I'll check into it!

for years. I get everything. I'm not changing until I am forced to.

basically, I did that because they were the least expensive option for older TV's that do not have the aps available on the home screens.
I have a 55 in Samsung in the office that I have Roku to extend the life of the TV and in the guest bedroom an old Vizio 32" that was pre-smart tv era.

I don't think I paid more than $30 for any of the devices. I have it on a couple of other smart TV's because I can set it up to get some APs that were not available on the smart TV such as smaller streaming services. One for watching some college sports that was not available was the driver. and I can get some local channels for areas were I do not live. I live in South Carolina but like to catch up on what is happening in Kansas City.

Just so you know, the oldness of the TV becomes irrelevant in almost all streamer scenarios (as long as the TV is 1080p or above, and has HDMI inputs, any streamer will work). As someone mentioned above, the Shield is one of the 'best' (I have one) but it's also overkill for most people. It's the best one if you have a full blown Atmos home theater system, and/or a large collection of blu-ray rips on a hard disk and want to use it's built-in Plex server functionality to watch them, for example. An Apple TV is also a top of the line streamer, more user friendly than a Shield, and its stronger than the Shield (feature-wise) for the average user, but it's also pretty pricey.

If by 'best' you mean one that plays Netflix for as little money as possible, that's a whole different question. Not sure why you think no Chromecast model works for NF? This one definitely does https://www.amazon.com/Google-Nest-GA01919-GA01919-US-Chromecast/dp/B08KRV7S22. There's also various Amazon Firestick options. If it were me I'd probably look for a used Apple TV on craigslist or the like, but not sure if that's the right choice for you.

Yeah in my initial googling around Chromecast for Netflix I got the idea that the "Chromecast" model line is discontinued by Google and that none of the models work with the ad-supported Netflix (which is what I have).

Looking at it again, I see they have models with "Google TV" that supposedly work with the ad-supported Netflix. But then this page says:

Sorry, Netflix, not doing that. Just want to be able to use the "free" year I got on something other than a smartphone screen, and not the computer screen that I work at all day.

(your link doesn't open for me by the way, but no matter.)


The info on Plex is interesting. Not in the mode now to set up a server but if I were, that would surely be an advantage. Roku will supposedly work with Plex content.

It's just saying you can't get ad-supported NF on your phone, which isn't what you want anyway Pretty dang sure any streamer will support ad-free NF. And while yes, Roku and most other streamers will support playing Plex content (i.e. they have Plex clients available), that still requires a Plex server running on a PC (or a Linux box), with adequate storage available. Heck, most newer smart TV's you can install a Plex client. The Shield is different tho in that it can be your Plex server just by plugging in a hard drive via USB ... and of course has a Plex client. The Shield hardware also has advanced codec sound support for movies played through it's Plex client that other devices don't have, esp. not a Plex client on a Smart TV (but not even an Apple TV box can quite match it).

The oldest of the two Roku stick devices (probably 6-7 yo by now) has had an issue with overheating so I put a very small fan at the back of the tv and no problems since.

Beyond that, I'm not sure I can help. I have been happy with ROKU.

the text on the Roku screen is so tiny that it's unreadable at anything more than a foot or two away. I still don't have a Roku account or any subscriptions. Thinking of Sling Blue, unless they require autopay (they probably do).

It required a three-channel AV to HDMI converter (not a passive adapter, a digital converter. The latter requires a USB power source; the former needs no power).

So I guess Roku wins in the backwards-compatible technology category. Can't say much for their contract w/customers -- in my experience, it's non-existent.

.. for Netflix and it works fine. I wonder if because it's free that it has bugs. I'm no expert.

It is the ad-supported accounts that don't work with Chromecast.

Previously I had the regular account, before they started with ads. I used it with Chromecast but really didn't care for using the app on my phone vs a normal tv remote. I had dropped that plan awhile ago. I just got a "free" year of the ad-supported version with my internet upgrade (at which time I also dumped regular cable). I've been watching stuff on Prime and just now got around to buying something to make Netflix work. I figured with Roku I get a bunch of other streaming stuff that no lo longer works on my old, senile TV. (like YouTube and Pandora and Plex, allegedly). So once my NF "free" period is up, I probably won't want to renew, because there is so much content out there, and I am easily amused.


(I keep putting "free" in quotes because how is it free if I can only use it by buying something else?)

I wanted to watch the last season of Outlander. It would only cast every other episode. It was a 1 month free thing. I called and the said they are having trouble with connecting to Chromecast but will have it fixed by summer. So I dropped it.

Last edited Tue Jan 14, 2025, 06:27 PM - Edit history (1)

If you buy an Android TV/Google streaming device (which may have Chromecast in the name), that means it supports Chromecasting. I.E. you can cast to/from that device to/from other devices in your home (but not free Netflix). However, when you plug such a device into your TV via HDMI, it is not using Chromecast in any way. It's a direct connection. So something not working with Chromecast is quite different from not working with a Google TV streaming device.

I think I got the second best model. It's been a bargain!

I have a dumb TV.

I have heard some of the apps stop working on smart TV's after awhile.