NFT: Apple TV, Roku, or Fire Stick for watching TV/Movies

And I put Kodi on it. Haven't paid for a movie or sporting event since I got it in December. It's awesome & easy to set up.

In addition to that you can get Provenance and play all NES, SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, and Gameboy Advance games on it.

with Kodi and we love it.

In comment 12970200 Big Rick in FL said:

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And I put Kodi on it. Haven't paid for a movie or sporting event since I got it in December. It's awesome & easy to set up.

Rick, what Kodi channel do you use for your sporting events?

thanks

and my company subsidizes it so no need for Kodi for me, but I have a fire stick, Roku, Apple TV, and a Chromecast.

Roku is the best IMO.

Apple TV is fine and has the advantage of streaming through any iOS device. but that advantage has limits.

Chromecast has the advantage of displaying on the TV screen whatever you have in your Google Chrome Browser window of your laptop or device. this utility is limited in usefulness too, but I have found it useful when youtube blocks content on mobile devices.

Roku has the best and most apps in my experience.

The firestick was the cheapest (when I got it although I got the Chromecast through Amazon Prime for a low price when it was just being released).

We use netlfix, Amazon prime, and otherwise only free channels/apps.

Basically an app to get free movies, TV shows & sporting events. It literally has everything on their. From the Sopranos to NCIS to Captain America Civil War. Most of the time it has movies while they are still in the theater.

Gianni - There are a few of them I use. I don't know the names off the top of my head. I'm actually going to text you later. I've been meaning to ask you about Acestreams.

w/ Kodi? My sister and brother in law are going on a huge 6 month trip to Europe and Asia and bought one for their travels. I haven't done a lot of digging on it yet but I'm curious how reliable this method is.

I guess from my previous post I'm more curious about how reliable it is.

kodi? What quality broadcast does it have?

no streaming from cell phone looks like one negative, but are there others?

In comment 12970343 Randy in CT said:

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kodi? What quality broadcast does it have?

Kodi is free i believe, you just need a jailbroken firestick which is like $60 on ebay and many come with everything you need already uploaded.

My problem is my wife and I both only have our work laptops, no personal laptop, and since its Admin locked I can't really download and tweak programs. If I can do everything within the Firestick itself and don't have to format on my PC, I'm sold.

Don't buy a jailbroken Firestick. You can buy the firestick from the store & do it yourself. There's a YouTube tutorial on it. It takes 15-20 minutes at the most. It's extremely easy. You basically just need to install Kodi. You don't need to jailbreak it.

In comment 12970377 Big Rick in FL said:

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Don't buy a jailbroken Firestick. You can buy the firestick from the store & do it yourself. There's a YouTube tutorial on it. It takes 15-20 minutes at the most. It's extremely easy. You basically just need to install Kodi. You don't need to jailbreak it.

Will i need my PC or can I do everything within the Firestick on my TV? That's really the only hangup. I used to use my Nook that was uploaded with Android and run software that way but 1, I don't have time for that anymore, and 2, I no longer have the use of a personal laptop. Really just want plug and play at this point.

I used to prefer roku because of all the channels. But since apple tv got updated with the app store, I like the experience much better. The look and feel are superior for me.

In comment 12970357 GiantCuse said:

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no streaming from cell phone looks like one negative, but are there others?

Not sure exactly what you mean here, but many of the major apps on Roku (netflix, hulu, etc) can control streaming from a mobile device.

You can do it all from the Firestick. You don't need to hook it up to a computer ever for anything.

In comment 12970423 Scyber said:

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In comment 12970357 GiantCuse said: Quote: no streaming from cell phone looks like one negative, but are there others? Not sure exactly what you mean here, but many of the major apps on Roku (netflix, hulu, etc) can control streaming from a mobile device.

Sorry, what I mean was, can I play content that's on my phone (videos, music, etc) and stream that onto the Roku/TV?

I rank the bigboys thusly:

1) Roku: most apps, best user experience.

2) Firestick: A very close second to Roku. IMO, user experience isn't as great, and although it has almost all the apps that Roku does, it doesn't have all the same apps. For example, ABC has a number of apps that let you stream their channels for free, such as local ABC, Freeform (for the wife), etc. In the morning, we use the ABC app on the Roku to watch the morning news live, so we use it every day. Also wife likes the Oscars. Amazon doesn't have this ABC app. On the plus side, Firestick seems to be the most popular medium for using KODI. I don't think you can do KODI on Roku.

3) Apple TV. Supposedly, they have a lot of the key apps that people need, and their integration with Apple ecosystem is supposed to tops, unsurprisingly. Also unsurprisingly, it can cost 2-3x or more as much as the Roku and Firestick.

4) Chromecast: Excellent for what it is, which is an entirely different product as the streaming boxes, from what I understand. While the others are boxes stream the Internet directly into your TV with an experience similar to watching cable, Chromecast basically mirrors just what is on your computer or phone onto the TV. That could be Netflix, Redtube, BBI or an Excel spreadsheet.

Conclusion: Roku is the best: A- Amazon is also Excellent: B+. The only way you can go wrong with any ofthese options is if you spend extra to get an Apple TV, but you're not using any other Apple devices.

In comment 12970450 GiantCuse said:

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Sorry, what I mean was, can I play content that's on my phone (videos, music, etc) and stream that onto the Roku/TV?

The simple answer is yes. There are apps on Roku that can do this. Also, any Youtube app (I think both Amazon and Roku have them) can zip youtube from your phone to the TV.

presuming you're in the area?

