Which Streaming Media Player?

[brassburnz]

I'm looking for a video streamer. I have an Apple TV 3rd gen, but I'm looking at the MXQ Android box. Here's a link to an Amazon website with a variety of devices. Anyone have experience with any of these?

https://www.amazon.com/Streaming-Media-Players/b/ref=sv_e_tvvid_3?ie=UTF8&node=13447451

I'm also thinking about getting an Apple TV 2nd generation I can jailbreak to add KODI or something similar.

[stilly]

I heard the Amazon Firebox was better than the Apple TV. But I have my sights set on the Gen2 model so I can put Kodi and all on it. When I can afford to switch over and get faster internets.

[fishmonger]

what exactly do you want to do with it? i have the fire tv and its great. the newer ones have their plus and minus. the stick isnt bad as well as its a cheaper option. there are other andriod boxes but the MXQ which i think is around $30 is a little outdated. go with a newer one that can do dts and h.265.

[sholling]

I'm a techie and just have to try out everything (except Apple), and since I own a FireTV and a Roku 3 and a Windows/Kodi box I'll hopefully be able to give you an intelligent, non-fanboi answer.

For movies, unless you're locked into Amazon's Prime world almost exclusively then it's pretty darned hard to touch the flexibility of a Roku 3 or Roku 4. Nobody offers as many channels and you never feel locked into somebody's walled garden. For music, it offers Amazon's Prime music and a few other streaming services and you can run the Plex client on your Roku (you'll need a server or a NAS running Plex server). What's missing is Kodi.

Amazon's Fire and Fire Stick work great if Amazon Prime is your primary focus. They will run a version of Netflix and Plex, and you can sideload Kodi but it's really a Primecentric device. With a Roku in the house, I never use my Fire.

I have a huge library of lossless and high-resolution music on a home server that I primarily access from a small 4K-ready home theater PC (HTPC) connected to my TV and audio system. I like Kodi's look and feel much better than Plex so it was worth that investment to me. While I took the time and spent the money to build a really nice infrared-ready Kodi box, I'm told that a Kodi runs fine from a Kangaroo at up to 1080P. I haven't tried one myself but that's what I'm told.

I'm a big fan of Android but not of Android TV. It always seems kind of kludgy to me, primarily because most of the boxes are from fly by night industries. I am intrigued by the Nvidia's Shield console but it's expensive for what it is.

One other thing that is important to me is convenience. Besides all of my TV and audio gear, my Logitech Harmony Elite will also control my Roku, my FireTV, and with a $30 adapter - the Kodi application on my HTPC.

[the86d]

I got my lady a Roku 2 (even though I said I would never again because of the issues I had on one of their highest end units at the time, but I was on a business trip and needed something of a smartTV function while away from home) and it does work well. You can push video streams from a Firefox browser too.

My lady got me a pre-Kodi'd (coworker did it for her) Firestick, and I finally saw the new Star Wars. It is a little laggy, but HBOnow seems to be on everything during this trial month I have been checking it out.

Chromecast seems to be one of the better options (I too do not use iPhruity products, mainly due to price of most of their hardware, and it offers nothing over more open alternatives), and all 4 in the house have served me well, AND the price is right.

I tried a MK808b Android HDMI stick before Chromecast was known, and it worked well, until it died very soon after purchase, but I couldn't find a good k/b and rat that worked well, before it did die, or Chromecast had better support.

[brassburnz]

what exactly do you want to do with it? i have the fire tv and its great. the newer ones have their plus and minus. the stick isnt bad as well as its a cheaper option. there are other andriod boxes but the MXQ which i think is around $30 is a little outdated. go with a newer one that can do dts and h.265.

I want to use it in my backyard with an LCD projector to watch TV, sports, and movies on a big screen. I have a 3000 lumen projector with an HDMI input. Right now I'm using a MS Surface RT2 as the AV source. I'm using a Bluetooth speaker for audio .

The current screen is 6X4 feet, but I just ordered a 7X5. I've set it up for rear-projection, so I don't have to worry about walking in front of the screen. If the A/V box does not have Bluetooth, I'll have to get different sound system. That shouldn't be that big of a deal although I want to keep it as simple as possible.

[brassburnz]

I picked up an Amazon Fire Stick with Voice control. I had a $10 gift card, so it came out to $42 and change, shipping included.

https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Fire-TV-Stick-with-Voice-Remote-Streaming-Media-Player/dp/B00ZVJAF9G/ref=lp_13447451_1_3?s=tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1466287993&sr=1-3

I found a Youtube video with step by step instructions for adding Kodi 16.1 without the need for a computer. There are a couple of additional tweaks to make the interface more user friendly. My wife is using it with an older Vizio smart TV that doesn't run apps very well. She likes the Voice control for finding things to watch.

I really wanted to use this for my outdoor theater, but I'm stuck with my 3rd gen Apple TV. I stopped using the Apple TV because the remote stopped working even after installing a fresh battery. I found an app that let's me use my iPhone as a remote. It uses the WIFI connection and is much better than the original remote.

I think I'll look for a used Amazon Fire Stick and try to add Kodi. I don't want to mess with the one my wife is using in case I screw something up. Also looking for a 2nd gen Apple TV I can jailbreak, but people want a lot of money for them.

[Memphys]

Which Streaming Media Player?

I like the new Apple TV I have in the bedroom, but really I prefer the roku 3. I use it with Plex to stream content off my PC and it's fairly snappy software-wise. The reason I don't like the sticks is I find the UI to be slower. Both the apple and roku 3 UI are fast and responsive, nothing worse than a slow as **** interface.

Pushing content from my iphone to the Apple TV is flawless. On my roku3 not so much. It may be better for android to roku but I can't confirm.

I also like the fact that I can use the roku remote to plug in headphones for private listening. I heard that they also upgraded the app on phones to do the same the thing. Apple TV can do this only using Bluetooth headphones which is great and all until you have to recharge your headset.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rigorkrad]

Apple TV 4th gen looks nice. It has a Siri remote, and a universal search. The new iOS is coming out in September and its going to have a lot of nice features.
Apple TV is coming out with universal sign on. You give it your cable user name and password and every single app ( hbo, A&e , espn ) will use the same credentials. You wont have to log in each one. It has more apps/games then roku.


Roku is simpler , it has the most free channels. The cpu is a little underpowered, its mostly a "web browser" sort of device. It doesn't have much games. Roku has GUN TV Home shopping network. There are direct links to hidden channels that are not allowed in the their channel Store.


Amazon fire , don't know about it, haven't tried it. Don't like their no refund policy on apps.

amazon vs iTunes

Itunes allows up to 10 devices, with a 5 computer limit for downloads for movies.

Amazon only allows 2 download locations.

Amazon prime ($99 a year ) allows you to download up to 25 titles for offline viewing. Netflix does not have offline viewing.

I am on my third roku

Its probably a good idea to spend the $29 for an extended warranty. After 1 year roku cuts you off hard and tells you if you have issues to buy a new one

I've had a roku fail on me. I'm leaning towards getting the new Apple TV next . But some channels aren't available.

[ssaction]

Don't have experience with the MXQ Android box, but I have an Nvidia Shield that I like a lot. It runs android TV. You can install Kodi on it. Probably the most powerful box out there. I prefer it over my Roku 2 & AppleTV 2nd gen.