Community discussions

[MarkieG]

I purchased a Roku Streaming Stick + a few years ago. I want to purchase one for another TV. But I don't see the Stick + on their website. Was the name of the product changed? Thanks

[atc98092]

You are correct that there is no Stick+ on their web site any longer. But that appears to be because they have simply upgraded the Stick 4K to the + level. Every player is on sale right now.

As to which player to get, it depends on your needs. If your TV supports Dolby Vision, you should get either the Streaming Stick 4K or the Ultra. If you want to use a wired network connection, the Ultra has a jack and the Express 4K+ supports an optional adapter. Even if you don't have a 4K TV, I don't recommend the basic Express to anyone. For the slight price increase, the Express 4K+ is a significant improvement, including a Voice Remote and dual band WiFi. In my opinion, the Express 4K+ is the sweet spot for players. 

[RBUser]

Don't buy any Roku product, unless Roku is willing to walk back their forced arbitration agreement.

Roku is holding your device (be it a Roku device, or in many cases, a whole entire TV that relies on Roku as the OS) as ransom, unless you agree to waive your rights to hold Roku BEFORE and AFTER you agree to their terms, accountable for any reason.

Long time Roku user, and loved my Rokus product, no longer...

[atc98092]

@RBUser the Roku terms of service has always included "forced" arbitration. That is nothing new. They completely messed up with the way they forced out the latest update, by blocking use of the device until the user accepted the update. That was a very bad way to do it, and hopefully Roku has gotten that through someone's thick skull. I seriously doubt they will ever do that again. 

[StopTheFomo]

How else can you "force" acceptance of the latest arbitration terms? If you allow the consumer to easily "skip" accepting the new Terms of Service (TOS), then it defeats the purpose of updating it in the first place. Essentially, when you first bought the TV, it required you to accept the TOS before proceeding and if you didn't like it you could always return the TV and buy something else. But then fast forward 6 months later when you're outside the TV's return period and they update their TOS, which you may refuse, but if you refuse then you have a dead Rokuy TV because you can't return it - of course you can always buy an Apple TV and plug it into the HDMI port but that defeats the purpose of buying an inexpensive Roku TV right? 

[atc98092]

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@StopTheFomo wrote:

How else can you "force" acceptance of the latest arbitration terms? 

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Roku did a terrible job with their user interaction about the TOS update. And I believe they have rolled back this poor implementation, as many people are now reporting they never saw the screen. It doesn't excuse the way they did it, but it does appear to be gone. And I believe you would have a valid case against agreeing to modified terms months (or more) after purchase. But again as a reminder, arbitration has always been included in the Roku terms of service. It wasn't something they are just now trying to put out. In my opinion, there's very little changed in the recent update. 

[StopTheFomo]

True, the TOS doesn't bother me as much as the near "requirement" for a credit card without two factor authentication 2FA (yes, the tech savvy know how to skip it but as Roku is hailed as simple and perfect for seniors who are far from savvy).  Storing our CC information without the option of 2FA in 2024 is outrageously incompetent and of course, Murphy's Law comes in last week's data breach that put 15,000 users at risk if their CC was stored on Roku.  

[atc98092]

It is a shame that Roku hid/removed the option to create an account without a credit card. However, you can remove the card from their storage as soon as the account is created, and you never need to add one again if you don't want to. I haven't had a CC stored on my account in years, and it has zero impact on my use of my devices. Naturally, I don't subscribe to anything through Roku, so there's no reason to maintain a CC on file. 

[avensis44]

I also find it a shame that Roku has hidden this option.

Mini Militia App Lock

[MrXxx]

Personally, I don't get the aversion to storing cards online. But I never store CC's except with the sites that issued them (pretty much impossible not to, no?). I store my debit card online all over the place. Sure, every now and again the card is compromised, but the actual account number the card is attached to is never vulnerable. When something nefarious occurs, and eventually something does, I just contact my bank, dispute the charges and have a new ATM issued. They give me a temp one instantly (which I do have to go down the road to get), and a permanent one a couple of weeks later in the mail. I don't find that a big deal in exchange for the convenience of being able to use it with a few clicks every time. When things do go wrong and bad charges are incurred they are fairly quickly reversed and my account is secured. Passwords are changed when necessary and life goes on.