What's the best streaming device, and why is it this?

>>51483494
the best is the chromecast, sorry.

>>51483499
Have one and can agree, though nexus player is $50 now so I'd have to say it

>>51483530
What makes the Nexus player good?

>>51483564
>atom chip
>updates
>can use Chromecast apps and chrome extension on it

>>51483564
nothing honestly, its android version is horrible and honestly not worth any money spent on it, Roku 2/3 are good though, and G Box with Kodi as well

>>51483494
My penis

Chromecast doesn't work with Playon. I am using sony bluray player. It does alright but it streams to my phone (android based) better.

For me: what I found in surplus since I can run console emulators and file servers
For parents: Roku since they won't call me with tech support questions
For women I've seen naked: Some SoC + Blutooth thing if I met them in STEM or Chromecast if I didn't

>>51483494
It's power is growing. And Slim TV is helping.

Amazon Fire TV

If I get my girl a Chromecast for christmas, as well as netflix and youtube, can I stream recorded TV to it from my HTPC running Mediaportal?

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>>51483494

What about this?

>>51483494
A computer. Can lurk, youtube, watch anything from anywhere, play games. Why the fuck would you buy a box that only does one of those things?

>>51486061
Someone please answer this.

>>51486061
Because some of us actually step out of our bedrooms and don't want to buy and set up a separate computer for each TV in the house.

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>>51486416
>some of us actually step out of our bedrooms
You step out of your bedroom to watch TV in your lounge room? How fucking proactive.
Also, your PC is in your bedroom? What are you, 16? My PC is in my office.
>don't want to buy and set up a separate computer
You can buy a shitty secondhand desktop or laptop for less than $100, you don't need specs to play videos and stream Steam games.

Why not Roku 4?

>>51483494

Android TV box with Kodi, loaded with movie/tv plugins. Fuck paying for Netflix.

>>51483674
>Roku 2

Try again, it can't even play fucking HD.

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>>51486061
>>51486279

Because wifes/girlfriends/moms. Not all of us want a massive beastly PC tower in our living rooms.

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>>51487283

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>>51487266

>>51483494
I'm a little paranoid about that microphone enabled remote on the Roku 3.
Is it always on, or only activated upon using search?

>>51486793
Because you're paying more for a feature (4k) that you probably can't use

>>51487783
They're not listening to you fap

I'd say roku 4 cuz 4k support. That or nvidia shield if you're a Gaymer

>>51483912
What a kek

And to answer op's question, the pc is the best streaming device.. Retard

>>51483494
>postulating an initial open ended question then changing the question to one that seeks validation for your own opinionated answer to the initial question, disregarding that the initial question is open ended, and through its implied purpose of seeking various answers, has no objective correct answer

i have two roku 3's myself.

one in my room and one in my living room.

they're fantastic little streaming devices. you can stream files to them or connect external drives to it and stream off of it natively. the bluetooth remote controls are great. they have ethernet and wifi. i have the one connected in my room to ethernet while the other in my living to wifi.

i got both of mine at costco for $95 each. came with the roku 3, controller, headphones, hdmi cable, and a two month free subscription to hulu plus.

right now i have hulu, netflix, and amazon prime along with a nice collection of movies and tv shows on my file server.

roku also has a plethora of other channels as well like hbo go. a lot of "private" third party ones that stream actually tv stations for free.

roku also has a "news" section that grabs highlighted news to watch and a pretty cool weather station. though i think most now come with similar stuff. it also has themes for the interface and a hidden menu to that shows wireless details such as strength. its all linux under the hood.

overall it works extremely well and i really like them. highly recommend roku in general.

>>51488649
what tv stations do you get? I googled some private channels and most of them were shit

I got my parents a roku 1 that's hooked up to their tube TV. It's not bad, the only complaint is that the netflix app is a little weird compared to the ps4 netflix.

Other than that? Nothing wrong with it, I can imagine the roku2/3/4/whatever are better though.

