# Best Netflix platform - TIVO, Apple, Blu Ray



## XIBM (Mar 9, 2013)

What is the best platform for streaming Netflix? Tivo, Apple TV or Sony Blu-Ray


----------



## consumedsoul (Jan 13, 2013)

XIBM said:


> What is the best platform for streaming Netflix? Tivo, Apple TV or Sony Blu-Ray


between tivo and atv, seems like atv has better quality streaming most of the time. sony not sure, haven't used before.


----------



## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

I prefer the Tivo since my TV is on the Tivo's input 99% of the time.


----------



## csweeny (Jun 9, 2004)

I don't have atv but I use both a Tivo and a Sony Blu-Ray for streaming Netflix and Tivo wins hands down. In fact the Sony Blu-Ray has issues (documented on Sony forum's) were streaming is inteurrupted about 25% of the time I try and use it. I did get a SW upgrade a few weeks ago and it's gotten better.


----------



## --Scott-- (Feb 24, 2014)

I have used an Apple TV for many years as my primary interface for video content, including Netflix. I was always a huge fan of the ATV Netflix UI...until I purchased my Roamio Plus a month ago. This is my first Tivo and it has a much nicer UI for Netflix than the ATV. Like the other poster it's also more convenient to use since the Tivo is my primary input.


----------



## NJ_HB (Mar 21, 2007)

You did not mention Roku but it is absolutely fantastic. It is very easy to navigate forward and backwards through a program. I use it for Netflix and Amazon streaming. Unlike TiVo if you have a Amazon Prime sub you can get the content to the Roku.


----------



## poppagene (Dec 29, 2001)

I don't have ATV, but prefer both the Sony netflix on the bdp-s370 and bdp-s580. Both have dlna capability and allow me to watch Amazon Prime Streaming Instant Videos. These days I mainly watch netflix and amazon directly from the smarthub on my samsung tv as it's more convenient.


----------



## Igor (Apr 12, 2000)

Having used both TiVo and AppleTV, I have now moved to Chromecast. The latter seems to be the best in terms of quality and interface (full control from phone or tablet!).


----------



## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

I've only used Tivo, Sony Blu-ray, and Roku3. 

I would say that the Tivo Netflix is less than acceptable. I've done well on my Sony Blu-ray and totally love using Netflix through my Roku3 (especially with the earbuds that plug into the remote). 

Through the Roku3, it's seamless. I had stopping and buffering problems watching Netflix through my Tivos. I just thought it was because I have DSL and not the much faster cable internet. Well, none of those problems with the Roku3 or with the Blu-ray player, so I had to conclude that it was the Tivo that was the problem.


----------



## alleybj (Dec 6, 2000)

I have Tivo and AppleTV, and although I prefer the Tivo interface, the AppleTV picture quality is much, much better-- you can see the pores in Robin Wright's face.


----------



## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

ThAbtO said:


> I prefer the Tivo since my TV is on the Tivo's input 99% of the time.


I prefer using TiVo as well, but it can cause the TiVo to reboot occasionally so using it while there are scheduled recordings is not a good idea.


----------



## bacevedo (Oct 31, 2003)

NJ_HB said:


> You did not mention Roku but it is absolutely fantastic. It is very easy to navigate forward and backwards through a program. I use it for Netflix and Amazon streaming. Unlike TiVo if you have a Amazon Prime sub you can get the content to the Roku.


I agree with this. The Roku3 is the best streaming device I have ever used, hands down. We only fire up the TiVo to watch the occasional recorded or live program.

Most of the time, we use Plex on the Roku to watch what we would have recorded OTA on the TiVo.

Most of our viewing is done via Netflix or Amazon Instant Prime. The only reason I still have the TiVo is because they offered me $99 lifetime when I called to cancel it.


