Cheap Streaming options

[Arles]

There are a lot of deals on Black Friday for streaming devices and I'm looking for the best cheap one. I know the Roku 3 is rated the best, along with the Apple TV, but I don't want to pay $80-$100 for it. I was hoping one of the streaming sticks would work well enough. I have Prime, but mostly watch Netflix, HBO Go, Showtime, some Prime on Demand and a little Hulu. Which one of this options do you guys like the most?

[lighthousekeeper]

mmmm want fishsticks

[britrock88]

I can't tell you how much more FOFC prefers fish sticks to streaming sticks because DIVIDE BY ZERO

[stevew]

None of those work for everything I think. I'd go chromecast cause it got SHO finally. SHO is hardest to get.

[PilotMan]

I'd go Roku, but I'm biased. I don't have the stick but I've had 6 different Roku's since they first came out.

[FBPro]

My son's both have Chromecast and I think I'mm headed down that road as well.

[Desnudo]

I love my Apple TV although it's long overdue for an update. I've had it for nearly five years with no problems.

[Lonnie]

The Fire Stick will probably be hard to find, although Best Buy is reported to have some in stock. I ordered one on announcement day and my estimated ship date is 12/15....

I already have a Chromecast which I like and streams quite a bit as well as anything in a Google Chrome tab. I don't think you can go wrong with one of those.

I guess in a couple weeks I can give a good comparison between the two.

[Scoobz0202]

My local best buy had a centerpiece by the front door with Fire Sticks. A lot of them.

I posted in the Black Friday thread. I got a Fire Stick the other day from Best Buy because I saw they were $24.99. I also have a Chromecast. I have no experience with Roku.

The only thing I have done with the Fire Stick is stream Netflix. In that short amount of time I used it I found the UI to be perfectly acceptable. It came with a remote that was cheap, but worked well enough for its purpose. You can also download the Fire TV app so you can use your phone for a remote. Another plus for me is that I am an Amazon Prime member. Their streaming service recently got a lot of 3+ year old HBO shows. The Fire Stick obviously has Amazon Prime streaming so that is all added onto my Netflix subscription. It also reportedly will have HBO Go early next year. Finally, I like that I don't have to use my laptop or phone to push something to the screen (chromecast). Sometimes I just want to fire up the tv and get straight to streaming without having an additional middle man like you need with the Chromecast. That feature is nice if you want to stream a video real quick that you are viewing on your laptop, but I have never really found the need for that in my use case.

With the addition of Amazon Prime and the price of $24.99 currently at Best Buy, the Fire Stick is an easy choice for me over the Chromecast. This is mainly due to price as they are pretty much equal with the Fire Stick getting a slight edge due to Amazon Prime

Somebody else will need to answer any Roku stuff.

[Sweed]

I was just looking into Fire TV recently and didn't even know a Fire Stick was coming out. What do you get with TV that you don't get with the Stick? Is there any reason to get Amazon Fire TV anymore with the Fire Stick coming out?

[digamma]

Our Fire Stick showed up today. Strong streaming quality so far and the Prime Video options are pretty great.

[AnalBumCover]

Missing on the Fire Stick is HBO GO, but reportedly coming in 2015.

[edit] Though it looks like Scoobz already mentioned that up above. :P

[Arles]

Well, I'm part of a gift exchange with a $100 limit and I'm probably getting the Roku 3. So, guess I won't be "sticking it" after all

[Tasan]

I got my Fire Stick yesterday, and so far so good. Streams real nice and Netflix interface is almost identical to the web version (a plus for me).