Roku TV

InsideTheParker

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Papelbon's Poutine

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Maybe only my own personal opinion, but don’t buy any tv based on their smart features. They all suck in their own way. Buy one with a usb or hdmi input and get a stick.
 

findguapo

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I have it and love it. I would not buy anything else. If you are used to a roku box, it is basically that, but simpler. If you have cable or antenna tv, you can basically add it as sort of a roku channel so you can select it when the TV loads.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
Maybe only my own personal opinion, but don’t buy any tv based on their smart features. They all suck in their own way. Buy one with a usb or hdmi input and get a stick.
While I'd generally agree with that, I've read that the Roku TVs seem to be better optimized than other proprietary smart TVs.

Do you need Roku specifically? Fire TV Sticks have been on sale for $20 the past few months. Or is it the convenience of just a single remote for both TV and Roku?

And are you trying to meet a price point, as 28" is kinda small for a TV in this day and age. I mean, we've got a 32" on top of the microwave, and we've got a rather small kitchen.

EDIT: I guess I should also ask if there are any channels/apps you specifically plan to have on the Roku? Because IIRC there are a few ahem "channels" that you cant load onto a Roku due to the OS.
 
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McDrew

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I had a chromecast and upgraded to the Roku Stick (the 1080p wireless). I have also had Roku-enabled TV's in a couple AirBnB's I went to. In each case, the interface was good, and accessing the content I need is/was easy. I currently use mine for Hulu/Netflix/Youtube and it works great.
 

InsideTheParker

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Size: My chair at the kitchen table is so close that I think it would be weird to have a larger tv.
Experience: The TV that died was a Samsung Smart TV. It wasn't at all bad, and we used it for Netflix and MLB with few problems. I have an old Roku in the bedroom that I use for MLB. It's always been a bit slow with occasional stuttering, but it's very old and not near the modem. I am a bit concerned that it was worse last night after the Verizon guy moved the modem from my desk to the kitchen. We have two chromecasts. The old one was fine until I took it up to the Adirondacks, where it was great. When we got back home it couldn't work with our current router. The Google tech was WONDERFUL, but ultimately, we decided I needed a new one. I am annoyed that I can't watch the TCM app without problems almost anywhere, when it seems as tho I used to. That's apparently a common complaint.
Concern: I love to watch PBS over the air, from our antennas in the outbuilding attic. The picture is stunningly clear on all our Samsungs (although all the cables and/or the antennas must have been fried, because we are getting nothing since the lightning strike). Some of the Amazon comments indicated the quality of over-the air HD was not so great on the Roku TV. I could get another Samsung, but there were occasions I found it wanting. Perhaps I wanted too much.
 

Zedia

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I like my TCL fine. I don’t use Direct TV, but Hulu, Amazon, MLB, etc., are fine. Not particularly stunning, but fine.

The issue of over-the-air HD quality is interesting. I haven’t noticed it, but I basically only use it for football and the occasional Seinfeld rerun (okay, Hogan’s Heroes too). I still have my old Samsung plasma in the guest room, I’ll try to compare the PBS station tonite.
 

luckysox

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I have 3 Roku TVs - so, yes, Like them. Easy, good picture, easy, and very easy. We have 3 different sizes, and all work great and have good pictures. And the price is right. I have not, however, used them for over the air content.
 

Marceline

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My basement TV is a TCL Roku TV and it works great. It's the exact same thing as if you bought a Roku and plugged it into another TV. The picture quality is great too and all the apps work just fine. I would recommend it.

It's handy being able to use my phone as the remote with the Roku app too.
 

InsideTheParker

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The Directv guy left. For no charge (?!?) we got a new dish, my husband got a new receiver, and the guy gave us a number to call to lower our bill significantly. (We'll see if there's a catch there.)

The guy sees a lot of TVs, and he loves the Roku. Recommends it highly. So, that, together with the comments above, have decided me. Ordering one.

Thanks to all who posted.
 

dirtynine

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Have one, love it. The antenna is treated like a visual source with its own big box on the home screen grid (like Netflix, Hulu etc) which is exactly as the cord cutter wants it. An onscreen channel guide loads, you can pause live TV (just add USB storage) etc. Good picture from what I can tell.
 

locknload

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The Directv guy left. For no charge (?!?) we got a new dish, my husband got a new receiver, and the guy gave us a number to call to lower our bill significantly. (We'll see if there's a catch there.)

