“I picked Apple TV mainly because our household is heavily invested in Apple’s ecosystem – my wife and I both have Macs, iPhones and iPads,” Dwight Silverman writes for The Houston Chronicle. “We’ve been pretty happy with the choice, but still, I remained intrigued by the Roku 3.”
“A few months ago, I decided to give one a try. After using it side-by-side with the Apple TV, I have to say that I’m glad I didn’t try it back in June, because it would have made the decision that much more difficult,” Silverman writes. “In many ways, the Roku 3 is superior to the Apple TV. If I’d bought it originally, I wouldn’t have regretted the decision.”
“My previous Roku experience was with the very first model, and I remember its carousel-style interface as being slow and clunky,” Silverman writes. “But with the Roku 3, the software has been overhauled and it’s much easier to use. The home screen has 3 columns – a selections menu on the left, a center well with installed channel icons, and a right column that provides information about your selection. It’s not quite as elegant as that found on the Apple TV, but it’s simple and gets the job done.”
“In terms of sheer number of channels, the Roku 3 kicks the Apple TV to the curb, but quantity doesn’t necessarily equate to quality,” Silverman writes. “Roku now says there are more than 1,000 channels, but the selection is a great example of Sturgeon’s Law, which says that ’90 percent of everything is crap.’ Of the supposed 1,000+ channels, I’ve only managed to find 30 that I want to keep in the My Channels list. And even then, I probably only watch a handful.”
Much more in the full review here.