In comment 12970485 Randy in CT said:

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presuming you're in the area?

Using an antenna and picking them up for free.

In comment 12970446 Big Rick in FL said:

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You can do it all from the Firestick. You don't need to hook it up to a computer ever for anything.

Sold, haha.

In comment 12970480 NoPeanutz said:

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In comment 12970450 GiantCuse said: Quote: Sorry, what I mean was, can I play content that's on my phone (videos, music, etc) and stream that onto the Roku/TV? The simple answer is yes. There are apps on Roku that can do this. Also, any Youtube app (I think both Amazon and Roku have them) can zip youtube from your phone to the TV.

why would you do that? there is a youtube channel on the roku.

seems like a waste of bandwidth or just unnecessary to use your mobile device to zip youtube from your phone to TV - whatever that even means.

In comment 12970512 pjcas18 said:

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In comment 12970480 NoPeanutz said: Quote: In comment 12970450 GiantCuse said: Quote: Sorry, what I mean was, can I play content that's on my phone (videos, music, etc) and stream that onto the Roku/TV? The simple answer is yes. There are apps on Roku that can do this. Also, any Youtube app (I think both Amazon and Roku have them) can zip youtube from your phone to the TV. why would you do that? there is a youtube channel on the roku. seems like a waste of bandwidth or just unnecessary to use your mobile device to zip youtube from your phone to TV - whatever that even means.

Some people prefer to browse on their devices. Also allows you to browse YT while something else is still playing. Its not my preference, but the whole Mobile Device -> TV interaction is pretty common nowadays (Chromecast, AirPlay, etc)

It's very easy to use

but will Firestick and Kodi work if we have Direct TV?

In comment 12970524 Scyber said:

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In comment 12970512 pjcas18 said: Quote: In comment 12970480 NoPeanutz said: Quote: In comment 12970450 GiantCuse said: Quote: Sorry, what I mean was, can I play content that's on my phone (videos, music, etc) and stream that onto the Roku/TV? The simple answer is yes. There are apps on Roku that can do this. Also, any Youtube app (I think both Amazon and Roku have them) can zip youtube from your phone to the TV. why would you do that? there is a youtube channel on the roku. seems like a waste of bandwidth or just unnecessary to use your mobile device to zip youtube from your phone to TV - whatever that even means. Some people prefer to browse on their devices. Also allows you to browse YT while something else is still playing. Its not my preference, but the whole Mobile Device -> TV interaction is pretty common nowadays (Chromecast, AirPlay, etc)

I guess and it makes sense with airplay or chromecast, because they do unique things. Chromecast will display whatever is in your browser window which can be really useful in certain circumstances.

Airplay is great because it streams anything, pictures, movies, music, from an iOS device.

I just don't see the allure with youtube when there's an easier way to do it, but I'm also not a millennial so maybe i'm behind the times on the allure.

on my phone. So if Im looking for a music video bc I want to hear a song, i just find it on my phone and hit the stream button- then it launches the Youtube app on the Roku and brings up the video.

As you are not using piracy add-ons. The free lunch people will ultimately kill content providers.

BTW, Hulu is great for old TV shows.

In comment 12970526 tangled up in blue said:

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but will Firestick and Kodi work if we have Direct TV?

Yes. They have nothing to do with Direct TV.

In comment 12970282 UConn4523 said:

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w/ Kodi? My sister and brother in law are going on a huge 6 month trip to Europe and Asia and bought one for their travels. I haven't done a lot of digging on it yet but I'm curious how reliable this method is.

Jailbroken w/ Kodi what? What device are you talking about?

1. I have a rooted LG G3 with Kodi on it.

2. I have a jailbroken iPad with Kodi on it.

3. I have a Fire Stick with Kodi on it. For the longest time, the stick wasn't rootable without opening it up and soldering stuff. But version 5.0.5 was discovered to be rootable. Amazon realized its mistake and corrected the exploit in the next version, so rooted Fire Sticks need to disable updates. I haven't rooted my Stick yet, because the currently only way to root it involved installing an China-based app that might do some questionable stuff in the background, but there is a guy at XDA who's working on safer option.

Thanks

About 2 years ago I downloaded Kodi on my laptop but was unable to find the channel to watch Giants games. If I download it again, what channel do I look for?

Thanks.

the Firestick, not sure why that wasn't in my post.

is it that much better on the Fire Stick?

5 Rokus', 2 Fire sticks, 1 Chromecast, and 1 AppleTV, They all have their uses, but to be honest, the devices I use 95% of the time are the Roku's. And if I didn't own the others, I wouldn't miss them at all after having used and tested their capabilities myself.

Just depends on what you want to access. Two best options are Amazon stick with Kodi and Roku.

Several people already talked about Kodi, so no need to re-hash anything here.

Reason why I like Roku the best is the menu is very easy, tons of free channels and I love the option to connect an external hard drive with my pictures, movies and music directly to the Roku and watch\listen to them.

that I don't use Kodi at all. Nor do I use Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc... But I've maintained a Plex server for about 4 years now. The accompanying Plex apps are basically the only app I use on any of my devices anymore.

In comment 12971347 Vinny from Danbury said:

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that I don't use Kodi at all. Nor do I use Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc... But I've maintained a Plex server for about 4 years now. The accompanying Plex apps are basically the only app I use on any of my devices anymore.

I did the plex trial with the roku app for 30 days. i really liked it and you will too if you subscribe to nfl gamepass, have an archive of downloaded movies on a cpu in your house, and have a roku. im not sure why im not paying for the plex premium actually..... be right back!