There are so many options on the market, but I feel like they all miss one thing or another. As my current setup is about to kick the bucket, I'd appreciate some input on your experiences and thoughts on the future.
Below are my thoughts and opinions, that are completely open to scrutiny!
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The Nvidia Shield (and 2019 Pro) are aging and overpriced. Lacking software updates shows Nvidia's priorities on other product lines. Will there be a new version now that the Switch 2 is launched, or are the possible profits pocket change for them?
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Apple TV seems to be a great alternative, but it's a locked down ecosystem. Tailscale is available here now, which is great, but there is no way to side load apps AFAIK. I am not giving up ad-free Youtube. Other than that, I see very few downsides with it.
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Google TV Streamer 4K is basically a Chromecast with more memory, storage and a slight bump to the CPU. It does finally support AV1, but lacks support for many audio codecs and several relatively common DV-profiles. It has also more than doubled in price.
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We don't have Amazon, so I know very little about the Firestick, but I imagine it would be like the CcwGTV? Probably same with the Roku?
To be fair, I'm looking for something with a bit more snappiness and punch than a stick for future proofing.
What are your thoughts? Waiting for the Shield 2 Pro? Happy with Apple TV or Google Streamer?
I wanna know how you play your obviously perfectly legal content on your TV's, but it needs to have the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).
The server is a N100 NUC, so transcoding is no issue but I prefer not having to do it for everything.
Cheers!
I own both Roku and Apple TV.
With Roku, The UI is just riddled with ads. Every time I turn it on I feel like they find another new place to insert more adverts. The UI feels sluggish and I had one remote die on me. The experience is largely solid but I feel less comfortable about what data Roku is mining. I’ll probably replace it with another Apple TV in the future.
As for Apple TV. I’m in the ecosystem ngl. It’s obviously a bit more expensive. There are a lot of settings you can customize. No ads in the UI (except where streaming services insert them of course.) Maybe there might be a solution available.
I’ve had some remote issues though. Sometimes it will start scrolling like crazy after hitting a button once. For some reason my tv turns back on after turning the Apple TV and tv it’s self off. And occasionally the volume buttons decide to not work. I’ll note that I’m currently on beta software so that might be the problem. The model of my tv may be causing issues also.
The apps available are definitely a plus. I don’t really watch YouTube on the tv often. Plex works great on both Roku and Apple TV. There’s a jellyfin app too, but haven’t messed with it a ton. The nice thing about iOS is that the developer community is pretty solid. So there’s a decent chance you may find apps that other platforms wouldn’t ever have. You can check the App Store to see what’s available.
Also: I think I saw somewhere that you need an Apple account (or even an iPhone) for initial set up. That may be an issue to consider. That being said, if your wife uses an iPhone, the ecosystem is largely similar with not a huge learning curve.
Yeah the ads are crazy, but at least with Android devices you can often have a different launcher.
The Apple TV is tempting me more and more and would be the perfect device, had it only supported side loading or SmartTube. It's a deal breaker for me, pushing me towards either Google with Projectivity launcher or trying to wait out a new Shield device.
Glad to see your happy with it though. I think I've yet to talk to anyone who isn't, which says a lot about it as a product.