Forum Discussion

LeonNYC's avatar
LeonNYC
Newbie
2 years ago

Roku vs Google TV vs Fire Stick for Tablo

Compared Roku vs Google TV vs Amazon Fire Stick for my Tablo device. I connected via ethernet to get best picture and limit wifi lags. Happy to say that the picture quality of the Roku is better than the others. It is crisp and the menu loads quickly as you scroll through the channel guide.

The Amazon menu/home page is annoying and full of ads and clutter. Also, it was proned to lags and freezing due to all of the content being pushed. 

The Google TV was adequate but picture quality was unacceptable - fuzzy in some occassions and generally dark. 

The Roku stands out except for one area - menu and navigation choices. Very dissaponted that the Roku menu lacks convenience offered by the other devices such a "return to live tv" button and the ability to see the channel listing and guide while in live TV. Feels like Roku just offered stripped down Tablo app. 

In th end its down to Google picture issues vs Roku's lack of navigation ease. If I can fix the picture issues,  it's Google all the way - unless Roku gets its act togeher and impoves the app.

TV & Player Features
  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    Community Streaming Expert
    2 years ago

    Roku has absolutely nothing to do with the Tablo app and the vast majority of apps that run on its platform just as Google has absolutely nothing to do with the app that runs on their devices.  As a developer, I know it's challenging to work around Roku limitations (like the sparse number of buttons on their remotes and their insistence of commandeering buttons so that they can't be used by developers for anything useful).  Roku also, from what I've observed over the years,  has little to no interest in anything that doesn't supply them with a revenue stream.  As Tablo is free, I doubt they care how well or poorly it works.

    Having used Tablo with a Roku I was actually impressed that they've done as well as they have.  Not to say that there aren't improvements that could and should be made.  I've been wondering about how well their app works on other platforms, so thanks for your comments.  Tablo has their own forum, so any comments about their Roku app should really be directed there.

    https://community.tablotv.com/