Google Chromecast

Alpha Dog 1

I got mine on Ebay for 40 euro, maybe try there also.

Riesen_Meal

My sis works in the states the odd time, got her to get me one, 25 quid it cost with the conversion, she's there at the moment, think I'm gonna get her to get 4 of em for Xmas pressies for friends....

Fresh Pots

Fieldog wrote: »

My sis works in the states the odd time, got her to get me one, 25 quid it cost with the conversion, she's there at the moment, think I'm gonna get her to get 4 of em for Xmas pressies for friends....

Might wanna tell them to root before connecting to the internet, chromecast is much more useful then.

D'Peoples Voice

Zascar wrote: »

I got one of these last night - have not really played around with it for long but pretty impressed so far. Does what it says on the tin and I think it’s going to be handy.…

Well yes it works well on Linux, Android and Windows for me.

However, while MP4 & to a lesser extent flv files from youtube play fine,
watching any other sites on Chrome that contain flv files,
well I'm extremely disappointed.

Try watching the RTE player or TV3 player through chrome,
then broadcast it through the chrome extension to the chromecast,
and watch how the pictures lag the sound.

But no doubt, as it is only the beta, I'm waiting on a software update to sort this problem.
(When i first tries to connect it up, it wouldn't connect correctly with UPC horizon.
After an automatic software update on another network connection,
its connected very easy with UPC horizon box, so the software update was necessary for me).
So, I won't root it yet, in case I then don't get the automatic updates,
not sure how installing superuser on a device would prevent me getting future updates,
but it would just be my luck.

corkie

Just ordered one direct from Amazon.co.uk and they accepted my order for delivery in Ireland. Cost me €54.34 (cost of conversion and PP from £38.29 + £5.26 ).

I should have it by next Thursday/Friday.

coylemj

I got it a couple of weeks ago from Amazon, it was just under GBP 40. It comes with a multivoltage (100-240V) US plug and a USB to micro-USB cable. Any power cable with a micro-USB plug can be used to power the Chromecast stick.

Setup is a breeze. If you want to speed things up, install the Chromecast app in advance on any iOS and/or Android devices you have and you'll need the Chrome browser on any Windows laptop.

robinph

I've moved mine between a couple of different WiFi networks now and it is asking me for the networks password each time to set it up again. I'm sure that on the first time I plugged it in though it never asked for the password, it just connected ad-hoc to the tablet and they sorted out the password for the actual WiFi network between themselves.

Did I imagine that happening, or did they disable that feature when the Chromecast went and updated itself with the latest firmware?

RaggyDays

coylemj wrote: »

I got it a couple of weeks ago from Amazon, it was just under GBP 40. It comes with a multivoltage (100-240V) US plug and a USB to micro-USB cable. Any power cable with a micro-USB plug can be used to power the Chromecast stick.

Setup is a breeze. If you want to speed things up, install the Chromecast app in advance on any iOS and/or Android devices you have and you'll need the Chrome browser on any Windows laptop.

I thought the Chromecast ran from the hdmi slot on the TV? does it not draw the power from that???

corkie

RaggyDays wrote: »

I thought the Chromecast ran from the hdmi slot on the TV? does it not draw the power from that???

No you need to power it separately by the mini usb. If your TV has a usb port, you might get enough power from that.

coylemj

corkie wrote: »

No you need to power it separately by the mini usb. If your TV has a usb port, you might get enough power from that.

+1 The HDMI architecture doesn't involve power delivery (as does USB for example) because the device delivering the video signal (DVD/Blu-Ray Player, Sky/UPC Digital TV box, Saorview STB, Laptop etc.) is assumed to be self-powered.

You may have a USB port on your TV, DVD player or even the soundbar, any of those will do for power instead of the mains.

Dudda

That's not exactly true. Newer TVs have HDMI 1.4 which has power and they can power Chromecast so you don't need any USB. Most TVs have HDMI 1.3 so they need the USB power.

This is where Google got into some minor criticism as in their launch and press photos they didn't show the USB cable as they had brand new large TVs which had HDMI 1.4 while most of the tech blog reviewers had the 1.3 at home when testing the device.

corkie

My chromecast arrived today on schedule from amazon.co.uk

It came with an American plug but lucky I have spare power adapters for it!

spank_inferno

Question re: Netflix.

I'm trying to cast US Netflix content.

I connect to a vpn through my handset.
However the "cast" button disappears.

When I disconnect from the vpn & see the normal Irish Netflix library I can cast as normal.

Has anyone tried this successfully?

corkie

spank_inferno wrote: »

Question re: Netflix.

I'm trying to cast US Netflix content.

I connect to a vpn through my handset.
However the "cast" button disappears.

When I disconnect from the vpn & see the normal Irish Netflix library I can cast as normal.

Has anyone tried this successfully?

Unfortunately when your on a VPN your device/laptop can not see the chromecast device.

If you can change the DNS on your rooter to an American based one, you should be able to stream the US Netflix. Taught i read this somewhere but changing DNS doesn't change your IP so doesn't work.

I only have an O2 Hotshot device for internet, so can not change the DNS on it. << Well I haven't found out how to do it yet.

MuppetCheck

corkie wrote: »

Unfortunately when your on a VPN your device/laptop can not see the chromecast device.

If you can change the DNS on your rooter to an American based one, you should be able to stream the US Netflix.

I only have an O2 Hotshot device for internet, so can not change the DNS on it. << Well I haven't found out how to do it yet.

