Reply With QuoteI'd say a Amazon Fire stick would do the trick.
I've got an old fire box and that does everything and more pretty much. They're discontinued now but they've beefed the sticks up.
Our four year old Sony Bravia has never had the C4 app so we've got one of the white Now TV boxes which does.
However the Now box is struggling with the latest version of their software. Added to which C5 have completely changed their app and the new one is not available in the (pathetic) Sony store.
We therefore need to replace the Now box with something that comes with (or can easily be given) the C4 and C5 apps (and ideally iPlayer which is a bit flaky on the Sony*).
I'd appreciate thoughts on what's best, cheapest, what to avoid etc.
Many thanks
*Sony produce good hardware but every single Sony device I've ever owned the associated software has been dreadful.
I'd say a Amazon Fire stick would do the trick.
I've got an old fire box and that does everything and more pretty much. They're discontinued now but they've beefed the sticks up.
The now tv sticks are pretty good for £15
We have a Roku enabled TV here in the US. Roku also comes on a stick. Its been solid and reliable for almost 2 years now. I dont know what the UK content is like but over here it has most Apps we need from a vast selection. Netflix, Sky, Amazon Prime, Spotify, youtube, etc.
I second the Roku. You can get Netflix, Amazon Prime, NowTV (basically Sky), iPlayer, CH4, ITV, CH5, YouTube, amongst others. Not many devices include apps for all these other streaming services.
Ever one to go for overkill take a look at then nvidia shield. The fire stick is ok but the Amazon / google spat means no you tube (if that’s important to you) and it can be a bit slow at times.
Anyway, the shield is ridiculously overpowered and very capable. It comes with either 16gb or 256gb internally, 16 is fine if you only stream content and you can get both game controller and tv remote style controllers. It’s not cheap but then the best never is.
I have v1 which I got for a steal one Black Friday a few years back and it still outclasses any other tv ensmartening box out there bar the v2.
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I've the current Fire Stick and it has Youtube installed as standard, also never had an issue with it slowing down. If you've got Netflix and Prime accounts it's excellent.Originally Posted by julian2002
Latest 4k Firesticks are lag free, Blackpanther is a great app.
Cool, my son's firestick is a year or two old and doesn't have YT on it and spends a lot of time with that spinning yellow circle thingy, but I guess things have changed.
Nvidia shield as mentioned, it can do everything and fast. If you like pc gaming the free games on geforce now make it worth its price. ( You can stream games with no pc)
I also have the Sony Bravia, and if you go on Digital and have allowed YouView, from there you get all the players (BBCm ITV,C4,C5). It must be an Android Bravia, I think
I think there is even a Youview app, but do not know how it works
Last edited by Franco; 6th March 2019 at 13:33.
I have a roughly 4 year old Sony, the one with the big speakers down the side, can't remember the model.
I agree, the on board smart functions aren't great, BBC Iplayer quite often doesn't work, although 4k on Prime is ok on it
I actually now use a Chromecast Ultra, and use the apps on my phone or tablet (Android) to cast everything, and find that works a lot better, Youtube, BtSport, etc,
Cheers
Kevin
We have a Humax Freesat DVR and it is great as we like to record from the satellite (as our broadband is not very fast). We also have a Sony Bravia 'smart' TV and it became very outdated compared to the plug-in boxes.
The Humax DVR works a bit like a SKY box recorder and has the online streaming stuff available too, but it unfortunately no longer has the C4 app as they had some sort of fallout I seem to recall.
We also have the FireTV box and it never gets used nowadays - except to watch C4 on demand. We were very happy with it for streaming otherwise - particularly for the small cost.
Again a vote for the now tv stick
Very very easy to use
I like the interface and the remote is good
Just to close this off we ended up with a Roku Express, £24 from Amazon and we're really pleased. Loading the apps you want is very easy, you can remove the dross and it's really quick to navigate. I tried to order a new Now box and was defeated by their website, annoying at the time but in retrospect I'm glad, the Roku Express is excellent.
Another vote for Chromecast Ultra - stream anything you want from your tablet / phone apps.
Am I correct in that Apple TV (the HD/4K black box version) now have all the main streaming apps? I'm specifically wanting to load Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video, iPlayer, NowTV and BT Sport.
Second the nVidia shield, I goy mine from Currys last summer (2017 model), just 16GP but works great with my Bravia. Hear that the Shield version 2019 is cylindrical and even more capable - for myself the one I have is more than enough.
Hopefully as this thread was started in march the OP is all sorted and happily streaming on their new box.
New shield now has 2 versions the cheaper is cylindrical (ill probably get that soon, hoping for a black friday deal). More expensive one is in the same case as before both have a new remote.
Get an IPTV box.
100 quid for the box and 100 quid for a year going forward
I've got every sky channel, every sports channel known to man, all movies, documentaries, etc etc.
Literally everything all HD and not daft having to look round for streams it works instantly the same as sky.
Do you have any examples of an IPTV box worth looking at?
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