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New Roku 4 Device shipping October 21st! (1 Viewer)

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Patrick Donahue

I was definitely looking forward to the announcement of the Roku 4, but for me I don't see any reason to get it. The only upgrade is 4K (which I don't have). Any software upgrades will be available soon on older models.

Myself I'm pumped for the new Apple TV. The new search is robust (love how you can search sports scores, weather, stocks, etc) while watching programming) and the App Store should make it as usable as Roku has been. It just feels like with the new hardware and letting developers have at it that they are setting this up to be a real winner in the coming years. I plan on pre-ordering one here in a few weeks!
 

Robert Crawford

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Well, others are disappointed in the new Apple TV which I"m one of and are more pumped about the new Roku unit. I want to get rid of my Roku stick I have connected to my Oppo 103 which is their first streaming stick.
 

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Disappointed in the new Roku. Was hoping for more but it still appears to be the best box. Not sure why Apple chose to ignore 4K. Their box could be doable until I have a 4K tv but I have doubts on this new (open) app store. Let's see if Vudu, M-go cinemanow Flixster, or any of the itunes competing apps show up first...
 

Robert Crawford

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Disappointed in the new Roku. Was hoping for more but it still appears to be the best box. Not sure why Apple chose to ignore 4K. Their box could be doable until I have a 4K tv but I have doubts on this new (open) app store. Let's see if Vudu, M-go cinemanow Flixster, or any of the itunes competing apps show up first...
What did you want this new Roku unit to have that it doesn't?
 

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Robert Crawford said:
What did you want this new Roku unit to have that it doesn't?
I was hoping for 3D support so I don't have to switch to the playstation for that, and with 4K needing so much bandwidth, enough room to download a movie or 2 would be nice.
 
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Patrick Donahue

Robert Crawford said:
What did you want this new Roku unit to have that it doesn't?
For me I was more disappointed in the software not getting much of an update. I just find it to be clunky compared to others. And the search is very basic. The 4 is a fine device, and will be a nice upgrade for you. It's just for me I'm coming from the 2nd gen 3 so without me having 4K there really is no difference.

I'm also moderately hopeful about what we might get from the Apple App Store. I frequent some Apple forums and developers who have used it say the rules for what apps are allowed are the same as the store for iPad and iPhone, and there are no services those prohibit. Remember that on iPad you can download any service that competes with Apple, like Amazon Kindle, Vudu, Spotify, etc.

Crossing my fingers...
 
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Patrick Donahue

Over the past few days I've been taking a look at the Nvidia Shield, which runs Android TV. I had honestly not heard of this before but it looks like it beats both Apple TV and Roku. Aside from 4K it has great voice search, the ability to control volume with the remote, and something neither of the others have which is gigabit Ethernet, which is important to me because I have fairly fast feeds. Vudu is not currently on it but Google announced over the summer that it and other apps are on its way...
 

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The optical audio out for the new Roku is actually something that could be useful in my particular circumstance. My cable box has been acting up, and if I replace it the new device will probably be HDMI (my current one is component video and digital audio). I am out of HDMI inputs on the back of my receiver, so I could instead move the Roku to the second HDMI input on my TV and run the audio to an available optical input on the receiver. My current Roku is HDMI-only.
 

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I want two of these! :)


I have a question for my techie friends here... If I have a soundbar with optical in is it possible to run music through the Roku 4 via the optical cable into the soundbar without having my television on?? I want to have my new age music playing while I sleep and thought this may be an option as I dont like to keep my television on when Im catching zzzz's.

Sarah
 

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Towergrove said:
I want two of these! :)

I have a question for my techie friends here... If I have a soundbar with optical in is it possible to run music through the Roku 4 via the optical cable into the soundbar without having my television on?? I want to have my new age music playing while I sleep and thought this may be an option as I dont like to keep my television on when Im catching zzzz's.
Sarah
After you set up your music(cause you need to see what you are doing)...yes.
 

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The Roku 4 does look nice. I don't have a 4K TV, and I don't plan on getting one for a few years, as I just bought a new Vizio 50 inch LED TV. I like the voice search, and the upgraded chip. I bet it's fast. I'm surpised the Apple TV skimped on hardware. No optical out and no 4K will leave a lot of people wanting. However, If Vudu and Amazon Instant release apps for it, I might consider getting one. I'd also need Newsmax TV, The Blaze, SlingTV, and DisneyMoviesAnywhere. I don't think I will get all that for a while. I'd say it would take Vudu a year before they release an app, if they ever do. They still don't support the Fire TV.
 
