First impressions with streaming (Roku Express+)

[sam.stamport]

1. There seems to be no "OFF" switch for the thing.

2. Apparently, there's no place I can go on the web (using my PC) for a comprehensive program guide like I used to do with titantv.com. Searching for a program seems to be hit & miss & very tedious. For example, when I type "central" on PBS to find "Central Texas Gardener" nothing appears, but when I page through all the PBS offerings it's there.

3. The worst thing is that fast-forward & rewind don't work at all like a plain old DVD player. Images are frozen during FF & rewind!

4. Air dates & episode numbers & titles not displayed when searching for a program. See "Earth: Final Conflict" on Roku Channel, for example.

5. For channels that have commercials. Oh my! Commercials inserted at arbitrary places during program. Volume is turned up much higher than ordinary over-the-air broadcasts. AND they make you wait before each commercial while it loads!

6. Live streaming of PBS Newshour is problematic. Sometimes it happens at 5 PM (central time) sometimes it does not. It would really, really be nice to have a device that I could program like a DVR/DISH receiver to automatically switch to the live stream of PBS Newshour when it happens and to record it. (I like to be able to FF through segments of the program that are not of interest.) I know, I know. Streaming gadgets are not DISH receivers, BUT they have a sophisticated operating system. Surely someone could make this happen.

Overall, my first impression of streaming is that it's an immature technology. All the hype about it makes people accept lousy design. AND now that the FCC has destroyed net neutrality I guess we can look forward to even more poorly designed & delivered gadgets.

 

[americanaudiophile]

It's not just the immature tech.
You're expecting a $32 box to run much more complex apps that no one that expects to give them away for free wants to invest in developing either.
If you record on a cable DVR it doesn't adapt to program changes on the fly either. Perhaps the DTV ones do.
TIVO offers a lot of the functionality that you want. Way more expensive as well.
I suspect some of the functions you want are available on KODI with the use of a PVR, IPTV, and program guide. At best this is quasi legal though. More involved to configure and the streams aren't reliable either.