Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple tv vs. Roku?

newagemac said:
Incredible lack of content? Are you seriously saying Amazon's video service has more content than iTunes?
Click to expand...

No I'm saying Roku has infinitely more channels readily available to users than AppleTV has. And I am saying that amazon VOD is infinitely better than iTunes due to pricing, promos, and freebies.
 
I had two Roku boxes that I used daily since launch (I was an early adopter). I didn't like the ATV1 due to the limited hard drive space and didn't want to take on a hack/upgrade.

When ATV2 came out I bought two and quickly quit using my Rokus at all. I gave one away and the other is gathering dust.

That said, it ALL depends on what content you access. I have several hundred albums and over 400 movies in iTunes. Almost all the content I access is from iTunes. I do occasionally use Netflix streaming on it as well but almost never watch a youtube video. If Apple completely removed that feature I wouldn't care and that would probably be after it took me 6 months to notice ;)
 
newagemac said:
If you already own an iOS device, Airplay hands down makes it the better choice. It's a no brainer decision. Airplay really is that good.
Click to expand...
Isn't airPlay only as good as the amount of content you have on your iTunes/iOS device? While I Love AirPlay and use it often, it does have some severe limitations:

-Shooting video from iOS to AppleTV is a single tasking feature and the iDevice just goes black. So you can't use the iPad to surf the web while streaming a movie from the same iPad.
-iOS 5 brings video mirroring but that stays native to the iPad resolution. So,for example, while you "can" get Hulu through mirroring, it looks funky because you've got black pillars and the resolution is far from optimal for an HDTV.
-The load delay is much slower than simply loading content directly from streaming box

newagemac said:
The Roku doesn't really have a way to play your local content. It is pretty much an internet streaming device only.
Click to expand...
No offense, but have you used a Roku because through USB drives you can access the same video formats that iTunes accepts (minus iTunes protected of course) and through local network streaming you can access a lot of different file formats through Plex. (I just leanred that Lion dropped FrontRow and Plex seems to be what everyone is moving to). So in terms of accessing local content then the AppleTV is actually MORE limited because the USB port doesn't allow USB drive support and it requires a computer acting as an iTunes server to access your iTunes content. (My setup has my iTunes Library on the Time Capsule which shares an ethernet connection with the AppleTV. But despite their proximity and fast 1gigabit connection, I still have to stream it WIRELESSLY to my MacBook Pro in the bedroom which slows things down considerably).

I still prefer the AppleTV despite it's shortcomings but in terms of overall access to content then the Roku beats it into the ground. Amazon VOD, Netflix, Hulu, Plex, Numerous content channels etc shouldn't be dismissed so easily (But it should also be noted that Apple can change all that by allowing iOS Apps on aTV)
 
Last edited:
Shooting video from iOS to AppleTV is a single tasking feature and the iDevice just goes black. So you can't use the iPad to surf the web while streaming a movie from the same iPad.
Click to expand...

I don't THINK this is true. I'm pretty sure I've started a video on the iDevice, streamed it to my TV via Airplay and then started surfing the web. I think it just runs in the background. I'm out of town on business so I can't test this right now... but i'm pretty sure.
 
CapnJackGig said:
Of course it can, and it plays ALL Youtube videos instead of the subset of videos that Apple TV can.
Click to expand...
Please clue us in. YouTube has been removed and banned by Google from Roku. What are you doing to get the channel on your Roku? It cannot be found *anywhere*. Believe me, I have looked. We got a Roku TWO DAYS after Google changed their rules about it.
 
malnar said:
Please clue us in. YouTube has been removed and banned by Google from Roku. What are you doing to get the channel on your Roku? It cannot be found *anywhere*. Believe me, I have looked. We got a Roku TWO DAYS after Google changed their rules about it.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing they removed the ability to add it now. But anyone that had it, like me, still has it.
 
newagemac said:
If you already own an iOS device, Airplay hands down makes it the better choice. It's a no brainer decision. Airplay really is that good.

Since you plan to use an antenna, you can also get the awesome EyeTV software which can record shows from the antenna and export them automatically in a format for your Apple TV. You can even Airplay recorded or live TV from an iPhone/iPod/iPad directly to the Apple TV. All apps support audio Airplay and there are a TON of apps that now support video Airplay and in iOS5 Airplay is enabled by default for apps as well as websites have video viewable on your iOS device in Safari.

Previously, the website owner had to enable Airplay for the video by just adding Airplay="allow" to their code but not many ever got around to doing that. I and many others have been using a bookmarklet that yo just tap to make them enabled for Airplay but with iOS5 you don't have to do that anymore.

In iOS5 there is also now an Airplay Mirroring feature where whatever is showing on your iOS device shows on your TV through the ATV. This works great for presentation software like Keynote or anything you want to show someone else on the big screen. You can even use it for games and internet browsing.

Also, with Home Sharing all your content on your computer is available on the Apple TV even from multiple computers simultaneously. All your locally stored movies, podcasts, iTunes U stuff, tv shows, music, etc. Even rentals downloaded to your Mac, PC, or iOS device can be either Home Shared or Airplayed to the Apple TV. The Roku doesn't really have a way to play your local content. It is pretty much an internet streaming device only.

There are a ton of other cool stuff like all the hundreds of free "channels" available with the podcast feature, the many radio stations, and how with Photostream in iOS5 you can actually take a picture on any iOS device and the photo is instantly available on your Apple TV. Even before iOS5, you could Airplay any photos or movies sitting on your iOS device that you just took but iOS5 makes it even better.

