Big fan of Roku as it is the most independent of the options to stream. Thousands of channels are available and easy to add including Prime and Apple.

If you are buying a TV then you may want to consider one with Roku preinstalled. It means one less remote to deal with.
Roku

We have an Apple TV device and like it better than our Roku. You can easily mirror the screen of your device onto the TV. We use this when Zooming with the kids. Also can play iTunes music easy enough through it.

Roku
 

We cut the cord about a year ago and decided on Roku. I think the choice is a personal one. One may not be right for everyone. It depends on what your TV likes and dislikes are. For us, we don’t watch any news, so Roku works for us. There are no news stations on it. We get the channels we like most, so it suits us well.

This has been very informative for me, a new Villages owner about to by a new television and streamer of some type.
Sort of reads like the posts on my Village is better than your Village, but very helpful to me. I am going to like the Talk of the Villages.

We started using Roku six years ago when we cut the cord. That Roku device was killed in a lightning strike so we bought a new one a couple years ago. They've improved much in features and ease of use. We only pay for Netflix, locast.org for news, the Amazon prime membership once a year, and PBS Passport membership. It's easy to subscribe to Roku pay channels like Acorn and Smithsonian, for example, and just as easy to unsubscribe when you are done with them.

Like OBB, I also believe in paying for what we view, and not view so-called "free" content.

We have 2 Roku units and they serve us very well. I find them very user-friendly. Be sure to get the remote with the volume control.

How so? I was able to (legally) download the ATT TV, Netflix, Hulu, etc, etc, etc, Apps with no problem...

Yes, it comes with Amazon, but I also have that on my Apple TV (up North)...

Ok, one more country heard from. I had Roku up north and it was fine. Here I cut cord, have Comcast for Wifi & Chromecast for all else. I use my smartphone like a controller, have all the apps I want (Netflix, Prime, PBS, Hulu) loaded on my phone and cast from it. No prob. $25 a month, plus the cost of subscribing to the apps.

How did you all get started with any of these things? Seems so confusing

I think you misread the comment - Firesticks can side-load APPS that Amazon doesn't publish, and that is perfectly legal.

Kind of an odd statement as the Firestick allows installation of ALL the apps the Roku has.... plus a lot more that Roku doesn't have.

If you have Apple devices like phones or iPads, get an Apple TV. Work flawlessly and integrate with all the other devices.

Please explain what you mean by "all the apps the Roku has". As I understand it, you can search the internet and add any app you can find onto a Roku, and without using the side load process. I have never had a problem adding apps to my Roku. Are there some apps that the Roku won't accept? I am not interested in watching illegal content.

That's good advice we purchased a Roku TV can't beat it.

It was pretty simple why we got started and it was simple to do: 1) Comcast kept raising their rates to the point where Comcast cost more per month than SECO billed for an all-electric house, which just seemed odd, 2) We were irritated by 90% of the channels they offered for non hi-def and 3) Husband kept remarking that if something were to happen to me, the first thing he'd do is get rid of Comcast.

So to make things easier for all, we decided to turn in the boxes to Comcast and pay them for internet only. (We looked at CenturyLink but they could only bring 10 mbs to our location). We installed a Roku, subscribed to Netflix, and had an attic antenna installed for local stations. Upgraded the router so all areas would get a decent signal.

The antenna became undependable after a few years so now we pay Locast.org $5.50 per month for local channels for news and weather. The only cable channels we miss are Turner Classic Movies and occasionally C-Span. And life is much simpler without cable news.