Amazon Fire Stick or Roku? Internet TV?

[Loyal]

I'm not too happy about it, but my local phone company is killing it's fiber television service and we are being forced on an internet alternative. From what I understand so far, the major choices of the two pieces of hardware I'll have to buy: Amazon Fire Stick or Roku. I first thought Fire Stick, but the ads say that it has snoopy Alexa on the unit. It says it's first generation Alexa, but I don't know what the significance of that is.

I have to have the NFL channel, Fox News, Discovery, History, and local channels (for weather). It's a shame that the big selling point of the old service which is being discontinued is/was that it could not go out due to a storm, which was huge in Kansas when the tornado is heading your way. Maybe since we have fiber internet it still won't go out? Probably..

Anyway, I know Sling Tv and Hulu are out there....YouTube TV says it doesn't serve my area (???). The package that best fits my needs with the phone company is $55 a month (84 channels).

If you know about the hardware or about an internet based service that has what I want and is cheaper, LET ME KNOW!

 

[Dodgersrf]

I'm currently running 3 firesticks.
Sling TV's packages include 3 devices at the same time.
It's cheap and the quality is very good.
Also installing Kodi is a plus.

In addition. Some channel apps will work without a TV service.
I get live ESPN through their app. They ask for your tv service provider, but I instead gave them my Internet provider and it works.

 

[Akrasian]

I have yet to subscribe to a sling or other tv package. Basically, any of them should work through either Fire TV or Roku.

After a few years of using only Fire for streaming, I recently bought a Roku for my guest room tv, which I ended up putting in my den when I don't have guests - and I think the Roku is easier to use for any non-amazon streams - enough that when I sent a TV to my best friend for Christmas who is too cheap to pay anything for TV, I made sure that it had Roku built in. Your mileage may vary, but you can still play Amazon Prime on Roku. While I'm a big advocate of Alexa for the lights in my home, I'm not convinced I want it for TVs.

 

[dieterbrock]

I have Apple TV and it gets all the channels you said.

 

[nighttrain]

I'm not too happy about it, but my local phone company is killing it's fiber television service and we are being forced on an internet alternative. From what I understand so far, the major choices of the two pieces of hardware I'll have to buy: Amazon Fire Stick or Roku. I first thought Fire Stick, but the ads say that it has snoopy Alexa on the unit. It says it's first generation Alexa, but I don't know what the significance of that is.

I have to have the NFL channel, Fox News, Discovery, History, and local channels (for weather). It's a shame that the big selling point of the old service which is being discontinued is/was that it could not go out due to a storm, which was huge in Kansas when the tornado is heading your way. Maybe since we have fiber internet it still won't go out? Probably..

Anyway, I know Sling Tv and Hulu are out there....YouTube TV says it doesn't serve my area (???). The package that best fits my needs with the phone company is $55 a month (84 channels).

If you know about the hardware or about an internet based service that has what I want and is cheaper, LET ME KNOW!

Try dish, has some nice packages that are inexpensive
train

 

[Loyal]

Try dish, has some nice packages that are inexpensive
train

I looked at Dish and DirecTV (was a customer for more than 10 years), and I don't like the contracts and the penalty owed for early cancellation. Plus, both services are vulnerable to bad weather where I live, which isn't something I'm comfortable with when it's tornado season. And of course both have the cheap packages, but each has a must have channel that I want which is only available in the higher priced packages.....Thanks for the idea and trying to help!

 

[nighttrain]

i find the Dish and netflix are darn good
train

 

[Loyal]

I have Apple TV and it gets all the channels you said.

So is "apple tv" just the hardware that interfaces with your current HDTV, or is it an actual television? It looks like buy in is expensive for the hardware ($180-$200 vs. the $50 for Fire Stick). What is your favorite thing about Apple TV that makes it worth it?

 

[IowaRam]

Do you use any of those smart speakers like Amazon Alexa or Google Home ?

We use the Roku and Google Home

I've never actually used the Amazon stuff , so I can't do any head to head comparison

most the people I know who use the streaming stick all use the Roku , not sure I know anyone that has the Amazon Fire Stick

 

[dieterbrock]

So is "apple tv" just the hardware that interfaces with your current HDTV, or is it an actual television? It looks like buy in is expensive for the hardware ($180-$200 vs. the $50 for Fire Stick). What is your favorite thing about Apple TV that makes it worth it?