Roku stick is amazing because of the jack on the remote but chromecast rules all.

>Best streaming device
>Roku

Nigger, the best streaming device is a laptop running Kodi with the Genesis addon and an HDMI cable.

>>51492202
wouldn't an am1 itx/matx motherboard work better, more expansion options, and the capacity to be quieter?

>>51483494
what exactly can you doo with this. How much functionality does it have outside US where Netflix is not supported for example?

>>51487879
that's not really the point. you're paying for a superior CPU & GPU + more ram which future proofs the device. faster netflix performance, faster plex gui performance. if you're buying a roku may as well get the 4 unless you can get the 3 for dirt cheap

>>51488372

>use PC for streaming device
>restricted to outdated versions of the OS because Windows Media Center literally no longer exists
>Restricted to Windows because several major streaming sites' webUIs rely on Windows-first or Windows-only frameworks
>stuck with KB+M because Windows doesn't support gamepads or remotes worth half a shit
>box that enables all of this is generally large, loud, and power-hungry

Fuck no. Are you high? At best, you want a PC providing back-end support for frontend tools like Plex.

>get set-top box or similar streaming device
>price ranges from $30-150
>whisper-quiet
>6 watts of electricity *under load*
>remote supported -- and included!
>10-foot interface out of the box
>all major services supported immediately and flawlessly

This is the way it should be done.

>>51492202

Kodi a shit. It's open-sores barebones dogshit that intentionally foregoes functionality you can find in other clients. Unless you're literally running a Raspberry Pi, don't fuck around with Kodi. Just use Plex. And, again, you're consuming more power, making more noise, and taking up dramatically more space than you need to, and you're sticking yourself to a shitty, antiquated KB+M layout that isn't appropriate for a living room.

>>51493163

I agree with this. Unless it's something dirt-cheap like a Pi or a Chromecast, you should generally get the best thing you can. It's usually only a difference of less than $30 relative to the lowest-end thing that would satisfy you anyway.

>>51483494
The video quality for Netflix and Youtube on Roku's are absolute shit. Get a Chromecast or Fire tv.

>>51495385

I wouldn't really recommend a Fire TV. I had a lot of reliability issues with the first-gen Fire TV, and even when I wasn't experiencing those problems, the Amazon-first UI chafed. HARD. Voice search didn't work across all services, and sideloaded apps (like Kodi) ended up in a ghetto three menus deep.

As for the Chromecast, it's cheap, and it's great for how much it costs, but using it as your primary means of playback gets annoying, especially to guests and other people in your life who maybe aren't so comfortable with a smartphone. I would know: we're doing exactly that right now because our Nexus Player ate shit, and my dad hates it. It's a great complement to an Apple TV (no Google Cast support in there!), but I wouldn't advise using it for a primary.

Right now, the only set-top solution I can recommend in good faith is the fourth-gen Apple TV. I used to recommend the Nexus Player, but it fell victim to the same issues that plague any niche product with an ecosystem: manufacturers botching updates and developers not giving a shit about apps. Also, you need an adapter to even get Ethernet on the Nexus Player, which really pisses in your Cheerios the first time things start to go wrong.

Judging by the popular response to the Apple TV, I think it might have a lot more staying power, and therefore be a better buy long-term. That, and it's only $30 more than the Roku 4 anyway.

>>51486780
Fuck it's funny this never got a reply.
>>51486416
btfo

Do you need a streaming stick if you have a smart TV?

Or are smart TVs a meme?

>>51483499
>using your phone to send something to a device that could handle doing the damn job itself anyway

Streaming literally dependant on the phone for some dumb ass reason

Nothx


>>51485274
housefire

>>51495385
are you shitting? 1st gen chromecast doesn't even support 1080p. not to mention dolby which i doubt even the new chromecast supports

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>>51483499
>512MB RAM
>best

>>51483494
A PC running OpenELEC

>>51495336
Have you ever actually used Kodi m8?
I don't think you have.

