ProudGrandma Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 We have one of the first Rokus ever out...and it's dying. So we need to replace it....and now there are a thousand different ones on the market....ok...maybe not that many...but a lot...and I have NO idea how to even sift through the different kinds. Can someone guide me here a bit... all we need to do is watch the channels...Hulu, Netflix, I think my husband subscribed to a couple sports channels and he watches some new channels. We do not need gaming options...and maybe that is just standard equipment, whether we use it or not....i don't even know. So, which one should we get....or are there other things we need to consider?? thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Do you have Amazon Prime? If so, you might want an Amazon Firestick instead of a Roku. that's what we have now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 we do have prime....does the amazon fire stick do something a roku doesn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 We have the newest $30 Roku, it works great. We use it for Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS, Acorn TV and some other things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 We have the newest Roku stick and we love it. We have Amazon Prime and get it on the Roku with no problems. I think the Fire stick might be a little cheaper but at the time we got the Roku, the Fire sticks were on back order and we didn't want to wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 (edited) we do have prime....does the amazon fire stick do something a roku doesn't? Honestly not sure, lol. It has voice searching....not sure what else. Oh,and the new one works with Alexa. Edited October 13, 2017 by ktgrok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 I got a free one with two months of Sling. We pay $25/ month during football season. It was a good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 We have firestick, roku and apple tv. My favorite is the firestick over the other two. Plus, I love having the voice feature. So easy to just ask alexa on it to out something on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 We have two Rokus (I think it's model 2 and 3) and an Amazon stick we never use. We have Hulu, Netflix, and Prime. We have only used the fire stick when traveling to access our Prime account. The model in our backroom is more dated and thus the menu options/navigation at times is more choppy? We lose the remote all.the.time and use our cell phones as remotes with the app. We're hopeless. I'm leery of the voice option with Amazon... they might direct you to a paid version of the item on Amazon when you can access a free version on Netflix. So just keep that in mind. I like Roku because it's not affiliated with another company (Apple, Amazon). We have individual profiles on Netflix with the Roku 3, but the old one doesn't let us do that. Hulu just got a makeover and you can do profiles, but the interface is ugh right now. When we bought our Firestick we got one for ourselves online and one as a gift inside Best Buy. They were almost the same price. At that time, I wanna say around $30? If you have a smart TV I don't think you need any extras to access the channels like Netflix, but it sounds like you do need something if you are looking for one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 (edited) We have two Rokus (I think it's model 2 and 3) and an Amazon stick we never use. We have Hulu, Netflix, and Prime. We have only used the fire stick when traveling to access our Prime account. The model in our backroom is more dated and thus the menu options/navigation at times is more choppy? We lose the remote all.the.time and use our cell phones as remotes with the app. We're hopeless. I'm leery of the voice option with Amazon... they might direct you to a paid version of the item on Amazon when you can access a free version on Netflix. So just keep that in mind. I like Roku because it's not affiliated with another company (Apple, Amazon). We have individual profiles on Netflix with the Roku 3, but the old one doesn't let us do that. Hulu just got a makeover and you can do profiles, but the interface is ugh right now. When we bought our Firestick we got one for ourselves online and one as a gift inside Best Buy. They were almost the same price. At that time, I wanna say around $30? If you have a smart TV I don't think you need any extras to access the channels like Netflix, but it sounds like you do need something if you are looking for one. You have to give it permission to buy something. The kids ones are locked down and no purchasing. DD can say to it" Alexa, put on netflix" and it does. Edited October 13, 2017 by itsheresomewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 You have to give it permission to buy something. The kids ones are locked down and no purchasing. DD can say to it" Alexa, put on netflix" and it does. That's good, but that wasn't my point. My point was as an adult if you are searching for a movie it will only bring up results for Amazon products if you use voice commands (unless they have modified it). So you might think, "oh I need to buy this" when in fact you could watch it free on another channel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 That's good, but that wasn't my point. My point was as an adult if you are searching for a movie it will only bring up results for Amazon products if you use voice commands (unless they have modified it). So you might think, "oh I need to buy this" when in fact you could watch it free on another channel. You can set it up for prime only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 You can set it up for prime only. Still doesn't address the concern I'm pointing out? If you WANT to be directed to Netflix or Hulu or something to access a free version of that show/movie, then Amazon won't do that, will it? That is what I read about the service when it was launched. Someone wrote an article complaining about that. So if you could say, watch the movie Hocus Pocus on Netflix, but it's not available at Prime then that's not helping you at all to rely on voice commands to locate free content. