So quiet back here....

[Sydman]

Well, since there is not much activity back here, thought I would post something.

I went ahead and pre-ordered two of these guys, $41 for two of them with free Prime shipping.

Fire TV Stick - Official Site - Shop Now

I have two of the Fire TVs and love them greatly. I rooted both of them and put XBMC on them, they are fantastic media devices.

There will be some performance loss with the stick I am sure, but I figured I can give one to my mom who just signed up for Amazon Prime, and then tinker with the other one.

 

[Ollie]

Do you have a smart TV?

 

[Sydman]

Yeah, Sony Bravia XBR 55 inch, from 2010 though.

 

[Ollie]

I was curious as to what one of these would offer that a smart TV doesn't have. I've wondered about Chromecast and Apple TV as well.

 

[Sydman]

I have 3 Chromecast devices as well, love those too! Smart TVs are okay, at least for me, the UI is terrible and slow. That could be because mine is 4+ years old now, but it was never a viable option for me.

I use Chromecast for watching YouTube videos and listening to Google Music and Pandora through the surround sound. I love the Fire TV because they can run XBMC, and run it very well. I have my FTP server hooked into XBMC with all my TV Show and Movie files on it. I don't have live TV, I just use this to watch what I want, commercial free.

The FireTV was a great way to watch Prime videos without having to use my PS4, which was my only device that supported it before. This way I get to save life on my PS4 along with all the other added benefits.

Apple TV will do more of the same as the Fire TV does, just at a greater cost with less performance. Not hating on Apple, they make good products, but they make you pay for that. I paid $84 for one Fire TV, and $64 for the other since Amazon had a coupon for Students Day.

Well worth either price, even at the full $99, they are cheaper, and better IMO, than the Apple TV.