Roku or Fire 4K?

[RoyGBiv]

With a Roku can you watch anything that airs on regular cable and OTA channels? I wouldn't mind cutting the cord, but we do have some shows we like to watch.

For OTA, all you need is a good antenna.

Roku is what I would call a menu provider.
You want to watch HBO or Showtime? Subscribe and add the HBO/Showtime widget to Roku.
You want to watch Disney? Subscribe to Disney and add the widget to Roku.
You want a package deal that gives you access to all the familiar cable channels?
--- There's ATTTVNow, YouTube TV, Sling, Hulu, etc, ETC. Subscribe to one or more and add the widget to Roku.
Amazon Prime? There's a Roku widget for that too...

The real confusion is how to get the best price for what you want to watch.... You can, for example, subscribe to HBO via Amazon or via ATTTVNow instead of subscribing to HBO directly.

Welcome to 2020.

[rayrevolver]

We just upgraded to a 4K TV (M558-G1) and luckily already had the Firestick 4K. I am not 100% sure, but the guys on the AV forums are saying the Fire 4K can do things that Roku cannot. I think its specifically Dolby Vision and stuff like that, from Netflix. Again, its more complicated than I care to lookup. There are so many settings/inputs/video types its redonk.

I was looking for info on picture setup and browsed a long thread on my tv model.

As an aside, the M558-G1 was on sale for $475... and that was getting the "expensive" model relative to their lineup (90 zone FALD...whut!?!). The prices are great these days. Through work with a discount the equivalent Samsung TV 55 Q70 was $900 (Amazon price $1200 or so).

Any my current mid-tier Samsung LED 55" (~$1500) is dying after 6 years, which sucks and why I looked elsewhere.

[JohnO]

I would like to know what a Roku or a FireStick would do for me that I don't already have?

We have an old Sony Bravia TV 720, not Smart (yeah living in the dark ages). It has 2 HDMI inputs. We do Netflix & Amazon Prime via the Smart DVD player connected to one of the HDMI inputs. I dumped cable and added a OTA HD antenna and get plenty of channels ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS ... We have a Disney+ subscription but in order to watch that we have to connect a laptop to the other HDMI input formerly used by the cable box.

Other than convenience is there a reason get a Roku or FireStick?

I have a friend who claims his FireStick allows him to watch everything ever made for TV or big screen free?? Sounds like he has some kind of Jail Broken Firestick. I'm not interested in delving into questionable practices. I worked with a guy who had a hacked cable box years ago. The guy he purchased the box from got busted and this individual conveniently kept a detailed list of his customers on his PC. My co-worker was faced with a choice, criminal charges or a number of years (time he had box) of subscription fees for every channel he was capable of receiving plus interest and fines. He paid up big time.

[mtnbkr]

I would like to know what a Roku or a FireStick would do for me that I don't already have?

We have an old Sony Bravia TV 720, not Smart (yeah living in the dark ages). It has 2 HDMI inputs. We do Netflix & Amazon Prime via the Smart DVD player connected to one of the HDMI inputs. I dumped cable and added a OTA HD antenna and get plenty of channels ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS ... We have a Disney+ subscription but in order to watch that we have to connect a laptop to the other HDMI input formerly used by the cable box.

Other than convenience is there a reason get a Roku or FireStick?

I have a friend who claims his FireStick allows him to watch everything ever made for TV or big screen free?? Sounds like he has some kind of Jail Broken Firestick. I'm not interested in delving into questionable practices. I worked with a guy who had a hacked cable box years ago. The guy he purchased the box from got busted and this individual conveniently kept a detailed list of his customers on his PC. My co-worker was faced with a choice, criminal charges or a number of years (time he had box) of subscription fees for every channel he was capable of receiving plus interest and fines. He paid up big time.

Mainly convenience. I'm not aware of any services that are specific to either of those devices and a number of TVs, DVD players, etc duplicate them. I liked the idea of the Firestick because it was portable and hidden (it's connected directly to the TV).

As for your friend and his cable box, it being a cable box is the key point. Those guys are ruthless in protecting their IP. I know someone in that realm and they go after this stuff all the time. Apparently it's a big biz for organized crime.

As for hacking or jailbreaking a Firestick, I don't know what that'll do for you as I haven't looked into it. It probably just allows installation of apps that provide the other channels. The Firestick app store is limited by Amazon and I don't think there's a way to sideload non-approved apps. It's an Android device like your phone...

Chris

[muzzleblast]

ROKU here.

VUDU free movies with commercials + pay as you go for feature films.
TUBI free movies and TV with commercials
Amazon Prime. Yup "free shipping" LOL but the commercial free movie channel is great.
Multiple Filmrise channels free with commercials
PLUTO live TV
etc.

I went to Sam's Club yesterday and got trapped into talking with a kid who was hawking a "great" Direct TV "deal" with lots of "free" stuff. Bottom line was $70 per month ...times... 12 equals $840 after tax dollars per year... NOPE!

ROKU is good.

[Guerrero]

I would like to know what a Roku or a FireStick would do for me that I don't already have?

We have an old Sony Bravia TV 720, not Smart (yeah living in the dark ages). It has 2 HDMI inputs. We do Netflix & Amazon Prime via the Smart DVD player connected to one of the HDMI inputs. I dumped cable and added a OTA HD antenna and get plenty of channels ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS ... We have a Disney+ subscription but in order to watch that we have to connect a laptop to the other HDMI input formerly used by the cable box.

Other than convenience is there a reason get a Roku or FireStick?

I was in almost this exact situation (with almost your same exact TV) two months ago.

Then Netflix stopped supporting my smart Blu Ray player, and my wife finds it inconvenient to watch Netflix on a device. Roku turned out to be my cheapest and most convenient option.

[mmc45414]

I would like to know what a Roku or a FireStick would do for me that I don't already have?

Doesn't sound like a lot, as long as your current solution is working well. In my case both the (cheap) smart TVs and the (cheap) Blu-ray players never worked very well. I first got a Roku because I wanted it for a TV that didn't have a cable and it was compatible with my cable provider (Spectrum) and they worked so nicely I ended up with five and them. That reminds me, I need to take some cable boxes back...

[Josh Runkle]

#RemoveAllTheMics

Pretty difficult when they’re in most TVs, smart watches, video game consoles, phones, Vehicles (even if you don’t subscribe to the service), etc.

Most user agreements allow them to capture data even if you disable the function. I have no idea how to physically remove the microphones from most of those devices. It’s much easier to remember that The Ministry of Love is always listening.


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[LittleLebowski]

Pretty difficult when they’re in most TVs, smart watches, video game consoles, phones, Vehicles (even if you don’t subscribe to the service), etc.

Most user agreements allow them to capture data even if you disable the function. I have no idea how to physically remove the microphones from most of those devices. It’s much easier to remember that The Ministry of Love is always listening.

I understand that I cannot remove all of them and I understand that they are ubiquitous, but I'll still remove what I can.

[Borderland]

LL are you not subscribing to a cable/sat company? I’m wanting to get away from satellite and stream but have no clue where to start, I’m not a techy.


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We use Apple to stream. Works fine and we only have about 11mbps when the DSL is working. Cut the dish many years ago and we don't have cable service.