Streaming Devices: Apple TV Versus Roku XD

There are many products available these days that can turn your house into an almost seamless network, where your media can be moved and consumed from anywhere. This article will focus on just 2 of them: Apple TV and Roku XD. These 2 products are more similar to each other than they are to other streaming devices and are therefore rife for comparing and contrasting. If you need more information, look for other articles written by me reviewing other streaming devices and how they stack up to each other.

If you're looking to buy technology like this, it's important to know how they differ in how they operate and what they are capable of. It's even more important to identify what you want them to do. For example, do you have Netflix? If that's the case you probably want it to be able to stream Netflix through your television. Or may you don't use Netflix because you've downloaded an extensive personal library over the years. In that case, you might want to be able to access them on your TV or gaming console. Even better, you might want an external storage device to store those movies and music while making them available to any network device in your home. All streaming devices don't do everything, so make sure you know what you want it to do so you can make sure the one you choose does it all.

Apple TV and Roku XD are streaming devices whose key function is streaming content from providers such as Apple, Amazon or ABC and Fox. There are Blu-ray home theater systems which have the capability to stream Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, or other media applications, Apple TV and Roku XD is technology that basically gives you the option to not have to pay for a Blu-ray player.or speaker system.

Without further ado, here is a description of what they do!

Apple TV

Apple TV allows you to rent movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store. Do not confuse this store with the all-too-familiar App Store available on your MacBook, iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. While some of the same apps and programming may be available in both stores, they are distinctly different. The iTunes Store accessible from Apple TV is geared specifically for movies and TV shows. There is a limited selection of content available at this time, though that will surely change as time goes on. In addition to the rental of movies and television shows from the iTunes Store, you can rent HD television shows from Fox and ABC. You can stream Netflix if you have a subscription, or stream music and movies from PC's and Macs that you have which are running iTunes. This means the Apple TV can become a sort of bridge between your computer and television. While not all media files (Word documents for example) can be transferred, files such as videos and music can.

Some drawbacks include:
- No hard drive. Everything has to be streamed.
- It does not support all media apps, most notably Pandora.
- Apple TV cannot connect to pre-HDMI TV's since it requires an HDMI connection.

Roku XD

Roku XD does not have access to the iTunes Store, but instead has access to other services which may suit your tastes better. Like the Apple TV it can stream Netflix if you have a subscription, but you can also stream subscriptions to Major League Baseball or other major sports. There is also access to free on-demand content like Pandora, Flickr, and Amazon Video-On-Demand. These services are free, though you can pay for additional benefits. It can connect to pre-HDMI TV's through a VGA connection, which makes it a more versatile technology.

Drawbacks:
- No YouTube or Hulu.

Analysis

As you can see each device performs a strikingly similar function. The contrasting issue is where each device gets their content from. Apple is known for their prodigious App Store, which initially leads users to think the iTunes Store must offer the same plethora of content. At this point that may not be true. The App Store was not always as abundant in its offerings. It takes time for these sources to develop a library of quality content. I bring this up because I want to point out that it should not be assumed the Apple TV has more content than the Roku XD. Amazon Video-On-Demand offers lots of content as well. I would recommend going to Amazon Video-On-Demand and the iStore before purchasing to see what content is available. It might turn out one has more content that you like.

Apple TV has its biggest advantage in being able to stream music and movies from your computer. While most people stream their movies at this point, many of us still have large music libraries on our computer. The ability to stream this music through Apple TV to your television or gaming console is an awesome feature.

Roku XD's biggest advantage is the ability to stream Pandora. Pandora is a great alternative to your music library if you've played it to the bone. Pandora offers the opportunity to find new artists and songs similar to the ones you already enjoy. Roku XD is also compatible with more televisions, since it can operate with pre-HDMI televisions, which Apple TV cannot.

Recommendation

I have to give the edge to Apple TV. Apple will always wind up having excellent media selection because film and music companies want to get in on an active market. Not being available in any on-line Apple store is losing a large market that has lots of money to spend. Pandora is an awesome feature and the Roku XD seems like it wouldn't be a horrible purchase. It's just that my faith in Apple's ability to make available excellent content coupled with the Apple TV's ability to access your computers movies and music makes it a much more utilitarian purchase. If I had to point out something negative that they both share, it would be that the main purpose of them is to push you into their on-line stores. Knowing this makes it hard to justify spending a lot of money on it. That's why it's nice when these devices give access to things like Netflix and Pandora. Netflix is something we willingly pay a monthly fee for so it's beneficial to be able to access it in high quality, and Pandora can be used for free if you want (and are patient).