topic Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU? in Electronics

Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

bargainsgirl — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 22:02:33 GMT

I am so fed up with Spectrum and seriously thinking of canceling my cable. Not too knowledgable about streaming. What is the easiest device to use ? We are not big tv watchers but we do like options. Thanks for any suggestions.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

SilleeMee — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 22:24:26 GMT

I recently bought the Roku Stick with voice. I based my decision on the many good reviews. CNET dot com has given high praise for many years running for the Roku streaming devices and customers have done the same. You might want to go to CNET and check out what they say about the various TV streaming devices. Just type in Media Streamers in the search box and drop down to Best Media Streamers for 2018.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

Kachina624 — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 23:40:37 GMT

I eliminated my Direct tv bill by getting an Amazon Fire Stick to stream movies. I already had movies on Amazon Video with my Prime membership but I also signed up for Netflix which I believe is $7.95/mo. I picked out a package on Sling with my favorite cable channels which is about $39.00/mo. I bough a Roku Express, $29.99, for my second TV just to compare to Fire Stick. I like the Fire Stick with Alexa voice control much better. All the programs I signed up for on the Fire Stick also show up on the Roku except for Amazon Videos. All these devices are easy to install and use.

Then I shopped Amazon and found an inexpensive interior antenna for $14. I bought one for each of my TVs and now get all the local channels, dozens of them, crystal clear. I get QVC, Q2, HSN and JTV which are on UHF. I get local and national news on NBC, ABC, CBS and I get our PBS channels. I can also get all the shopping channels on YouTube for free. I'm paying less than half of what I paid for my satellite service and feel that I'm missing nothing plus I can always find something interesting to watch in the middle of the night.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

willdob3 — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 23:54:17 GMT

@bargainsgirl wrote:
I am so fed up with Spectrum and seriously thinking of canceling my cable. Not too knowledgable about streaming. What is the easiest device to use ? We are not big tv watchers but we do like options. Thanks for any suggestions.

@bargainsgirl

I cut cable TV years ago. I got a Roku first but last year I got a Fire TV Stick. I don’t really use the Roku anymore. There are more options with Fire TV Stick but, depending on what you watch, it may or may not be better for you.

I have become spoiled by the Bluetooth capability of the Fire Stick. I paired my wireless headphones to it and the sound is like being in a theater. Very nice.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

Shiloh09 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 00:52:29 GMT

My nephew did the same thing with the antenna for local channels. Good info, Thanks!

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

SilleeMee — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:05:56 GMT

Excuse me for not knowing....but I thought most people knew about the antenna thing. I've always had an antenna on my TVs like forever. It's the only way I can get local channels when my satellite goes out and before I had satellite, it was cable. That was always going out.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

Kachina624 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:06:46 GMT

I have become spoiled by the Bluetooth capability of the Fire Stick. I paired my wireless headphones to it and the sound is like being in a theater. Very nice.

@willdob3. I'm going to have to try this. Thanks for the idea.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

SilleeMee — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:12:49 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:

I have become spoiled by the Bluetooth capability of the Fire Stick. I paired my wireless headphones to it and the sound is like being in a theater. Very nice.
@willdob3. I'm going to have to try this. Thanks for the idea.

If you have a smart TV with bluetooth capability then you can connect any bt listening device to it. Find it under the speaker settings on the tv.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

Kachina624 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:11:29 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
Excuse me for not knowing....but I thought most people knew about the antenna thing. I've always had an antenna on my TVs like forever. It's the only way I can get local channels when my satellite goes out and before I had satellite, it was cable. That was always going out.

@SilleeMee. Most people get the local channels on their cable or satellite. I know I and my neighbors do. My satellite rarely went out so it wasn't necessary to have alternate service. Maybe yours goes out a lot due to snow?

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

Carolm — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:13:03 GMT

For those of you who have eliminated cable, what do you do about recording programs. And do you have access to any on line program guide? Thanks for your responses.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

SilleeMee — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:16:40 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
@SilleeMee wrote:
Excuse me for not knowing....but I thought most people knew about the antenna thing. I've always had an antenna on my TVs like forever. It's the only way I can get local channels when my satellite goes out and before I had satellite, it was cable. That was always going out.
@SilleeMee. Most people get the local channels on their cable or satellite. I know I and my neighbors do. My satellite rarely went out so it wasn't necessary to have alternate service. Maybe yours goes out a lot due to snow?

