smokey7722 15 Posted April 18, 2016 Posted April 18, 2016 Whats everyones opinions for best current UI, functionality and ease of use for a basic streaming device? Use case is a family member living outside of my home, connecting remotely. She is not tech savy and I'm not the most thrilled about the current UI of the Amazon FireTV when it comes to searching or navigating large collections. Filter limitations and such for example. I would be willing to test out an Apple TV as the UI looks really nice. I think an Nvidia shield while it looks nice is too expensive for this purpose. The device will be used ONLY for Emby and no any other app or service. She lives about 2000 miles from me so simple device use/support is critical. I've only actually used an old Roku, FireTV Stick and Chromecasts at the moment and planned on using Nvidia Shield for my home use but these remote devices with great UI's and are inexpensive for use as just remote Emby clients. If all goes well then I have a few other family members that I would like to pick some up as well for. Right now most are using ipad's or their android tablets but I would prefer to get a nice device that will connect to their tv's directly. Due to my limited testing experience I figured it best to reach out to others to get some opinions? 1
legallink 187 Posted April 18, 2016 Posted April 18, 2016 I've used the Roku and the Apple TV as clients, and between the two Apple TV by far for Emby. Not even close.
smokey7722 15 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Posted April 18, 2016 So overall the options that I know of are below - did I miss any below? FireTV Stick - not thrilled with filtering capabilities FireTV- not thrilled with filtering capabilities Nvidia Shield - too expensive to used as an Emby client only Apple TV - so far seems to have a nice interface that looks like it could work? Roku - haven't heard great things currently so wasn't considering it as a real option.
MrWebsmith 598 Posted April 18, 2016 Posted April 18, 2016 apple tv not really much cheaper than a shield... i have both and i prefer the shield...
ebr 16169 Posted April 18, 2016 Posted April 18, 2016 FireTV Stick - not thrilled with filtering capabilities FireTV- not thrilled with filtering capabilities What, exactly, do you mean?
smokey7722 15 Posted June 6, 2016 Author Posted June 6, 2016 What, exactly, do you mean? Sorry @@ebr, I didn't mean to go MIA on everyone. I had some health issues right about the time I made that post and am finally catching up on all the real world stuff that fell behind! I can go through my FireTV stick again and come up with a more detailed list but I recall the biggest issue was if I go into a Library (in this example we will use movies), then go to search within it and enter an actors name or movie title, it isn't just searching the movies library but its searching all available media in all libraries. There doesn't seem to be any localization within the search algorithm. I did pickup an Nvidia Shield which I am very happy with (hardware is a LOT better) though I noticed the seeking is horribly erratic (press the fast forward button once which usually would jump 30 seconds into the future and it actually just goes to the end of the video and marks it as watched - or it seeks 30 seconds forward and plays the audio but the video is frozen on the last frame before the seek). I'm trying to troubleshoot that to gather more info and make a post about it.
Luke 42077 Posted June 6, 2016 Posted June 6, 2016 well we can't localize the search by default because then a much larger group of people will just come back and say "i can't find xyz by searching". So that sort of thing can only be done via some additional intervention, which might end up making the process slower than if you had just used the global search in the first place.
smokey7722 15 Posted June 6, 2016 Author Posted June 6, 2016 well we can't localize the search by default because then a much larger group of people will just come back and say "i can't find xyz by searching". So that sort of thing can only be done via some additional intervention, which might end up making the process slower than if you had just used the global search in the first place. Thats definitely understandable. Let me get back to the device and play with it again and I will post up my other concerns. I haven't touched the FireTV Stick since I got the Nvidia Shield though so I was more recently troubleshooting the seeking issue with that (trying to see if its certain media types or some other constant to help troubleshooting).
ebr 16169 Posted June 6, 2016 Posted June 6, 2016 Thats definitely understandable. Let me get back to the device and play with it again and I will post up my other concerns. I haven't touched the FireTV Stick since I got the Nvidia Shield though so I was more recently troubleshooting the seeking issue with that (trying to see if its certain media types or some other constant to help troubleshooting). The Shield and the stick run the exact same app... The stick will not perform as well but that will be the only difference in the interface.
