromecast and I use it quite a bit. Works very well but I also have an Android phone so the functionality automatically expands at that point.
 
Is Chromecast a surrogate for a video game console with video player apps? What's the benefit of using Chromecast over a video game system?
 
If you want to go cheap and just stream movies, then yeah any of the for-mentioned sticks/boxes would do just fine. I have the Madcatz mojo (rooted) which I'm pleased with. Plays and streams 1080p perfectly. Stickman Golf 2 plays surprisingly well on the Logitech K400 keyboard too.

If you want to be able to stream movies and run that vast majority of Steam games (shovel knight, Street Fighter IV, Ori... etc) than I would go with one of those small MiniPC's like gigabyte Brix, MSI Cubi or Intel Nuc. Its worth the extra cost imo. I have a Gigabyte model with an Intel HD 5500 and it runs Kodi, emulators, and most games in my Steam library.

Here's one with a projector built in for $279 CAD.
 
Pyrokai said:
Is Chromecast a surrogate for a video game console with video player apps? What's the benefit of using Chromecast over a video game system?
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Uses less electricity and you can cast tabs and Plex to it. Essentially, the thing doesn't have any video limits.
 
TheLegendOfMart said:
One of those Windows Sticks.

1.33GHz Quad Core Atom
2GB RAM
32GB Storage

I have mine running Windows 10 and use it as a DVR with a HD Tuner and Kodi playing movies from a NAS.

You can get them for about $100 and I would highly recommend them over any Android box.

If you wanted to go off brand you can get them with dual boot Windows and Android as well if Android was important to you.
Click to expand...
any names or anything? Only ones I found are from dubious chinese firms
 
Chromecast, its amazing but over time has become quite buggy especially with the youtube app (although thats down the the app not the chrome cast itself)
 
Gordon Shumway said:
Which version of Kodi are you folks on Amazon Fire Tv using? I'm using the Tvaddons version..it's been the only one with zero problems.
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I used to run SPMC on the stick. But It's irrelevant now since the specific fixes for FireTV is now integrated into version 15.0 of Kodi.

It's all official builds for me now and I haven't run into any problems yet.
 
Chromecast for YouTube/Netflix, and a box with Kodi installed for everything else. Chromecast can be a bit of a pain with disconnecting from your phone, but it's a minor complaint.

I've considered upgrading to a Roku, but the Chromecast has treated me all too well over the last two years or so that I've had no reason to.
 
i have a roku 3 and a chromecat, the roku 3 is superior. can drive it from the phone with plex or via the remote. phone control is a nice bonus but not as practical as it sounds, especially with more people sharing the telly

ideally a nas powerful enough to run a good plex server that can transcode at least one stream to an iphone (need my movies when i travel).

plex server with a good streamer like roku is the golden ticket
 
Roku Stick/Chromecast do everything I need them to do. Highly recommended.
this_guy said:
One thing I hate about Chromecast - when watching a movie using Vudu or HBO Now - if I don't touch my phone for a while there's a chance my phone will close out the app I'm using to watch the movie. That means I'll lose the ability to control or pause the movie, although it will keep playing through Chromecast. Sometimes I can reconnect to Chromecast and my controls are back, sometimes it doesn't and I can't control the movie any more.

I use a 2014 Moto X btw.
Click to expand...

This happens on my iPad Air 2 as well. The apps need to be able to enable some sort of "keep alive" task or thread, methinks.
 
TheNintendoBox said:
i used to use the chromecast until i got a smart tv
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I have a smart TV and still use a Chromecast. I love the ability to login to to say Comedy Central on my desktop or phone and then cast the TV show to my TV.

I also have an Amazon Fire Stick which I bought when Amazon had them on sale for Prime members. This was in the event I got a TV for my bedroom which was not a smart TV. Ended up getting a smart TV so it is just collecting dust. May give it to my parents for their bedroom TV.
 
Hey Y'all, which one would work best in a hotel room? Like for watching Netflix.
I'd need one that can handle having to go to a webpage to "log in" to the hotel Wi-Fi.
 
