I want to buy a streaming stick this afternoon to watch the ESPN3 basketball games on by big screen. Trying to decide between the Roku Stick, Amazon Fire Stick, and Chromecast.

My laptop is currently broken so I would have to stream with my phone for Chromecast.

Which device do you guys recommend?

11/17/2014 12:43:48 PM

Slightly off topic, but if you have an XBox 360, XBox One, Playstation 3 or Playstation 4, you can download the WatchESPN app and use that. They obviously don't have all the functionality of Roku/Fire/Chromecast but it works well for WatchESPN.

11/17/2014 12:49:45 PM

I have an xbox360 but havent paid to renew my xbox live gold account. Can I still use the watchespn app without paying for XBL Gold?

11/17/2014 12:51:50 PM

I would assume you need a Gold account (based on needing one for Netflix), but it's kind of vague here: http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/apps/espn-setup

Worth trying at least

11/17/2014 1:00:26 PM

Yeah. I still want to buy a stick though so I can take it to the beach.

11/17/2014 1:05:41 PM

you won't get an amazon fire stick this year, so i'd take that out of the contention

11/17/2014 2:48:43 PM

I'd get a Roku 3 stick or wait on the Amazon Fire stick. Chromecast is a different type of device and probably isn't what you're looking for.

11/17/2014 4:00:58 PM

Xbox live gold is no longer needed for streaming apps
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/xbox-live-gold-free-apps/

11/17/2014 9:48:58 PM

^Awesome

11/18/2014 12:13:24 AM

I ended up going with the Chromecast and its pretty awesome. I watched Lone Survivor on HBO GO and it looked really good. The basketball game on WATCHESPN kinda sucked because the ESPN app kept kicking me out at every commercial break but that wasn't the chromecast's fault.

11/18/2014 10:25:30 AM

Quote :

"streaming stick"

11/18/2014 5:01:00 PM

Oh I got a streaming stick for ya. It's in my pants!

11/19/2014 12:00:04 PM

^but it burns a little when streaming

11/19/2014 12:22:15 PM

also, sometimes in the morning there is some stuttering and pixelation

11/19/2014 3:07:59 PM

sometimes you have to blow on it to make it work.

11/19/2014 4:33:08 PM

I think a roku stick would be nice.

11/19/2014 5:47:10 PM

Got the new Roku stick FOR christmas since Fire stick was on backorder. 100% satisfied, has worked like a charm for a month now.

1/4/2015 11:16:40 PM

I got the Roku one free with a router I ordered and didn't really know what to expect. I thought it might be a better alternative to watching Netflix than the PS4 but it's just so much slower that I can't see myself using it for that again. The UI itself is pretty snappy and better than the Samsung Smart TV we got. Seems like it would be nice if you didn't already have a better/more powerful set-top device for streaming services.

[Edited on January 9, 2015 at 11:42 AM. Reason : :]

1/9/2015 11:42:20 AM

1/12/2015 9:37:14 PM

i'm curious to hear more opinions now that people have had more time with the Fire stick.

Fire stick or should i go Roku?

1/13/2015 6:14:24 PM

no one should pay 40 for fire stick if that's what you're asking

1/13/2015 9:18:38 PM

so if I mainly use my directv to watch ESPN...whats stopping me from cancelling my directv service alltogether and just using my XbOne for ESPN?

1/14/2015 8:45:26 AM

the fact that you need a cable subscription to get access to espn. they aren't giving shit away

1/14/2015 9:05:36 AM

^

1/14/2015 9:23:19 AM

Quote :

"no one should pay 40 for fire stick if that's what you're asking"

$40, is still $10 cheaper than the Roku Stick, and seeing as how it's a better product...why not exactly?

I mean, yeah, getting it for $19 or even $25 would have been preferable, but it's still a cheaper product at full price and unless the soon to be resolved, but current lack of HBO to go is a dealbreaker, why wouldn't you go with the cheaper, superior product?

1/14/2015 11:10:38 AM

yes, i thoroughly enjoy my fire stick

1/14/2015 11:25:20 AM

i dont have a roku but as cheap as chromcast is i dont feel 40 is warranted for fire stick

1/14/2015 4:13:37 PM

It's amazing that we've come to the point where $40 is too much to pay for a device that would have required a computer not so long ago.

1/14/2015 6:14:30 PM

^^ i already own and like a chromecast, but i agree with other people that there are times when not using a phone would be preferable.

1/14/2015 6:39:00 PM

Quote :

"i dont have a roku but as cheap as chromcast is i dont feel 40 is warranted for fire stick"

So you've never used either device, but you're giving advice on the subject as if you have a clue what you're talking about?

You could at least be polite enough to include a warning saying that you're talking out of your ass and really have no place in an informed conversation on the topic at hand.

