Discussions

[atc98092]

@pdmcmanus30 and I've never had a Roku player damage any TV. I have them on Samsung, LG, Vizio, and previously on a Panasonic TV. Never had an issue with any of them. While I might be only a single data point, the same applies to you. Perhaps the Roku did cause the TV issue you had, I can't say without seeing the set in question. But your single issue doesn't make the entire brand garbage. Same goes for the remotes. I've had no remote issues with more than a dozen Roku devices over the years. 

[Dalfrey]

I'll expand on this....I had a 2 year old Hisense Roku that went black a little over a year ago. Bought a TCL to replace it. Yesterday morning it goes black. I research and find the "fix" for it...doesn't work. Ok...I'll buy a new one tomorrow since a lot of people complain about TCL. Wake up this morning and now my Westinghouse in the bedroom is doing the same thing! You are bot going to tell me that it is the TV brand when three different brand TVs go out....and the only thing in common is Roku! 

[atc98092]

@Dalfrey The operating system simply can't cause the problems you are describing. There's no way the Roku OS can cause the backlight to fail. Hisense and Westinghouse are both extremely inexpensive brands, so a failure with either of them doesn't really surprise me. I had a brand new Insignia Roku TV (Best Buy house brand) that had a failure (couldn't complete the setup), but I took it back and replaced it and that replacement is still working almost 10 years later. TCL brand reliability has been a mixed bag over the years, but still not a brand I'd probably buy. In addition to my Insignia Roku TV, I have a Sharp Roku TV that I bought back in Oct 2016, and it's still in use today by my daughter. 

[Dalfrey]

I'm reading your comments and every single one of them are "Rokus the best!"....I own 8 of them at my house, 2 on my boat and 3 at my office. Have bragged about how easy Roku is.. you are still not going to convince me that Roku doesn't have a software issue messing up TVs, when it is evident across multiple lines of TV brands. I'm pretty sure you're sitting around with a "Welcome to Roku, My name is..." badge on. He'll, you might be the one of the two "customer service " (and I use that term very lightly!) That the only diagnostics they could do is "this is how you reset your TV...oh, then it's not my problem"..."you've been disconnected" and judging by this, and many threads, Roku definitely has an issue

[atc98092]

I have never said Roku is the "best". They manufacture very good streaming players, and they provide the operating system to more than a dozen TV manufacturers. But there are still better streaming players, depending on what you want them to do. While I have close to a dozen Roku devices, I still use an Nvidia Shield on two of my TVs for playing media from my server, because Roku doesn't play lossless audio nor does it resolution match the content. My five+ year old Shields do both of those far better. But for Internet streaming it is tough to beat a Roku player for value and usability. 

I try to assist users with basic issues, and in some cases I tell them something other than a Roku might work better for them. I don't particularly care for Roku TVs because I want a remote with direct access buttons (numeric buttons) for the times we do watch OTA TV. But as Smart TVs go I will take a Roku TV over a Fire TV any day of the week. I can't stand the Fire TV interface, as it's nothing but a huge ad for Amazon.

[Strega2]

@Dalfrey 

Consider that there are more than 80 million active Roku accounts.  The thread starts with someone complaining about Roku TVs going black.  Then it is joined by someone with a Roku player (not a TV) saying the remote is the problem. And then you came along, saying “I'll expand on this”.  I’m not sure if you’re the OP or someone who has just making very similar posts (ie: 3 cheap TVs that happen to have ROKU OS’s failing.)

In any case, out of 80+ million subs, I see 2 or 3 people complaining about some situations which aren’t all the same.  So, this thread in total amounts to much less than “one in a million” experiences.

I visit the forums for many of the products and services I buy.  I often find myself wondering if I’m the unluckiest person in the world because I keep buying the so-called worst product on earth, or I’m the luckiest person because I keep buying the so-called worst products and services and yet somehow rarely have problems with them no matter how awful they are.

So I look at this forum and think: yep Roku does have some issues.  But then, they have over 80 million subs and they have products that have tens of thousands of reviews and have a 4.7 out of 5 stars rating on Amazon, so I figure they must be working out for most people.