I don’t recall spending $150 for the Apple TV. More like $60-$70. But sure enough, the 4th generation is like you said.
Has all the apps but man that’s heavy bread.

EDIT- after some quick google searching it appears I bought either 2nd or 3rd generation version which was only $60-$70.

 

[Loyal]

Do you use any of those smart speakers like Amazon Alexa or Google Home ?

We use the Roku and Google Home

I've never actually used the Amazon stuff , so I can't do any head to head comparison

most the people I know who use the streaming stick all use the Roku , not sure I know anyone that has the Amazon Fire Stick

No, because I have never needed them (use bluetooth headphones a lot). I'm looking at Roku along with Fire Stick. Thanks for the response.

 

[12intheBox]

Apple TV

 

[dieterbrock]

Apple TV

You have the 4? I have a 2/3 and love it. Just don’t see why it’s doubled (tripled?) in price

 

[OregonRamsFan]

I have yet to subscribe to a sling or other tv package. Basically, any of them should work through either Fire TV or Roku.

After a few years of using only Fire for streaming, I recently bought a Roku for my guest room tv, which I ended up putting in my den when I don't have guests - and I think the Roku is easier to use for any non-amazon streams - enough that when I sent a TV to my best friend for Christmas who is too cheap to pay anything for TV, I made sure that it had Roku built in. Your mileage may vary, but you can still play Amazon Prime on Roku. While I'm a big advocate of Alexa for the lights in my home, I'm not convinced I want it for TVs.

My wife and I are slingers. The variety keeps us going.

Actually we only have one real choice for high speed internet and that is Spectrum. The DSL offered is so slow it isn’t much of a choice. I think I am going to drop the “TV” part of the Spectrum package and combine an HDTV Antenna for local channels and Sling with the sports package for the rest. I also have Amazon Prime and enjoyed Netflix in the past.

 

[Akrasian]

My wife and I are slingers. The variety keeps us going.

Actually we only have one real choice for high-speed internet and that is Spectrum. The DSL offered is so slow it isn’t much of a choice. I think I am going to drop the “TV” part of the Spectrum package and combine an HDTV Antenna for local channels and Sling with the sports package for the rest. I also have Amazon Prime and enjoyed Netflix in the past.

While not good for sports or the networks, there's a free app called Pluto.tv that has a bunch of decent to good tv available for free, that works with Roku and I think fire tv. I don't watch much tv normally, but the other night I watched Superman 2, and then watched an episode of The IT Crowd. A friend of mine who lives out in the sticks and won't pay for TV (but has high-speed internet for work and amusement) likes some of the cooking shows.

 

[12intheBox]

You have the 4? I have a 2/3 and love it. Just don’t see why it’s doubled (tripled?) in price

I do. It’s the 4K capability. Doesn’t mean as much now as it will in a year.

 

[Loyal]

I do. It’s the 4K capability. Doesn’t mean as much now as it will in a year.

Does the 4K matter so much if you have a regular HDTV? Someone said "it has all the apps" With Apple TV, you still need to pay for a service every month, correct? Can you just get/pay for a few channels or do you need a package of channels?

 

[12intheBox]

Does the 4K matter so much if you have a regular HDTV? Someone said "it has all the apps" With Apple TV, you still need to pay for a service every month, correct? Can you just get/pay for a few channels or do you need a package of channels?

For me it’s a question of preparing for the future. There isn’t much in 4K now - but there is some. A year from now, it may be the norm. Apple TV is like Roku - it’s a method for streaming. You still need to subscribe to Netflix or prime or Hulu (Hulu live is the best, btw).

 

[Akrasian]

For me it’s a question of preparing for the future. There isn’t much in 4K now - but there is some. A year from now, it may be the norm. Apple TV is like Roku - it’s a method for streaming. You still need to subscribe to Netflix or prime or Hulu (Hulu live is the best, btw).

Keep in mind that for streaming 4k - unless you have unlimited bandwidth, it uses up a lot of data on your internet plan to watch 4k movies regularly. Specifically, Netflix streaming 4k uses 6.8 gigabytes per hour of viewing. If you're rural, you likely have a significant cap on your data, and 4k could kill it. Note this wouldn't apply for regular tv if they are broadcasting at 4k - rare, but will become more common. And you may not need 4k, unless you have a huge tv and your tv room is also huge. Otherwise, regular hd may be enough.