1/14/2015 7:47:55 PM

firestick >>>>> chromecast

1/15/2015 11:49:27 AM

but is fire stick >>>>>>> roku?

1/15/2015 12:11:55 PM

Depends on what you want to do with them, but generally speaking, yes.

The Roku has HBO Go right now. The Fire Stick should be getting the official app shortly, but in the meantime, you can sideload it if you need it now. If HBO isn't a concern, then hands down the Fire Stick is the same/better in almost every other way, has better games, a better selection of apps, and is $10 cheaper.

There's also the fact that you can sideload Android Apps to the Fire Stick and use bluetooth controllers/mice/keyboards and do things like have web browsers, tablet games, and Kodi (that alone is worth well more than $40 to a ton of people). Of course it's entirely possible that you don't care about any of that, in which case the Fire Stick reverts to being only just as good as the Roku. For $10 cheaper. Seriously, I can't fathom how this is even remotely a question. The Roku kind of got brand name recognition as being THE netflix box, so a lot of people don't know there are other options. And for a while, it had one of the best Plex front ends available, so a lot of people did use that as a valid reason to like Roku. But really, none of that is true anymore, Netflix is actually better on other devices than it is on the Roku, and there are official Plex apps for the Fire TV that are just as good as the Roku one. There's almost literally no reason to choose a Roku over a Fire Stick, unless you just REALLY love HBO and/or hate Amazon.

TL;DR, It's $40, shut up and buy the god damn Fire Stick already.

1/15/2015 1:21:29 PM

I own both a fire stick and Chromecast. Can you tell me what the second device I don't own is? maybe you should work on your reading comprehension.

do you have both a roku and firestick?

[Edited on January 15, 2015 at 4:14 PM. Reason : .]

1/15/2015 4:04:55 PM

This is the first time in this thread you've mentioned owning any of the three. Can you tell me how I'm supposed to have reading comprehension for something that hasn't been written? I did assume that you hadn't used either the roku or the Fire Stick because you only spoke about the value of the Chromecast and the idea that anyone who has used both and thinks that the Fire Stick isn't worth an extra $5 is ridiculous to me.

If that really is your opinion, you really do have no place in a thread discussing the three because that's the worst advice that anyone could give on the subject, especially without presenting any other reasoning behind your statement. I'll get to the point, what makes you think that the chromecast is worth $35, and the Fire Stick isn't worth $40?

1/15/2015 7:48:41 PM

http://slickdeals.net/f/7589754-google-chromecast-29-99-20-google-play-digital-credit-at-best-buy

1/15/2015 8:06:40 PM

OK, what makes you think the Chromecast is worth $30, and the Fire Stick isn't worth $40?

I'm going to keep assuming that you're an idiot whose opinion on this subject is irrelevant until you at least attempt to prove otherwise. If you're so cheap/poor that you're willing to let a measly $10 stand in the way between you and a vastly superior device, that's your prerogative, but you really shouldn't be giving out advice to others without stating your reasoning.

1/15/2015 9:30:29 PM

So I've spent a little more time with the Roku Stick, and while it's not a total piece of crap, it does have a couple major problems. For one, it's Netflix app only uses Dolby Digital Plus for surround sound, so if you have an older HDMI AVR, then no 5.1 from Netflix. The second problem is I guess the hardware can't handle Blu-ray remuxes through Plex. It won't even try to start a directplay of one, and trying to send it a max transcode results in intermittent buffering. I know it's not a WiFi issue, because my son's smart TV is further away from the router and streams everything just fine.

2/7/2015 1:02:23 PM

OP Update: I ended up buying the Chromecast because it was the best available option at BestBuy at the time. They didn't have the Fire Stick, and I didn't have time to wait for it to be shipped.

It works well for my needs. I pretty much just use it for ESPN3 and Netflix. My only complaint is that ESPN3 sucks, but thats true with any device.

2/9/2015 7:14:42 AM

I enjoy running plex.

2/9/2015 5:03:26 PM

I have both a Chromecast and Fire Stick. I don't know where the Chromecast is anymore and I sure as hell couldn't care less because I thought it was a piece of garbage and the Fire Stick is awesome. YMMV but if you don't mind waiting until they are in stock and don't mind the extra $10 it is well worth it in my opinion.

2/9/2015 6:16:34 PM

Quote :

"My only complaint is that ESPN3 sucks, but thats true with any device"

hmm, WatchESPN on my Fire TV Stick is pretty damn easy to navigate and the quality is great.

2/10/2015 9:33:28 AM

Biggest complaint is Plex won't do surround sound from .mkv files on any Amazon device (not sure about Roku or Chromecast). If anyone want to use it as a streaming device they'll need to install XBMC or something else.

2/10/2015 10:14:51 AM