There is no such thing as the perfect streaming device

My Tablo on Roku was horrible since 2.2.2 and got worse with 2.2.6. But, since 2.2.8 my LPWs have almost completely disappeared, and FF and RW times are now faster and consistent. I even upped the resolution and bitrate to the highest.

I think a few more features, and performance improvements would make it near perfect. Take the 4 second FF/RW waits down to instant, and allow fast pause and toggle between 2 live shows to watch 2 at once, and perhaps PIP, and put preview panes into live TV and I would be happy.

How bout something Rokulike but not TOO Rokulike?

My assumption is that with the steep price cuts on the Nexus, that itā€™s going to be replaced anyway. The Shield should have some shelf life - because theyā€™re marketing to gamers are are using the Tegra X1 - which will probably prolong the life of the platform. If the Shield creates a decent new revenue stream for nVidia, I assume theyā€™ll upgrade the device eventually, but I donā€™t see them just bowing out.

Besides, in two years, there may be a ā€˜winnerā€™ and weā€™ll all be using it. I bought a house full of XBox Oneā€™s based on MSā€™s promise that it would own the living room. While MS is slowly making things better, the XB1 sucks as a streaming device, IMHO, so I switched back to Rokuā€¦ bought a bunch of themā€¦ and some ATVā€™sā€¦ then the new versions of eachā€¦ and I still ended up with the Shield - and finally happy with the three that I have.

I think the battle is still on the content front - and thatā€™s going to take a while. I figure Apple would have it licked by now.

The only thing I miss is Fox regional sports programs. I canā€™t get the Dallas stars and it pisses me off.

There will not be a defacto winner in this game, just the major and minor players. If you have to pick a defacto standard it probably goes to Roku. I just read that Roku and Apple TV have 87% of the market between them. I believe this is true. They are the only two boxes I own and the Apple TV rarely sees use.

@rontbeamer Based on what I have read from a number of sources, that statistic isnā€™t even close to true.

Hereā€™s an article from a few days ago:

Summary: Google is in the lead with Chromecast at 35% and Android TV has 13% , followed by Apple at 20%, then Roku and FireTV at 16% each. Android TV is also the 2nd most popular smart TV OS sold so far behind Samsung (I suspect that market share will rise as 4k becomes cheaper and more partners of Google start putting Android TV on their smart TVs).

The streaming device market, in my opinion, will become relatively similar to the cell phone market. Google will convince most major OEMs to use Android TV as software to save money, apps will flood in, and all other players besides Apple and Google will be become small minorities. Google will have the largest market share, and Apple will keep most of the profits.

I also see Google keeping Chromecast around to combat the low end market, due to their recent stance that Android TV boxes shouldnā€™t cost less than $100 to ensure a premium experience.

Just harmless speculation on my part based on recent trends in the technology space :smile:

Also, @Adam I agree that the Xbox One is a disappointing streaming box. Even with the powerful hardware and tons of content, the UI/UX is terrible and its extremely slow.

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Most of the people I know either own a Roku or Apple TV. Next in line for people I know is FireTV (with frustration) and in a very very very distant last place, other Android (e.g. Nexus Player and friends). This number is sort of growing with Smart TVs, but even then I find most of my friends are sticking with the existing streamer choices.

My experience is that should be relatively close to market share in the broader sense. Iā€™m not saying the info you provided is bogus, Iā€™m just saying if it is true, I may just have to buy a lottery ticket, because Iā€™m going to win.

The difference between Chromecast and NP is $15. Thatā€™s a no brainer.

Or - Roku sucks for most people on Tablo.

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I donā€™t think thatā€™s a true statement at all. I imagine overall there are very few people with Roku that have the nightmares that some people seem to have with them. I own 3 x Roku 3 and one Roku XD and they all work really well with Tablo.

I better statement is we have a few very loud and vocal people on the forums that are having difficulties with their Rokus and Tablo. That statement I do agree with and I sympathize.

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I agree. When people look around today, itā€™s natural to say ā€œEveryone has Roku or Appleā€ - thereā€™s a reason for this. Roku was in first and the brand became synonymous with streaming. Hell, I know a guy that refers to his ATV as his ā€˜Rokuā€™. Then, of course Apple moved on in. Apple was already a strong media company. Android came in kind of quietlyā€¦ just like it did with phones, and the low end was more simply just a Chrome thingy. Itā€™s amazing to me that people donā€™t see Android for what it is - itā€™s the ā€˜everythingā€™ platform. Android just feels so non-threatening. I donā€™t think too many people associate it with Google in a true senseā€¦ in factā€¦ itā€™s just SO MUCH Google - yet still sort of subtle and non-threateningā€¦ Google silently stole market share just by being inexpensive and pretty good.

Meanwhileā€¦ Roku, still the platform of ā€œcanā€™t we all just get alongā€ laid an egg with Roku 4 - the world just hasnā€™t realized it yet - wait until those things overheat when thereā€™s 4k content to stream on themā€¦ wait until those fans send it into orbit from spinning so fastā€¦ and loud. Of course, thereā€™s the issue Tablo has with it - and difficulty of writing apps for it (channels).

