FireTV vs. NVidia ShieldTV as a WMC supplement/replacement?

[XMan]

Any personal experiences?

FireTV's advantage is that HBOGo is allowed for it on my cable system. Shield isn't there yet as far as HBOGo, but it's more future proof, of course.

I'll still need WMC to record and playback protected content, as well as physical Blu Rays.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The Shield is a much better playback device for local file playback. It has 24p support, it can play more codecs, and it uses the Android TV platform which is more open than Amazon's platform. The Shield is also better for gaming.

With that said I can't see the need for local playback if you have to have a WMC HTPC hooked up anyway. In my opinion the BEST compliment to a HTPC is a pure streaming box, and no one does streaming better than Roku.

So my official answer is neither, a Roku 3 is better.

 

[XMan]

Ahh, should have put my caveat . . . I need IR or FLIRC support, I don't have a Harmony that can control a Roku and don't want to pay $349 (WTF, Logitech) for one that can.

Roku 4 looks nice though.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Ahh, should have put my caveat . . . I need IR or FLIRC support, I don't have a Harmony that can control a Roku and don't want to pay $349 (WTF, Logitech) for one that can.

The Roku 3 has an IR receiver just for that purpose. There is a Roku device in the Harmony database. My 650 can control one but I don't know which one you have.

Just FYI I would never ever recommend something that couldn't work with a Harmony. I believe more in Logitech Harmonies than some people do their religion.

 

[Binky]

The Shield works well with non-protected content. It's my current living room box serving up all movies and OTA WMC recordings. It works well with the Harmony, except for the context menu - I'm still having trouble mapping the damned context menu key.

Isn't HBOgo also available on the Shield? The streaming options on the Shield are very good.

 

[ctark]

The Shield works well with non-protected content. It's my current living room box serving up all movies and OTA WMC recordings. It works well with the Harmony, except for the context menu - I'm still having trouble mapping the damned context menu key.

Isn't HBOgo also available on the Shield? The streaming options on the Shield are very good.

Yes, HBOgo is available. Once Silicon Dust gets their DRM enabled app launched for the HDHomerun prime it will be the best box for what I'm wanting. I can watch LiveTV and stream just about anything except Amazon Instant Video, which I think they will eventually cave and put on Android TV. If not then I will just cancel and be done with them.

 

[XMan]

The Roku 3 has an IR receiver just for that purpose. There is a Roku device in the Harmony database. My 650 can control one but I don't know which one you have.

Just FYI I would never ever recommend something that couldn't work with a Harmony. I believe more in Logitech Harmonies than some people do their religion.

Awesome, good to know. I have a Harmony One and it's pretty much the perfect remote control, IMO. Their new high-end offerings look like crap and I don't like their ergonomics.

Price for the Roku 3 is right as well.

To address the HBOGo thing, Comcast sucks. It's supported on my Roku 2 and iPads, but it's not available on Shield or my PS3.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Awesome, good to know. I have a Harmony One and it's pretty much the perfect remote control, IMO. Their new high-end offerings look like crap and I don't like their ergonomics.

Yeah I have the One in my home theater room. Nothing quite matches its feel in the hand, and I use the number buttons quite a lot.

With that said I do like the Harmony Hub in the livingroom, it is so nice to not have to train people to point the remote at the tv area as long as it takes the macro to run. Plus having a full blown smartphone app as a backup is nice.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[postmark]

The Shield works well with non-protected content. It's my current living room box serving up all movies and OTA WMC recordings. It works well with the Harmony, except for the context menu - I'm still having trouble mapping the damned context menu key.

Isn't HBOgo also available on the Shield? The streaming options on the Shield are very good.

Blinky - can you describe your setup with the shield to play WMC recordings?

 

[Binky]

I use a script called WTV Meta renamer to move, rename, and sort the WTV recordings. They are still readable by WMC so Kodi and WMC can coexist happily and read the same library, but this allows for (MUCH) better scraping and playing in Kodi than the standard Kodi interface (via Live TV and served through ServerWMC), which I can't stand. Then I just add the Recorded TV source and add it right to the main Kodi menu.

Kodi can play WTV files without any help, but the organization is terrible out of the box.

 

[C2bcool]

I have the Fire TV2, basically the newer version that now does 4K content. At $75 it was a great buy (black Friday sale). It's super easy to setup with AdbFire-Fire Starter-Install Kodi-TVMC addon skin. Works great and easy to use.

Can't speak for the Shield, but I don't believe the Roku 3 can run Kodi independently. It can only mirror Kodi from what I read. Not that you asked about Kodi, but I think it's important to consider.

 

[tnt118]

I have the Shield, and am generally a very strong proponent of it, but I do have to warn that right now the display quality is suffering a bit in the picture quality and color space departments. (See thread here.)

Apparently a fix is in the works, and despite that it is a BEAST of a machine. I need it to have a better way to watch OTA TV (without the far-too-expensive HD HomeRun) but other than that it's a nearly perfect box.

 

[poofyhairguy]

What is wrong with a HD Homerun

 

[tnt118]

For what I'm looking for, it is far too expensive. Not saying it is a bad product but all I want is a $40 USB tuner dongle like you can get for the PC.

 

[Binky]

I have the Shield, and am generally a very strong proponent of it, but I do have to warn that right now the display quality is suffering a bit in the picture quality and color space departments. (See thread here.)

Apparently a fix is in the works, and despite that it is a BEAST of a machine. I need it to have a better way to watch OTA TV (without the far-too-expensive HD HomeRun) but other than that it's a nearly perfect box.

Sooo...when you run a test pattern it is bad, or when you're viewing normal material it is bad?

I've had zero display quality issues on mine, which is hooked up to a Samsung 8500 plasma TV. I was actually expecting some quality issues which were reported on earlier firmwares but it looks great so far. I have't run any test patterns and I haven't scrutinized the picture.

 

[tnt118]

Sooo...when you run a test pattern it is bad, or when you're viewing normal material it is bad?

I've had zero display quality issues on mine, which is hooked up to a Samsung 8500 plasma TV. I was actually expecting some quality issues which were reported on earlier firmwares but it looks great so far. I have't run any test patterns and I haven't scrutinized the picture.

Both, actually. Test patterns show some significant issues in how the signal is processed. The splash screen of Netflix is a perfect example of where you see a ton of banding in the grey background. Almost any dark video with blacks or greys end up looking pixelated as they band. I *think* these issues were introduced when they fixed the HDMI black levels, which I'm not sure if that was a bigger Android problem or something Nvidia introduced.

 

[Binky]

It sounds like you are describing video compression problems. Are you playing high quality sources from local media?

 

[XMan]

Ended up going with a new-rev Roku 2. Their naming methodology is strange, but reading their forums, the only difference between the new-build Roku 2's and the new Roku 3s is the remote control. All of the puck hardware is identical.

Works great with my Harmony One, can easily switch back and forth between Media Center and the Roku with activity buttons, and I'm actually getting 1080p streams out of Netflix. Beautiful!