[thepostman]

I haven't had any issues with espn on chromecast but I wish there was just a bit more to it. I don't know what I expected for the price.

[alabama24]

The ROKU 2 I have stinks so bad... Which was why I was always skeptical about the 3. I continue to see some bugginess in the fire stick, but it has much to recommend it. I hope Apple releases something new soon.

[lynchburgwildcats]

I haven't had any issues with espn on chromecast but I wish there was just a bit more to it. I don't know what I expected for the price.

In hindsight, I guess I was kinda expecting what the Fire Stick is, to a degree. But I also didn't expect how much I'd hate not having a real remote for the Chromecast. I've used my phone as a remote for the Roku 3 before, but it's just not the same thing since the phone has to act as the remote and as the "host" of whatever it is your streaming. I just didn't anticipate hating that because I never really had any frame of reference for something like that. That alone has proven to be enough reason to not use it. It just seems like a half baked device that Google rushed out there to have something out there.

About the only time I use it now is when I want to stream a game and then I cast the tab to my Chromecast if I don't feel like connecting my laptop via HDMI. I've gone months on end without using it at times. I really should just sell the stupid thing but with brand spanking new ones being on sale all the time it hardly even seems worth the effort.

I do must admit though that it was better using Netflix and YouTube on Chromecast than it was on my old Roku when it had the really old Netflix UI that was just awful and the Rolu box wasn't strong enough to handle the YouTube channel, but that was because my Roku player was ancient. The Roku 3 has a great UI for Netflix and works wonderfully with the YouTube channel

I suspect in the future when I need to get a new streaming box or stick I'll have a better idea of what I want now, but I'm hoping that is several years down the road since I just bought a Roku 3 a couple months ago. The Roku I did have lasted at least five years before it finally died, and I was already looking at getting something new as it was.

[lynchburgwildcats]

The ROKU 2 I have stinks so bad

What's wrong with it? I haven't had any problems with the Roku 3, but it is a more powerful device than the 2.

[alabama24]

The ROKU 2 I have stinks so bad

What's wrong with it? I haven't had any problems with the Roku 3, but it is a more powerful device than the 2.

The interface stinks. The device freezes. Takes forever to load.

[lynchburgwildcats]

The ROKU 2 I have stinks so bad

What's wrong with it? I haven't had any problems with the Roku 3, but it is a more powerful device than the 2.

The interface stinks. The device freezes. Takes forever to load.

Interface is personal preference, I'm not thrilled with it, but 99% of the time I am spending my time on one of the channels/apps so I can live with it. Freezing and forever to load, must be a Roku 2 issue. I haven't had that with the 3, maybe once, but that's about it.

[alabama24]

Do you know if the interface is the same?

[lynchburgwildcats]

Do you know if the interface is the same?

I would assume so. My old Roku that was at least 5 years old more or less had the same interface, the apps/channels may have a different interface though due to the 2 having less powerful hardware than the 3. But the Roku system interface where you see the list of all the channels/apps you have installed and what not should be exactly the same or pretty darn close to the same.

I know the Netflix interface on the 3 is supposed to be different than the 2 because of hardware. The Netflix UI on the 3 should easily be able to work on the 2 because it's powerful enough, it's not like the Netflix UI is overly flashy with a bunch of animations or anything. So I don't know if there is some sort of API limitation or something else unrelated to CPU/RAM performance, or maybe it's just Netflix and Roku teaming together to try to strongarm Netflix users into buying the 3. It didn't work for me if that was the case. Even though I bought the 3, I didn't find out until yesterday there was a difference in the Netflix UI between the 2 and 3.

Would I buy another Roku in the future? Yes. Would I automatically buy it over the Fire Stick/Box or the next release of the Nexus Player (since I've heard mixed reviews of the first gen device)? No, I would definitely give hard consideration to the competition now because especially Amazon is bringing it hard.

[lynchburgwildcats]

Anyone know where I can buy a Fire Stick online? Sold out on BestBuy.com and Amazon. Brother just mentioned he wanted one and Ihaven't gotten him anything for Christmas yet.

[alabama24]

Seeing how Amazon is the one who makes it and they are sold out, and one of the largest electronics retailers is sold out, you are probably SOL. Does Target or Walmart carry it?

[lynchburgwildcats]

Seeing how Amazon is the one who makes it and they are sold out, and one of the largest electronics retailers is sold out, you are probably SOL. Does Target or Walmart carry it?

I checked both, they don't sell it online. I know the Farmville Walmart doesn't have it either. I believe it was Staples that has it online, but sold out too. My bro will just have to do without I suppose. YOu would think Amazon would have forecasted better to meet demand.

[Yacht Rock]

Unfortunately it's not as simple as Amazon's forecasts. Amazon takes a loss on their device as its only designed to have a halo effect on the Amazon brand in general. Because these devices are sold at a loss, Amazon has to plan very carefully to only produce what they can afford, not what meets hypothetical demand.