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Hi,
Fancy having a go at Netflix and have been looking at a streaming device. My TV is not a smart one.
Does anyone have any recommendations, I borrowed the fire stick from work for a night and it was very easy and simple. Had a remote as well.
Thanks
Andy
I would go with the amazon fire stick as it allows Netflix and Amazon prime. To counter that the chromecast allows you to use Now tv and Bt sport apps and you can cast streaming apps to the chromecast.
I've got the Roku stick in the kids room - seems great!
Chromecast works flawlessly for me with Netflix and is also useful for watching Youtube on the TV.
+1 for Chromecast
You can cast from any device, it's built in to my Sony Xperia.
If you use Chrome as your browser you can cast anything in the browser, so you then basically have a smart TV.
The Videostream app for Chrome is free and will stream pretty much any video content.
YouTube, iPlayer, Netflix etc all support Chromecast natively.
For example, I can cast my whole phone screen, pick a video on Facebook, turn my phone sideways so that it's full screen and it will stream the video and audio in sync to the TV.
Not sure how it works with an iPhone, by only the YouTube app will stream from my iPad.
The Amazon Fire and Fire stick have very similar performance for streaming media (games not so much), but there is no comparison between the Roku streaming players and the Roku stick. The Roku stick is so bad, and slow, that I threw mine away. The Roku 2 and 3, top notch, best in class performance. I prefer AppleTV, but only because Airplay is so handy with a lot of Apple devices around. Otherwise, Roku is a best bet.
Chromecast is the leader in bang for the buck, but Roku is the king of content. There are something like 2,000 partner apps for Roku, nothing else comes close. And you get a remote. Navigating TV with your phone is OK, but not as handy as a remote that's always on and the buttons don't move.
If you're an Apple user then Apple TV is a great choice - AirPlay means that you just throw content to the TV. I do the one week at a time Now TV sports subscription - for the test matches - and Apple TV has the app installed.
I've got the Fire Stick and I'm really pleased with it. Prime members also have access to free Prime Music, which I've been really impressed with. I believe there are currently over 25000 albums available and you can also use Spotify. Netflix works much better than the version in my TV too.
I got a Fire Stick the other day and sideloaded Kodi on to it, makes it in to a whole other beast!
Best £30 I've spent.
What does Kodi allow you to do?Quote:
Originally Posted by gilford
Gives you access to pretty much every boxset or movie out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodder
Bit of work to set it up but definitely worth it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodder
Loads!
The basis of it is that it will link in with a home server / HTPC where you can store all of your stuff and stream it across.
I don't use it for this as I have a Plex Home Server.
Google Kodi Genesis and all will be revealed as to why this is a great little piece of kit ;-)
There are so many add ons for streaming, TVADDONS is another great one, plus there are loads for sports.
I use a Raspberry Pi 2 running Kodi. Fantastic bit of kit for the cash.
I have both. I have used the Fire Stick far more than the Chromecast. It supports Dolby Digital Plus for Prime streams.
The Kodi broken fire sticks are brilliant for latest movies and sports although you will spend forever after in Hell for theft.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Lee
Firestick is great if you want both Amazon and Netflix. Roku (I have a Roku 2) is a quality bit of kit if you just want Netflix. The Roku remote had a WiFi connection to the Roku box, so you don't need to point the remote. You can also plug headphones into the remote!.
Both have other channels on them, but I haven't looked and so can't compare.
I've also got a Roku 2 in the bedroom and will echo it's a good bit of kit.Quote:
Originally Posted by hogthrob
The beauty of the Fire Stick though is its small, can be powered from the USB on the TV so no extra wires to the TV and obviously the option to side load Kodi etc.
I also saw it on HUKD this morning for £30 in Tesco!!!!
Also worth adding you get £5 Amazon credit to spend on films when you buy, so essentially £25!
I do too. For FreeView TV, I have a USB dongle on my server which then streams TV to all devices, including the RPI 2 with Kodi. So, the server does storage and streaming (TV, Music, Videos, Photos), and the RPI 2 with Kodi is just a client(witch also gets Amazon Prime).Quote:
Originally Posted by Velvetsnow
Best wishes,
Bob
I paid £19 for my Fire Stick in the Prime pre-order. I have no plans installing any other software on it as I am anti media and software piracy.