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Patrick Donahue

Joshua Clinard said:
The Roku 4 does look nice. I don't have a 4K TV, and I don't plan on getting one for a few years, as I just bought a new Vizio 50 inch LED TV. I like the voice search, and the upgraded chip. I bet it's fast. I'm surpised the Apple TV skimped on hardware. No optical out and no 4K will leave a lot of people wanting. However, If Vudu and Amazon Instant release apps for it, I might consider getting one. I'd also need Newsmax TV, The Blaze, SlingTV, and DisneyMoviesAnywhere. I don't think I will get all that for a while. I'd say it would take Vudu a year before they release an app, if they ever do. They still don't support the Fire TV.
+1 on The Blaze ;)

Keep in mind that the things like voice search are available on the 3, so if you don't have a 4K set that would work fine for you.

Out of curiousity, if the Vudu app is released, why do you want the DMA app as well?

I'm crossing my fingers that some of these apps will come to it fast, and from what I understand it's not much work for developers to take the iOS app they've already made and turn it into a tvOS app, so hopefully that will happen...
 
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Patrick Donahue

Having played around with my Roku 4 for an hour or so I can give you my impressions:


1) If you have a working 3 and no 4K TV, there is zero reason to upgrade. You really can't tell a new machine is being used. I know it has faster internals, etc, but in real world use there isn't a difference that is noticeable. I personally use ethernet so I can't comment on wi-fi.


2) One minor difference - I didn't know that on the 3 the menus for EVERYTHING were always in 720p. Now they are in 1080p and they do look slightly crisper.


3) My favorite new feature (keeping in mind older Roku's will also get these features) - using the mobile app you can upload your own pics to be used as a screensaver. Having testing it, I plan on adding stills from maybe 100 of my favorite movies that it can slideshow through. Because I'm slightly nuts and have some free time this week, I'm going to pick stills that are in the highest resolution, will use my iPhone to make them 16:9, and will turn them all black and white... just because. It should look very nice in my HT when I'm done.


One question I'd love to see if others can answer for me when they get theirs (Crawdaddy I'm looking at you!) - before when I would watch something on Netflix, then switch to, say, SkyNews, the audio levels would be much higher, causing me to reach for the volume. Unless I'm imagining it, I find volume to be level across all apps, which is a godsend...


One last note - my wonderful cable company Charter came out this week with an app that lets you watch your cable through the Roku instead of using the cable box. I spent the day pulling out all cable boxes, all the wires, etc, and just using the 4 and, on smaller TV's, Roku sticks. Not only do I no longer have to switch remotes or inputs on my TV ever again, but because Charter charges $7/month per box, I just knocked $28/month off my cable bill. YES!


(in case anyone is interested in the 4 - all the Best Buy's in my area had them starting today - just check on their website)


post-383310-0-17011400-1445538122.jpeg
 

Joshua Clinard

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I want the DMA app because, then I can let my children browse and select just Disney movies without them having access to the entire collection. Of course, I don't have children yet, but will in the future. It would be nice if vudu allowed sorting by studio under my movies.
 

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Patrick Donahue said:
One last note - my wonderful cable company Charter came out this week with an app that lets you watch your cable through the Roku instead of using the cable box. I spent the day pulling out all cable boxes, all the wires, etc, and just using the 4 and, on smaller TV's, Roku sticks. Not only do I no longer have to switch remotes or inputs on my TV ever again, but because Charter charges $7/month per box, I just knocked $28/month off my cable bill. YES!

Now that is a terrific feature! I wish that Comcast offered a similar app.
 

Robert Crawford

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Well, I have my unit all setup and working, but I'll be spending my time in the near future watching a box set of Warner films. It is much bigger than the Roku 3.
 

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I am reading reports that people are having issues with the 5.1 sound. Is this correct. Also many are indicating that it has a built in fan and there is significant fan noise even when it is turned off. Is any of this true?
 
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Patrick Donahue

Towergrove said:
I am reading reports that people are having issues with the 5.1 sound. Is this correct. Also many are indicating that it has a built in fan and there is significant fan noise even when it is turned off. Is any of this true?
Mine has been working fine on both fronts. My receiver says I'm getting Dolby Digital Plus and it certainly sounds like it. I had also read about the fan issue so I went behind the TV where I keep mine and listened to it with no sound in the room but didn't hear a thing.

For those who do experience a problem though I've heard the process to return to Roku is a pain, so I would definitely buy from a local store to make a possible return easier...
 

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