TV for Mum

[securespark]

The time is coming for me to buy her a Christmas present,

A neighbour threw a spanner in the works by saying that he had a Roku Soundbar and it was brilliant. Not only does it have access to iPlayer, ITVhub, All 4 and 5, it has a Dolby soundbar to boost output.

The only thing is, to connect Ethernet to it, you need a USB adaptor, but that shouldn't be too much of a hurdle.

It's on a BF special at £100 at the moment.

Anybody agree?

 

[sxturbo]

The time is coming for me to buy her a Christmas present,

A neighbour threw a spanner in the works by saying that he had a Roku Soundbar and it was brilliant. Not only does it have access to iPlayer, ITVhub, All 4 and 5, it has a Dolby soundbar to boost output.

The only thing is, to connect Ethernet to it, you need a USB adaptor, but that shouldn't be too much of a hurdle.

It's on a BF special at £100 at the moment.

Anybody agree?

If it does what you need it to then why not.

I'll be dubious the sound is likely not better than the telly speakers.

But Roku are a good streaming brand.

If it has everything you want then go for it.

Obviously you can't record via it, I can't remember if this was a requirement or a nice to have

 

[securespark]

A nice to have, but if her Panasonic TV is like our Sammy TV, you can record onto a USB stick.

Although PVRs can record more than one thing at a time.

 

[securespark]

Well, number two son (IT apprentice) and I had a bit of a discussion.

He said that it would be better to buy a new TV than mess about with a separate unit attached to the existing TV. But my Mum wouldn't have any of it even after he offered to buy it for her (lovely gesture).

She decided she did not want the record facility as much as she thought, so we went for the Roku Streambar.

Me and number 2 went round today (her 85th birthday) and set it up for her. It's very impressive for the price (just under a ton).

Just a couple of niggles.

While the voice operation works well, the button has a magnifying glass on it, not the more intuitive microphone symbol.

Also, when you try and search for a programme to watch, it comes back with "not found". You have to use the remote to enter each app's search facility THEN the unit will allow you to use the voice operation to search for the programme.

If you want to watch a current broadcast, you can switch back to the TV by pressing the TV button on the Panasonic remote. Then back to Roku by pressing any button on the Roku remote. But it doesn't go back to where you were (ie in the middle of watching catch-up), it goes back to the home screen.

The other niggle with searching is that if you are in the iPlayer app and search for something you know is a Beeb programme, if another platform is offering it at a cost, the system will leave iPlayer, search, give you the options, then re-load iPlayer when you choose the free option. Bit long-winded and not intuitive.

The speakers are very good, throwing the sound out to my Mum, who sits about 10 feet away. Haven't found out yet, but it seems either that the unit will mute the volume during ads or you can set it to do so.

It attaches to the TV via an HDMI ARC port, although there is an optical cable bundled if your TV does not have an ARC port.

Be nice to go back and get better acquainted, then I can teach Mum a bit more about how to use it

The more she can do with her voice, the better.

In this regard, the Roku is a better choice, as, according to reviews, more can be done with Roku via voice commands that using the Humax Aura.

Left her with a box set of bony programmes to watch on iPlayer.

Will try to remember to update here when I have done more with the box.

 

[Bosswhite]

Had a similar problem which was solved by wireless earphones , good tone better than a sound bar and could be as loud as wanted so would not cause neighbours banging on the walls .Uncomplicated for an elderly person

 

[sxturbo]

Well, number two son (IT apprentice) and I had a bit of a discussion.

He said that it would be better to buy a new TV than mess about with a separate unit attached to the existing TV. But my Mum wouldn't have any of it even after he offered to buy it for her (lovely gesture).

She decided she did not want the record facility as much as she thought, so we went for the Roku Streambar.

Me and number 2 went round today (her 85th birthday) and set it up for her. It's very impressive for the price (just under a ton).

Just a couple of niggles.

While the voice operation works well, the button has a magnifying glass on it, not the more intuitive microphone symbol.

Also, when you try and search for a programme to watch, it comes back with "not found". You have to use the remote to enter each app's search facility THEN the unit will allow you to use the voice operation to search for the programme.

If you want to watch a current broadcast, you can switch back to the TV by pressing the TV button on the Panasonic remote. Then back to Roku by pressing any button on the Roku remote. But it doesn't go back to where you were (ie in the middle of watching catch-up), it goes back to the home screen.

The other niggle with searching is that if you are in the iPlayer app and search for something you know is a Beeb programme, if another platform is offering it at a cost, the system will leave iPlayer, search, give you the options, then re-load iPlayer when you choose the free option. Bit long-winded and not intuitive.

The speakers are very good, throwing the sound out to my Mum, who sits about 10 feet away. Haven't found out yet, but it seems either that the unit will mute the volume during ads or you can set it to do so.

It attaches to the TV via an HDMI ARC port, although there is an optical cable bundled if your TV does not have an ARC port.

Be nice to go back and get better acquainted, then I can teach Mum a bit more about how to use it

The more she can do with her voice, the better.

In this regard, the Roku is a better choice, as, according to reviews, more can be done with Roku via voice commands that using the Humax Aura.

Left her with a box set of boney programmes to watch on iPlayer.

Will try to remember to update here when I have done more with the box.

Sounds good.

I know it took a long time to get to this decision, but it's a very difficult choice when the elderly are involved, they just want things to work (which is a good thing tbh)

My wife's grandad is 86 and sounds very similar to your mum. We managed to get home a fire TV stick a few years ago which was good at the time, but if I'm honest Amazon have fallen well behind with there on demand service. There is nothing much intuitive anymore.

What's the sound like on the Roku? It doesn't look like it'll be that impressive, however if Sonos is anything to go by never judge a book by its cover

 

[securespark]

I have no experience of soundbars at all, I have only ever heard TV audio through the built-in speakers. Plus, I am severely deaf in the middle and high frequencies. To me, it sounds good and loud. But what I like about the Roku Streambar is that it projects the sound towards the viewers and also that you can alter the output, eg make soft bits louder and loud bits softer (like ads) both of which will help Mum a great deal. She is very deaf and while she has finally had a consultation for hearing aids, they cannot be fitted until mid January.

When it comes to audio, I know people rave about high end systems and I'm sure there is a difference between speakers using Dolby, Atmos etc...and bog standard ones, just like there is a difference between IPS and OLED displays. But my eyes and ears are not that good. As long as the display is clear and the audio suffers no sibilance, I'm happy!

 

[securespark]

All in all I think it's a very good bit of kit for the money, but I did get it reduced.

Had a similar problem which was solved by wireless earphones , good tone better than a sound bar and could be as loud as wanted so would not cause neighbours banging on the walls .Uncomplicated for an elderly person

Not an issue as she is in a detached property with a garage between the TV room and next door on one side and a large kitchen between the TV room and next door on the other.