Google TV vs. Roku XS box

[--MasseySian--]

I am planning to get myself an internet TV as the region in which we leave doesn’t have a cable network. One which is available doesn’t provide many channels. I am confused between Roku TV and Google TV as they both are fine and good for use. Since I haven’t used any of them and neither do I have any friend or relative who has any of them, I am having problem deciding which one to get. Can someone who has used these internet networks tell me which will be best among them?

[Carita Carlos]

I have used Roku TV and I think that it is better than Google TV. It will provide you with around 300 channels to be viewed on your television. Also setting up Roku TV is very easy and there isn’t any complex feature that will keep you waiting for a long time. If you have basic idea about the slots and the connectors on your television set, then you can easily connect it manually. Even if not, then you can just read the manual of your television and the Roku TV and get the connection and installation right. Also the Roku TV is good because it needs less amount of power to operate. Also with less power consumption, it makes less noise when working.

[Aadidev]

I too think that Roku TV is better than Google TV, the models that we get as set top box as small in size and designed well to fit in space properly without having to occupy much of the space. The box is compact in design and also good in design. The colors in which it is available is also good. There are four versions of Roku TV set top box available and the colors given to it are cool. They are available in shiny black and purple which seems cool. The working of Roku TV is also great. It will rarely crash or give errors. The stability it provides is outstanding and makes Roku TV good for use.

[Beatricef]

Roku TV provides a great support for older television sets. Various plans and set top boxes are available according to the need of the person. There are different models which are able to play videos of resolution 720p while some models can play videos of resolution 720p as well as that of 1080p. One set top box, that is, Roku TV XS is made such that it has support for motion gaming. You can use remote control for the motions. Also it comes with complete Angry Birds game in it. As the numbers of features increases, the price ofRoku TV’s set top box too increases.

[DamarisK]

One thing that I didn’t like about the Roku TV is that it didn’t have support for streaming files from Windows operating systems. Though Roku TV is fast in its operation, as you go on adding the third party applications, the number of servers goes on adding leading to slow down of the system to a good level. The menu of Roku TV is very simple and I think it is good, but it has its drawbacks too. Having around 300 channels makes it difficult to surf channels fast. For example, if I am watching channel number 10 and I want to watch a channel that I don’t know where it is located; the searching and navigating using the Roku TV’s menu becomes a lengthy process. I think Roku TV would have been better if a web browser would have been provided for streaming videos.

[Elazar]

I think that Google TV is better than Roku TV as it is an Android based device. So adding third party applications is not a big deal. There are numerous app supported by Google TV that are meant for Android which can be installed using Android market. Google TV will have in-built Google Chrome web browser installed in it which makes surfing internet and streaming videos easier than that in Roku TV. I think this is one feature that distinguishes Google TV from Roku TV and makes it better than it. You can easily stream videos from YouTube or any other such website.

[Suigetsu]

Another thing that I liked about Google TV is that the Home Screen of it is very nicely designed and customizable up to a good level. We can put the shortcuts for the regularly used applications and tools on the home screen to get quick and easy access to them whenever needed. Also we can have bookmarks saved on the home screen to the websites which we need to visit regularly. In other words, we can build our own home screen with shortcuts and other things necessary in Google TV which can be used efficiently to save a lot of time. Also the preferences of Google TV provide much more supporting options to enhance the experience of watching the television using Google TV.

[PhoebeM]

Google TV has provision to work with Keyboards of specific brands. I use Logitech’s full sized keyboard connected to Google TV for better Internet surfing and navigation on Google TV. There many other keyboards that can work with Google TV, you can find it out for yourself. But if comparisons are to be made between Google TV and Roku TV, I think Google TV will win for sure. But the price of Google TV is pretty higher than Roku TV.

[KirtiPatel]

Though Google TV runs on Android as its operating system, there aren’t many apps available on internet for it on Android market. I don’t think that Google TV is meant for playing games and thus it has failed to gain popularity among the game developers. Also the arrangements of the buttons on the remote of the Google TV aren’t designed for playing games and using applications. Again the developers will have to add codes and programs to match the key binding of Google TV’s remote. Again every television will have different configuration and resolutions, making difference in app according to the television would become difficult. I think this is the reason that keeps the app developers from developing apps for Google TV.

[Simond]

One good thing about Google TV is that it has support for Flash on it. But the problem is that the Flash keep crashing numerous times which can only be cured by resetting the Google TV set top box. I think Google needs to fix this problem soon. A new firmware to tackle this problem will surely help. Also if you add any new hardware to your Google TV set top box, then it will again consume more power to support it. Regarding the problem of crashing Flash, it is not the Google TV that we have to blame completely. Adobe too needs to build their Flash that will work properly with Google TV.