Is the Roku 1 worth buying?

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13Gigatons

13Gigatons

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
7,461
500
126
I see the new Roku 4 is out and getting good reviews but it's expensive. So I'm wondering if the Roku 1 is worth buying at a lower price?

Does it have the basic features?
 
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A Casual Fitz

A Casual Fitz

Diamond Member
May 16, 2005
4,649
1,018
136
I use my PS3 but I was handed down a 1 from my parents and they severely stopped supporting it years ago. HBOGO does not work at all and Netflix won't even support subtitles. It's very bare bones. I'd recommend the Amazon fire stick or the Roku 2.
 
ImpulsE69

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
Get a Roku 3 or 4...how is it expensive? They are dirt cheap. Also 4 is supposed to be really cheap over the black friday craze.

Do not bother with 1 or 2.
 
Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
49,103
5,690
136
Just wait until next week - they're having a Black Friday sale for $25 on the new Roku SE player:

https://blog.roku.com/blog/2015/11/...-the-black-friday-deal-you-dont-want-to-miss/

The new Roku SE streaming player:

* Runs Roku OS 7, the newest built-for-TV operating system
* Offers 1080p video streaming and simple user interface
* Access to nearly 3,000 streaming entertainment channels including 300,000 movies and TV episodes
* Ability to search across 20+ top streaming channels to easily see available streaming options by price and availability
* Compatible with HDMI and analog TVs
* Use the Roku Mobile App for iOS or Android to access key features such as Roku Search, Roku Feed, * * Remote Control, Play on Roku and more
* Cast content from a mobile device to the TV via specific streaming channels or the Roku Mobile App
* Hotel and Dorm Connect provides quick wireless connectivity in locations that require log-in credentials to access the wi-fi network
Click to expand...
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2009
3,793
1
81
FireTV Stick. I have an original Roku, and it is weak. There is virtually no one doing anything new with it.

A FireTV stick on the other hand... Side load Andoid apps following some fairly simply instructions and you can put pretty much anything on it you want to. And at $39 is pretty cheap.
 
TwiceOver

TwiceOver

Lifer
Dec 20, 2002
13,544
44
91
Lots of incorrect information in here so basically ignore most of those posts. Listen to the people saying to move up to the 2 or 3 if possible. You can get Refurb 3 units in the $50 area. The 4 at $130 is a little expensive in my opinion not to mention there are some questionable manufacturing issues, wait until they work those out.

Apple TV: You are married to Apple's ecosystem and you don't need Amazon Video.
FireTV: You like Amazon's ecosystem (said nobody) or you absolutely have to have Kodi because it's impossible to live without pirated content so you need a janky box you can hack.
ChromeCast: You like the idea of using your phone for everything including when your wife says "Hey wait pause that, what was that" and you have to unlock your phone, open the app, press the pause button. All of which happened about 12 seconds after you needed the pause so now you have to try to rewind and well, your wife gives up on you as a husband.
Roku: Get this one if you are willing to live with the fact that it'll take slightly longer to get some apps and you don't mind that the interface is simple and uncomplicated.

I haven't had the AppleTV, but I've had the other 3 and I have found no reason to buy anything other than a Roku, unless you *need* Kodi. The absolute worst for me was the ChromeCast. I paid $35 for it minus 3 free months of Netflix so $11 then I sold it for $20 minus $5 shipping. So I walked away with $4 and still feel like I lost money.
 
M

MustISO

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,927
12
81
I'm going to get one of the Roku SE models on BF and see how they are for basic streaming systems. Figure they'd be fine for non smart TVs.
 
TwiceOver

TwiceOver

Lifer
Dec 20, 2002
13,544
44
91
Kaido said:
I would wait & confirm before buying. Sounds like it might just be a rebadged Roku 1.
Click to expand...

Pretty much is. And I wouldn't buy a Roku1, the one my parents have is dog feces. They are still holding on to an old CRT TV so need the composite connection.
 
Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
49,103
5,690
136
TwiceOver said:
Pretty much is. And I wouldn't buy a Roku1, the one my parents have is dog feces. They are still holding on to an old CRT TV so need the composite connection.
Click to expand...

I love my Roku 3's (I have like three of them), but they have issues & need to be power-cycled sometimes. Gets kinda buggy. Haven't tried the new v3 with Voice yet, but my buddy has one & it works nice. The 4 seems to have a lot of issues. Still better than anything else I've tried though!
 
ultimatebob

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,449
126
The XBox One is still my favorite Netflix/Amazon/YouTube box that I've used. All of the extra processing horsepower in that box makes the streaming apps super responsive!
 
T

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
I have a Roku XD (1080p) collecting dust. Very slow interface, no updates, no Youtube period. Not even sure if it supports the latest bitrates from Netflix, etc. We use our PS3 instead.
 
Ichinisan

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
Folks: A "Roku 1" is not a first-generation Roku. It's a currently-supported product.

Anyway, it doesn't support 5GHz WiFi or a direct wired connection, so it's a no-go for me.
 
Ichinisan

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
I can't recommend the Fire TV Stick. I used it a couple times. All video providers (Amazon, Netflix, HBO Go) constantly hitch where the picture hangs for a moment and the sound continues, then the video moves in fast-forward to catch up with the audio. It seems nearly all owners experience this.

That's a minor annoyance, but the major annoyance is the RF remote. I have bad hearing, so I skip-back a lot to catch whatever I miss. No matter how quickly I press the skip button, the devices frequently thinks I held the button down and it starts rewinding or fast-forwarding. Drives me ABSOLUTELY INSANE. It just seems like the CPU is too busy processing something to respond to input events and realize I'm not actually holding the button down. I think that would also explain the strange video hitching problems everyone seems to have.

It's definitely not related to WiFi signal quality or congestion. Mine is on a 5GHz network that supports 802.11ac -- and it's only 5 feet from the router. All of my devices (desktop PC, printer, Apple TV 4, Playstation, NAS, etc) are directly-wired except for mobile devices (phones and tablets).

With so many other options for Internet streaming devices, I just don't use the Amazon Fire TV stick at all.
 
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