Compton_effect
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2006
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So my sister is visiting from Atlanta. She and her kids will be touring SA for the next 4 weeks, hopefully seeing snow on Table Mountain. And in exchange for using my Afrihost Mifi during her holiday - she brought me a Roku Streaming Stick.
I already have a Chromecast and a WD TV Live, but no experience with Roku. After reading the reviews I first wondered if I shouldn't have rather asked for a Roku3 instead.
So far I have been pleasantly surprised by it. The most difficult thing I had to do so far was remove the 32 inch in the living room from its wall mounting to plug it in. To make it fit without any issue I used the short HDMI adapter that came with my Chromecast. (Don't need it where the Chromecast is mounted in the bedroom.)
Its sightly bigger than the Chromecast, but fit in without issue. The only bit that sticks out is actually the part with he reset button, so no complaints there. Its powered by a old charger from with my Galaxy S1, same setup used with the 'cast when it was in the living room.
Setup was easy, slightly longer than a Chromecast. I switched it on, waited for the on-screen message, then put batteries in its Wifi Remote so it can pair with it. After adding it to my Wifi, I had to create an account with Roku.
This included setting up a account with my credit card for any channel purchases, but you can set it up with a confirmation for any transactions. Then I just paired it by typing in the serial number the Stick had displayed.
Selected some channels I wanted from my laptop and waited 30 minutes for the Roku do download the newest firmware. Any other ones I want can be added form the Stick itself though the Channel list.
The only issue was Rdio not coming though in the update, I had to manually go and add it a second time.
Configuring all the services like Netflix and Rdio was a breeze. I just had to follow the same procedure as with the original Roku Account and type in a supplied code on the service's website.
Now for the performance. The interface is more minimalist than the Roku 3 I have seen before, but nice and fast. The reviews complained that Netflix could take up to 3 minutes to download, but that is only initially with the setup. After that its very fast. In fact - Youtube, Netflix, Rdio and Plex was more responsive on the Roku than either my Wd TV Live or the Chromecast. Once the app is in memory, it seems to be very responsive.
On the WD TV Live, both Youtube and Netflix has some buffering issues, but like the Chromecast- the Roku does not have that problem and playback is smooth.
Now for the cons. It does not have a power button on the remote, so it does not go into standby. The same can be said for the Chromecast when it was in the same tv. And the 'cast needed a reboot at least every 6 weeks, else it would give some playback errors. But it is now in my Bedroom TV - that had a powered USB socket - so it switches off when the tv is in standby mode. I'm curious if it will be the same with the Roku.
The remote is nicely set up, very basic, with 4 dedicated shortcut buttons to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Meego and Blockbuster. The Netflix button will be used a lot, but the rest are redundant. (Maybe Amazon later
)
And seeing as its a US model, no BBC Live. But seems I can reload it as a UK one and see if those work. On the WD those channels are virtually useless. I'll try that later.
Some of the live streaming channels didn't work, but I'm only running on a 4mbit line.
So far it looks to be a very good choice, complementing my current setup and preferences perfectly. The remote makes it easier than the 'Cast (I've had the tablet lose the 'cast a few times after going into standby), faster than the WD, and with more channels than both.
I'll let you guys know how it goes.
I already have a Chromecast and a WD TV Live, but no experience with Roku. After reading the reviews I first wondered if I shouldn't have rather asked for a Roku3 instead.
So far I have been pleasantly surprised by it. The most difficult thing I had to do so far was remove the 32 inch in the living room from its wall mounting to plug it in. To make it fit without any issue I used the short HDMI adapter that came with my Chromecast. (Don't need it where the Chromecast is mounted in the bedroom.)
Its sightly bigger than the Chromecast, but fit in without issue. The only bit that sticks out is actually the part with he reset button, so no complaints there. Its powered by a old charger from with my Galaxy S1, same setup used with the 'cast when it was in the living room.
Setup was easy, slightly longer than a Chromecast. I switched it on, waited for the on-screen message, then put batteries in its Wifi Remote so it can pair with it. After adding it to my Wifi, I had to create an account with Roku.
This included setting up a account with my credit card for any channel purchases, but you can set it up with a confirmation for any transactions. Then I just paired it by typing in the serial number the Stick had displayed.
Selected some channels I wanted from my laptop and waited 30 minutes for the Roku do download the newest firmware. Any other ones I want can be added form the Stick itself though the Channel list.
The only issue was Rdio not coming though in the update, I had to manually go and add it a second time.
Configuring all the services like Netflix and Rdio was a breeze. I just had to follow the same procedure as with the original Roku Account and type in a supplied code on the service's website.
Now for the performance. The interface is more minimalist than the Roku 3 I have seen before, but nice and fast. The reviews complained that Netflix could take up to 3 minutes to download, but that is only initially with the setup. After that its very fast. In fact - Youtube, Netflix, Rdio and Plex was more responsive on the Roku than either my Wd TV Live or the Chromecast. Once the app is in memory, it seems to be very responsive.
On the WD TV Live, both Youtube and Netflix has some buffering issues, but like the Chromecast- the Roku does not have that problem and playback is smooth.
Now for the cons. It does not have a power button on the remote, so it does not go into standby. The same can be said for the Chromecast when it was in the same tv. And the 'cast needed a reboot at least every 6 weeks, else it would give some playback errors. But it is now in my Bedroom TV - that had a powered USB socket - so it switches off when the tv is in standby mode. I'm curious if it will be the same with the Roku.
The remote is nicely set up, very basic, with 4 dedicated shortcut buttons to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Meego and Blockbuster. The Netflix button will be used a lot, but the rest are redundant. (Maybe Amazon later
)And seeing as its a US model, no BBC Live. But seems I can reload it as a UK one and see if those work. On the WD those channels are virtually useless. I'll try that later.
Some of the live streaming channels didn't work, but I'm only running on a 4mbit line.
So far it looks to be a very good choice, complementing my current setup and preferences perfectly. The remote makes it easier than the 'Cast (I've had the tablet lose the 'cast a few times after going into standby), faster than the WD, and with more channels than both.
I'll let you guys know how it goes.
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