So I actually have all three (AppleTV, Roku, and FireTV). The integration with Alexa and Echo is compelling for me but I haven't taken the jump for Echo yet. Here is what I think people should know and understand about them:Originally Posted by LA Ute
1. AppleTV has the best and most usable interface. With them opening up app development I expected it to explode like the iPhone did but that hasn't been the case. Services like Sling TV, Amazon Prime and others don't work on AppleTV (for the record I am unsure if Apple is preventing that, or if those providers are not developing for competitive reasons). If you work in a mac environment though it is very easy to stream your screen to the TV. In fact what I do is use the PAC 12 app on my phone and broadcast it to my TV through AppleTV, it is HD and works perfectly. However the closed/limited environment is its biggest and glaring weakness. If it can get open and the app development of Roku then it will be, in my opinion, the best player. The newest AppleTV is also integrated with Siri and can search across multiple apps.
2. Roku - Most apps out there. Good picture. Not the best interface. For a non-sleeper like me I like the remote with headphones so I can watch TV in the middle of the night without disturbing my wife. This has SlingTV, Amazon Prime, etc (I should mention they all support Netflix). It doesn't have any ability to play your apple movies if you've purchased through there. There are some apps for streaming your computer screen, I found them pretty lacking, but didn't do a super comprehensive search.
3. FireTV - Similar to Roku, good integration with Amazon Prime (no surprise). The Alexa/Echo integration is pretty compelling. Of the interfaces, I find FireTV to be the clunkiest. It also got slower the longer I had it. I've never looked for apps to stream your computer screen or phone screen to it, but I'm presuming there are some out there.
The big challenge I am facing now is whether to cut the cord with Netflix. We are Prime members because we do the vast majority of our shopping through Amazon, so we'll do that for the 'free' shipping (I put 'free' in quotation marks because you have to be careful because often they'll just cover the cost of shipping in the price of the item). The big advantage of Amazon Prime over Netflix is you can rent and buy movies through it. Netflix of course doesn't allow that (and I keep thinking they'll announce they are doing that soon). Much of the content on both services are the same but based on little else I feel that Netflix has better content.
I think I've mentioned here that we cut the cord going on almost 4 years now. SlingTv helps with sports. Mooching an Xfinity login helps on the other meaning I haven't missed a game I've wanted to watch yet. However, the sports issue is the biggest issue to cut the cord and the one thing that tempts me to sign back up with Cable or Sat each year around August.
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