The guy sees a lot of TVs, and he loves the Roku. Recommends it highly. So, that, together with the comments above, have decided me. Ordering one.

Thanks to all who posted.

My experience on DirectTV. Set a calendar reminder when your promo rate is up. Call up on that day, ask for retention, tell them your local cable company is offering them a comparable package for cheaper, plus gift cards/free tablets etc. I would stick around if they can just keep my bill the same. It has worked consistently getting my $40 a month promotional credit extended for going on 5 years plus. Every once and awhile they give us free HBO for 3 months as part of it.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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Maybe only my own personal opinion, but don’t buy any tv based on their smart features. They all suck in their own way. Buy one with a usb or hdmi input and get a stick.
It's been mentioned a few times and while I fully agree with just about any other smart TVs on the market the Roku enabled ones are inherently unique. Roku's job is as a content provider, they're actually becoming more content focused and less hardware focused, so they have a very vested interest in making sure that their OS and all their apps are up to date.

We have two of the TCLs and absolutely love them both.
 

InsideTheParker

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Unfortunately, I hate the RokuTV so far and will probably return it. We only want it to watch Pandora and mlb.tv. The kitchen TV is now immediately next to the router, and I was so surprised when the mlb.tv requires constant buffering. It's unwatchable. Last night, when we brought up a game on the RokuTV, regardless of which game it was, we were first shown the same ad over and over of a guy in his underwear with 3 dogs. And constant buffering. We never had ads with our chromecast or the old smart TV, so we reckon this is a Roku innovation. And the picture is not sharp. I have been fooling with all the settings, but it still doesn't compare with the old Samsung. I'm glad this TV works for others and wish it did for us, but I'm not optimistic.
We have been looking furiously for a small smart Samsung this morning. Every time we find it, it turns out to be used or otherwise unavailable. No problem if you want the 32", but that's too big for the space. The Pandora interface is wonderful on the Roku, by the way, and the ads rarely occur, so far.
 
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Zedia

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Wow, that’s a drag. What’s your internet speed? I get 25mbps (actually slower with all the devices we have) and don’t have those issues.

The ads don’t seem right, either. There’s a Limit Ad Tracking setting that might be causing that - Settings>Privacy>Advertising>Limit Ad Tracking.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
Unfortunately, I hate the RokuTV so far and will probably return it.
Got an email yesterday or today that Amazon Fire devices are on sale. In case you want to consider that road.

FWIW, I've got a years-old roku box on our kitchen TV nowhere near the router, and our MLB.tv is crystal clear. Almost every game, I comment to my wife how it's cleaner than a cable feed. So I'm wondering if there's some other issue in your case.
 

InsideTheParker

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OK, here's something weird. When I tried it this morning on games from yesterday it sucked, despite they're being fine on the chromecast and on the roku upstairs. But then I went to the live Yankees game, Toronto feed, and it was quite acceptable. There were commercials, but there was none of the buffering I had earlier. Who knows? Now, we are trying to program the universal remote (Directv) and both of us has tried the given code with no success. If we could get the mute to work on those remotes, it would be welcome, since I find the tiny button on the side of the roku remote a PITA.

As for the commercials, thanks, @Zedia, I unclicked ad tracking. But that seems to have to do with matching the ads to the person, rather than eliminating them altogether.
 
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InsideTheParker

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Update.
I just watched over an hour of Astros/As, with no buffering on the RokuTV. Yay! Lots of commercials, tho.
I moved to the LR b/c it's more comfortable, and am continuing to watch the game via Chromecast/AtBat on a Samsung. No commercials whatsoever. Is Roku selling commercial space on mlb.tv?
If we could figure out how to mute w/o depending on the one tiny roku remote (we like to keep one at the table and one near the stove), we could tolerate the commercials better. We have tried every code we found online, but our DTV has not heard of TCL or Roku, so it's a pain. Which wouldn't matter if it worked.
 

Marceline

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Not sure if this would be better for you but there are Roku apps for android and iPhone that allow you to use your phone as the remote.
 

