Have been procrastinating over Chromecast vs Apple TV for a while now, maybe I should try both.
Chromecast is really quite good dead easy to set up. I will be buying another for the TV in the "Study"...
Cheers!
The Chromecast Audio is £15 in a few places, too, including currys
We have mainly apple devices ie Ipad, Iphone and have Netflix that currently we just use on the ipad.
Would this allow me to stream photos/videos from the iPhone to the TV, and to stream the Netflix from the ipad?
+ potentially amazon content in the future
Thats me going up to the local Tescos tonight, been deliberating over getting one for a while.
Thanks for the PSA!
We have mainly apple devices ie Ipad, Iphone and have Netflix that currently we just use on the ipad.Would this allow me to stream photos/videos from the iPhone to the TV, and to stream the Netflix from the ipad?
+ potentially amazon content in the future
Yes, netflix is natively supported on iDevices. Amazon isn't though, the one weakness. You can still stream amazon using a chrome browser on a laptop but it's not great.
For sending photos and music AllCast seems to work quite well. For £20 its definitely worth having. In some shops £20 won't buy you a hdmi lead for example! I use mine all the time. NowTv, Gcn on youtube, netflix, spotify etc etc.
Chromecasts are ace, especially for android users, where you can do all kinds of things.
That said, we're a household of iphones, an ipad and one android tablet and it still gets some stick
Saw this yesterday and wifey picked one up from Argos for me today. This is our third.... I think they're pretty good!
Selling my Jailbroken AppleTV v2 now.
Funky if you can stream netflix via Chrome app on iPad you should (I think) be able to send it to the Chromecast. We have Apple TV as we are all Apple and bought the first one before Chromecast came out. I don't know how you would send photos/video to a Chromecast from an iOS device. That's easy with an Apple TV.
Maybe @sharkbait can tell you if that works
Are they much use if you have a smart TV?
I've been considering one but have a nagging doubt I just won't use it.
I use Android if that makes much difference.
£18 at Currys now!
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertainment/digital-and-smart-tv/smart-tv/google-chromecast-10137566-pdt.html#srcid=11026
Use our v1 Chromecast all the time for Netflix, iPlayer, Plex, etc.
The iPad and iPhone apps for the above, when they detect the chromecast on your network, will display a Cast icon which you select to connect.
No need for casting via a Chrome tab for the above.
Our series 7 Samsung has all of the above apps, but the chromecast is just quicker and easier to use than faffing with the TV apps.
At that price it's a bargain.
Only alternative I'd consider is an Amazon Fire TV, but that's 70 odd quid.
There's cashback through quidco too from Currys too.
The stick is only £25 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KAKUN3E/?tag=ho01f-21Only alternative I'd consider is an Amazon Fire TV, but that's 70 odd quid.
@nickjb - Would want the 4K support from the Fire TV. The Stick does not support that yet.
Oh, and I'm trying to hardwire all of the streaming devices in the house too.
i too have a v1. is there any point in a v2? are they an improved version in any way?
Just ordered a one for £18 from Currys.
i too have a v1. is there any point in a v2? are they an improved version in any way?
just to revisit this, ive just received my £18 currys chromecast too, more in the hope that it may solve my virgin media issues. when i opened a VM account i found my cc didnt work with it. virgin admitted there was an issue between them and said the only answer was to use the previous virgin box which they sent me free of charge, and i now use.
been googling and found this......
[i]Inside the new Chromecast are three bespoke antennas arranged in a circular fashion that are optimised for streaming. These antennas support the modern Wi-Fi streaming standard of 802.11ac which operates on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies. The old Chromecast only world on 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n. The change, Google says, will allow Chromecast 2 owners to see a 2-4x performance improvement over the old model. Video will stream more reliably and with less buffering.[/i]
for any media experts out there, do you think this will now have cured that problem and i can go back to the new improved VM box?
thanks
doesnt sound plausible to me. And the antennas are about signal strength I guess.
You can always chain a spare router onto the virgin media box to give a second wifi point. Disabling the adsl or if that is too difficult you can buy powerline adaptors with a wifi network too. Both would solve the issue.
Or I noticed you can get an Ethernet adaptor for chromecast, network and power over usb.
Got one from currys for £18