smokey7722 15 Posted June 6, 2016 Author Posted June 6, 2016 The Shield and the stick run the exact same app... The stick will not perform as well but that will be the only difference in the interface. I had no problems seeking on a Stick but the Shield has the odd jumping behavior last I used it. I'll check the Stick today to see if its showing the same issues as the Shield.
dcook 299 Posted June 6, 2016 Posted June 6, 2016 Nothing but great things to say about the Roku, works flawless, I have 3 of them so far in my house, and just set up my mother-in-law with one and she took to it right away!
smokey7722 15 Posted June 25, 2016 Author Posted June 25, 2016 Nothing but great things to say about the Roku, works flawless, I have 3 of them so far in my house, and just set up my mother-in-law with one and she took to it right away! Picked up a Roku3 to test out and on the same receiver port using the same cables (or even swapping with brand new cables that I know are fully supporting HDCP with no issues) the stupid thing every time popped up saying HDCP Unsupported. I'm an A/V Integrator and sell equipment all the time so I have an inventory of brand new cables and equipment. Must have a bad Roku3 I guess but I'm not spending any more time on it. Spent about 2 hours futzing with it. Reading the Roku forums this supposedly is not uncommon on these and requires reboots of the devices to get them working sometimes. Given I can't get it working at all I am going to return it and will grab an Apple TV instead to test out.
speechles 2055 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 The roku worked, didnt it, could go into apps, browse, do things, but.. the moment went to play anything.. bamm.. purple hdcp warning and no video...? When this happens, you just need to fix the HDCP handshake. Dont restart the roku. Did you try leave the roku on, press home. Get to the roku homescreen. Now at this point, turn the TV off, then back on. This should fix the HDCP. Now you can browse and when you play things it wont give that purple hdcp screen. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
smokey7722 15 Posted June 25, 2016 Author Posted June 25, 2016 (edited) The roku worked, didnt it, could go into apps, browse, do things, but.. the moment went to play anything.. bamm.. purple hdcp warning and no video...? When this happens, you just need to fix the HDCP handshake. Dont restart the roku. Did you try leave the roku on, press home. Get to the roku homescreen. Now at this point, turn the TV off, then back on. This should fix the HDCP. Now you can browse and when you play things it wont give that purple hdcp screen. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk I tried that and still couldn't get it to work. I went through the Roku forums (as well as posts here and for Plex) and tried everything they stated. I'm summing it up as a bad unit but yes thats the experience. It browsed fine and no matter what I did would not handshake. Again, known good hardware and cables as well. I'll head over and grab an Apple TV from Best Buy as they are on sale for $25 off right now anyway. I already have the Roku packed and returned to UPS to go back to Amazon. Usually I would try another unit. This is going to be shipped 2200 miles from me to a family member to use, who is NOT very technical and if I had this issue the first time I plugged it in and tried, I can't guarantee she may not have the same problem. I would rather make sure that she has something thats fool proof and just works. While a replacement MAY work fine, I don't have the time to futz with it any more. Hopefully the ATV works better Edited June 25, 2016 by smokey7722
Koleckai Silvestri 1154 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 Late here but have several Rokus in the house. They work fine and the interface is easy enough to pick up. That said, the interface needs to be updated. Looking to replace the roku on the main television with an AppleTV in the near future. Looked at the Shield but the extra $50 for a remote when I am not interested in gaming on it at all was a deal killer.
speechles 2055 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 Late here but have several Rokus in the house. They work fine and the interface is easy enough to pick up. That said, the interface needs to be updated. Looking to replace the roku on the main television with an AppleTV in the near future. Looked at the Shield but the extra $50 for a remote when I am not interested in gaming on it at all was a deal killer. roku and appleTv are pretty much identical as far as media support. The roku allows a bit more flexibility with mkv containers though in what will direct play. It depends on what you expect from the device. If it is a casual investment, by all means, you dont need all the bells and whistles a shield gets you. If you are serious and the investment is a media room built to resemble a movie theater then nothing beats an actual PC with full codec support. This is all conjecture since anyways, the best is what is best for you and your situation, not how many dollars each of these costs. The Apple TV is the next best choice after roku, since its in the same ballpark. Its just a different team playing the field.