Yes, normally my local stations are seen on my satellite. But if that goes out, with snow like you mentioned, then the antenna will pick up broadcast channels. It doesn't happen very often, tg. @Kachina624

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

Kachina624 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:17:24 GMT

I've never recorded programs so im not sure thats possible. All of Netflix and Amazon Video is "on demand" so you watch whatever you want whenever you wish. There is a program guide on my Sling.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

mistyada — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:17:44 GMT

@Carolm

My smart tv has a tv guide with my antenna. I do not record anything but I do stream shows that I miss. Most network tv channels have the episodes available to stream through Roku.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

willdob3 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:26:44 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
Excuse me for not knowing....but I thought most people knew about the antenna thing. I've always had an antenna on my TVs like forever. It's the only way I can get local channels when my satellite goes out and before I had satellite, it was cable. That was always going out.

@SilleeMee

I think cable & satellite have been around so long that a lot of people assume antennaes no longer work at all.

I’ve tried a few different antennaes but none gave me good reception. The channels I’d like don’t come in at all but I should really learn Spanish because I can get a few of those channels.

My first antenna is the one that has helped me a little bit; I wouldn’t get any channels w/o it. I’ve tried a couple from Amazon that, according to the marketing, should have given me good reception on a lot of channels. They didn’t work as well as my old one.

Streaming is definitely the answer for me.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

SilleeMee — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:26:58 GMT

@Carolm wrote:
For those of you who have eliminated cable, what do you do about recording programs. And do you have access to any on line program guide? Thanks for your responses.

Don't quote me on this but I think I read somewhere that you can subscribe to a video streaming recording service that you load stuff onto. It's done over the internet and your shows are stored on a cloud thing. I really don't know much about these kinds of service. Another way to record stream TV is with an actual video recorder hooked up to your TV. I believe many gaming consoles have this capability. @Carolm

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

willdob3 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:27:49 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:

I have become spoiled by the Bluetooth capability of the Fire Stick. I paired my wireless headphones to it and the sound is like being in a theater. Very nice.
@willdob3. I'm going to have to try this. Thanks for the idea.

@Kachina624

Let me know how you like it.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

willdob3 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:34:52 GMT

@Carolm wrote:
For those of you who have eliminated cable, what do you do about recording programs. And do you have access to any on line program guide? Thanks for your responses.

@Carolm

With my Fire TV Stick, I just look for the show and the episode I want to watch and I watch it whenever I want. I don’t need a program guide - other than to know when a new episode is going to show up if it is a current show. No need to record.

That is another thing I love about watching shows this way... I work full time and lots of the good shows are on after my bedtime. With streaming I watch whenever I want.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

SilleeMee — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 01:47:04 GMT

Yes, @willdob3, for me watching TV with my Roku has been life-changing. I think for those people who want to record livestream programming, then this might require a way to do that like a recorder of some sort which the stick things can't do.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

Kachina624 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 05:24:36 GMT

@willdob3 wrote:
@SilleeMee wrote:
Excuse me for not knowing....but I thought most people knew about the antenna thing. I've always had an antenna on my TVs like forever. It's the only way I can get local channels when my satellite goes out and before I had satellite, it was cable. That was always going out.
@SilleeMee

I think cable & satellite have been around so long that a lot of people assume antennaes no longer work at all.

I’ve tried a few different antennaes but none gave me good reception. The channels I’d like don’t come in at all but I should really learn Spanish because I can get a few of those channels.

My first antenna is the one that has helped me a little bit; I wouldn’t get any channels w/o it. I’ve tried a couple from Amazon that, according to the marketing, should have given me good reception on a lot of channels. They didn’t work as well as my old one.

Streaming is definitely the answer for me.

@willdob3. Here is the antenna I use. You buy it according to your approximately distance from your local transmitters. I was able to use the cheapest. All you do is screw it into the back of your TV and hang it on the adjacent wall. Then run thru your channels to see what you'll get. I get crystal clear reception.

Re: Amazon Fire TV stick or ROKU?

SilleeMee — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 13:08:14 GMT

@Kachina624,

As you probably already know, one of the many nice advantages of living near a tall mountain is that the radio and TV waves are somewhat easy to get as long as you can see those transmitter towers atop. I got me a cheap set of rabbit ears for about $8 and they work just fine.