Thanks for that bit of info, having the same problems so might look into it more.

corkie

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Thanks for that bit of info, having the same problems so might look into it more.

Sorry I taught I read somewhere that you could change your DNS to achieve this. But I just tried it on my laptop and the DNS change had no effect on your IP so American sites won't stream by that method.

jester77

How does Google Music All Access work with chromecast?

I'm thinking about moving from Spotify to Google Music as I much prefer their mobile app. It's just that my amp has a built in spotify app and I get free unlimited spotify streaming on my mobile.

The amp issue would be my biggest concern, but if I can stick a chromecast stick in the back of the amp and stream effortlessly from it then I would change.

corkie

Android mirroring to Chromecast coming, Android 4.4.1 code seems to reveal

The above will be cool because the only thing I can do on android at the moment is cast youtube! Don't have a netflix subscription.

They might as well have called it "youtubecast".

Alpha Dog 1

corkie wrote: »

Android mirroring to Chromecast coming, Android 4.4.1 code seems to reveal

The above will be cool because the only thing I can do on android at the moment is cast youtube! Don't have a netflix subscription.

They might as well have called it "youtubecast".

Well you can also cast tabs from chrome, Google music and movies.

griffdaddy

jester77 wrote: »

How does Google Music All Access work with chromecast?

I'm thinking about moving from Spotify to Google Music as I much prefer their mobile app. It's just that my amp has a built in spotify app and I get free unlimited spotify streaming on my mobile.

The amp issue would be my biggest concern, but if I can stick a chromecast stick in the back of the amp and stream effortlessly from it then I would change.

It works extremely well. It's even the only thing that can turn my amp on from standby for some reason (My xbox and Android mini pc can't). Sound is clear and playback is flawless. I have an Onkyo txsr 309

jester77

griffdaddy wrote: »

It works extremely well. It's even the only thing that can turn my amp on from standby for some reason (My xbox and Android mini pc can't). Sound is clear and playback is flawless. I have an Onkyo txsr 309

Cool, that sounds good. You control volume with your amp remote and everything else is controlled in the phone app? No need for TV to be on?

griffdaddy

jester77 wrote: »

Cool, that sounds good. You control volume with your amp remote and everything else is controlled in the phone app? No need for TV to be on?

Yep, no need for the TV to be on. There's even volume control through Google Music on your phone, but it doesn't control the amp volume, only the level that the Chromecast enters the amp, so you'll need to use the amp remote if you want to make it much louder. Minor volume adjustments with the phone's volume work well though.

god's toy

Have to say what it does, it does well... (Apart from Chrome on computer, still beta)
Plays YouTube better than my Google tv/ in built smart tv apps ever could with no syncing or dropping out sound at all, HD pictures whenever possible too.

Very happy with mine.

Zascar

Yeah I like mine too - search for documentaries etc on youtube and beam them over to my tv - skip through quickly, control volume etc - its great. I'd love a dedicated tablet for this actually

corkie

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

Well you can also cast tabs from chrome, Google music and movies.

That's on a PC. You can't cast from the chrome app on android.

And with Google music your songs need to be in the cloud to cast them.

We don't have google movies in Ireland yet.

The Sparrow

Support added for ten more apps including Plex!

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/12/10/google-adds-10-new-chromecast-apps-including-beyondpod-plex-and-vevo/

The Chromecast launched last summer with a lot of promise, but very limited app support. We've been limping along these last few months with only the occasional addition like Pandora and HBO Go to keep up going. Well, now the floodgates are beginning to open. Google just announced 10 new apps are launching with Chromecast support, and some of them are super-exciting.

Here's the full list of apps from Google's blog post:

VEVO
Red Bull.TV
Songza
PostTV
Viki
Revision 3
BeyondPod
Plex
aVia
RealPlayer Cloud

There are a lot of streaming media providers included, like Revision 3 and VEVO. However, you can finally stream your personal media without some crazy workaround thanks to Plex, aVia, and RealPlayer Cloud support. Plex also has Chromecast support from the web, just like Netflix does.

Google's Chromecast app page should list all supported apps (it seems to be lagging a little behind right now). As for the apps, it looks like they've all been updated today or yesterday, so the functionality should be live.

Bundy89

I was gonna order Chromecast, till I discovered this..

http://www.energysistem.com/en/products/home_video/android_tv_series/39346-energy_android_tv_dongle_dual

Not released till 19th Dec, need to make dumb tv smart. I reckon its streets ahead of Chromecast although it being a bit more pricey.

Check it out..

corkie

The Sparrow wrote: »

Support added for ten more apps including Plex!

Thanks for letting us know!

Just paid for :-
aVia Media Player Pro (Avia Media Player (Chromecast)) €2.31

Now can cast music and videos from my nexus 7!

See chromecast.com/apps

Dudda

Using the Avia app on my Nexus 5 casting a movie I got on ShowBox without any lag or choppy playback. The app did cost €2:31 to enable chromecast but well worth it. It's working flawlessly. This chromecast is really living up to it's potential.

redscan

corkie wrote: »

Thanks for letting us know!

Just paid for :-
aVia Media Player Pro (Avia Media Player (Chromecast)) €2.31

Now can cast music and videos from my nexus 7!

See chromecast.com/apps

Is it working well? Any lag on the videos? Still debating whether I should just get a Slimport cable instead of a Chromecast!