Chromecast

[laddie79]

Good Morning!


I'm looking for opinions from people who have a Chromecast . . I know it's a cheap piece of kit, but even so - do you get much use out of it?

Just released here in the UK and I'm tempted although I can already get things such as YouTube, Netflix etc on my PS4 so trying to work out what the advantage would be by having a Chromecast - - hoping some shops have a demo area where they'll show you and give you chance to use one.

Looking forward to hearing your responses!


J

 

[eggantom]

I don't have a Chromecast and see no point in buying one (even if they are that cheap). Better to get a simple Android stick and turn your dumb TV into a smart TV.

 

[Almeuit]

I love my Chromecast. When I am home I can easily beam my Netflix to the TV and it streams in full HD.

I recommend it.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[brendilon]

I use it almost exclusively. My wife and I beam music, netflix, and Play Movies to it. When we have friends over, everyone can cast Youtube videos to it. Dollar for Dollar, it is without question the single best piece of tech I have ever purchased.

 

[gabbott]

I use it on 3 different TVs and really enjoy it. The 3 most used apps for me are Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Youtube. I find using both my phone and tablet as interfaces for those apps to work great.

 

[JeffDenver]

Good Morning!


I'm looking for opinions from people who have a Chromecast . . I know it's a cheap piece of kit, but even so - do you get much use out of it?

If you use Netflix or HULU you will love it. Very intuitive and easy to set up.

The downside is that it only works with "approved" services...meaning Chromecast has to actively greenlight them. But it supports the major ones (Youtube, HULU, Netflix and a few others). The upside is that it's popularity has spawned lots of 3rd party dev support. Apps like Allcast let you stream any local content to Chromecast easily (videos, Music, Photos ect). So anything on your phone or tablet or computer.

You cannot yet easily mirror your phone on Chromecast. This would be needed to, for example, play games via Chromecast. I am sure it will happen eventually. Only a matter of time.

You cannot, yet, easily stream stuff from cloud storage to Chromecast. So for example, I can't stream movies I have on my Box.com account to my Chromecast. That might change eventually too.

For $30 though, this device is totally worth it.

 

[JeffDenver]

The thing I love about it is that you only use your phone or tablet to give it commands. Once the streaming starts, you could turn your phone completely off if you wanted. It is not longer in the loop. You could have three phones connected to Chromecast at the same time and any of them could give it new commands. You could start a video and then play games or look at email on your tablet and it will use no battery to stream the show, because your phone is not being used to display the content...Chromecast is doing all of that on it's own.

 

[laddie79]

Thanks for all your responses. It does sound like a great piece of kit.. I don't have Netflix although this may change... Personally I'm more excited about what 3rd party devs will bring to the Chromecast.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[flattie]

It depends on how it would fit in to your media habits. Most of my media now runs through Google or Netflix, neither of which are built in to my existing AV equipment. So having a cheap dongle I can plug in to the TV, suddenly opens up all of my content to the best screen in the house. The fact that this is done in a hassle free way just makes it easier to want to use.

I'm actually quite excited to see if this bit of kit will take off, and just how other apps might take advantage of it; it seems an infinitely better product, in concept and execution, than the Google TV stuff.

 

[cgardnervt]

You all might have sold me on the Chromecast! Thanks for a great thread.

 

[Illustrator Joe]

I bought one. Then two. And now 3. 1 for each TV in the house. They really are great. I got 3 for the price of 1 apple TV. Chromecast works great and will only get better. If you have an android device (or iphone) I don't see why not to have one or 3 in the house.

ಠ益ಠ

 

[ljxdaly]

mine sits in a drawer. thought it might be cool, but it is nowhere ready to displace my roku players. in fact, the gap seems to be separating, not getting closer, what with allcast working with roku.

and, don't know why, but chromecast killed my wireless. others have this problem. i am not techno-savvy enough to figure out why, but chromecast made every wireless connection in my house stutter or freeze or lag. removed the chromecast, and everything was fine again.

 

[Illustrator Joe]

mine sits in a drawer. thought it might be cool, but it is nowhere ready to displace my roku players. in fact, the gap seems to be separating, not getting closer, what with allcast working with roku.

and, don't know why, but chromecast killed my wireless. others have this problem. i am not techno-savvy enough to figure out why, but chromecast made every wireless connection in my house stutter or freeze or lag. removed the chromecast, and everything was fine again.

See I feel the opposite. I have a roku and now it is never used. The chromecast experience is much more seamless for me. Loading times are faster, no boot time, don't have to worry about updates to apps, and it doesn't freeze like my roku. I haven't had any issues with my wireless but I have a pretty quick plan through AT&T

ಠ益ಠ