Any tips on buying a Roku box?

My savvier-than-I person talked me into the Roku stick with one compelling argument: I have friends with whom I do movie nights sometimes and because of the RGs, not often here. The stick is super easy to transport to someone else’s house, as long as they have wifi. There was some other hocus pocus stuff, but that was the big seller. Costs a little more for a one time expense.
I have had mine for about a month, I love it.

It’s OK. We only watch Netflix on it. It has other options, such as HULU, but you have to pay a monthly charge for all of them. We pay for Netflix, but it’s the easiest to maneuver through, and seems to have the best shows.
I’m debating on whether to cancel our cable or not. The biggest problem is football, on local channels. :(

The only reason to get a roku 4 is if you have a 4k tv otherwise get the roku 3. I actually avoid smart tvs since roku is more functional and less expensive. We have one on each tv and only pay $25 for sling TV as our cable service. I actually like it much better than cable. We also have amazon prime so we get a good library of movies from them on the roku anazon channel. Netflix has a crappy selection IMO so we don’t do that anymore. There is a huge library of channels on the roku boxes and most are free. Roku 3 is what you most likely want. The stick is slow and you can transport roku boxes around just as easily. We just took one of ours on vacation with us.

**edit** Roku has new players on the market but the old ones are still available and discounted. I would probably go for one of the newer models with a faster processor though, the faster they work the better. The old ones were painfully slow and did not have much memory.

I actually avoid smart tvs since roku is more functional and less expensive

Bears repeating. The Smart TVs I have used are clumsy compared to a Roku. Excepting the ones with built-in in Roku.

@Call_Me_Jay Any suggestions as to which? I saw one model that has voice commands which seems useful. Also, stick vs. box?

If the stick works as well as the box I’d go with that….but if you have kids it would get lost a lot easier.

Assuming you do have an HDTV (NOT a 4K TV), and you DO have an HDMI input on your TV…

The Roku Express is $30.
The Roku Streaming Stick is $50.

From what I read (I have been looking at this, helping my brother choose), they perform about the same for most purposes, except for two things:
The Stick has a faster processor so it’s more future-proof
The Stick has a radio remote, not infrared, so you don’t have to point it straight at the device.

Small differences, for most purposes they’re about the same. If you don’t mind the extra $20, I’d get the stick.

The voice commands are on the top of the line model, the $105 Roku Ultra.

I don’t know about that one, I’ve been focused on the HD models.

Thanks. Even if I go for the top of the line; it’s still cheaper than a new TV!

Lucky Guy has a Roku box. He would be one to give good advice on it, too.

Yes, thanks.

I do not like voice commands. I consider it an invasion of privacy. To make voice control work they need to be listening all the time. Screw that.
I bought a Roku 4 stick for about $40 or $50 at Sam’s. The Roku stick worked well but it was a little weak on picking up my wifi when I plugged it into the TV on the porch. i paid $5? $10? for an amplifier which really helped. That was almost a year ago and lots of people complained so I’m guessing that has been fixed on newer units.
I love my Rokus! Roki? Remember, you still need basic internet to your house. $50–60/month? I have 30 Mbps service. I plug my Roku into that with an Ethernet cable or use a wifi. (One TV of each).
I have 122 channels on my Roku. There are only 2 other paid services Neflix and Amazon Prime. Everything else is free. I refuse to pay for any other channels. I’m cheap that way.
If i can’t find something on Netfllx, Amazon, or 122 channels of Roku, shame on me.

I have a wi-fi network and HDMI ports on the TV. It was working for streaming but stopped.

Wifi and HDMI is all you need. The Roku will fit between them like a glove.

@LuckyGuy isn’t the voice command off when you turn the Roku off? And, how good is the search function otherwise?