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Roku 4
JDBaby
15-11-2015
Hi.

Has anyone heard if the Roku 4 will be for sale in the UK before Xmas?

If not, content wise, what would be the recommendation between Roku 3 or Apple TV (2015)?

If Roku 4 is not out before Xmas (it's a gift) I'm veering towards the 3 as I think it will have more/better content than Apple, however it seems to be a bit difficult looking up what is available on each to do a comparison.

The gaming side of which to go for is not important.

Any advice is appreciated.
ovbg
15-11-2015
Right now, the Roku 3 offers significantly more apps (or channels) as they say to the Apple TV4. As far as UK services go, you're looking at this:

BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, ITV Player, All 4, Demand 5, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now TV.

Missing are UKTV Play and TV Player.

The ATV4 is missing ALL of the major UK FTA catch-up services, but of course, this is mainly because it is so new (it took a while before all of them appeared on the Roku).

Right now, the ATV 4 has:

Now TV, Netflix, TV Player and that's it.

The iPlayer will arrive sometime in the next few months, but no one has any idea for the rest. The chances are that the ATV will eventually catch up to the Roku as Apple is such a desirable brand to be on (and all of them are already on iOS which makes it not too hard to port across). But when... who knows.

So right now the Roku is the better choice, but in the near future, the ATV4 may be.

If you use Smart DNS to change Netflix regions then that is a different story, as the ATV4 has the ability to add apps from multiple countries and with Smart DNS, unblock geo restrictions. This means you can get the wealth of Australian and American television as well, and this is pretty huge. Roku can't do this.
JDBaby
15-11-2015
Originally Posted by ovbg:
“Right now, the Roku 3 offers significantly more apps (or channels) as they say to the Apple TV4. As far as UK services go, you're looking at this:

BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, ITV Player, All 4, Demand 5, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now TV.

Missing are UKTV Play and TV Player.

The ATV4 is missing ALL of the major UK FTA catch-up services, but of course, this is mainly because it is so new (it took a while before all of them appeared on the Roku).

Right now, the ATV 4 has:

Now TV, Netflix, TV Player and that's it.

The iPlayer will arrive sometime in the next few months, but no one has any idea for the rest. The chances are that the ATV will eventually catch up to the Roku as Apple is such a desirable brand to be on (and all of them are already on iOS which makes it not too hard to port across). But when... who knows.

So right now the Roku is the better choice, but in the near future, the ATV4 may be.

If you use Smart DNS to change Netflix regions then that is a different story, as the ATV4 has the ability to add apps from multiple countries and with Smart DNS, unblock geo restrictions. This means you can get the wealth of Australian and American television as well, and this is pretty huge. Roku can't do this.”

Thanks for your reply. As you say ATV is still new so there is a great deal of channels/apps to be added in the future. However the lack of content that will be available at Xmas when I give this as a gift may make it a bit of a disappointment I think. Have you perchance heard any news re Roku 4 UK release date?
icebergx
17-11-2015
I'm going with the ATV, as I'm already invested in the Apple ecosystem and I like the way their products work.
If you're worried about the short term, it's worth bearing in mind that if you/the recipient of the present, has an iPhone iPad or iPod touch, they can easily download many (but not all) of those tv apps and simply airplay them... I'd settle for that in the short term, if possible.

Also, you can pick up an ATV for around £100 on Ebay, so it's pretty decent value for money.
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