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Question

What media streamer/player should I get?

by May 16, 2016 3:38AM PDT

I was thinking to get a media player/streamer but was unsure which one should I get as there are so many out there.
I want a player that can watch movies/dramas in high resolution (of course with good audio /no jerky audio) and the player must-not-easily-heated.

Thanks for opinions in advance.

Discussion is locked

11 Posts
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Answer
Re: player
by Forum moderator May 16, 2016 4:12AM PDT

Since this is a forum about TV's and home theaters: for what TV or what home theater do you want this player? And what sources do you want to play. For Youtube, for example, most TV's already come with an app.

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RE: Kees_B
by TomatoLynn May 17, 2016 3:31AM PDT

I have a LG 65' 4K Display. I would like to use it to watch US series but am unsure what can be used to stream the series.

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Re: series
by Kees_B Forum moderator May 17, 2016 4:29AM PDT

Read http://www.cnet.com/topics/media-streamers/best-media-streamers/ as a start.

But realize not all streamers offer all services that are available in your country. The same goes for apps built into the TV.
And realize that not all services are free and that services you subscribe can have their own series (a Netflix series is not HBO, and the other way around).
And realize that the programs offered can be different per country, due to licenses.

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Answer
Read this
by May 16, 2016 6:45AM PDT
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Answer
I have the usual but missing one.
by Forum moderator May 16, 2016 8:33AM PDT

I have the Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fire (new 4K version.)

The one that gets used is the Amazon Fire. You get this for about 99 bucks and today I see you get a year of Amazon Prime with the purchase. It has Netflix and more too.

Nod to the Amazon Fire TV.

As to heat I've never found it to over heat. As to jerkiness, I have a solid over 20 megabit internet without one of those cable companies that interfere with such services. Audio? I use some additional speakers from the TV to improve sound.

Post was last edited on May 17, 2016 9:23 AM PDT

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RE: R.Proffitt
by TomatoLynn May 17, 2016 3:32AM PDT

For the Netflix, it contains subscription fees isn't? May I know what speakers do you use?

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Netflix is a fee service.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 17, 2016 9:26AM PDT
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Let's face it...
by Oldartq May 17, 2016 10:37AM PDT

anything worthwhile will be fee or you can watch lots of commercial/garbage.

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RE:R.Proffitt
by TomatoLynn May 22, 2016 11:28PM PDT

What're the difference between player like Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire with player like Popcorn Hour A-500, Dune HD Solo 4K or Nvidia Shield. I see they have quite a significant difference in terms of price

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Just open up their specs side by side
by Pepe7 May 23, 2016 7:41AM PDT

You can see that some are definitely more software/feature driven vs hardware driven (e.g. faster chipsets under the hood vs simple HDMI/USB plugin devices). The Popcorn hour is arguably focused on the folks with large movie libraries (e.g. things from a local or network hard drive) who aren't focused on netflix streaming (see Chromecast or Amazon Fire). If you don't maintain large movie libraries at home you may wish to stick with one of the 'streaming sticks'. YMMV.

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That's quite a big question.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 23, 2016 7:44AM PDT

It would take far too much to type here to cover how these differ. Given that's too much to type here I think you have to read reviews on each and then sort out which you might like.

Here the family gets the most use out of the Amazon Fire (4K model.) We also have the Chromecast and Roku but the Fire is the one that gets used.

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