TV and Movies

[catter70]

I should have asked the other day, but what is the monthly fee to use a firestick for the TV?

[LizzieInSRQ]

You need internet service.

[Kachina624]

@catter70    There is no fee to use the Firestick, however, if you decide you want any streaming services like Netflix, you do have to pay a monthly fee for them.

[lovescats]

I would get a roku instead.

[Kachina624]

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@lovescats wrote:

I would get a roku instead.

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@lovescats    I've had both and I prefer Roku.

[judianne]

I have a firestick for each tv .  At first , I got a few programs free for a few months , most of the programs have free trial periods as well . I have Amazon Prime and all their shows come with it . There are tons of free ones as well , l used the free ones quite awhile until I got interested in some others , but so far I find them inexpensive , l have Peacock for $4.99 a month, and Hulu for $2.99 a month (. Because I threatened to cancel after the free trial they gave me half price )  l also have a good fast internet connection , needed for getting good streaming . I am totally planning to cancel my cable . 

[lovescats]

I think the roku menu is easier to manage.  You can still have the amazon prime app on roku and many others  but you don't have to deal with all the amazon clutter to get to other apps.   to me the fire tv is just one big amazon advertisement.  

I would google roku vs firestick  and see most recommend roku over firestick.

also I would spend the extra money and get the roku box or fire tv rather than a stick.

[riley1]

@catter70 - I have Roku - you purchase the unit then put the APPS you want on your TV. If you want something like Netflix, Hulu or some others, they have a monthly fee.

[gardenman]

I have both Firesticks and Rokus and from time to time my Roku does weird stuff. My Roku Ultra was stopping my TV remote from working for a while. The Roku senses the TV's status through the HDMI cable and if the TV is off and you wake up the Roku it'll turn on the TV. It'll also let you turn off or on the TV from the Roku remote. There was an issue a few months ago where the Roku was stopping the TV from turning on via either of the two remote controls. The only way I could get the TV to turn on was by unplugging the power strip the TV was plugged into. Just unplugging the TV didn't fix it. I finally realized it was the Roku at fault and unplugging the Roku HDMI cable fixed the issue. Roku seems to have fixed whatever that issue was with an update as I've plugged that HDMI cable back in a month or so later and the issue hasn't returned. 

I now mostly use my Firestick and Fire TV instead of the Roku. They cause me fewer headaches. Either one can work very well though. And no, there are no costs associated with e Firestick or Rokus other than buying them. Think of them as a mailbox in front of your house. You get some stuff sent to your mailbox free (and some things (magazine subscriptions, etc.) that you have to pay to have delivered. A Firestick or Roku is sort of a mailbox for your TV. It's where stuff gets sent. Some free stuff, and some stuff you have to pay for.

[lovescats]

my oldest roku is over 5 years old and sometimes but not very often I need to unplug it from the back of the roku and just leave it unplugged for about a minute and then when it is plugged back in it just re buffers.

I bought a fire tv when it came out and never  liked it because to me its on screen menu  for apps  is just not as intuitive as the roku.   I have 3 rokus.