InsideTheParker

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Not sure if this would be better for you but there are Roku apps for android and iPhone that allow you to use your phone as the remote.
Thanks, but that's not really any more convenient, as half the time my phone's in my purse.
In case anyone ever reads this thread in the near or distant future, we have now succeeded in getting all of the functions on our universal remotes, including on and off, except the most prized, mute and volume. We may be able to get those eventually, who knows? My husband read online that roku had kind of messed up its remote codes during one of its recent updates. Maybe they'll fix it? Anyway, thanks for all the advice, as I've decided to keep the TV. I just activated the roku with PBS. And although for the first few minutes it had a buffering problem, it seemed to have "learned" the path and now it's fine.It's nice to be able to watch Frontline on demand.
I may see if I can get mute/volume via the cell-phone, as an occasional option. Or find out how much they charge for a second remote.
 

drbretto

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I feel like not caring about smart features is the old way, but newer TVs are breaking that mold. Roku and WebOS (LG TVs, but not sure who else) are both fantastic and I think they're sticking around. They finally got it right.
 

InsideTheParker

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We have now set up our over-the-air antennas (husband figured out it wasn't the antennas or the cables but the amplifier that was fried, ordered a replacement and voila!) and they seem to stimulate the Roku to do something no other choice does: offer a sort of DVR. We can choose to set up a thing called LiveTVPause, which can pause the program for up to 90 minutes, but it is only offered on the ota antennas. Now, perhaps if we were paying for some of the other options, it might also be offered. However, we do pay for mlb.tv, and it isn't coming up there.
So, do any of you guys use this option, which seems really yummy, assuming it works?
 

dirtynine

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I use it for OTA. I plugged a 64GB stick into the USB port and the TV formatted it and can use that space for a buffer. But it’s just for OTA channels as I understand it. Other apps handle pausing and scrubbing etc. individually depending on how they’re serving content.
 

InsideTheParker

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I use it for OTA. I plugged a 64GB stick into the USB port and the TV formatted it and can use that space for a buffer. But it’s just for OTA channels as I understand it. Other apps handle pausing and scrubbing etc. individually depending on how they’re serving content.
Thanks. I set this up today. It seems that you can't turn off the TV or change inputs without losing it. I wonder about having that fixed image on the set for so long. (I know there used to be a concern about "burning in an image" that way.) But perhaps if one has it on longer it puts up some sort of moving screen saver? Have you had any experience with that? Also, when I put in the memory stick, Roku threw up all sorts of other options for using it. Do you have any experience with those? (I just got out, because apparently if you use Live Pause, that is all you can do with that particular stick.)
 

dirtynine

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I think the USB input can be used to show media, like if you have a folder of JPGs on the stick the TV will offer to find them and put on a slide show. But if you're using the stick for buffer space, that option isn't available. That was fine for me because I have other way to get stuff to display on the TV if I need to. And yes, the buffer is a) only if you keep it on the current channel and keep the selection on antenna. It just offers pause / rewind functionality, not a full DVR feature set.
 

Zedia

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So streaming via wireless with my TCL Roku TV suddenly started sucking a couple days ago. The error code tells me it’s my internet download speed and to contact my ISP. But Speedtest shows my speed is fine, the Roku connected to Ethernet is fine, and my other two Roku boxes connected wirelessly are fine. So I assume it’s something with the WiFi software in the TV? Maybe a recent update screwed it up?

I plugged one of my other Roku boxes in for a temp fix, I’m going to call TCL tomorrow. I’ve only had it since June, they should cover any fixes (or give me a new one if they can’t).
 

dirtynine

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Please report back what you hear. Streaming has been ok for me, but the TV has started to lag on connecting to wifi when first waking up... leading to 20-30 seconds where nothing is connected. Not a huge deal but annoying and possibly related. I hope TCL is still paying out firmware updates...
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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A friend had this issue with his Roku tv. It kept losing connection but all the diagnostics said everything was fine. He rebooted everything and it corrected. FWIW.
 

Zedia

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Please report back what you hear. Streaming has been ok for me, but the TV has started to lag on connecting to wifi when first waking up... leading to 20-30 seconds where nothing is connected. Not a huge deal but annoying and possibly related. I hope TCL is still paying out firmware updates...
On Monday I spent about 15 minutes with a guy in a foreign call center before he told me I had to be at home to troubleshoot (which I should have known). But I will follow up.

I’ve rebooted the tv and the router. I didn’t reboot the gateway because that would mean having to reconfigure our old ip cameras which is a pain in the ass.