OK, so I am on the verge of getting a lifetime subscription to Plex. I have 4 TVs and 3 of them have Xbox 360’s connected (maybe an Xbox One will be added this Christmas). In the communities opinion, is the experience/ease of use (with weighting going towards ease of use), of Plex on Xbox 360/One, better, worse, or equal, to what I would see on a Roku (version 3 or higher)?
For ease of use Roku is by far #1. #s 2, 3, 4, etc are a long way back.
I have a large number of different clients but I use Rokus 95% of the time or maybe even more.
For me nothing even comes close.
Vote #2 on Roku. Roku 3 is bulletproof. I’d give the Roku 4 a complete pass and give the other ‘new’ units time to Age a bit. To be honest those new units have some pretty big shoes to fill if they’re ever going to replace the Roku 3 as the most reliable box in their line and quite possibly on the block.
The Plex app for Roku is far and away the better app as well.
I have a mix of clients.
The remote is a major part of the experience for me.
If you have xbox’s use them. I have the remote for my xbox one s.
ATV4 is the best for the NBA app and pretty good for plex.
I also like the Roku but put the xbox, shield and atv4 ahead as they all have volume control!
@JuiceWSA said:
Vote #2 on Roku. Roku 3 is bulletproof. I’d give the Roku 4 a complete pass and give the other ‘new’ units time to Age a bit. To be honest those new units have some pretty big shoes to fill if they’re ever going to replace the Roku 3 as the most reliable box in their line and quite possibly on the block.The Plex app for Roku is far and away the better app as well.
Roku 3 seems to be getting phased out for these newer units. Since I am not familiar with them, could you please elaborate?
Phased out? Hardly. Roku isn’t phasing out their only bulletproof box with boxes that only half work. If Roku has a plan to replace the Roku 3 as the most reliable streamer in their line with these ‘new and improved’ units - they’ve got a lot of work to do.
Roku Forums: https://forums.roku.com/viewforum.php?f=28
and
Plex/Roku Sub-Forum: https://forums.plex.tv/categories/roku-streaming-players
are replete with difficulties with virtually every single one of these new units. To purchase one of these units at this time would be a gamble. I would wait at least until the first page of either of the linked forums above didn’t have 10 active trouble threads. The Roku 4 was (still is) an unmitigated disaster. Roku, for all intents and purposes, simply gave up trying to fix it and developed an entire new line - most of which are experiencing the same problems, or similar problems, or completely new problems.
The lead developer in the Roku wing at Plex is actively chasing these show-stopping-bugs in an effort to keep Plex at least running on them. He is in close contact with Roku trying to work them out. I think there are at least a couple of ‘work arounds’ in progress right now. I would wait a while and see what happens.
The good news is that a Roku 3 remains bulletproof and part of the problem with the new units, IMO, is that Roku doesn’t want to upgrade the FW (Firmware) to fix the new units (one FW fits all apparently) in such a way that it torpedoes their ONLY reliable box (Roku 3) and sinks it with all hands aboard. That would effectively sink Roku. Right now the Roku 3 is the only thing they’ve got going for them.
Buy a Roku 3 from Amazon - you can even get a ‘refurb’. They are so darn reliable you can buy one somebody else didn’t want and feel A LOT better about it than rolling the bones on one of these new units.
Give Roku some time to see if they can dig these things out of the mud. Right now they’re in over the axles.
Other reliable Roku boxes are the ‘NEWer’ Rokus 1 and 2 - and that is because they basically have the same guts as the Roku 3. That part, at least, is no mystery. There are some different versions of the 3 out there - the only real differences are the remotes and our own @Elijah_Baley took an xacto-knife to at least one of the ‘more stupid’ remotes to make it ‘less stupid’. Just try to buy one with the ‘least stupid’ remote. I have a 4200X and it’s has a ‘slightly stupid’ remote, but I can deal with it. A LOT of people will put up with a stupid remote so long as the thing it’s controlling is a Roku 3.
