Navinabob

Just to be clear. Amazon is more "Grandma Proof". Both NetFlix and hulu are super easy to manage. Amazon Prime shows are a bit tricky (they try and trick you into buying the episode and you have to hunt a bit to watch the free versions).

Pandora is pretty easy as well.

davidh777

You mean you'd rather have $99 than $15?

GatorDeb

I've never had an issue differentiating between free and paid and I've had it since Prime streaming started

RichC2

You're not a grandmother.

Trevor

As far as she knows!

hanshotfirst1138

Apparently a guy with whom I went to college knew someone to whom that actually happened. Years later he found out he'd had a kid with some woman he'd known. Actually kind of interesting to think about, sounded like an interesting premise for something if is had enough worthwhile life experience to write worth a damn. Pointless digression.

Anyway, I taught my dad to use Netflix, the interface is fairly simple.

Navinabob

Netflix and Hulu are easy. Some of the prime shows you need to select, and then it will say "$2 SD, $4 HD, other paying options", and from their you'll have to go into a subscreen and select "free on prime".

starman9000

Thanks guys. I went with the fire and will be hooking it up for her this weekend. (also be testing it to see if it's what I want to go with as well)

Why So Blu?

For those that have it how does this compare to Chromecast? Same shit, different drink type of scenario?

RichC2

It's nothing at all like Chromecast. It's more a limited Roku with some Miracast features and game support.

Why So Blu?

Now I gotta figure out what Roku and Miracast are. I' only familiar with Apple TV. I don't have cable or DVR or anything like that.

RichC2

Roku is like an open platform Apple TV -- anyone can create a channel for it, and supports other VoD services like Amazon and Vudu that aren't iTunes (and as you can imagine, it does not support iTunes).

Miracast is the open platform solution to AirPlay, it works well but has limited device support.

Roku doesn't support Miracast (not yet at least, and it probably won't until the Roku 4), but is still the best overall platform for Streaming --- The Roku 3 runs off HTML5, so you end up with the nice interface for Netflix and Hulu, and have some nice little features like Beam support for YouTube (like Chromecast) and Netflix. The Roku also has a great Search feature built in that searches numerous streaming applications (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, M Go, Red Box, etc; ) for whatever you type it - actors, directors, movie titles, etc; -- tells you if it's free or pay, and will take you straight to it.

The Amazon Fire TV is similar, but it's a semi-closed platform that runs off Android. As such it supports a limited number of Video applications (like Amazon Instant, Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc; ) and games (GTA III, etc; ) and has a good Voice Search feature. It's a very solid device but imo still has a few growing pangs to get through.

I thought the Fire TV worked as a Miracast Receiver, it doesn't so ignore all that Miracast business.

DaveNinja

Amazon Fire TV, in my opinion, is the best of the bunch since you can easily side load XBMC on it (which you cant do on Roku). Also, the Fire TV was recently rooted so soon the hardware will really shine.

Navinabob

My Chromecast was a bit buggy. Amazon doesn't randomly freeze or drop streaming like the Chromecast did.

Navinabob

So I was testing out the voice feature for odd or funny words to see what it pulls up.

The best so far: (A bit NSFW cuz of language)



And sorry for the pic size...

scorpion

Playcast

Hi , it's not a spam , we have a trial with amazon FireTv , we invite you to try it , it's totally free ,

you can Learn more and register on Playcast-media web site: Playcast-media.com

you can see it also in our Facebook page .

again it's not a spam .

Enjoy.

Navinabob

Yeah, but selling your wares is not really allowed here. I suggest talking with the management here about sponsoring this board section so you get a banner and such.

GatorDeb

Please link the Amazon page with the trial offer, that's more than welcome here!

Playcast

Hi ... unfortantly .. I couldent put the link becouase we new here ...

but ..

you can find us in XDA forum , in IGN , just write in google FireTV and Playcast.

anyway , if one of you can write the link it will be great

Thanks ,
Guy
Playcast-Media.

GatorDeb

No, Amazon. Not an Amazon link == spam. Amazon link == no spam. No matter what the person with the service says

TheBigDave

Amazon Fire TV is currently on sale for $84.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CX5P8FC/

DaveNinja

I still consider this the top box out of all the ones i've used. Throw XBMC (now called Kodi) on it, and it can play just about everything

RichC2

How is the USB support for reading video files?

dvd-4-life

What sports does Amazon Fire have compared to Roku?

Any free channels that are on Amazon Fire and not Roku?