streaming options: Chromeplay vs. Micca Speck vs. ????

[railer]

I've been using the Wii to play various movies in MP4 and avi format for the past few years.
I don't attempt to stream with it - just copy the files to a thumb drive and insert into the Wii and play via WMP.

Lately with new encoding formats the Wii just isn't cutting it anymore, so looking to upgrade to something simple and cheap. I am not going to drag my laptop into the TV room to watch a movie every time we watch one.

The two cheap and simple options that I've come up with are the Micca Speck or the Chromecast. Both are under $40, and both look like they'll do the trick.
I'm a little leery of the Chromecast - can it play all of the formats my laptop can play - divx/avi/mp4, and just stream them from my laptop to the TV? The Micca Speck seems a little more idiot proof, in that I can treat it just like the Wii and just physically plug my thumb drive into it, and not worry about streaming from the laptop at all.
Or is there a better options out there, for under around 40 bucks?
Thanks

 

[soulcougher73]

The Amazon Fire Stick is $39 on their site. I own one that i got when it was like half price to play with. It's ok but my Roku 3 is WAY better. Netflix stutters quite a bit on my Fire Stick where as the Roku never stutters at all. I don know the Micca Speck but ive heard good things about Chromecast for the price.

 

[razel]

The Micca Speck is interesting. Essentially a tinier version of those multimedia stick players with a remote. It's closest to what you are used to on the Wii.

The ChromeCast, which I love, is a different beast. It's strength is efficient and VERY high quality streaming of online services, not media off thumb drives. It also doesn't have a remote and requires your smartphone/tablet/computer to control it. You can use it play your media via your computer, by streaming to it, but it's not anywhere as elegant or simple as the dedicated player with a remote.

 

[whoiswes]

The Amazon Fire Stick is $39 on their site. I own one that i got when it was like half price to play with. It's ok but my Roku 3 is WAY better. Netflix stutters quite a bit on my Fire Stick where as the Roku never stutters at all. I don know the Micca Speck but ive heard good things about Chromecast for the price.

Interesting you say that, because since the recent update, my Roku has been struggling with MKV playback (direct stream video, transcode audio) via Plex (both server and client) but the FireStick has been bombproof. This is with the Roku on a wired gigabit network, no less.

Both can handle Netflix, Amazon, and PBS streaming apps fine, FWIW.

If you want to get rid of your FireStick let me know, I'm looking to grab a few more

 

[SlitheryDee]

Interesting you say that, because since the recent update, my Roku has been struggling with MKV playback (direct stream video, transcode audio) via Plex (both server and client) but the FireStick has been bombproof. This is with the Roku on a wired gigabit network, no less.

Both can handle Netflix, Amazon, and PBS streaming apps fine, FWIW.

If you want to get rid of your FireStick let me know, I'm looking to grab a few more

My experience was the exact opposite. The fire stick was plagued by frequent hitching and outright freezing when playing something with plex, but my Roku 3 plays everything flawlessly. I was going to use the fire stick in my weight room, but it proved to be so buggy that I just bought another roku 3 for that room as well. I considered one of the lower end rokus for the weight room, but I decided I shouldn't mess with something that just works. The fire stick had no problem with netflix or amazon instant though.