If you are considering buying a streaming media device for your televisions so you can watch your online content someplace other than your phone or computer there are a few different options out there. One of the more popular companies making Streaming Devices is Roku but even within their product line you may have some confusion about which device is best for you.
We are going to look at some of the available features in the Roku Product Line and talk about ways that you can outfit your home for the lowest cost with the best features.
At the time of writing there are 5 different options for Roku Streaming. The first one is a Roku enabled Television. This is a tv that has the features built right into it. There are at least three options if you want television integration for streaming. Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku are all offering options by licensing the technology to TV Makers. If you are considering integrated technology you will need to do research that is beyond this How To. I am simply not going to cover it here but maybe we can get into it later. The reason is the options and quality of integrated features is really based on the TV Manufacture and not the device maker. On the other hand if you purchase an independent device from any of these companies it will most likely work the same on every one of your televisions.
So, let start looking at the options for a Roku Player.
Roku offers 4 types of devices that can be connected to your television to provide Online Streaming. Each of the Devices has its own purpose however there are good and bad points to each device which means if you buy the wrong device you might think Roku is not a good product .. when actually you simply purchased the wrong player for your install.
The Roku Players available are the Roku 1, Roku Stick, Roku 2 and Roku 3.
Now if you are like me you are probably wondering why didn’t they just make one type of player with all the best features and by limiting their production line they would reduce their cost of manufacture and so increase sales… Yes this is a very interesting question and if I ran Roku I would at least trim the product line down to just 2 options and probably trim it to just one. I think a lot of people would do the same.
Unfortunately or fortunately they have decided to offer a range of products that have increasing features and they sell them at costs ranging from about $40 up to $100.
The first thing you should know about all of these devices is that you will need some type of Remote other than the one you are using now. This can be a bit of a drag and why some TV Remote companies have built high dollar remotes that can control many devices. That may be an option for some people but for everyone else expect to have 2 remotes to control your TV.
The second thing you should understand is that only the top model the Roku 3 offers Wired Ethernet. Wired connections run faster and more stable than wifi and more important for people living in close proximity to neighbors they are also more secure. If you love HD Video and have a mid to upper level broadband connection you want to buy the Roku 3 and hardwire it to your router. It will reduce buffering and increase the speed.
The third most important thing to know when looking at the Roku Product Line is the way the device connects to your Television.
The Roku Stick and the Roku 3 devices only support HDMI connections and this is probably ok for most people however if you have an older model TV you will need to get a Roku 1 or 2 for a direct connection.
The Roku 1 and 2 offer both HDMI and Composite RCA Jacks not Coax. If you want to watch HD TV you will need to use the HDMI Connection.
If you want to connect external storage to the device only the Roku 3 offers the USB and MicroSD options.
If you want to cast from your phone to the TV then all of the devices support this to some extent. If this is a priority for you then you should look into the option closer from their support site.
Finally all of the devices need power. The Roku 1, 2 and 3 all have external power supplies and the Roku Stick gets its power from a USB Port on your TV.
Those are some of the features of the Roku Product Line and you may have already made your decision by now but lets get a little deeper into why one product is better than another.
How do you choose between Devices in the Roku Product Line
Ok so we have talked about the features and if one stood out for you then that made your choice but lets look at some of the other features and how the devices perform to narrow the choices down a bit more.
If you are worried about specific content being available as long as you buy the newest devices from the same product line and you aren’t buying one of the earliest models you will be able to get all of the Roku channels across the available devices.
However like we said above if you like HD Video there are three things that will push you to the Roku 3. The first is that the Roku 3 has Wired Ethernet. This means the stream availability will be much faster. Additionally the Roku 3 has an internal processor that is said to be 5 times faster than all of the other devices and this really matters when you are browsing your menus. Finally security the Roku 3 has wired Ethernet so you don’t have to open your network to the rest of the neighborhood. If you already have WiFi then you should know how easy it is to breach. I am not going to go into WiFi Security here but lets just say every encryption and password option can be circumvented in just a couple minutes by anyone with a few freely available software products and a laptop with a wifi dongle.
If Money is your biggest concern you might want to look at the Roku 1 however it only has single band WiFi so the connection won’t be as good as other devices.
Remember all the devices can do 1080p through the HDMI port but that is a lot of data for WiFi.
If space is your biggest concern then the Roku Stick can plugin behind your TV and another box or another power connection on your power strip is not required. I have not heard that USB ports on TVs are not compatible for the power adapter but this is a possibility.
If you want to listen to television in bed while your partner sleeps then the Roku 2 and 3 both have Earbud connectors on the remote. This may be an option for some people but really its not going to work out so just go to sleep or watch it together and save your relationship .. HA!…
Final Note
Manufacturers that offer this many options for the same general product seem to be doing themselves and their customers a disservice. Roku may believe that having three boxes and a stick is the best way to serve their customers but actually they could trim their line to only 2 devices and lower their production costs while also increasing the value to the customer.
In reality unless the hidden behind the tv features are most important to you and you are willing to live with the problems with WiFi the Roku 3 really seems like the only option. This is unless your TV doesn’t have the inputs and then you want to go with a Roku 1 and save money.
That is my opinion and I would only purchase the Roku Stick if I wasn’t cutting the Cord.
If you are going to depend on your Roku Device to bring in all of your content that isn’t available over antenna then you want the Roku 3 and even the Roku 3 is not a perfect device.
Its operating system is limited. This is not like a Win7 Media Center or an Android box that will allow you to install everything you can on a desktop.
Rokus are for doing what they do and for doing it the way they do it.
If you find they provide enough features for you then get one and enjoy it. If not then there are a few other options out there. On the other hand if you want the cheapest devices you do need to give up some of the features. This is just how it is for anything in this world.