It really depends on what you want out of your Plex clients; I’m basically using 4 different clients at the moment, on 7 different TVs in my house.
For most movie viewing, the NVIDIA Shield is just hands down the best. It’s not the cheapest, but it plays my Blu-Ray rips in 24p and with lossless passthrough audio which is something the main clients don’t.
The second that I use is the Kodi plugin on a Raspberry Pi 3, which lets me play 3D Blu-Ray rips, but no lossless passthrough audio (it’s lossless PCM but you lose Atmos and DTS:X).
Third is an Intel NUC running either the Kodi plugin or Plex Media Player depending on what I’m testing out. It also plays 24p Blu-Ray rips with lossless passthrough audio, so it’s just like the Shield except the Shield has the added benefit of Netflix/Hulu/Crunchyroll/etc.
Lastly but most used is the Apple TV 4. I would recommend this over a Roku, and switched out my Roku’s for Apple TV’s with the new version. It’s just really nice, and like the Shield has other apps like Netflix/Hulu/Crunchyroll/DirecTV Now. I usually use MrMC as my Plex client though, which allows me to play my Blu-Ray rips without transcoding but no lossless passthrough audio (though like the Raspberry Pi it does lossless PCM so you only lose out on Atmos/DTS:X).
@JuiceWSA said:
The good news is that a Roku 3 remains bulletproof and part of the problem with the new units, IMO, is that Roku doesn’t want to upgrade the FW (Firmware) to fix the new units (one FW fits all apparently) in such a way that it torpedoes their ONLY reliable box (Roku 3) and sinks it with all hands aboard. That would effectively sink Roku. Right now the Roku 3 is the only thing they’ve got going for them.
I have a Roku 3 & one of the new models a Roku Ultra. They are running different firmware. The 3 runs 7.5 & the Ultra 7.2. I got the Ultra on a whim apart from being just a tad faster than the 3 it has no advantage for me as I don’t have a 4K TV. In fact there is a disadvantage as the Ultra is currently a US only model & BBC iPlayer doesn’t work on it.
The Roku 3 is great as a Plex client & for Netflix & Amazone Prime Video. I like the remote & the simplicity of the interface.
@timstephens24 said:> Lastly but most used is the Apple TV 4. I would recommend this over a Roku, and switched out my Roku’s for Apple TV’s with the new version. It’s just really nice, and like the Shield has other apps like Netflix/Hulu/Crunchyroll/DirecTV Now. I usually use MrMC as my Plex client though, which allows me to play my Blu-Ray rips without transcoding but no lossless passthrough audio (though like the Raspberry Pi it does lossless PCM so you only lose out on Atmos/DTS:X).
One disadvantage to the Apple TV is that you cannot view Amazon Prime Video another is that it is double the price of a Roku3. Otherwise it has a nice interface.
@nigelpb said:
@JuiceWSA said:
The good news is that a Roku 3 remains bulletproof and part of the problem with the new units, IMO, is that Roku doesn’t want to upgrade the FW (Firmware) to fix the new units (one FW fits all apparently) in such a way that it torpedoes their ONLY reliable box (Roku 3) and sinks it with all hands aboard. That would effectively sink Roku. Right now the Roku 3 is the only thing they’ve got going for them.
I have a Roku 3 & one of the new models a Roku Ultra. They are running different firmware. The 3 runs 7.5 & the Ultra 7.2. I got the Ultra on a whim apart from being just a tad faster than the 3 it has no advantage for me as I don’t have a 4K TV. In fact there is a disadvantage as the Ultra is currently a US only model & BBC iPlayer doesn’t work on it.
The Roku 3 is great as a Plex client & for Netflix & Amazone Prime Video. I like the remote & the simplicity of the interface.
Well… that’s good news actually. I think Roku ‘Might’ know which side of the bread currently has the butter on it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if at some point they make an epic blunder dropping the bread - where it will certainly land butter side down.
