Apple TV (2012)

Pros: Everything - AirPlay/Mirroring, interface, ease of use, picture quality, compact design, silent, responsive, Internet radio, Netflix, affordable, minimalist remote/remote app, build quality and much more.

Cons: No RCA/Component output for older TVs

Summary: I bought the Apple TV 2 primarily for Netflix and the interface Apple TV provides. There simply isn't a better interface available, period. After the update brought AirPlay, that put the icing on the cake. For $99, and iOS device compatibility, there isn't anything better. Streaming music to my home theatre from iTunes on my Mac or iOS device is a fantastic feature.

One of the least noted features of the Apple TV is Internet Radio. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of stations available. There are many genres to choose from, and tons of stations for each one. When you find one you like, hold down the button in the center of the directional button to bring up the menu to add to Favorites (the same to remove). It then creates a section for Favorites at the very top of the list of genres in the Radio section. Once you're in a genre with a station playing, you can push forward or back to change to the next or previous station in that genre, just like SEEK on a stereo. With the wealth of stations available, I don't see the argument for Pandora on Apple TV. Pandora seems like too much work. If you want it that bad, just use AirPlay from any iOS device running the app. It works flawlessly. If you have more than one Apple TV and home theatre system (or sound bar), just set them both for the same station and enjoy the music throughout the whole house.

I bought a Roku 2 XS because my bedroom TV didn't have HDMI and I wanted to try out Hulu Plus. Well, it's a joke. You pay $8 a month for a horribly clunky interface that's slow and almost unresponsive AND you have to watch COMMERCIALS! I cancelled it after about 2 months of the same terrible results. The other Roku "feature" was Crackle, but that's easily solved with an iPhone/iPad (or iPod Touch) and AirPlay Mirroring, so that's no longer a valid bargaining chip.

If I really want to watch Hulu, I can be patient until the Mountain Lion update comes later this year. Then I'll use my iMac and RDM Lite on my iPhone/iPad as the remote control for my Mac to watch FREE Hulu.com on my TVs using AirPlay Mirroring through my Apple TV 2 and, now, Apple TV 3. AND I'll be able to watch any other Flash-based sites to my heart's content, though they're aren't really many that I visit.

I'll most likely be selling the Roku, since it's no longer needed. The only big win for Roku, in my eyes, is it can connect to TVs that don't have HDMI. That's the other main reason I bought one at the time. Since my TVs are now all HDMI-equipped, that eliminates the need.

As noted, the Apple TV is fantastic for anyone who's into the Apple ecosystem. Even if it's just a lowly new iPod Touch, AirPlay is a killer feature that opens up so much, even for gaming.