ROKU?

[Bestwifeever]

We bought a Roku Ultra ($89) from Costco over the weekend for a bedroom TV; the five year old Sony BluRay was showing its age (couldn’t get Acorn on it, or our Acorn through Amazon set up, and no updating). If we like it, we might cut Comcast cable tv in two years when our new deal expires. We still have a new Sony BluRay for the main TV. So far so good—DH loves that we can easily get Amazon Prime music through it, for example. So keep buying that stock!

 

[stephenson]

My eight year old Apple TV device gets auto (I have it set to auto) updated pretty often - it is still suitable, but when I add OTA into the mix, I will need the next gen Apple TV device in order to automatically create the matrix schedule for the OTA channels that I will receive.

 

[kcowan]

Hmm, interesting. Looks like they have a lot of movie channels and news and other programming. Since it's free, can I assume the channels are all contaminated with ads? If so, probably not for me. I've been thoroughly spoiled by the DVR revolution.

Here is some skinny on the US focus:

Unfortunately, most content is blocked to people outside the United States. Still, this doesn’t mean that there you must give up on this service. Let’s take a look at how to watch Pluto TV outside the USA.

and goes on the recommend various VPN at $60/year on up. Of course, that will seldom work for a ROKU equipped TV without extensive technical know-how. Next!

 

[imoldernu]

We have three Roku's. Simple problems that keep DW away.

1. To change from TV to Roku, need the TV remote.
2. To change volume need TV remote.

So... do new Roku's have combined remotes that also control TV ala 3in1 remotes? Do we have to get smart TV's.

Harmony remotes are $$$$$$$ and we'd need 4... for TV in two different rooms and one for each of us.

We do use netflix, but by the time we configure the remotes to control... including the closed captions that we often use to supplement a show with bad sound.... the show is half over.

yeah... picky, picky, picky, but all of this gobbledegook gets harder as we get older.

We haven't had the same problems with radio.

 

[revhappy]

I have a Xiaomi phone with infrared so it has soft remote apps for TV as well as Roku.

 

[REWahoo]

We haven't had the same problems with radio.

I'm impressed. I can never figure out how to turn on closed captions.

 

[njhowie]

We have three Roku's. Simple problems that keep DW away.

1. To change from TV to Roku, need the TV remote.
2. To change volume need TV remote.

So... do new Roku's have combined remotes that also control TV ala 3in1 remotes? Do we have to get smart TV's.

Harmony remotes are $$$$$$$ and we'd need 4... for TV in two different rooms and one for each of us.

We do use netflix, but by the time we configure the remotes to control... including the closed captions that we often use to supplement a show with bad sound.... the show is half over.

yeah... picky, picky, picky, but all of this gobbledegook gets harder as we get older.

We haven't had the same problems with radio.

1. We have Harmony remotes. You can pick up the low end cheaper models with good discounts from Amazon or Ebay as either refurbs or returns.

2. If we're watching the TV, we can press any button on the Roku remote and it switches to the Roku. Likewise, if the TV is powered off, pressing any button on the Roku remote powers the TV on and switches to the Roku.

3. We use the Harmony remote to change the TV volume.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We have three Roku's. Simple problems that keep DW away.

1. To change from TV to Roku, need the TV remote.
2. To change volume need TV remote.

So... do new Roku's have combined remotes that also control TV ala 3in1 remotes? Do we have to get smart TV's.

Harmony remotes are $$$$$$$ and we'd need 4... for TV in two different rooms and one for each of us.

We do use netflix, but by the time we configure the remotes to control... including the closed captions that we often use to supplement a show with bad sound.... the show is half over.

yeah... picky, picky, picky, but all of this gobbledegook gets harder as we get older.

We haven't had the same problems with radio.

The Roku Ultra I just bought ($89 at Costco) for a little upstairs TV has a remote that controls the TV functions too—it turns the TV on and off and controls the volume. I can also plug the included earphones into the remote to mute the sound while listening through the earphones. No need to use the TV remote—the Roku remote synced automatically to the TV, no programming necessary. You turn on closed captioning with the remote’s asterisk button. It also has voice command—I can tell the remote to find a show, to pause, etc. I’m smitten with my Roku (and probably these features are available in many other streaming machines).

 

[stephenson]

I'll second the Harmony remote utility ... easy to program using internet interface, and works well for all the devices ...