The Roku Stick is pretty solid. I got it for free with a Netgear router so my opinion is free from buyer's remorse. Early on, it reset itself on a weekly basis and the initial setup process is very slow, so that was annoying. After a few updates though, it's a pretty nice little device. I use it more than my PS4 for Netflix and media streaming.
 
RustyNails said:
If I want to watch FX and AMC shows, whats my best bet?
Click to expand...

Be more specific.

FX has an app called FX Now. But it requires a cable sub and it only provides the shows that are currently airing (you can't use it to watch the Americans right now, for example, but will be able to next winter). It's available for Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV. Also, some older FX shows are on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu.

AMC doesn't have an app. Some of its older shows are on Hulu and Netflix. You can get the channel through a subscription to Sling TV. That's available on Chromecast, Fire TV or Roku.

In either case, you can buy individual episodes of AMC/FX shows a day after they air for $2-3 from Amazon. For that, the Fire TV would be slightly preferable, but could also use the Roku.
 
Own both a fire stick and chromecast and neither are perfect. I can't stand the software on the fire (including the slow third party apps), but I keep it for prime video. I hate using my phone to control the chromecast, but it's generally trouble free so I use it for everything else.
 
Appleman said:
Mostly YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix from iOS devices amongst my roommates. I feel like almost daily we would stream something from Hulu and then have no way to stop it if the Hulu phone app quit because we were multitasking, and reopening the app would only sometimes correctly realize that we were in the middle of stuff. Having to get up to manually unplug the Chromecast was a huge hassle, but this was almost a year ago, no idea if we were doing something wrong or if it's gotten better
Click to expand...
Most of the time, I just close the app, reopen it and then hit the casting button and the controls come back.
 
I use the Chromecast. It's not perfect but it's cheap. Sadly it doesn't support Xfinity on Demand, whereas the Apple TV does. Also, video quality is only so-so and streaming tabs from a browser just does not cut it for VOD.

I don't own an Apple TV but it seems like the best choice to me. Apple has the support of the most streaming services compared to the competition.

Spork4000 said:
My PS4
Click to expand...

The PS4 beats the Chromecast as a media device but it still can't do HBO Go for Comcast subscribers. Which sucks. Now that the PS4 has an mkv/mp4 player though I get a lot of mileage out of it.
 
SMattera said:
Be more specific.

FX has an app called FX Now. But it requires a cable sub and it only provides the shows that are currently airing (you can't use it to watch the Americans right now, for example, but will be able to next winter). It's available for Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV. Also, some older FX shows are on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu.

AMC doesn't have an app. Some of its older shows are on Hulu and Netflix. You can get the channel through a subscription to Sling TV. That's available on Chromecast, Fire TV or Roku.

In either case, you can buy individual episodes of AMC/FX shows a day after they air for $2-3 from Amazon. For that, the Fire TV would be slightly preferable, but could also use the Roku.
Click to expand...
I'd like to watch new season of Fargo, Justified, The Strain on FX and Walking Dead on AMC. I dont really care for other networks and shows. It just sucks.
 
RustyNails said:
I'd like to watch new season of Fargo, Justified, The Strain on FX and Walking Dead on AMC. I dont really care for other networks and shows. It just sucks.
Click to expand...

Get an Amazon Fire Stick or Fire TV (or if you have an Xbox 360/One, PS3/PS4 just use the Amazon app).

Buy Season passes from Amazon. Varies based on the show, but for HD, it's $30-45. You'll have to wait 24 hours after they air, but you'll have the advantage of no commercials and can stream whenever you want.

You're looking about $160 per year + cost of the Fire Stick if you get one. Probably a lot less than what you're paying for cable.
 
plainr_ said:
For those that love Kodi but also love streaming outside your home, I suggest abandoning Plex and move to Emby.

They have an addon for Kodi that will sync your content on Emby to Kodi's own local DB. You can also play the media directly via SMB network paths. Not to mention, you can use any Kodi skin unlike PleXBMC's implementation.

Did the switch not too long ago and I haven't looked back since. Emby is just superior in every way from metadata handling, user control, parental control, web interface... It's also completely open source if you care about that sort of thing.
Click to expand...

Plex works fine outside my house. My gf streams it at work with zero problems.

