Apple TV or Firestick?

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That is the question. I like Apple TV as it does not rely on WiFi being hard wired to the hub by Gigabit Ethernet cable thus guaranteeing the maximum streaming speeds available from the hub.

The Firestick is much smaller, USB powered and just plugs into the TV. It does of course rely on good WiFi but it also has a lot more features, more channels for want of a better word, than the Apple.

Anybody out there got experience of these and what would your suggestion be?
 
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I've just bought an Android box as it seems to have everything on it I want, plus a whole lot more, so decision made with some advice from my TV provider :)
 
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Apple TV or Firestick?
That is the question.


I understand a lot can depend on where you live as to what works best and my son has a Roku which he prefers over the Apple TV (2nd or 3rd gen??) my other son gave us, but do some web checking like this:
https://allpowermoves.com/best-streaming-device/


But it seems like it was a bit of a waste even replying to your now first post with any reply. :|




- Patrick
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M

MBAmtloin

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i sold my apple TV gen 2 and replaced that with a firestick 4g, the firestick plays baseball games, which was a plus for me.
the differences were the apple tv seemed to stream longer without rebooting, but the firestick was more responsive in remote actions and user friendlier is this make sense and helps.
 
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I have had fire tv, Apple TV’s and nvidia shields.

Fire stick by far are my least favorite. Just preference I wasn’t fond of the interface. It also didn’t stream as well as either shield or Apple TV

I have 2 shields and love them. I take one to work with me. It streams fantastic.

My home theater I went with Apple TV but could easily switch to nvidia and be happy. Both are awesome.

All are using my wireless service in my house which is a Orbi system. The fire stick is the only one that doesn’t work as good. The other two are far better than any smart tv when it comes to streaming.
 
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I have a fire stick which really works for me. I think i'm going to look into Apple TV.
 
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I've not used a Firestick, but between a Roku and an Apple TV, the ATV wins by far here. One major problem I had with the Roku was using their app to enter passwords, for example. I have very long and complicated passwords for my services so I prefer to copy/paste from 1Password on my iPhone using the Remote app. Roku's remote app would scramble the pasted password and never work right. Apple's gets it right every time. There were a couple other minor things I didn't care for, in comparison that escape me, but this was the big one.

In comparison also, I utterly LOATHE the remote that comes with the Apple TV. It's horrid. But what I DO LOVE is Logitech's Harmony remotes. I don't even use their expensive ones, I have a cheaper non-touchscreen one that IMO is one of the best, most natural remotes ever made and is very natural to hold and use. It's crazy programmable and with regards to the Apple TV, you can get even more creative with it. You can train the ATV to recognize the codes from any remote, so one thing you can do is program your Harmony remote to pretend it's some random DVD player; train the ATV on those codes; then use all the fast/skip/chapter forward/backward and other features in apps that support them. It's really fantastic and no smart TV or other streaming box that I know of is this robust in usability. I recently replaced an older TV set with a "smart" one in a spare room and tried to use the built-in apps, thinking I'd stop using the ATV. Drove. Me. Nuts.
 
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LIAB, there is an app on the iPhone for the ATV remote that is much better than the physical device, IMHO. Works well for me.
 
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LIAB, there is an app on the iPhone for the ATV remote that is much better than the physical device, IMHO. Works well for me.

Disagree completely. It's fine as far as touchscreen remotes go (I use it for typing in search terms, pasting passwords, and the like), but IMNSHO, nothing beats tactile buttons laid out in a remote that is sculpted to fit nicely in the palm of your hand with the most commonly used buttons in easy reach of your thumb. This same remote controls the volume of my AVR; controls every other device in my home theater system; and powers everything on/off that's in use if in use with one button press. It's literally not even a contest.
 
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Never tried to compare them. All said was there is an option that is, for me, better. Could there be a better remote with tactile feedback and better fit to the hand? Sure, but then it would be big and bulky and just another device to figure out where to hide. But hey, that's why they race horses, right?
 
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Never tried to compare them. All said was there is an option that is, for me, better. Could there be a better remote with tactile feedback and better fit to the hand? Sure, but then it would be big and bulky and just another device to figure out where to hide. But hey, that's why they race horses, right?

How do you know if it's better for you if you've never compared them then? Unless you were referring to the ATV's physical remote? In which case, my misunderstanding. But as for the Harmony, it's really not just another remote to hide. It replaces all of them. I have one remote sitting here in my living room. One. For the TV, AVR, DVR, and ATV. Oh, and the tower fan in the corner of the room. I could throw a DVD player and XBox in the mix, and guess what? Still have one remote.
 
