Superior to the Roku 3? Idk about that. The Roku does just as much. I think the Chromecast would only be better if you have a chromebook or chromebox or something that runs chrome OS.
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Apple TV, Roku or something else?
- Thread starter iRock1
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The only reason i have atv around is because thats the only thing i could get back then, im getting roku real soon.
I'm thinking roku may be the simple answer to my quest too. Atv did work wonders but now i need a device that can just reference my films on hdd so having usb is perfect
If you put XBMC into the Apple TV you can unlock/use the USB port for anything.
I'm so sorry no one stopped you from buying the 3rd gen. If only we knew each other so I could have stopped you from getting locked into an ATV 3. I really do wish that they'd work out a jailbreak for the 3 but until then my 1st gen's will do just fine for my 1080p playback.
Roku 3 is by far the best solution at the moment. Some of the great features I use extensively:
1. Headphone jack on remote
2. Plex for playing media on my LAN
3. USB port for direct attached storage
4. Recent versions of Hulu, Plex, Youtube and Netflix on iOS and Android allow you "cast" to Roku3 in exactly the way as you would to Chromecast.
5. Community developed channels. (especially the Google Music channel).
1. Headphone jack on remote
2. Plex for playing media on my LAN
3. USB port for direct attached storage
4. Recent versions of Hulu, Plex, Youtube and Netflix on iOS and Android allow you "cast" to Roku3 in exactly the way as you would to Chromecast.
5. Community developed channels. (especially the Google Music channel).
Aren't there native Hulu, YouTube, Netflix apps on the Roku (passed mine on to a family member a while back so I can't check personally)? What benefit would being able to 'cast' these have? I'd be more interested in 'casting' apps that don't have native versions.
The Roku is the best all round media device, except for someone who buys much of their video from iTunes or relies on AirPlay quite a bit. I ultimately didn't need ours because we had
TVs scattered around the house already and we didn't need anything beyond what they offered--also we use AirPlay a lot and they do play especially nice with the Apple ecosystem. I think I might be picking another up eventually though as our vacation rental doesn't have internet access and being able to just plug in a portable HDD for the kids movies would be handy. Also loved how the Roku remote is IR but RF and as you mentioned, being able to plug in headphones to the remote is a great feature.
I just find the use of remotes clunkier to navigate with the on-screen menus - it is much easier to find what I want on my phone. This is especially true when I need to type to search.
Do you find using Plex playing media from your lan better than the Roku Media Channel that allows you to do so?
I have a 2tb drive plugged into my Asus Router thus providing access to all my devices including my Roku. I use the Roku Media channel to stream movies I put on their and it works perfect outside the occasional error where it seems to lose connection. My theater/Roku are connected via Cat 5 not wireless, so it appears the drive and router lose this connection. I have to unplug and reconnect the drive and it works fine again.
Just curious what your experience has been.
I had been using Apple TV for a while. Now have used Roku for a couple of months. Overall, I definitely prefer Roku.
Main reasons:
* Much better choice of channels - particularly local channels.
* Ability to stream Media from my NAS
* "Play on Roku" for casting photos is available on both iPhone and Android. Maybe even WP ???
* Ability to play content from a USB stick.
The only thing I prefer on the Apple TV is access to iTunes for movie rentals and purchasing TV shows. I suspect it will be better in the US, but in the UK there is only one viable movie rental service on Roku (Sky Store) which is nowhere near as good as iTunes. Because of this I've kept my ATV as a secondary box.
Main reasons:
* Much better choice of channels - particularly local channels.
* Ability to stream Media from my NAS
* "Play on Roku" for casting photos is available on both iPhone and Android. Maybe even WP ???
* Ability to play content from a USB stick.
The only thing I prefer on the Apple TV is access to iTunes for movie rentals and purchasing TV shows. I suspect it will be better in the US, but in the UK there is only one viable movie rental service on Roku (Sky Store) which is nowhere near as good as iTunes. Because of this I've kept my ATV as a secondary box.
Roku has really done a great job mimmicking the Chromecast with the Roku 3500. For $50 you get all the features of the Roku 3 (minus USB port) at half the cost of a Roku 3. Pretty damn cool.
Link to new Roku 3500 HDMI stick: http://www.amazon.com/Roku-3500R-Streaming-Stick-HDMI/dp/B00INNP5VU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396041850&sr=8-1&keywords=roku+3500
Link to new Roku 3500 HDMI stick: http://www.amazon.com/Roku-3500R-Streaming-Stick-HDMI/dp/B00INNP5VU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396041850&sr=8-1&keywords=roku+3500
1. No USB - No ability to attach local storage
2. No ethernet - Slower transfer speeds and possible buffering (dependent on WiFi throughput and bitrate of media)
3. No headphone jack on remote.
4. No MicroSD card slot.
That's a lot of hardware and functionality to lose for only $45 in my opinion.
My setup:
I run a headless HP Microserver as my DIY NAS running on Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS:
http://www8.hp.com/au/en/products/proliant-servers/product-detail.html?oid=4248009#!tab=features (which I got new at the bargain price of $200)
It also includes a remote access card for out-of-band management:
http://www.tenniswood.co.uk/technology/windows/review-hp-microserver-remote-access-card/
It has 2GB of ECC RAM, 4 x 2TB drives as RAID5 (6TB usable) shared with Samba and Plex server. It contains a 500GB boot drive shared as AFP and used as a time machine backup volume.
My household Macs, Roku, iPad/iPhones, Android tablets/phones, and Chromecasts all run Plex. The interface is fantastic, supports all sorts of metadata (browse by actors, directors, year etc), artwork, movie descriptions. Viewing data is synched across all devices so I can keep track of what ive watched and if I partially watch something on my iPad, when I start that movie from my Roku, I can choose to continue where I left off.
The best part is that it is free!
I have both. Overall I prefer the AppleTV. Mostly because of my other Apple devices.
I only really use iTunes anymore but you can use Plex if you wanted too even on the ATV3.
Airplay has become near indispensable for me. Especially mirroring my Macs display into the living room.
Roku has a bigger channel selection but like AppleTV the majority of stuff doesn't interest me. But between HuluPlus, crunchyroll, Netflix, YouTube, and HBOGo (requires a cable subscription) I was easily able to get rid of cable.
I only really use iTunes anymore but you can use Plex if you wanted too even on the ATV3.
Airplay has become near indispensable for me. Especially mirroring my Macs display into the living room.
Roku has a bigger channel selection but like AppleTV the majority of stuff doesn't interest me. But between HuluPlus, crunchyroll, Netflix, YouTube, and HBOGo (requires a cable subscription) I was easily able to get rid of cable.
1. Said this already
2. Don't know many people with ethernet connections/cables in their bedroom or living room, where a Roku actually sits. Actually, don't know many people that still use this connection much any more, since high speed broadband and wifi pretty much negate the need. But, where you live internet may not be very fast, so this may be a feature you need.
3. Sure. If an earphone connection on a remote is a defining feature, then buy the Roku 3.
4. Same as #1. If you want a black box sitting next to your TV connected with Ethernet and has expandable storage, then I doubt the 3500 or the Chromecast would be your first choice.
Personally, the ethernet connection and the USB/SD card, not to mention the space the black box of an Apple TV or Roku take up, isn't worth the extra $50. I like the invisible footprint of a Chromecast (and now a Roku 3500).
I have a few questions:
1) Would a wireless connection be enough to stream 1080p content (mkv files) from a FireWire RAID (attached to my iMac) to a Roku 3? My upload speed is about 15 Mbps.
2) I'm still not completely sure about how Plex works. Do any of my contents go to some cloud server, or absolutely no bit leave my local network?