Koleckai Silvestri 1154 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 (edited) roku and appleTv are pretty much identical as far as media support. The roku allows a bit more flexibility with mkv containers though in what will direct play. It depends on what you expect from the device. If it is a casual investment, by all means, you dont need all the bells and whistles a shield gets you. If you are serious and the investment is a media room built to resemble a movie theater then nothing beats an actual PC with full codec support. This is all conjecture since anyways, the best is what is best for you and your situation, not how many dollars each of these costs. The Apple TV is the next best choice after roku, since its in the same ballpark. Its just a different team playing the field. Nevermind.. I don't even know why I bother responding to you. Edited June 25, 2016 by Koleckai Silvestri
speechles 2055 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 Nevermind.. I don't even know why I bother responding to you.Indeed.. whatever your reason for posting was.. Perhaps wayneluke is having a bad day. I will chalk it up to that. Maybe change usernames again? Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
smokey7722 15 Posted June 25, 2016 Author Posted June 25, 2016 Not sure whats up with @@speechles and @@Koleckai Silvestri but I will say that both of you (as well as everyone else who posted) did provide valuable info as I worked through this. The Roku had issues that I was not willing to put onto my family member I am shipping it to on the other side of the country. The Apple TV seems to work well so far in my testing and honestly for the purpose it needs to serve it seems to do far better than the Roku by the looks of it. I may have had a rare issue with a Roku however that was the first time I was touching one and if they can't handle something as simple as an HDCP handshake without manual intervention nowadays, I will be happy to find another product that does. Oh and did I mention I used the exact same HDMI cable that the Roku failed with on the ATV and it worked fine? I have a Shield as well for myself and am happy with it. I'm not an Apple fanboy and don't use an iPhone as I am not a huge fan of their UI but my family member I am mailing this to does use an iPhone so the UI will be fine for her. As @@speechles said, the best client is the one that works best for me and for this specific situation the ATV seems to be the winner. The other features of the device are not relevant really as the primary purpose of it is going to be an Emby streamer to gain access to the family videos and content I have stored here. If all goes well I will probably end up buying a bunch more and sending them to other family members. Thanks for everyones help!
speechles 2055 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 Not sure whats up with @@speechles and @@Koleckai Silvestri but I will say that both of you (as well as everyone else who posted) did provide valuable info as I worked through this. Neither am I quite sure what is going on there. An enigma, a riddle, confusing. I was just being equally an ass to his ass comment. For backstory, wayneluke said he would never use emby again, threw a tantrum, cursed everyone out. Then came back as this kolecki pseudonym. Its all good, who cares. But it really irks him when I point out he is wayneluke. Now for why he wants me to die in front of my loved ones and sends it in pm. He must be crazy. Thats the only answer. Glad you are happy, that is the only thing that matters. Hopefully you dont get a doa atv.. imagine the odds of that. If you do, its the equivalent odds of winning the lottery. Maybe you should buy a ticket if that hapoens. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
smokey7722 15 Posted June 25, 2016 Author Posted June 25, 2016 Glad you are happy, that is the only thing that matters. Hopefully you dont get a doa atv.. imagine the odds of that. If you do, its the equivalent odds of winning the lottery. Maybe you should buy a ticket if that hapoens. Haha yea lets hope that they end up ok as well. But I will definitely let you in on the winnings if I did end up getting another DOA as I would definitely be playing the lotto at that point!
speechles 2055 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 Haha yea lets hope that they end up ok as well. But I will definitely let you in on the winnings if I did end up getting another DOA as I would definitely be playing the lotto at that point!Powerball? In that case, if you win, we should cut in @@Abobader for allowing us the pleasure of this conversation which led to such a large windfall of currencies... or maybe just send him a nicely handwirtten thank you note would be enough? .. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
smokey7722 15 Posted June 25, 2016 Author Posted June 25, 2016 Powerball? In that case, if you win, we should cut in @@Abobader for allowing us the pleasure of this conversation which led to such a large windfall of currencies... or maybe just send him a nicely handwirtten thank you note would be enough? .. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk You got a deal! 1
Koleckai Silvestri 1154 Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 Thanks for everyones help Glad you found a solution.
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