New Roku 3 ...thinking about it...

[97tbird]

Supposed to be 5x faster than the last version, and has a motion sensor remote (with a headphone jack) and a new interface: (I never realized it has 100's of channels/apps)

http://www.roku.com/why-its-cool

(I don't like that it only has Audio OUT via HDMI *Only* - I wish it had 3.5 mm analog stereo/rca out, too, so I can connect it to my 2-ch audio amp - I don't have an HDMI receiver! - BUT I guess I can connect the 3.5 mm stereo from the amp which I use to connect laptop etc, to the headphone jack on the REMOTE and use the better and full function Roku app for the iphone, which turns the phone into a remote...)

 

[Rand]

but you cant play any local media(or its difficult to)

Ie if you've ripped your 1000dvd library and put it on a NAS.

 

[97tbird]

Yeah true- but for me personally that doesn't apply.
I hardly 'own' movies, except a few that I really 'cherish', and those I keep on blu ray...

One can play photos and some media that you have on androids/iphones through the free Roku app:

 

[Rand]

I was just listing the one huge downside.. if that doesnt affect you its a great little box.

 

[97tbird]

I understand

MODS - please move to consumer electronics - didn't mean to post in 'computers' section

 

[The Critic]

I thought about this, but what do I gain with a Roku versus the built-in Viera TV that I already have? Aside from the hundreds of lousy channels...

 

[sciphi]

I'd look into this to stream Amazon Prime without using my laptop.

 

[jigen]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
I thought about this, but what do I gain with a Roku versus the built-in Viera TV that I already have? Aside from the hundreds of lousy channels...


In my experience, the user interface on the TV apps is dreadfully slow, lacks many search options in the apps, and never gets updated.

I have the same stuff in my Panasonic. Personally after using an Apple TV and Roku, I will never use that feature on my TV again.

 

[97tbird]

My TV although 1080p etc, is not a smart TV - so all I have is a Blu Ray player that has Netflix, Amazon and Youtube etc (+ a few news and weather apps) but that's pretty much it, and the NF interface is horrible and the menus are laggy - The Roku looks like it would be about 10x faster and has a lot more features comp'd to the BR player....

 

[SuperDave456]

This is how I watch TV.

On my current Roku it is laggy. But I watch Amazon Prime via Roku all day long.
BTW, I have Verizon FIOS as my ISP.

If you don't have a Roku, I've been very pleased with mine. It isn't a Laptop or a Smart TV.
That being said, it is good for cheap TV.

 

[Vikas]

Does Roku 3 have youtube support? It would be rather ironic if the youtube video you posted can not be viewed from Roku!

 

[Quattro Pete]

I don't think so. There was some falling out between Roku and Google which led to this, IIRC. It's possible it'll be added at some point though.

 

[97tbird]

I mostly watch movies, so the Youtube issue won't affect me - I don't think i've watched Youtube via my BR player at all - I do that at the laptop -
If i do want to watch Youtube on TV it will be music videos - and Roku has Vevo and quite q few other apps for that looks like...

I mostly want something with snappier interface and better functions/menus on Amazon Prime and especially Netflix - the NF menu/app on my BR player is appalling and you can't even browse or add movies with it. (have to go to the laptop) even the Roku app on iphone has about 10x more functions than the BR player's NF interface.- what I like MOST about the roku is the ability to search by movie or actor etc ACROSS different apps/streaming services you have on your device...

and I think Roku will grow a lot further...

And Like Pete said, they MIGHT get youtube at some point.

And with free shipping and a 30-day money back guarantee, I don't think it will hurt to try....

 

[Vikas]

I know very little of these devices but from what I have heard, AppleTV is supposed to be the best. Especially, if you already have an iPhone.

 

[97tbird]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I know very little of these devices but from what I have heard, AppleTV is supposed to be the best. Especially, if you already have an iPhone.


what's 'best'?
for someone with a big itunes library, yes. apple tv is probably best
(I don't)
Otherwise Apple TV has few channels compared to Roku...very few I think;

Here are some comparisons:

http://www.ifunia.com/blog/apple-tv-3-vs-roku-which-media-streamer-is-right-for-you/

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_busin...ight-box-2.html

a 'confession' from an apple fan

"...Roku, in my opinion, is what the Apple TV should be, but really isn’t. To date, it offers access to nearly 700 channels ranging from the traditional (Hulu Plus, Vudu, Netflix), to the truly unique (Indieflix, House of Horrors, Funimation)...."
found here:
http://appadvice.com/appnn/2013/03/as-th...r-apple-tv-user

 

[Cutehumor]

thinking about google tv myself but I think you have to have a HD box to hook up hdmi with the google tv box. you can surf the internet on your tv/stream etc

 

[97tbird]

Well I went ahead and ordered one from Amazon...
should be here on Monday, but won't get to play with it till Wed as I have to work evenings Mon and Tue.

...Will update.

 

[sciphi]

I got a Roku 3 the other day. With it using the Ethernet port so it's not competing for wireless bandwidth, it's pretty snappy. Menus load about the same speed as on my Ipod, which is pretty quick, but occasionally with a brief lag. It streams Amazon Prime nicely, so that's good.

Something that annoyed the daylights out of me while trying to set it up was that the MAC address was not available during the setup process. It wasn't printed onto the unit, either. Tech support was useless on this, also. I had to disable MAC filtering and let the automatic setup run, then re-enable MAC filtering. It worked fine after that. A manual setup option that displays the MAC address and various ports it defaults to would be very appreciated.

I'd give it a 3/5. Minus one for no manual setup option, and minus one for horrible incompetent tech support.

 

[Hokiefyd]

97tbird, how do you like it?

We have a Roku 3 in our living room and a Roku HD in our bedroom. The 3 is far faster than the HD, but the interface on the HD was just recently updated to the 3's interface a few weeks ago, and that did make it better. But it's still clear that the 3 is one snappy little device. We watch ours quite a bit. I don't have it plugged into the router, but it does sit directly next to the router, and performance is top-notch. Our HD in the bedroom is about 40 feet and 4 or 5 walls from the router and it works just fine via Wi-Fi as well.

I had no problems setting either of ours up, though the 3 did drop the Wi-Fi remote once. The remote on the 3 uses Wi-Fi technology rather than IR as most remotes do, and as the HD's remote does. One cool benefit is you don't have to have LoS to the box to use the remote. One detractor is it will very rarely drop the "handshake" between the remote and the box. This has happened to us exactly once in the 2 or 3 months that we've had the 3. A quick look at a YouTube video fixed that issue.

Interoperability between brands is continually frustrating for me. Such as, there's no YouTube channel for Roku simply because they can't get along. There's no Amazon Prime channel for the Apple TV (which is one big reason why we didn't buy one). The frustrating part is these are all very simple apps...it's contractual issues that are messing things up, not technical challenges. Google wants to lock you into the Google ecosystem. Apple wants to lock you into the Apple ecosystem. Microsoft wants to lock you into the Microsoft ecosystem. I understand it...but it's frustrating as a user.

 

[97tbird]

I like it a lot - snappier and better GUI and remote than the Panasonic blu ray player which we used to stream until now.
The Roku 3 is a LOT faster and better pic quality streaming HD Netflix and Amazon.
I have it hard-wired to the router.

The Roku iphone app is great - I use it a lot as a remote than the Roku's own.

The remote with the headphone jack is a lot more useful than I than i thought...


I still haven't added a lot of free channels...but intend to keep adding, need to do more research on it.