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Another vote for Chromecast.

I have an ATV and and it's great as well, but if all he's looking for is the cheapest device for Netflix, it's hard to beat the Chromecast.

Since you have a Chromecast, tell me this. Can you browse for movies and flip between apps from the TV like you can with the Roku and ATV, or does it only mirror what's displayed from your computer screen?
 
Roku isnt half the price.

apple tv cost $125 with tax. roku 1 was $60 plus tax and they added an enviromental disposal fee, so was like $90. not quite half price. The interface is terrible and all the bonus channels are like spam channels no ones heard of.

You can walk into Walmart and leave with a roku model for 39 bucks.

You're right, it isn't half the price, it's even less.

What is this environmental disposal fee?

And what's wrong with the interface?

Did apple TV finally get amazon video? Haven't had it in a while, sold mine to get roku
 
Since you have a Chromecast, tell me this. Can you browse for movies and flip between apps from the TV like you can with the Roku and ATV, or does it only mirror what's displayed from your computer screen?

No. It only mirrors what's on your computer - you can cast from Chrome and whatever is in that tab shows up on the screen. When using your phone you start the movie and then send it to the TV via the app. If you want to start a new movie or new episode, you have to go back into the app and recast it.

It's simple and it works, but for iOS it would be a lot easier if there was a separate remote app to at least pause/stop/play.
 
I have a Roku2 XD. Bought about 2-3 years ago for $79. The deal breaker for me was Roku had Amazon Prime and AppleTV didn't. All these devices are $99 and under. A better question to have asked is which one is best for me? While Roku gives you access to hundreds of channels I find myself only really using 3:
Netflix, Amazon Prime, and the PBS channel. I have a disk drive hooked up to my TV via the USB that I use to watch movies with so I don't need the streaming feature that Apple TV would give me.

It's a shame but Netflix streaming has gotten worse in the last several months. There is a recent story about both Comcast and Verizon in a pissing contest with Netflix that can only be fixed with $$$$. In fact Comcast and Netflix reached an agreement this week to improve the $$$$ streaming speed. I can only hope that Verizon does the same.
 
$39? Nope. Not sure about the fee but it added like 15$...I guess roku doesn't meet standards so they pass the buck onto the consumer.

The main menu and channel interface is just not organized well and extra sub menus that aren't needed. The Netflix ui isn't that great either especially the search.

You can walk into Walmart and leave with a roku model for 39 bucks.

You're right, it isn't half the price, it's even less.

What is this environmental disposal fee?

And what's wrong with the interface?

Did apple TV finally get amazon video? Haven't had it in a while, sold mine to get roku
 
$39? Nope. Not sure about the fee but it added like 15$...I guess roku doesn't meet standards so they pass the buck onto the consumer.

The main menu and channel interface is just not organized well and extra sub menus that aren't needed. The Netflix ui isn't that great either especially the search.

There is no environmental disposal fee with roku.

I work selling electronics and there's no such fee charged.

And yes, Walmart has roku HD for only 39 dollars.

I never saw anything wrong with roku's UI .

Channels you have are front and center, and there's a menu option to add more, how simple is that?
 
No. It only mirrors what's on your computer - you can cast from Chrome and whatever is in that tab shows up on the screen. When using your phone you start the movie and then send it to the TV via the app. If you want to start a new movie or new episode, you have to go back into the app and recast it.

It's simple and it works, but for iOS it would be a lot easier if there was a separate remote app to at least pause/stop/play.

Meh. That's a little disappointing. But considering it's price and capabilities, it's not really that big of a deal.

Like you said, I can just slap Chrome on my iPad and use it as a glorified remote.
 
No. It only mirrors what's on your computer - you can cast from Chrome and whatever is in that tab shows up on the screen. When using your phone you start the movie and then send it to the TV via the app. If you want to start a new movie or new episode, you have to go back into the app and recast it.

It's simple and it works, but for iOS it would be a lot easier if there was a separate remote app to at least pause/stop/play.
I can pause and scrub video on the iPhone app.
 
I looked at some reviews of Roku vs Apple TV, and it appears that ATV is good if you want to tie your Apple devices to your tv, but otherwise Roku still seems to have the edge. Besides I don't want to be a total Apple fan boy, so I just upgraded to the newish Roku3. It has a better display, more capabiity, and more channels than my previous Roku device. What I'm not sure of is if it actually streams movies at a higher resolution than the old one.
 
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Netflix on the Apple TV works fine for me. My other Netflix option is the Xbox 360 but I never use it. It sounds like the Roku is a popular option, but I like just turning on one device, the ATV, and having access to Netflix, iTunes and my local iTunes library and a few other of the select apps currently available.

For me, the ATV supplies my needs.
 
some blu-ray players have netflix, for a small bump in price compared with
non-netflix models.
 
There is no environmental disposal fee with roku.

I work selling electronics and there's no such fee charged.

And yes, Walmart has roku HD for only 39 dollars.

I never saw anything wrong with roku's UI .

Channels you have are front and center, and there's a menu option to add more, how simple is that?

Black friday maybe, but not now.

Roku3 for $39 is a great price, if it is a 3 and you can get that price.
 
There is no environmental disposal fee with roku.

I work selling electronics and there's no such fee charged.

And yes, Walmart has roku HD for only 39 dollars.

I never saw anything wrong with roku's UI .

Channels you have are front and center, and there's a menu option to add more, how simple is that?

then why did I pay for it when purchasing the roku? there is. "maybe not where you live", but other places yes. appletv? no.
nobody wants the roku hd.
you probably never saw anything wrong with windows ui either.
channels are laid out in a weird side list.
 
then why did I pay for it when purchasing the roku? there is. "maybe not where you live", but other places yes. appletv? no.
nobody wants the roku hd.
you probably never saw anything wrong with windows ui either.
channels are laid out in a weird side list.

All in you're own personal opinion. Everything you just said was subjective.

I have the R3 and it's a great device but I'm mostly using my Chromecast now as it does everything I need so easily. In about 30 seconds I can be streaming anything I want.
 
then why did I pay for it when purchasing the roku? there is. "maybe not where you live", but other places yes. appletv? no.
nobody wants the roku hd.
you probably never saw anything wrong with windows ui either.
channels are laid out in a weird side list.

Apple TV- Roku- Good quick reference for a comparison of the two boxes, sales and features.
 
then why did I pay for it when purchasing the roku? there is. "maybe not where you live", but other places yes. appletv? no.
nobody wants the roku hd.
you probably never saw anything wrong with windows ui either.
channels are laid out in a weird side list.

You paid it because the store you bought it at charged it.

It's another BS fee.

And yes I found something wrong with Windows, it crashed too much.

So I switched to osx.

Although windows is easier to use
 
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