Advice Streaming Device

[Bob007]

Morning All.

Looking for some advice.

I am moving to streaming services only in June. BB is in place and i'll be adding a single streaming Device to the main TV and anyone else in the house can use their smart phones for content.

I need to buy one streaming device and looking for advice on which one.

First off the Wife is a bit of a technophobe. Not completely. But if its to complicated for her, she losses interest. Once a tasks exceeds a set of simple set of moves, she's gone to something else and that is dead to her.

Devices I am considering.

Roku. Streambar. Would replace our sound bar and looks simple enough for the Wife. Doesn't have NFL game pass on it, which is my only issue. Looks like it has everything else so thats not a complete show stopper. It's a streaming device, so just streaming apps and thats fine.

Chromecast with Google TV. Should have everything we ever need, my concern with this is it's Android and might be to complex for her. Also is the app store limited to the device.

Amazon TV Stick. Much the same as Chromecast. I would have to sideload Play for some apps but other then that, it's an option.

Apple TV. Not an apple house hold. But it's apple so should be simple enough. Seems to have all the apps we would want. Not sure on the app store, does it use the same one as the phones or is it limited due to the device.

Anyone have any experience with any of these? Do they function at a satisfactory level? Which would you go for? Anything else out there you'd consider?

Thanks

 

[MYstIC G]

I'd go with the cast if you're not an Apple house. Roku is good but you won't suffer any of the carrier arguments with the cast.

 

[Bob007]

I'd go with the cast if you're not an Apple house. Roku is good but you won't suffer any of the carrier arguments with the cast.

Thanks @MYstIC G . I narrowed it down to the Chromecast and Apple TV. With one being £60 and one being £150~ I went with the chromecast and it will land today.

I figured at £60, if its a pita for the boss, I can always pop it on the outside projector and buy the Apple TV anyway.

Sadly am seeing no All4, UKTVPlay or Freeview Play on Google TV, but they can be side loaded, so I will try that and see how it turns out.

 

[Aoami]

Can you not just buy a TV with all the apps on?

I have a Roku tv which has most of them on, and Roku built in, and it cost ~£300.

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/tcl-50rp620k-roku-50-smart-4k-ultra-hd-hdr-led-tv-10226904.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=4d7eb93e-055f-499d-8ee5-1cdcc50d67d1&istItemId=pxqtqlqxp&istBid=tztx&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~0045%20(Shopping%20Ads)%20Large%20Screen%20Television%20-%20Brand%20TCL~0045%20(Shopping%20Ads)%20ad%20group~Exact~71700000084835790~&mctag=gg_goog_7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=m&ds_kids=92700070894821350&tgtid=0045%20(Shopping%20Ads)%20Large%20Screen%20Television%20-%20Brand%20TCL&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyMiTBhDKARIsAAJ-9Vv2pjVJ0Ww3HvIgbTC0LXFgg5WPAQS_ohGUv62AiLS7xrGvchFaR5caAjUxEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Raven]

My mum gets on with her Amazon fire stick for Prime and Netflix, and she is a real technophobe.

 

[DaGaffer]

Morning All.

Looking for some advice.

I am moving to streaming services only in June. BB is in place and i'll be adding a single streaming Device to the main TV and anyone else in the house can use their smart phones for content.

I need to buy one streaming device and looking for advice on which one.

First off the Wife is a bit of a technophobe. Not completely. But if its to complicated for her, she losses interest. Once a tasks exceeds a set of simple set of moves, she's gone to something else and that is dead to her.

Devices I am considering.

Roku. Streambar. Would replace our sound bar and looks simple enough for the Wife. Doesn't have NFL game pass on it, which is my only issue. Looks like it has everything else so thats not a complete show stopper. It's a streaming device, so just streaming apps and thats fine.

Chromecast with Google TV. Should have everything we ever need, my concern with this is it's Android and might be to complex for her. Also is the app store limited to the device.

Amazon TV Stick. Much the same as Chromecast. I would have to sideload Play for some apps but other then that, it's an option.

Apple TV. Not an apple house hold. But it's apple so should be simple enough. Seems to have all the apps we would want. Not sure on the app store, does it use the same one as the phones or is it limited due to the device.

Anyone have any experience with any of these? Do they function at a satisfactory level? Which would you go for? Anything else out there you'd consider?

Thanks

NowTV stick. Its a Roku but you can use it for Sky sports etc. as and when you want to.

 

[Bob007]

Thought i'd update this.

So after buying a Chrome Cast with Google TV. I also got a Roku stick as well.

I set them both up and installed all the popular UK streaming apps we use that were available on those devices. Roku was by far the better market, having both all4 and uktv play, which were missing on Google TV. Also had Now and Sky Store, which pleased the boss as she can still watch the movies she has brought.

So, now two weeks later. The Chrome Cast has made it to the draw under the TV and the Roku is now the go to device. It has enough mainstream apps to pretty much stream anything, Disney+ Netflix, Prime, ApplTV+ and Discovery+ are all there. And the rest of the nearly 1000 TV streaming apps feels like the early days of Satellite, when you had weird channels just floating about.

Myth Busters 24/7/365 anyone. Also, Cornhole is a thing and it has a channel.

So, the Roku which has the most basic layout won in the end. Everything just works.

Sadly, am missing my NFL gamepass app it, but I brought a LED projector for the Garden. I will use the chromecast for that and can play NFL on a 100" screen if I want.

Thanks all for the advice, I might update later down the line to a Roku sound bar, but for now I'll stick with the stick

 

[MYstIC G]

Interesting to hear about All4 & UKTV, that must be someone being platform stupid as you'd reasonably expect both of those to be there

 

[caLLous]

I remember the Freesat HD box didn't have All4 either, something to do with a fee disagreement iirc.

 

[smurkin]

Some of the Roku devices have airplay 2 so you can stream music or streaming content from your phone over wifi - in some cases with Atmos and HDR 4k. So if there is content that Roku doesn't have for whatever license or ownership reason, there is still a potential route for playback (some apps are restricted). I used this to watch severance from Apple TV from my phone without apple id logging into the app on Roku. Do you have your NFL app on your phone - might be worth a try...