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 (edited) Still doesn't address the concern I'm pointing out? If you WANT to be directed to Netflix or Hulu or something to access a free version of that show/movie, then Amazon won't do that, will it? That is what I read about the service when it was launched. Someone wrote an article complaining about that. So if you could say, watch the movie Hocus Pocus on Netflix, but it's not available at Prime then that's not helping you at all to rely on voice commands to locate free content. This type of thing is the main reason we chose Roku over the Fire or Chrome sticks or Apple tv (plus we're not Apple people). Roku isn't tied to one company and isn't in competition with the others. Although it was originally designed for Netfilx it's been independent for years. We didn't want one streaming service to have more features simply because of the set top device we use. OP, it's hard to say which Roku you should get. They keep changing the names and that's frustrating. It's probably the only thing I don't like about Roku. At one time they had two models with the same name but different features. We have a Roku 3 on two of our tv's. (I think this is the one they had two of, both Roku 3 but one was older.) I'm not sure they even offer that one anymore but at the time it was either the 3 or 4. We didn't need the high end features of the Roku 4 but we wanted more than a basic low end model. Ds has the Roku LT (no longer available it seems) but he doesn't watch much tv. Mostly he watches YouTube which he can get on either the Roku on his tv or of course on his computer. I'd suggest going through their "Which model is for me?" thing on the website. Edited October 13, 2017 by Lady Florida. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Fire tv now searched everything by voice not just amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Fire tv now searched everything by voice not just amazon. Is "Fire tv now" a subscription? I don't know what that even means. I'll have to google. I'm talking about the firestick. Unless this is another term for it. OP, some people buy the Roku stick. It's been shared as being as low as $7 at some store up to like $25? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Is "Fire tv now" a subscription? I don't know what that even means. I'll have to google. I'm talking about the firestick. Unless this is another term for it. I read it as Fire TV now searches (was searched a typo?) everything as opposed to it used to only search Amazon. *Now* it covers everything. I don't know if I was the one who read it incorrectly or if you did. I still prefer a Roku over a Fire stick, but if they did change it that's good for people who have/want one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Forgive me, my brain is not computing correctly today. First of all, I don't even remember if it was the stick that offered voice recognition. It probably was the box and my posts are all mixed up lol. Secondly, yes, the "now" was probably not part of the device/service she was referring. I was wondering if they had a service named similarly to "HBO Now." Sorry, guys :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 (edited) I read it as Fire TV now searches (was searched a typo?) everything as opposed to it used to only search Amazon. *Now* it covers everything. I don't know if I was the one who read it incorrectly or if you did. I still prefer a Roku over a Fire stick, but if they did change it that's good for people who have/want one. It searches everything with the voice command. The first stick does not have that feature and it makes a difference. Edited October 13, 2017 by itsheresomewhere 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 OT- for those of you who have ATT phone unlimited- check your area and see if you are eligible for the 10 dollar a month directtv now. It is not a satellite and it is a no contract plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Get the box. We had one box and the variety of sticks and the box is SO much better at random bandwidth issues that we've replaced everything with boxes. They work better on HD content too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwalker Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Get the box. We had one box and the variety of sticks and the box is SO much better at random bandwidth issues that we've replaced everything with boxes. They work better on HD content too.This. ^ We have the Roku 2 and gave my adult daughter the original roku. We watch Amazon Prime and Netflix the most. And the yoga channel. You can get hbo and the other premium channels through amazon prime for around $8/month each. We get hbo during Game of Thrones and then cancel it. The little remote is adorable, but we mostly use our phones as remotes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 This. ^ We have the Roku 2 and gave my adult daughter the original roku. We watch Amazon Prime and Netflix the most. And the yoga channel. You can get hbo and the other premium channels through amazon prime for around $8/month each. We get hbo during Game of Thrones and then cancel it. The little remote is adorable, but we mostly use our phones as remotes. Wait, how do you get HBO through amazon prime for $8 per month? We have HBO Now for $14.99, and I just checked Amazon Prime and it says HBO is $14.99 per month for prime members. What am I missing? I'd rather pay $8 per month than $14.99! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwalker Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Wait, how do you get HBO through amazon prime for $8 per month? We have HBO Now for $14.99, and I just checked Amazon Prime and it says HBO is $14.99 per month for prime members. What am I missing? I'd rather pay $8 per month than $14.99!Well oops it is $14.99, sorry, I had it confused with another addon price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Someone gives you their password... (HBO Go). :leaving: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Well oops it is $14.99, sorry, I had it confused with another addon price. Darn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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