I tried having two remotes in one room (one for her, one for me ... didn't work probably because of interference between the two.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We have three very different remotes for our main TV—thd Comcast remote does most things but we need the BluRay remote to stream, and occasionally need the TV remote for a few things. It must be good brain exercise like Soduku to remember which does which and how.

 

[stephenson]

How about TIVO stock? Beat down to around 10 now ... any future?

 

[bobandsherry]

How about TIVO stock? Beat down to around 10 now ... any future?

While I LOVE the Tivo ecosystem, I'm one of the early adopters of Tivo with Philips 20 hr box way back in 2000, I've avoided their stock. Tivo stock price today is below the trading level back then. I just don't see Tivo with traction to make significant gains.

Since Rovi acquired Tivo they just haven't been making good moves. They introduced a new UI that honestly doesn't seem to be well thought out and most users are ignoring to upgrade. Many users who did upgrade to the new UI (Hydra) has since rolled back to the old UI. I'm sticking with the old UI myself, it works, it's easy, and it's fast. Not so with Hydra.

Interestingly, since Tivo started paying a dividend the stock has dropped from by about half.

 

[Cobra9777]

The new remote for Fire TV has buttons for power, volume, and mute to control a TV, AVR, soundbar, etc in addition to the Fire TV box. It's the only remote we use. We rarely need to switch inputs away from Fire TV, but when we do, I just say, "Alexa, switch inputs to Chromecast."

 

[jimbee]

We have three Roku's. Simple problems that keep DW away.

1. To change from TV to Roku, need the TV remote.
2. To change volume need TV remote.

So... do new Roku's have combined remotes that also control TV ala 3in1 remotes? Do we have to get smart TV's.

Harmony remotes are $$$$$$$ and we'd need 4... for TV in two different rooms and one for each of us.

We do use netflix, but by the time we configure the remotes to control... including the closed captions that we often use to supplement a show with bad sound.... the show is half over.

yeah... picky, picky, picky, but all of this gobbledegook gets harder as we get older.

We haven't had the same problems with radio.

Yes, as njhowie mentioned, some of the new Roku remotes can provide some control of TV function. Mine will turn the TV on and off, and control volume. It will also auto switch to the Roku unit when I activate it. Most newer TVs support this control function when the Roku is connected via HDMI. I need to use the TV remote to switch the input back to the tuner, although some TVs will auto switch to the tuner when you select a channel from the TV remote.

 

[cyber888]

Just got 2 Roku Ultras (top of the line) - they went on sale this Thanksgiving. Original Price was $89-$99, and got it for $49+. I also got 1 Roku stick with the powerful dual-band wifi, retails for $49 and down to $29 for Thanksgiving. Will probably cut cable next year, after the Game of Thrones are out.

 

[REWahoo]

Yes, as njhowie mentioned, some of the new Roku remotes can provide some control of TV function. Mine will turn the TV on and off, and control volume. It will also auto switch to the Roku unit when I activate it. Most newer TVs support this control function when the Roku is connected via HDMI. I need to use the TV remote to switch the input back to the tuner, although some TVs will auto switch to the tuner when you select a channel from the TV remote.

Anyone have any first hand experience with the Sidekick Remote?

Ditch the Other Remotes

Sideclick snaps onto your existing streaming remote, allowing you to control the basic functions of your TV (power, volume, channel, inputs) and your streaming device all in one. You can program multiple devices so if you use a soundbar or Blu-ray player, you can program those devices to Sideclick as well.

Sidekick Universal Remote

 

[Cobra9777]

Anyone have any first hand experience with the Sidekick Remote?...

We have one that we used with our 1st gen Fire TV remote. The new remotes for Fire TV control TVs, AVRs, sound bars, etc. We still use the sideclick in the bedroom, but the other TVs have the newer remote as well as hands-free control via Alexa.

Sideclick is a decent device. It snaps solidly into place, although if dropped, it will easily fall off the other remote. It radically changes the "feel" of the remote. I guess it's a little better than 2 remotes but just barely. We eventually got used to it, but it's so much nicer going back to the simple, efficient design of the 2nd gen Fire TV remote. The sideclick was simple to program for our TV and other devices. I had a few buttoms programmed to control our AVR. Overall, it filled a gap, but is now obsolete (for our purposes) since Amazon came out with the new remote.

 

[stephenson]

This thread is actually about Roku the stock ...

I'm still buying ... a bit at a time all the way down ... wish I had waited till today