Hardware question

[SuperCharlie 0]

Ive been roku forever but theyve turned hard to the dark side.. I'm wondering what would be the most economical device I can hook up to dumb TVs ..or roku's hdmi in

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

I guess you are talking about the full screen ads that Roku is now testing, supposed to only run on a Roku restart or on an exit from the screen saver, to add crap to the screen. Roku has said they are skippable but the one I have seen could not be skipped and if anything like that continues I will also be one to switch. Roku has done a lot of really intrusive things but, if it really happens, I too, will stop using Rokus as my primary client. 

Roku says they are just a test but testing something this obviously stupid make me think that "temporary" actually means "as soon as possible" in Roku speak.
Link to an article about this crap.
“Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen 

I have a Fire 4K stick and a Shield TV and both work pretty well BUT they both have intrusive ads that I had a very hard time making not happen. I can recommend both of the clients i have but the only "cheap" one is the Fire 4K and it is harder to configure than the Shield and it is not "quite" as quick. 
Both of those devices have great pictures and their audio is at least as good as my Rokus.

I will wait a few days to see how bad the ads really are but I am getting very close to going to one of the others. 

There are many Android boxes out that do a pretty good job but I avoid anything that i cannot directly research. Also the Apple streaming box works pretty well if you can tolerate anything Apple. I will never have an Apple device in my home but they at least promise "No home screen ads." 

In your case i think I would recommend the Fire 4K stick as an alternative to Roku.

[SuperCharlie 0]

Thank you @Gilgamesh_48

Very informative reply. Gotta say I'm surprised about Shield.. and its partly because of the ad thing but also all the other things.. mute buttons, pushing their streaming in your face, and what I'm pretty sure they're doing with all the data.. just to start. Your reply is appreciated.

[Jdiesel 1431]

Shield TV with Projectivy Launcher is the best experience IMO. Works with all HD audio formats and no ads with Projectivy Launcher either.

[SuperCharlie 0]

@Jdiesel

I was leaning shield although I know it's more expensive.. good to know about the launcher