ApharmdX said:
I don't own an Apple TV but it seems like the best choice to me. Apple has the support of the most streaming services compared to the competition.
Click to expand...

The Roku has WAY more streaming content then apple.

P0bUQb0.jpg
 
DarkFlow said:
The Roku has WAY more streaming content then apple.

P0bUQb0.jpg
Click to expand...

It has some streaming content that Apple does not, but as a Comcast subscriber, Roku doesn't support Xfinity streaming (Apple does) and it doesn't support HBO Now for cable cutters who want Game of Thrones/etc. (Apple does). Those are deal-breakers to me and far outweigh the stuff that Roku does get, a lot of which is on Xfinity already.
 
ApharmdX said:
It has some streaming content that Apple does not, but as a Comcast subscriber, Roku doesn't support Xfinity streaming (Apple does) and it doesn't support HBO Now for cable cutters who want Game of Thrones/etc. (Apple does). Those are deal-breakers to me and far outweigh the stuff that Roku does get, a lot of which is on Xfinity already.
Click to expand...

Your're right about Xfinity, but they are adding HBO now, likely when the Roku 4 drops.

http://wtvpc.com/2015/08/18/hbo-now-is-coming-soon-to-roku-players/

Concerns have been heightened by the fact that HBO’s website no longer lists Roku as one of the app’s “coming soon” platforms.But those concerns have been allayed. An HBO spokesperson recently told TechCrunch the omission of Roku shouldn’t be taken to mean anything significant. “I don’t have specific details to share about Roku timing, but our goal has always been to make HBO NOW have parity with HBO GO in terms of devices supported,” the spokesperson said.
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But hey man, whatever floats your boat.

giga said:
Skewed chart. Why list GC support but not Airplay?
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Lol, you apple supporters are funny. Take it up with this website.
http://www.techhive.com/article/295...ast-nvidia-shield-android-tv-roku-compar.html
 
this_guy said:
One thing I hate about Chromecast - when watching a movie using Vudu or HBO Now - if I don't touch my phone for a while there's a chance my phone will close out the app I'm using to watch the movie. That means I'll lose the ability to control or pause the movie, although it will keep playing through Chromecast. Sometimes I can reconnect to Chromecast and my controls are back, sometimes it doesn't and I can't control the movie any more.

I use a 2014 Moto X btw.
Click to expand...

Yep thats why I got rid of all my chromecasts.... not having a dedicated remote really hindered the experience.
 
giga said:
I'm not saying it doesn't. But it's pretty misleading to list the chromecast and android tv with cast support but not airplay.
Click to expand...

Well there's a fundamental difference between AirPlay and Chrome Casting.

With casting, you can still use your phone or tablet while watching the show.

With AirPlay, you're literally locked out of doing anything else with that device.

Unless you happen to have an old iPad laying around, it's not a real solution. It's useful in a pinch or showing some photos off, but it sucks as an Internet video solution.
 
giga said:
I'm not saying it doesn't. But it's pretty misleading to list the chromecast and android tv with cast support but not airplay.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see. Yeah, non-native support is a pretty big difference. I mean you can technically screen mirror anything. On that note everything on Chromecast should list as Google Cast.
 
SMattera said:
Well there's a fundamental difference between AirPlay and Chrome Casting.

With casting, you can still use your phone or tablet while watching the show.

With AirPlay, you're literally locked out of doing anything else with that device.

Unless you happen to have an old iPad laying around, it's not a real solution. It's useful in a pinch or showing some photos off, but it sucks as an Internet video solution.
Click to expand...

DarkFlow said:
Doesn't Airplay use DRM to block shit like HBO and the like from using airplay to your tv?
Click to expand...
No, I can airplay hbo go in the background.
 
Chromecast (+ VideoStream Chrome plugin) do the job for me well enough. I've never run into a video file that the plugin couldn't cast to my TV.

The only downside is that playlist support is behind a paywall with that plugin, but I can just get up to put something else on.

Out of curiosity from anyone that said Chromecast doesn't do what you need, what are you trying to do that Chromecast doesn't? I'm not a fanboy or anything like that, just want to know.
 
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