I currently have an ATV4 and a Roku box at home and was wondering which box do you prefer and why?
So far I prefer the interface of the ATV4 and the apps seem to be much more polished. But everything is expensive on the ATV.
I prefer the the remote and the responsiveness of the interface but at the same time the interface is dated and clunky. Also there seems to be a lack of quality apps on the Roku in Canada although it does have Spotify and Amazon Prime.
* Interface is the same on new Rokus.
* Models with non-IR (wifi) remotes are the killer feature.
* Sticks for travelling and fairly reliable captive portal redirects is a huge plus.
* I don't think that the Roku's officially have Amazon Prime Streaming in Canada yet.
For me in Canada Apple TV is better than Roku as it supports Crave tv, Bell Fibe TV and Amazon Prime via air play and I subscribe to all of these services. Amazon Prime is not available on Roku in Canada.
I think I had it working once but I don't use it anymore so I'm not sure, but if you want to use your Canadian Card and watch US Amazon Prime on Roku just use your real Canadian address on Amazon (US site) and go get a Turbo Beacon. I have a third party re-shipper for the items I buy on there that resends it to Canada that Amazon sends to a US address. I got all of the US apps on my Roku.
AppleTV has very much proprietary control on which apps become available on their device... while ROKU is more open to many PUBLIC apps made available plus there are many PRIVATE apps (Roku calls their apps -> channels). One app that I enjoy watching is EUROROKU, https://euroroku.com/ I'm subscribed for 5 months now with the PROMO HD package + timeshift at $15US. The timeshifts made available for Europe's prime time that are rebroadcast: UTC-5 (eastern time) and UTC-8 (pacific time)... many channels that are not available in Canada. No cloud DVR. Many live channels load in 1-2 seconds, while on-demand channels load in 10-20 seconds. I'm paying my subscription through PayPal. I'm satisfied with over 50 French channels made available (e.g. France 2,3,4,5, TF1, BFM, LCI, 6M), can't speak about the amount, timeshift and quality of the other European languages made available through this app. Never considered trying the free 7 day starter package because it didn't indicate if it was in HD. Currently they are revamping the Belgian, Dutch and Italian channels so they aren't available right now, any questions they have support at support@euroroku.com. Cheers.
To be honest I use both but like I've always used my Apple TV 4 for Canadian apps, my Roku Premiere for American apps, and my older Roku 3 for Canadian apps as well. I know I have quite the amount of streamers. I'm waiting for DTVNow to come to my Roku Premiere. I love them all in their own way.
Bought an AppleTV two months ago in order to watch Bell FibeTV in my outside gazebo. Yesterday, the remote drop less then 2 feet from the coffee table and the finish cover cracked... I believe we all drop our various remotes from time to time and they are built to handle some amount of day to day usage including some reasonable accidental drops... So, did Apple conduct vigorous testing for low drops... Probably NOT, anyhow called the support line this morning and explained what had happen, they said they don't cover this... She said it would cost me $99 dollars plus shipping to replace it. Told her to forget it since it still works but left her with my thoughts about Apple and its fragile remote. So buyer beware, Apple TV sucks for putting out such a crappy remote!!!
I would attach an image of the crack remote but I'm not sure how to...
Just as an FYI, the Apple remotes are IR and you could purchase a Harmony or similar programmable remote to control all your devices with one remote. The Harmony 650 often goes on sale for as little as $50.
A genuine replacement AppleTV remote is US$50 on eBAY. I wouldn't expect any less (in price) from Apple. A generic replacement that is less glossy but probably more resilient is available for as little as US$2.29. At that price, buy two in case one gets dropped in the pool.
Silicone protective covers for the original remote are also available for as little as US$1. Get one for your genuine Apple remote.
This looks like the Apple TV (4th gen) Siri remote, which is small, but packs in a dual microphone, Bluetooth, IR transmitter, accelerometer, touch pad control, and rechargeable li-ion battery with lightning connector. It's not cheap. The Apple Canada website is selling it for $79, with free shipping. Apple's pricing seems in-line when you take the hardware features into account.
I have no idea how a generic replacement could match these features for $2.29. You could look on ebay and kijiji for a used remote and save a few bucks.
There is also a Apple TV remote app for iPhone and iPAD, though I have not personally tried using it.
There is no way the cheap generic remote will do everything the original remote will but it may do most of what is needed out by the pool. Just keep the original remote (with silicone cover) in a safe location and leave the cheap one out in case it gets wrecked.
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