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Ah, you misunderstood. I was saying that the application is better than the remote that comes with the Apple TV. Nothing else.

On another note, I had one of those all-in-one remotes once. Size of a shoebox with all the buttons. Not worth it, threw it out after about a month of messing with it. But hey, another horse race.
 
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Ah, you misunderstood. I was saying that the application is better than the remote that comes with the Apple TV. Nothing else.

Gotcha. That it most certainly is.

On another note, I had one of those all-in-one remotes once. Size of a shoebox with all the buttons. Not worth it, threw it out after about a month of messing with it. But hey, another horse race.

The Harmonys aren't so big in size due to their "activity-based" philosophy. The remotes I use, the Harmony 650 (picture below), is only slightly longer than a typical DVR remote and probably has fewer buttons. Once you get used to these, there's no going back. When I was dating my wife, one of the things that got her fascinated with me was my Harmony remote (an older model). She had a roommate over to my place and couldn't wait to show it off to her. "Look! He has just this one remote and it controls everything!" Meanwhile, at their place, they are juggling three remotes. They aren't terribly hard to set up, but it's not for people who are completely inept technically either. They have some other remotes that are touch-screen focused (and much more expensive) but I actually prefer this one in particular. It's just much more ergonomic.

Logitech-Harmony-650-Remote-1040872-1-9d693.jpg
 
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But what I DO LOVE is Logitech's Harmony remotes. I don't even use their expensive ones, I have a cheaper non-touchscreen one that IMO is one of the best, most natural remotes ever made and is very natural to hold and use.



+1!!! I couldn't agree more.

We are still using ours with a replacement Samsung Smart TV (The graphics display on the old one went kaput after a year and a half) and the new TV's remote doesn't even work completely with the new smart TV. Go figure...!!!

Unfortunately, we still need the two remotes to get the TV to completely work properly. At least until I can hopefully get the Logitech to do as it did with the old Samsung smart TV. And by the way, our Logitech Harmony remote is one of their first original 520 models. Nice and simple.


4142DCFA6GL._AC_SX425_.jpg

- Patrick
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+1!!! I couldn't agree more.

We are still using ours with a replacement Samsung Smart TV (The graphics display on the old one went kaput after a year and a half) and the new TV's remote doesn't even work completely with the new smart TV. Go figure...!!!

Unfortunately, we still need the two remotes to get the TV to completely work properly. At least until I can hopefully get the Logitech to do as it did with the old Samsung smart TV. And by the way, our Logitech Harmony remote is one of their first original 520 models. Nice and simple.

I do know some TVs that come with “Roku” remotes can‘t be fully operated with a Harmony because they use Bluetooth. That reminds me... activating Siri on the ATV is the one thing you can‘t do with a Harmony because the command is sent by BT. I would love to see a hybrid IR/BT remote that can be programmed to do it all, but I don’t know if that is practical for them to pursue or not. If that’s not your case, it may be something we can figure out if it’s a pure IR remote. Have you tried training the Harmony on the code from the original remote?
 
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Have you tried training the Harmony on the code from the original remote?


As I mentioned Life, I haven't really tried doing any special remote training yet, but the weird part is, the same Harmony could do everything we wanted to do on the previous Samsung Smart TV model.

It may take a while as I just bought and installed a more substantial and safer third-party center stand for the new Samsung Smart TV with my wife's help, as I fell the other night going to our ensuite LOO and bruised or cracked my ribs. So lifting any TV or reconnecting any cables in the back is definitely out of the question for a few days, if not longer. And no jokes please, it hurts to laugh. :D



- Patrick
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chscag

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Patrick:

Glad to hear you're okay. At our age, falls can be disastrous, so take care. We want you around here for the next 50 years or so. :)
 
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Patrick:

Glad to hear you're okay. At our age, falls can be disastrous, so take care. We want you around here for the next 50 years or so. :)


Thanks Charlie, and even a quick call with my doctor over the phone confirms that I'm doing all the correct things and everything seems to be okay, but another 50 years would be a bit optimistic I would think, even if my mother did live to be 103. It was probably due to stout Irish blood and stubbornness I believe.

An acquaintance of a friend of mine slipped and fell at the facility where they live not long ago, and as so typical, she broke her hip, ended up in a hospital, caught pneumonia and died. It seems to happen so often. So don't catch pneumonia!!!



- Patrick
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