>suggests plex
Oh, you're a pleb - now I understand perfectly.

>>51487257
this tbqhmf

>>51486780
This. Just attach a more silent fan or build one. Then, you can install OpenElec and bam.

>>51497834
it does support both

>>51497861
>implying the chromecast isn't well optimized and needs more than 512mb ram

>>51495336
>admitting you straight up don't know how to set up Kodi
Every day when I come home I turn on the Optiplex 745 in my living room, grab my phone, and Kodi opens up automatically. The anime that aired today have already been torrented and formatted for my library, and appear in the 'Recently Added' list on the homepage I have set for Kodi complete with all metadata and artwork. It's a fully automated personal anime streaming service I can use on any device in my house flawlessly and control it any way I want. Yatse is the best Kodi/XBMC android controller application bar none and it's easy as shit to use. You can even make it use any media player you fucking want.

>restricted to KB+M
You poor, ignorant fool. Kodi can be made to suck it's own dick if you know how to configure it properly.

ITT: XBMP/XBMC/Kodi is proven to be once again, the best media player around since its creation.

>>51493163
>future proof

And by the time you can finally take full advantage of those features, a faster and better, if not cheaper Roku will have come along.

>>51497898

Nigger, I have used XBMC/Kodi on everything from nettops to Raspberry Pis to Fire TVs. It's never been particularly good. It decodes absolutely everything, and that's its only real strength. I use Plex because I'm tired of babysitting my fucking home theater setup when I should be watching movies on it.

>>51498521

>Optiplex 745

105 watts max TDP, compared to 6 watts max TDP on a set-top box. Also many times the physical size. And yes, I know Kodi opens automatically. Whoop de doo. You still don't have good, reliable, remote-friendly access to shit like Netflix and emulators. I would know, I tried. Only set-top boxes reliably deliver an end-to-end remote-friendly experience. Probably cheaper than your shitty Optiplex, too.

>if you know how to configure it properly

And there's the rub. Why the fuck should I have to "configure" an HTPC software to use a standardized remote? I get that I can. I even know how. I just don't fucking want to anymore, because I don't feel like I should have to.

>>51499337
So I should just get a Roku 3?

>>51500594
Your money, your use case. I just watched Craigslist and picked up a used Roku 3 the other week for $50 to replace my 2XS (which I bought last year for $30. Also a Stick for $20. But with the way I use it, the Stick would've been plenty fine. I'm not all assburgers about streaming HD chinese animus off a home server built from spare parts of the old gaming rig.

>>51483494
I live and die by Roku3+Plex+RSS fed torrents (and some casting from my phone). Been off the cable TV teat for 9 months. I just wish I could cast from my main PC's browser to it like a Chromecast. May get a second streaming device just for that.

With a raspberry PI (model B r2) is there a way I can send video signal to 2 TVs through HDMIs?

>>51500092
>Probably cheaper than your shitty Optiplex, too.
$20.

>>51500594
not for full retail price. if you can find it for like $30, sure. but at full retail may as well just get a 4

>>51502765
>Optiplex 745

add in your energy costs...

>>51502794
How fucking poor are you? If you're concerned about energy costs you probably shouldn't be on this board matey

>>51502860
not so poor that i have to rely on a shity C2D piece of shit to run my home theatre LOL

Can it stream Hi10?

Chromecast cannot. Pi could not. XU3 sometimes can, but is rather buggy pain in the ass.

The best streaming device is a 15m HDMI cable.

Stop wasting money on tiny boxes.

I use a Roku stick for my bedroom; I don't have Netflix but it works great with Plex. Living room has game consoles and Chromecast.

>>51503015
>15'
You don't own a home, or for that matter ever leave your basement do you?

>>51503060
>feet and meters are the same thing

>>51503015
I really don't want a tripping hazard spanning the length of a house. Then I would have to get a wireless keyboard/mouse as well to use from the other room.

I guess its possible, but messy.