----------



## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

NJ_HB said:


> You did not mention Roku but it is absolutely fantastic. It is very easy to navigate forward and backwards through a program. I use it for Netflix and Amazon streaming. Unlike TiVo if you have a Amazon Prime sub you can get the content to the Roku.


+1 Roku is great. I love the remote too!


----------



## moedaman (Aug 21, 2012)

poppagene said:


> I don't have ATV, but prefer both the Sony netflix on the bdp-s370 and bdp-s580. Both have dlna capability and allow me to watch Amazon Prime Streaming Instant Videos. These days I mainly watch netflix and amazon directly from the smarthub on my samsung tv as it's more convenient.


I love my Sony BDP-S5100 bd player. It has a nice interface (much faster than my Premiere too) and streams very well with great pq. And I use the dlna capability to watch Tivo recordings. Auto downloads with Tivo Desktop and conversion with kmttg!


----------



## lujan (May 24, 2010)

NJ_HB said:


> You did not mention Roku but it is absolutely fantastic. It is very easy to navigate forward and backwards through a program. I use it for Netflix and Amazon streaming. Unlike TiVo if you have a Amazon Prime sub you can get the content to the Roku.





Bigg said:


> +1 Roku is great. I love the remote too!


I agree with the Roku as it seems to be the fastest at navigation and it has a lot of applications that the others don't such as Amazon Instant Video and Vudu.


----------



## LoREvanescence (Jun 19, 2007)

Having netflix on my TiVo, Apple TV and Sony Blu-ray Payer I have tried all 3 sources.

I have to say my Apple TV is the best in both interface and streaming quality.

My TiVo Premiere, no mater would I do will not do the 1080p passthrough so super HD is out of the question. And it likes at least once during a movie go to a black screen then dump me out of of the movie. I have to go back in and resume playback. 

My Blu-ray Player, I don't know, even though it's streaming the Super HD 1080p, on my 51" plasma screen you can tell the video is a streaming video. It's got that blocky look to it if you look at it up close where the colors in the blocks are slightly off form the block next to it. I don't get that on my Apple TV at all.


----------



## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

So, is anybody getting the new Amazon branded unit? ETA - just looked up name again. It's called Amazon Fire TV. On the product page there is a comparison chart.

I have two of the Roku3 units and am super happy with them but am looking forward to seeing the reviews come in on this new one.


----------



## kherr (Aug 1, 2006)

I vote for Roku3 also .....


----------



## tivoboy (Jan 14, 2002)

+1 Roku. Chromecast is just too limited to make much sense at this point.

ATV is nice if you're in the the apple ecosystem with a lot of stuff, but honestly for movie streaming the best app/service is VUDU hands down. ATV just buffers too much on HD movies. Same with Amazon. I won't buy any streaming solution that doesn't offer VUDU rentals.


----------



## LoREvanescence (Jun 19, 2007)

tivoboy said:


> +1 Roku. Chromecast is just too limited to make much sense at this point.
> 
> ATV is nice if you're in the the apple ecosystem with a lot of stuff, but honestly for movie streaming the best app/service is VUDU hands down. ATV just buffers too much on HD movies. Same with Amazon. I won't buy any streaming solution that doesn't offer VUDU rentals.


My apple TV has never buffered on HD movies. They start the second I click play and play in their entirety without buffering. So I would have to say that it's most likely it's a internet connection issue for you.

Yeah, the Apple TV doesn't have VUDU rentals, but you can rent anything from the iTunes store, or rent it from the VUDU APP on your iPad and air play it to your tv.


----------



## supasta (May 6, 2006)

I prefer Xbox One or Chromecast for Netflix streaming. I never use the TiVo for Netflix as I have a perpetual sign-in issue - as in, it will not leave me signed-in.


----------



## tivoboy (Jan 14, 2002)

LoREvanescence said:


> My apple TV has never buffered on HD movies. They start the second I click play and play in their entirety without buffering. So I would have to say that it's most likely it's a internet connection issue for you.


