Chromecast - any good?

[yanpa]

I just got a Google Chromecast dongle thingy thrown in for free while acquiring some some other gadgetry. It looks kind of nifty, but before I go to the trouble of faffing around with it, is it worth the hassle?

[Coligny]

looks like some kind of airplay dongul...

If you are like me trying to survive with youtube channels (shacktac, devildoggammer, pewdiepie, wood working whisperer, anna akana and on and on) all day long it could be worth it... for 2 minutes lolcats video... not so much...

Not sure, but I think it's basically a remote screen adapter for whatever you are playing on your phone/ipad.

[wagyl]

It is not specific to Japan at all, and I am pretty sure you are a reader anyway, but just in case here is El Reg's review. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/21 ... hromecast/

[Coligny]

There is a flex plugin to broadcast to chromecast devices...

https://plex.tv/downloads

[yanpa]

It is not specific to Japan at all, and I am pretty sure you are a reader anyway, but just in case here is El Reg's review. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/21 ... hromecast/

Evidently I read that one, at least according to the link colour in my browser.

Just wondering if anyone here has tried one...

[yanpa]

There is a flex plugin to broadcast to chromecast devices...

https://plex.tv/downloads

Got Plex on the Mac mini attached to the TV... hmm, I'll have to sit down and play with all this stuff again

damn I still remember when TVs came with a channel dial and a volume dial and that was it

[chibaka]

I got one a few days ago, great gadget for watching the tube of you on the TV. Other apps compatible http://www.google.co.jp/intl/en/chrome/ ... /apps.html
And for those with interest... pornhub works from Android devices, allegedly

[Wage Slave]

Am I missing something here - as in why would I need a device like this? My TV has a network socket and is plugged into my router. It has software built in that plays youtube and other streaming services. It can also play stuff on my HDD but only if it is in Microsoft's format - Thanks Sony. My PC has an HDMI output and that is cabled to an HDMI input on the TV so I can play anything I like that way.

[chibaka]

Am I missing something here - as in why would I need a device like this? My TV has a network socket and is plugged into my router. It has software built in that plays youtube and other streaming services.

Maybe yours does, but mine doesn't. 4500 yen for a dongle is better than shelling out for a new TV

[Coligny]

Watching pron on the kitchen telly who just have hdmi inpout...
Turning a dvi monitor into a streaming client.

It's a way to turn a basic stoopid display in something a little more smarterer. Not to replace your 2 milion yens kapitalist pig giant superHD 4k tv...

[Wage Slave]

I see, thanks. I just wondered.

My TV isn't a very kapitalist piggy or new. It cost about 40k 3 or 4 years ago and it is a mere 32".

[chibaka]

As well as the officially supported apps, anything found on the interwebs can be streamed to chromecast it seems.
For example, http://genvideos.com/ works using https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... t.webvideo


When the site isn't offline anyway.....

[yanpa]

Right, finally got round to trying the thing out... The instructions indicate it needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet (I presume HDMI does not have any power-carrying capabilities), but it seems to work fine from one of the USB sockets in the TV.

Installation is fairly intuitive (you need to download the control app to a suitable device), but for a while it claimed it was unable to connect to the internet via the local network. After four or five tries it suddenly found it could.

Main use case I can see is watching browser/web-based content from Youtube etc.. I have a Mac mini hooked up to the TV as a media centre running Plex, which does make it possible to watch Youtube either via a Plex plugin or in a browser, but it's a PITA to operate remotely.

Downsides... the dongle is a bit too fat to plug directly into the TV's HDMI sockets, a small extension cable is provided but it means the dongle stickes out from the side of the TV with the USB power cable sticking out from that. I guess it might be possible to bend it upwards and stick it to the back of the TV somehow. And of course it's Yet Another Gadget Which Needs Taking Care Of; I wonder how much power it draws.

[yanpa]

Well the Mrs. was happily using it to watch Youtube from her laptop this morning, so I guess it's a winner. Nice-to-have, but I probably wouldn't have bought one for actual money.

[yanpa]

I wonder how much power it draws.

The device certainly feels warm and toasty to the touch.

[wagyl]

I wonder how much power it draws.

The device certainly feels warm and toasty to the touch.

This report claims the power draw is not excessive, so you might have found a cheap source of winter warmth!

[yanpa]

I wonder how much power it draws.

The device certainly feels warm and toasty to the touch.

This report claims the power draw is not excessive, so you might have found a cheap source of winter warmth!

Ta, interesting.

So my only worry now is that it is making it even easier for Google to spy on me...

[yanpa]

Meanwhile, it looks like for Youtube at least, the Chromecast dongle is streaming directly from Youtube rather than the controlling device. Which makes perfect sense, as otherwise the amount of Wifi round-tripping would bugger things up.

[Coligny]

Flux redirection ?
You could do that with between ftp server from a third client back in the days. (Still now I'm sure)
And I'm wondering if samba is not doing the same trick when moving files between shares from the same server...

[chibaka]

You can switch off your laptop or casting device after vid has started. Only downside I found so far is quality of video. YouTube, home of 240p

Meanwhile, it looks like for Youtube at least, the Chromecast dongle is streaming directly from Youtube rather than the controlling device. Which makes perfect sense, as otherwise the amount of Wifi round-tripping would bugger things up.

[matsuki]

I was using it got HBO Go stateside but say you go on a business trip within Japan and want to watch anything on their shitty TV without being hit with some assrape fee. Plug it in and watch on their TV from your phone. (youtube, porn, etc.) The whole reason I bought it in the first place was I wanted wireless HDMI capability...though it isn't quite there yet.

[yanpa]

The Rickmote Controller: Hacking One Chromecast at a Time

[Coligny]

The Rickmote Controller: Hacking One Chromecast at a Time

Stuff that I discovered lately:

If your telly or DVD player is 'smart' and DLNA certified, it can access and play movies/music from any dlna server like plex or Serviio.

it's awesome...