ROKU or Chromecast? (direct tv, blu-ray, on, cost)

[Texas Cop]

I'm trying to cut the cord and if you know what they are, please give me your take on each of these items? Thanks. TC

[loves2read]

For my perspective--pay for Amazon Prime,Netflix, Acorn, Tunnelbear VNP, and two cable services (2homes), use my son's Hulu and they use my Starz and Showtime signon info to get access on their IPads...
Stream a lot on IPad and flatscreen, have 2 Roku sticks and gave one to sister programmed with some of my sources since she doesn't have lot of money...have blu-Ray player that also pulls in streaming sources but it was close enough to hardware to our interface...Roku stick can go anywhere in house you get wifi connection

I vote Roku
I bought Chromecast when it first came out for my husband to use but for special Direct TV football promotion but he didn't care for it and we never really kept up with it...I think my son has Chromecast but don't know how much he uses it now

Roku stick is wi-if enabled and gets good reception, quality of streaming
Has lot of channel options which better ones need subscription of some sort but maybe you can share w/friends or relatives and both benefit...

I know there are options for accessing an Internet link as a "personal" channel on Roku and accessing live feeds for sports and maybe other Internet sources like maybe online videos for PBS channels in other states...
I wish I knew how to use my Tunnelbear service via my Roku to watch BBC and Canadian programming on tv vs my Ipad
But I am not that techno-Smart

The only issue I have had with Roku stick is remote...some of them can lose connectivity and be difficult to keep tuned to the HDMI stick...supposed to have an app for smart phones but haven't tried it
Replacing remote for streaming stick as $$ as buying new stick...

[rynetwo]

WE have Roku and love it.

We even access our Amazon Prime through the Roku as one of the offered channels.

[CyVaquero]

All of the big names in streaming devices have the same basic offerings - Netflix, Hulu, etc. Each also has an exclusive or two so make sure you do your homework on that front.

Roku - Only have the Streaming Stick so take this with a 'under powered' grain of salt - it's clunky, but effective. The interface is slow and menus are not the most intuitive but it get the job done. Wouldn't buy it again but it was the first low cost/profile device out there on which I could watch Amazon Prime.

Chromecast - No experience, so no opinion on it's performance. It is Android which means Kodi can be loaded on it (a huge plus if you are looking to cut the cable).

Amazon Fire Stick - Great Amazon (Prime) interface. Very smooth, pretty intuitive. Also Android and Kodi compatible (see above).

Apple TV - Not cheap anymore, but the previous version can still be found. Does offer seamless integration with your other Apple devices via AirPlay and iTunes sharing and quite frankly the smoothest interface of this genre of devices. The latest version has an App store, though no real break out apps have really appeared yet. If you do not have iPhones/iPads/Macs you really won't get a benefit from this.

My biggest complaint applies to all of the above - text input is awful although most do offer a remote app you can load on your smartphone/tablet which can make things easier. My second complaint is that at least for the three I am familiar with the WiFi/Bluetooth remotes are laggy which can be infuriating.

[DerpyDerp]

Originally Posted by loves2read

I wish I knew how to use my Tunnelbear service via my Roku to watch BBC and Canadian programming on tv vs my Ipad
But I am not that techno-Smart

The BBC has recently blocked most of the large VPN services from accessing their content. It used to work perfectly with my paid VPN service, but no longer does.

BBC shuts off iPlayer to UK VPNs, cutting access to overseas fans

It appears that the BBC plans to offer some sort of paid streaming service to Americans this year:

BBC to launch US online subscription service next year | Media | The Guardian

[loves2read]

I read that might happen
Have had trouble getting hooked up lately but did it last week
Just have to try and try before it was linked
Maybe sometimes persistance works
I would probably pay for direct BBC access
BBC-America sucks 95% of time
Not shows I want offered

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by Texas Cop

I'm trying to cut the cord and if you know what they are, please give me your take on each of these items? Thanks. TC

We have been using Roku for about two or three years, and love it. My comments are in this thread: TV vs. Streaming and Roku in the TV forum.

[mkpunk]

I only have Chromecast and the only downside is has limited apps besides YouTube, Netflix, Hulu. That said, for the price it is really effective.

[J_Kay]

Originally Posted by CyVaquero

All of the big names in streaming devices have the same basic offerings - Netflix, Hulu, etc. Each also has an exclusive or two so make sure you do your homework on that front.

I think this is probably the deciding factor for most people, but any of these devices will offer a pretty similar experience. I use Apple TV, but like you said, I get the full benefit because I'm pretty invested in their family of products.

Personally, I''m a pretty huge TV watcher so I never thought I would be able to fully cut the cord, but with all of the apps we have access to now you really aren't missing much. I get all of my news online so live sports is really the only major thing you'll have to figure out workarounds for, but even that is getting easier. CBS is streaming the Super Bowl for free this year on their CBS Sports app so it's probably only a matter of time before more and more services like that detach from cable packages: http://blog.enjoy.com/2016/01/21/fre...l-50-apple-tv/

[mkpunk]

Super Bowl typically streams. And I'm not talking Justin.Tv style services but the legit ones. I saw the last Pats-Giants that way four years ago. I do think this is one of the first times it is streamed for free on an app.