Indeed it is most likely my 100MB internet connection, that doesn't buffer any of the other streaming services that affects the ATV.

I DO use the ATV for things like comcast xfinity streaming of protected content, that seems to work fine.


----------



## CloudAtlas (Oct 29, 2013)

morac said:


> I prefer using TiVo as well, but it can cause the TiVo to reboot occasionally so using it while there are scheduled recordings is not a good idea.


The 20.4.1 update release has stability improvements for Netflix.


----------



## abqdan (Aug 29, 2012)

No doubt; the Roku. I have Tivo, Sony TV, WD TV live and Roku - the weakest of them is the Tivo, though the Sony TV comes a close second. WD TV Live and Roku are both excellent, but the current iteration of the Netflix service on Roku is best. (I used to use Wii, but now that's kind of an ancient device; and I won't pay Microsoft $8 a month just so I can stream content from Netflix when I'm already paying them for that, so I've never tried my Xbox)


----------



## LynnL999 (Oct 7, 2002)

Roku.

I have given up on the idea of One Device to Rule Them All. It's a nice idea, but never actually worked for me. For example, I never had a device before the Roku could stream both HBO Go and Amazon Prime, and the work arounds like PlayOn were, IMO, kludgy.

Now, my Tivo does live/DVR'd TV, my bluray plays discs, my Roku streams everything, and my WDTV Live is attached to a 1.5 tb hard drive and can play any format I throw at it. They all do their jobs just fine.


----------



## eddieb187 (Jan 17, 2009)

The PS3 is one of the best for streaming Netflix.
I have a Roku 3 and it's pretty good as well.
But I like the PS3 is better.
Press "Display" button on the PS3 remote and you see if you're getting SuperHD or not.
When you FF with the Directional a Thumbnail Display shows where you are.
Just like the Roku 3 Audio and Subtitle button cycle the options.
TiVo Netflix is ok, but it's slow. Roku 3 is the fastest to load Netflix.


----------



## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

The windows 8 app is good too.


----------



## Cheezmo (Apr 26, 2004)

I'll give my vote to the AppleTV. I have the new Amazon Fire TV and it rebuffered 20 minutes in and lowered quality while watching House of Cards. I switched to the AppleTV and it was perfect all the way through. i've always found the Tivo XL4 version to be slow and clunky.


----------



## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

This thread made me realize just how many different devices I have that can stream Netflix. These include Tivo's, Blu-ray players, Smart TV's, game consoles, and dedicated streaming boxes. Out of all of them, I like my Roku 3 the best by far.


----------



## lujan (May 24, 2010)

gweempose said:


> This thread made me realize just how many different devices I have that can stream Netflix. These include Tivo's, Blu-ray players, Smart TV's, game consoles, and dedicated streaming boxes. Out of all of them, I like my Roku 3 the best by far.


Me too, I just watched a movie with strong Australian accents and I needed subtitles. The AppleTV didn't have anywhere to show subtitles but the Roku 3 did. Not sure if the TiVo does since I hardly use it to stream Netflix.


----------



## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

The current version of Netflix on my Roamio give me my choice of languages and sub-titles, if the source has the option (an annoying number of shows do not have the option, but that will affect all players).

The Roamio Netflix is much more pleasant to use than the slow Premiere Netflix.


----------



## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

lujan said:


> Me too, I just watched a movie with strong Australian accents and I needed subtitles. The AppleTV didn't have anywhere to show subtitles but the Roku 3 did. Not sure if the TiVo does since I hardly use it to stream Netflix.


AppleTV has subtitles. Just hold down the center button during playback and then choose subtitles when the menu pops up.

TiVo also has subtitles by pressing down during playback.


----------



## lujan (May 24, 2010)

morac said:


> AppleTV has subtitles. Just hold down the center button during playback and then choose subtitles when the menu pops up.
> 
> TiVo also has subtitles by pressing down during playback.


Good to know, thanks!


----------

