Apple TV or Amazon Fire with our NAS?

Hi,

Just started using Channels. I'm really impressed :slight_smile: I have a history of Window's media center, Myth TV, and gave up as it was always a pain to maintain. This was a breeze to setup :slight_smile:

We currently have a Synology DS-415+, which has a quad core atom, and 2gb ram. I believe there is no transcoding capability. It is also used for a few security cameras.

I have tried this with a dual tuner connect to try this out and all appears fine , but I've ordered the new quattro version which hopefully arrives soon.

We currently have 4 TVs, which all have a mixture of devices:

  1. 42" 1080p plasma, which has an amazon fire, and a 4th gen apple TV, though eventually this will move to a 4k TV.
  2. 32" 1080p LCD, which has an amazon fire stick, 3rd gen apple tv
  3. 32" 1080p Samsung Smart LCD, which has a 2nd or 3rd gen apple tv
  4. 55" 4k Samsung Smart LCD.

I'm thinking about trying to simply the setup, and make it consistent, which would probably mean a move to Apple TV 4th gens or 4k (Well for TV 1 and 4), or adding some more firesticks.

Which is a better client for Channels? Firestick or Apple TV 4th Gen/4k?
Do they place different demands on the NAS?
Does the version of HDHomerun make any impact?
Am I likely to run into issues with my NAS?

Thanks

Karl

Channels for Apple TV is our oldest and most mature products, but they're pretty similar and both will work just fine in your setup.

No, no and no. It should work splendidly.

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I use an older fire TV on a 13 year old TV and it works great for about anything as long as it's not interlaced, sports get a lot of lines and is annoying, but that only is CBS in my area and I havn't noticed it on any of SD Premium TV. I also have an Apple TV 4k running on another new TV and both work very well. The Apple is smoother just with power and doesn't have any interlace issues. I also have a Shield TV as it was a first choice and it works well. I use a WD NAS and don't see any issues TV to TV on playback. I also have a quarto tuner as a reference and no issues anywhere.

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The newest 4K FireStick is the best FireOS device and doesn't have many of the problems in the older models. But FireOS is cluttered with Amazon ads so if you want a cleaner interface the Apple TV 4K is a better solution.

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I definitely agree that this is the case. FireTV devices are less than 1/4 the cost of comparable Apple devices. But, Apple devices tend to have better quality software, and greater selection. P,us, Apple devices aren't littered with advertising.

If the user experience is important to you, then the added cost of the Apple product may be worth it to you.

(As an aside, I recently installed AppStarter and LauncherHijack on a FireTV device, and it makes for a much better experience. Additionally, I replaced the FireTV's onscreen keyboard with the LeanKey keyboard, and using a FireTV device is no longer as offensive as it used to be.)

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The Apple TV experience may be better than the Fire TV experience. I cannot speak to that, as we have no ATV devices and I'm having second thoughts about acquiring any.

Some of the FTV devices do have one advantage, if you're inclined to go to the trouble: For the ones that have a USB port you can add a Flirc USB IR receiver and get some remote keys you wouldn't otherwise have. E.g.: With our remotes we have comm skip buttons (forward and back), a last channel button and direct channel number selection via the number pads from the guides. I don't know how many of those you can get with an IR remote on the ATV. I know you can't do the numbers.

Conversely: The Channels experience on the FTV has become somewhat annoying, what with regular micro-pauses and freezes. To the point where we're reverting to using the HDHR app for live TV, or going direct to the antenna where we can. Which brings us to...

With the FTV (and Android TV devices, such as the Nvidia Shield) you can use the SD HDHR apps if you want or need to. SD has no app for the ATV and have not established any timeline for creating one. (Not that their timelines are particularly meaningful, even if they had.)

In short: There are no really good choices, IMO. Just trade-offs.

If you want to give Apple TV a shot, remember that the USA Apple Store (both brick-and-mortar and apple.com) has a 14 day return policy. There's no restocking fee, and shipping is free both ways.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and feedback.

As I've got a mixture of the devices already, so I think I will sit down with my wife to check the WAF.

I'm leaning to the apple tv option, as I do think the interface is cleaner, but obviously it's not a cheap option. However I do think I can sell some of my old apple TV devices to offset.

We are in the UK, so I'm not sure what the returns policy is, but it's a good thing to check.

I need to check the EPG data tonight, as after the swap to the 4 channel tuner, it seems a little mixed up. I think I sorted out though :slight_smile: