"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/02/2018 at 20:04 • Filed to: NYC
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"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/02/2018 at 20:04 • Filed to: NYC | 0
| 14 |
So about 6 months ago you people helped me solve my problem: dead TIVO, slowing PS3 - it was time to make a change. So I got !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
But this thing isn’t streaming YouTube anymore- goes to the intro screen, but won’t load. We cut the cable last year, so YouTube is important, along with Amazon and Netflix. The TV is an old Pioneer Kuro plasma (a gift), and the picture still looks gorgeous, and there’s a slightly less old Sony sound system driving my 90s Danish speakers. Everything is wireless - the router/modem is mounted on the ceiling.
I don’t have the energy to go to bat with Sony to replace the thing, even though it’s still under warranty. I can still use it as a bluray player. I need something else ....
Oh wait: Apple TV? We’re total Apple here - two iPhones, three iPads, a Macbook Pro, a Mac Mini, and some other fallen soldiers that we should really recycle.
But is this the right choice? Apple TV is about 200 bucks. Roku is a foreign word to me. Is there some sort of connectivity miracle that will occur if I add yet another Apple device? Am I wasting money?
Any advice would be appreciated.
PS: I have been told (and I follow orders) that in the next year or two the dumb Pioneer TV will go in the bedroom and will be replaced in the LR with whatever Sony OLED is available. Pioneer is 42". but she wants something like a 55". So we’ll have a smart TV.
boxrocket
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 20:19 |
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We have a Roku2, which is showing its age now that we have gigabit internet (it can’t process fast enough). I plan on buying a second-from-top-spec Roku in the summertime. It works with my Windows Phone as well as my wife’s Samsung Galaxy, plus our Windows laptops and tablets. I need to see if I can link it to my harmon/kardon Cortana-powered speaker (like a google home or Amazon echo/dot but Cortana instead), but haven’t gotten around to it.
I know two people with an appleTv. AFAIK neither used it for more than a month or two due to various issues. Apparently the device and services have improved over the last few years, but neither felt the needy to replace the dusty ones with newer models, and do most everything through an amazon device, roku, and/or smartTV function.
Funktheduck
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 20:20 |
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I love my Roku. I have, in a box somewhere, a gen 1 Apple TV. We had the newest Apple TV until the Great Depression of 2017. She kept it. I got the top model Roku for Christmas. It’s been great. Voice recognition through the remote works better than Siri I think. Can stream audio through your phone to headphones or from the remote. I’ve never tried it since I live alone but the idea is you can watch tv without disturbing your partner. You can add apps/services through the Roku or online. I’ve done both.
Rico
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 20:22 |
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You get the new Apple TV for about $70 less than the usual price and you get 3 months of direct tv now which is their Hulu competitor. Both of my friends recently did this and got their Apple TV’s in less than a week. I’m not going to lie if I was going to cut the cord Direct TV Now is actually really fantastic. Cancel after 3 months and you keep the Apple TV. Can’t beat it and you save a bunch of money.
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Steve in Manhattan
> Rico
04/02/2018 at 20:27 |
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Thanks ... please tell me this isn’t where you have to mount an antenna somewhere ... we’re in a co-op and I can’t do that.
nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 20:32 |
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Going to piggy back on the DirecTV Now suggestion. I cut the chord and love it. Granted I used an Amazon Fire Stick instead of Apple TV. YouTube, Apps, DirecTVnow, Netflix etc etc it’s all there. Just dont be like me and lose your remote because then you’ll have to use the app on your phone as a remote.
Aso DirecTVnow is more like a Netflix App than tv provider service. So you’d use your existing internet connection then get TV channels but over internet. So think Netflix but for Live tv.
Chariotoflove
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 20:59 |
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I had the same issue with my vizio smart tv. The solution was to unplug the tv from the wall, and it reset.
We also have a hitachi smart tv in the living room with Roku built in. Both work pretty well, and we didn’t have to buy anything extra. I too am all Apple, but I do not need an Apple TV now.
cbell04
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 21:10 |
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We have smart tv’s but they kinda suck for the smart part (slow and searching using the remote it extra slow). I use gaming systems ps3 and xbox one to stream they are so much nicer to search on. Ruku has that neat feature that it searches all your streaming services from one menu rather than jumping from one app to another. Never done the apple tv but I only hear good things. long story short I’m no help :)
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Rico
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 21:15 |
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Nope it’s like Netflix, it’s their streaming only service and it’s pretty nice. The interface is like Netflix but with live Tv options.
functionoverfashion
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 21:59 |
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We have a Roku (not the latest, by any means) and it’s pretty fantastic for the price - $60 I think. But if you want a short-term replacement for youtube? I’d get a $35 Chromecast. I haven’t used one but I have a Chromebox in my kitchen as a kitchenputer and a Chromebook laptop both of which work perfectly for streaming whatever you want.
I also have an Intel Stick computer attached to my living room TV, but that’s another story.
2Fast2Furious: Rotary Powered
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 22:30 |
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Dude, forget the apple TV and return the blue ray and buy an Xbox one, I got mine new for 190$ it streams everything plays DVD and Blu-ray and I can play forza
PS9
> Steve in Manhattan
04/02/2018 at 23:44 |
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Usually with non-modular electronics if some part of it breaks, that means it’s time for a new one. Or a warranty exchange. Maybe it can get a software update or something, but failing that, you should talk to Sony about a replacement.
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Steve in Manhattan
> Chariotoflove
04/02/2018 at 23:51 |
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Did that, left it off for 10 minutes, and got nuthin’ ...
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> Steve in Manhattan
04/03/2018 at 00:33 |
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Sony isn’t the company it used to be, and seems to be resting on their laurels. They’ve let me down, let my friends down and I don’t want to give them any more money. I still have a few Sony products, like my Walkman WM-10 from 30+ years ago, but it’s all stuff from when they were good.
I have numerous media streamers, including Apple TV, Chromecast and a few Roku boxes. As is typical for Apple, the Apple TV shows an amazing amount of smoothness and polish but isn’t as well supported as Roku. I’m using an inexpensive streaming service, Philo, to get my favorite cable channels. They support Roku, iOS and a few other platforms, but I’ve only used the service on my iOS devices. One of these days I’ll have to try to access some of the channels I get on Apple TV and see what happens. My previous streaming service, through my cable company, really only supported Roku thanks to some tie-in between the companies, but I think this might be different with Philo.
I love the ability to stream whatever’s playing on my iPhone/iPad straight onto the TV via the Apple TV. It’s pretty smooth and seamless.
I’m still waiting for you to upgrade so that I can snap up your old Mac mini. Maybe we can work a trade for some of your old/dead equipment that you were going to recycle for a spare Roku Express I have laying around. I bought it for my folks to try, along with a Chromecast and an Apple TV, and they ended up preferring and keeping the Apple TV. I purchased my Apple TV at a local pawn shop for $70 because they couldn’t figure out how to get it to recognize the remote, and once synced it’s been trouble-free since. But I have to admit that I haven’t been streaming much lately, just watching whatever is recorded on the Windows Media Center computer (when it hasn’t crashed - TiVo it ain’t, but then again, TiVo isn’t what it used to be either...)
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Chariotoflove
> Steve in Manhattan
04/03/2018 at 12:14 |
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I had to do it last night on my Vizio. I was hoping it would work for you and an easy fix. Sorry.