If I had to guess, Roku is a bargain basement $39 brand in eighteen months. Apple and Google will be sitting on top of the world. Microsoft will have a share of the pie, but not a large one because of the price of the XB1 - theyā€™ve missed the boat on streaming - they made the mistake of trying to sell into the streaming market with a game system that had a price tag of $450 - in doing so, they alienated both the gamer, and the streamer - now theyā€™re trying to mend both fences. I donā€™t think they have a viable streaming solution without a new device running W10 at under $200 - if it matters, I expect theyā€™ll introduce something - but like the Zuneā€¦ and like the Lumia, theyā€™ll be too late to market and get panned, despite being better products than the competition.

Amazon will continue to be an ankle biter. Theyā€™re good at it.

Anyhoozle - yup, I think Apple and Google will just take the market and Roku will just be the cheap, irrelevant device that you put in the kidā€™s bedroom in 18-24 months. Iā€™m an Apple guy these days, but honestly after really disliking Android (and Google products in general), Iā€™m warming up. The Shield is a wonderful device.

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I think itā€™s probably worse than you might think. When Tablo was available at Walmart (I guess itā€™s not anymore), if you read the reviews from Joe publicā€¦ it was badā€¦ badā€¦ There seem to be a lot of variables, but I donā€™t think this is just a sub full of people having problems with Roku. Iā€™m a reasonably adept person at figuring out technical stuffā€¦ and ultimately, in my home, if I want to use the Roku and Tablo together, I have to settle for a 2003 quality picture - thatā€™s unacceptable. There is no such thing as a Television power user - if you canā€™t be a solid appliance, you canā€™t be a real player in that market. I donā€™t know if I blame Roku for sucking, or Tablo for telling me their product works with Roku - but all the variables I can controlā€¦ wellā€¦ Iā€™ve visited them countless times. Thereā€™s a lot to the Roku / Tablo problem - and itā€™s widespread.

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Canā€™t see the logic in your predictions Nostradamus. I paid $1800 for a 50" TV way back when. Now you can buy one for $500. Check back next Xmas.

Update with the Nvidia Shield.

I love it. The TabloTV app rocks on this thing. Recorded shows load super fast, there is zero wait time after pause, ff, rw.
The icons for shows while scrolling through the live TV grid appear instantaneously.
No more spinning circle other than the initial few seconds while loading a live broadcast, which of course is normal.

This is how I always envisioned my Tablo to work.

Could it be that Nuvyyo is just ahead of the curve and that device manufacturers need to catch up with them in terms of hardware support?

Iā€™ll test 10Mbs recording later today.

As a streaming device itā€™s fast and proficient. I love the remote with it as well, itā€™s slim and has the ability to control the volume.

Game streaming from my PC to the big screen is also nice, though Iā€™ll have to get used to a game controller. I havenā€™t used one since the Playstation 2 first appeared.

The interface is the only downfall for me. I prefer the large icons in the Roku and the ability to place apps in the order I want them to be in.

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I suppose you have a point with chromecast, but I think a lot of those things sell then they sit collecting dust. I know mine is a dust collector. I donā€™t want to go to a second device to watch television. Still the price point does attract users. I have to find the articles but I pulled my information from statistics compilers too. Actually two different articles. Keep in mind shipped units (sold units) is not units in use so data collectors use different metrics to determine who is on top.

I did a little more digging and can find data to support the top three all in the lead using recent data. One thing is for sure Roku is always number one or number two just depending on how you crunch the data. Here is one that puts Apple out front: http://www.macworld.com/article/3002674/home-players/report-apple-tv-ousts-amazon-and-roku-to-become-the-leading-set-top-box.html

But at any rate, any way you slice the pie Roku is not losing and in fact maintains a leadership role in streaming set top boxes.

It also helps Roku that it is in almost every major store. Non-tech savvy shoppers see it at Walmart, BJs, Costco, Best Buy, etc.

You can place the apps in your own order with the latest launcher update (1.1.4) available in the play store. Canā€™t make them bigger though. :grinning:

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@forthwest is right, just long-press the select button on the app you want to place manually, and then it will let you rearrange the in a static order.

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This is exactly where I was at with my Roku 3ā€™s, OK but still had some annoying LPWā€™s and the FF/RW delays. I purchased three Nexus Players, couldnā€™t be happier with their performance. Since the used Roku 3ā€™s arenā€™t worth much, I am going to keep them connected in case I want to watch some on Amazon.

Maybe someday the Roku 3ā€™s will work flawlessly for me (perhaps after a future FW update), but for now, I am thrilled with the Nexus Player.

BTW - Best Buy has the Nexus Player on sale for $50 right now. I picked up two this morning . . .

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+1

Not terrible with the Roku 3 but just annoying enough. I also picked up a Nexus this weekend and it is working great so far. Super snappy with no lag. I do wish it had better FF functionality. It allows for jumping in 10 second increments but the continuous hold FF is waaaay too fast. Iā€™d like different FF speeds. Iā€™m also seeing the washing out video glitch that was introduced with Marshmallow.