Plus Apple is planning on adding an App Store to the ATV which will probably allow gaming on the device among other things. It's a pretty neat device, very small, cheap, doesn't get hot, and is completely silent. The only thing is you might want to wait until September because it is expected to be updated then with the A5 processor like in the iPad 2 which supports 1080p video.
Click to expand...

Can you please share this bookmarklet that you use? While waiting for iOS5, I'd like to be able to watch videos from safari on my iPad to my ATV. Thanks!
 
Is airplay built into iOS? From what I'm gathering this allows content from your iphone/ipad to be played through wifi and the apple tv to your tv. Is that correct? Does it matter what size tv you are using? Can airplay be used to stream hulu plus from an iOS device to the tv? It seems that for renting or buying movies a roku or apple tv will work, just depends on where you prefer getting them from. What about tv shows? I've got a four year old and he likes to watch cartoons. What are my options?

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
 
imahawki said:
I don't THINK this is true. I'm pretty sure I've started a video on the iDevice, streamed it to my TV via Airplay and then started surfing the web. I think it just runs in the background. I'm out of town on business so I can't test this right now... but i'm pretty sure.
Click to expand...

Maybe I explained it wrong, but I'm talking about viewing something locally on the iPad and then hitting AirPlay to shoot it to the AppleTV. This definitely does give you a black screen but you get the scrub bar to forward and back your video. If you hit home or try to switch apps it breaks the AirPlay connection.

But maybe you're referring to using the iPad as a remote. So in that scenario the AppleTV is streaming video off your computer and the iPad is merely the remote. This method does allow you to multitask.

Edit: As stated by a few people, it does work. My launch aTV is messing up because it can't keep playing if I switch apps but my newer one does it just fine.
 
Last edited:
scott craft said:
Is airplay built into iOS? From what I'm gathering this allows content from your iphone/ipad to be played through wifi and the apple tv to your tv. Is that correct? Does it matter what size tv you are using? Can airplay be used to stream hulu plus from an iOS device to the tv? It seems that for renting or buying movies a roku or apple tv will work, just depends on where you prefer getting them from. What about tv shows? I've got a four year old and he likes to watch cartoons. What are my options?

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yes, Airplay is built into iOS. It makes it very easy to play content on your iOS device on your iPhone or iPad. It's just a tap away. Many apps support it and it doesn't matter what size tv you are using. Hulu does not currently support although they said they are considering it. Netflix is really good for tv shows.

One thing I really like about netflix on the Apple TV is how quickly you can actually get into Netflix on it. It's pretty much instant unlike other Netflix devices like the PS3 and Roku. That's because Apple worked with Netflix to cache much of it into the 8GB memory it comes with and also because iOS itself is an "instant on" mobile OS while the systems the PS3, Roku, and Blu Ray players are built on are not.
 
WannaApple? said:
Can you please share this bookmarklet that you use? While waiting for iOS5, I'd like to be able to watch videos from safari on my iPad to my ATV. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Sure, here is a link to it:

http://bendodson.com/weblog/2011/01/13/enabling-any-html5-video-to-work-over-airplay-e-g-vimeo/


I use this all the time. I watch a bunch of Adobe videos to learn their Creative Suite tools and they have switched all of their videos to HTML5 from flash but they don't have Airplay enabled. With this little bookmarklet I can watch all their videos in HD on my big screen TV. It works on any video that your iOS device can access and play in Safari. When iOS5 comes, Airplay is enabled by default for websites so you won't need the bookmarklet anymore.
 
urkel said:
Maybe I explained it wrong, but I'm talking about viewing something locally on the iPad and then hitting AirPlay to shoot it to the AppleTV. This definitely does give you a black screen but you get the scrub bar to forward and back your video. If you hit home or try to switch apps it breaks the AirPlay connection.

But maybe you're referring to using the iPad as a remote. So in that scenario the AppleTV is streaming video off your computer and the iPad is merely the remote. This method does allow you to multitask.
Click to expand...

This is not true at all. You can Airplay video local to your device and switch out of it to another app, browse the web, etc. and the video still plays on the Apple TV and you can come back to it and leave as much as you like. That is not a limitation of Airplay. There were some apps that had not enabled that particular feature of it at first but I am hard pressed to find any at all these days. I believe the app just has to support backgrounding which almost all do now. Which one are you referring to?
 
Airplay sounds pretty neat. I really like the way Apple has all their devices work so well together. Thanks for all the input.
 
newagemac said:
This is not true at all. You can Airplay video local to your device and switch out of it to another app, browse the web, etc. and the video still plays on the Apple TV and you can come back to it and leave as much as you like. That is not a limitation of Airplay. There were some apps that had not enabled that particular feature of it at first but I am hard pressed to find any at all these days. I believe the app just has to support backgrounding which almost all do now. Which one are you referring to?
Click to expand...
You're right but now I'm wondering what's going on with my aTVs. My 3moold one does it just like you said, but the launch AppleTV2 goes back to the home screen when I switch apps. I thought it was single tasking but apparently itsjjst crashing. Both currently run the same OS so I'm not sure why they work differently so maybe I'll flash iOS 5 on it and see if it fixes it. Thanks for the help.
 
Amazon Video > iTunes …pretty much identical content, but almost always cheaper to rent at Amazon. Not only that, but they have great weekend deals on new releases. (e.g. True Grit was $1.99 this last weekend)

My opinion… :D
 

Attachments

  • Rokus.jpg
    Rokus.jpg
    357.9 KB · Views: 132
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back