Apple TV or Roku?

CoMoMacUser said:

I've had a Roku 2 XD since December 2011. I've used it primarily with Amazon Prime. When there's an HD version of a movie available, I'll watch it, but the image quality never looks better than 720p and typically more like SD. Maybe HD on Netflix, Hulu, etc. looks like 1080p, but I'll have to defer to other users about that.

Hope that helps.

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Apple TV supports content from Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, NHL GameCenter, NBA, Flickr and YouTube as well as the ability to purchase and rent content from iTunes. It also supports some free Internet content from folks like Revision3, WSJ and others, but all of that content is lumped in under the Podcast heading in Apple TV, so most folks probably don’t see it. The Apple TV used to support $0.99 rentals from ABC, Disney, Fox, and the BBC via iTunes, but Apple has since discontinued that option and shows now have to be purchased for $2.99. For people who want XBMC support on the Apple TV, it’s possible, but only works if someone is willing to jailbreak the device.

The Roku 2 has channels for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, Amazon Instant Video, HBO GO, Epix, MLB.TV, NHL GameCenter, NBA, Major League Soccer, UFC TV, CNBC, FOX News, NBC News, AOL HD, TED, Pandora, Crackle, Flickr and has support for PLEX. Roku has more than 250 public content channels listed on its website (though claims to offer 600), has an open SDK and as a result, has a lot of content partners working to bring more channels to Roku devices. In addition, users can browse over 1,000 “private” channels available for the Roku and add them if they know the correct code. Compare that to the Apple TV which today, has no SDK and doesn’t run any apps from the box.

While Roku has support for nearly every content channel around, it does NOT have support for YouTube. For more than a year now, Roku has said it is working on an official channel, but the company won’t give any estimate on when it will arrive. Some have been speculating for over 18 months now that the Apple TV will run apps in the future since internally it has 8GB of Flash storage, but none of that has yet to happen. So when deciding which box to buy, don’t listen to rumors of what the box may or may not do down the road, evaluate the boxes in the market based on what they can do today.

If you want the most content choices available, the Roku 2 beats the Apple TV hands-down. But if support for YouTube is a requirement, then the Apple TV is the only choice. I should also mention that neither the Apple TV or Roku 2 XS are DLNA compliant, so if that is a requirement for the system, then pick the $99 Vizio Co-Star or the $99 Western Digital WD TV Live box.

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bozzykid said:

Yeah, it isn't about which is better. It is about what you want to use it for. If you want to stream iTunes content and other media off the home network, then clearly the aTV is the way to go. If you want access to more content (like Amazon, etc), then Roku is for you.

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