Educate me about Chromecast

Factual Questions
1

I read about it on Wikipedia and the Chromecast site, but I’m still unclear on a few particulars.

  1. I assume some or most of the options are free (YouTube, Pandora?) and others are via monthly subscriptions(Hulu Plus, Netflix?)?

  2. Tell me if I am understanding the concept correctly: Chromecast allows your TV to stream content via wifi but while using a tablet or laptop to access the wifi. Close?

  3. If #2 is correct, then Chromecast would not offer me anything that a smart TV would not, yes?

Thanks!
mmm

2

Not too different from a Smart TV, no. I find a Roku(the cheap model) to do a ton for about the same price. I got my Roku years ago for $50 and it does everything Chromecast does and more, I think. Anyway, it’s just a tiny streaming device.

3

The difference being that as long as your TV already has an hdmi port, a chromecast is 35 dollars, not 300 for a new tv.

4

The chances of getting new stuff added to a smart TV are pretty slim. You are pretty much stuck with the ‘channels’ you get. Chromecast, on the other hand, does not physically need to be changed or upgraded to handle new stuff since that capability is through an Android or iOS application, or through the Chrome or Firefox (being added) browser. For instance, you can go now and ‘cast’ ***any ***video you can find on the internet to your TV using the Chrome browser on your computer.

Bob

Bob

5

  1. This is correct. Once you initialize the chromecast, an icon will display on comparable apps allowing you to send the content to the TV.

  2. Close, but not quite. If you use an app via tablet or smartphone to “cast,” you iniatiate the connection with the device, but after that the chromecast uses its internal wifi to stream the content. Your phone or tablet can then be used for other things. You can directly stream web content from the chrome browser and in that case it would work as you described.

I have one for an outdoor tv and have enjoyed it with my netflix account. The upsides are cost and the small size/lack of wires. The downside (or not) is that there is no remote, everything is controlled via app or chrome browser.

6

My Chromecast works fine with YouTube or Netflix (haven’t used it with Chrome) with no modifications to either one. The Chromecast app does that. You can do anything with your phone, but if you want to pause streaming you have to go back to Netflix or YouTube to do it. The Chrome app itself is pretty much invisible.
I use it for Netlfix streaming and it works fine.

7

The Roku costs a bit more than the Chromecast, but does a LOT more stuff. But, if the Chromecast does all you need it to do, you might as well get that and save a few bucks. That’s what I did.

I use my Chromecast almost exclusively for Netflix streaming. Occasionally, I will stream Pandora or Youtube (from my Android phone), but that is rare. And there isn’t much else it can do. But if that is enough for you, it is a great bargain, and very easy to install and to use.

As others have said, the Android (or I suppose iOS) is used to *initiate *the stream, or to pause or stop it, but is NOT necessary to keep it going. The data does NOT flow through your phone; it goes directly from your WiFi router to the Chromecast device on your TV. Once you have the streaming initiated, you could destroy your phone with a hammer and the streaming would go on and on.

8

Very helpful, thanks everyone.

I do have a smart TV I already stream Netflix through. There is a YouTube icon, and several others, that I have not messed with yet.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing out on something cool. :slight_smile:
mmm

9

I find that streaming anything that does not have a dedicated Chromecast button (netflix does, as do youtube and google music) really sucks.

10

In addition to netflix I use HBO Go, PBS online and Showtime online fairly extensively. I definitely think they are cool and they are all available on Chromecast.

In the not too distant future (IMHO), many people will be eliminating the cable feed for their television and will choose to be dependent on local broadcast and streaming services for news and entertainment. Should you choose to join that crowd, the streaming services offered by your smart tv will be much more important (If you want to watch CBS, you will need to log on to their app). Certainly there are other ways to stream to your tv (e.g. through your computer), but these are inconvenient and for those who are technologically challenged (or just plain old), impossible.

One of the advantages of moving to one of the set top boxes (Apple TV, Roku) or Chromecast is that they seem to do a better job of enforcing their interface, so that you can depend on all those apps working in pretty much the same way. I currently use Apple TV, but when I want to watch Amazon Prime I have to use the app on my DVD player. The apps on that device are all over the place in terms of their interface and I don’t use it for anything but Amazon. I haven’t used Chromecast so I don’t know about their interface.

11

I haven’t used Chromecast so I don’t know about their interface.

Chromecast doesn’t have an interface because it doesn’t have built-in controls.

With a set top box like Roku, you use the control interface to essentially say, “go get Netflix and show it to me.”

With Chromecast, you go to Netflix and say, “show me this on Chromecast.”

Personally, I use smartphone apps. As was mentioned, you’re not really streaming “through” the apps themselves, they’re just control interfaces and since my phone is always next to me anyway, it’s not another “TV remote.”