3) As a case in favor of the Apple TV, could I simply stream my movies out of the iTunes ecosystem from my iMac to the ATV via AirPlay?
1) Would a wireless connection be enough to stream 1080p content (mkv files) from a FireWire RAID (attached to my iMac) to a Roku 3? My upload speed is about 15 Mbps.
2) I'm still not completely sure about how Plex works. Do any of my contents go to some cloud server, or absolutely no bit leave my local network?
3) As a case in favor of the Apple TV, could I simply stream my movies out of the iTunes ecosystem from my iMac to the ATV via AirPlay?
Just to throw it in there...
I use XBMC on my OUYA (https://www.ouya.tv/). It XBMC works flawlessly on the OUYA and it serves my needs 100%. I mostly use it to play videos from my external HD. I don't have Netflixs and don't think the OUYA plays nice with Nexflixs (I haven't experimented with it, so do your research)
Just some things I like about:
A few things that I don't like:
Other than that, it's hard for me to think about other things I don't like. My money was well spent on this system. Check it out.
I use XBMC on my OUYA (https://www.ouya.tv/). It XBMC works flawlessly on the OUYA and it serves my needs 100%. I mostly use it to play videos from my external HD. I don't have Netflixs and don't think the OUYA plays nice with Nexflixs (I haven't experimented with it, so do your research)
Just some things I like about:
- Runs XBMC Flawlessly (use it to play media from my HD)
- Can also use it for light gaming (There is an OUYA app store and the system can run N64 and PS1 emulators)
- It's an Android based system so I can sideload apps (Dropbox, Games from the Play Store, etc.)
- Sleek design, nice controller too
- Only $100, look out for deals though. There was a promotion for $25 off the price a few months ago.
A few things that I don't like:
- Poor wi-fi connection (needed to move my router and now use ethernet cable for internet. I think OUYA fixed the issue with there latest release)
- OUYA store's game selection, but then again it's a relatively new platform and I didn't buy it for games, I bought it to use XBMC
- No official apps for popular services like Netflixs, YouTube, etc.
-BUT, I have sideloaded YouTube for Google TV and it works great
Other than that, it's hard for me to think about other things I don't like. My money was well spent on this system. Check it out.
I'm not sure what internet speed has to do with it - my cable gets 120Mbit/s.
The issue is when you've got 2 or more devices trying to stream HD video at the same time and the WiFi begins to choke.
My WiFi/router, Roku and server are in the living room so they all get wired in order to alleviate this bottle neck.
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Its all local. You have Plex server software on the device where all your media is. Then Plex frontend software gets installed on all your devices to stream from the server.
Yes, but having a iMac on just to watch media is a waste of power (if you plan to run Plex server on your iMac then ignore this previous point) and even then it will only work with Apple supported media formats. Plex can play pretty much everything and anything.
1. Yes as long as you have a good wireless connection and your local network isn't bogged down with other traffic. So 15 mbs to the internet is irrelevant. You'll need plex connect for that file type.
2. All media is locally stored.
3. Yes. However you are streaming from iTunes not using AirPlay. You COULD use Airplay on your Mac to mirror if you want but you'll have better results just connecting to your iTunes library from the ATV.
The only thing plex offers over iTunes is more versatility with file types and the ability to stream the content off network. Kind of like you are your own netflix server. Roku is a little better at this but IMO only because it's a work around on ATV.
Like any Apple product the AppleTV wants you to use and potentially buy from iTunes. If you are deep in the Apple ecosystem it's the way to go IMO. However if your not and especially if Plex is going to be #1 thing used the Roku might be a better bet.
I do not think this is a one size fits all answer. Both have there pros and cons.
The more i research the more i'm going toward a pi, loads of support, compact, low power usage, handles media well, will connect via usb, better ui for local media, lots of plugins available. Just wish they. Would bring out one with 1gb ram
Running XBMC or Plex?
I've got one. If you've got more than about 50 movies the interface slows to a crawl. I found it unusable for my purposes.