Google Chromecast

[slayernine]

Has any of the Roms incorporated a great use for Chromecast. I am borderline willing to change from stock to have better functionality with chromecast. My goal is to take videos off my SD card and play them on my tv. I don't want an hdmi cable because on the note 2 it requires it to be plugged in which I don't have another outlet to use. My PC and TV setup are all on one two port plug...

I hope so, I would love to play roms on the big screen from my phone or tablet. Stupid nexus 7 can't do video out.

 

[Red Storm]

I hope so, I would love to play roms on the big screen from my phone or tablet. Stupid nexus 7 can't do video out.

Nexus 7 does Slimport...

 

[drbrock]

Your PC can't power the phone while it's plugged in?

My goal is to avoid having the pc be powered on. It runs to loud for me to enjoy movies. Gaming rig is annoyingly loud. When I have some extra change I was going to invest in water cooling or A large case with large fans.

 

[Red Storm]

My goal is to avoid having the pc be powered on. It runs to loud for me to enjoy movies. Gaming rig is annoyingly loud. When I have some extra change I was going to invest in water cooling or A large case with large fans.

If it's going to be off... unplug it? Or solve the real problem and just buy an extender for more outlets?

 

[drbrock]

If it's going to be off... unplug it? Or solve the real problem and just buy an extender for more outlets?

My only concern is overloading the plug and causing a fire. It might be time for me to move my PC to another room.

 

[Graze]

Stupid nexus 7 can't do video out.

That's a misinformed statement if I ever saw one

 

[slayernine]

That's a misinformed statement if I ever saw one

I could specify more accurately that I was disappointed that the original nexus 7 didn't get any cool features that would allow it to screencast or have video out via its usb port and that I feel that it was "stupid" to design it that way. I think the new model has addressed this issue. Also if Google would start selling chromecast in Canada this would partially fix my problem.

 

[vshah]

My only concern is overloading the plug and causing a fire. It might be time for me to move my PC to another room.

your pc + tv setup is probably not pulling more than 7-8 amps at most, probably more like 4-5 most of the time. a phone will add maybe .1 amps to that draw, less if it's powered from a computer's usb port. A standard outlet is specced to provide 15 amps. you'll be fine.

 

[drbrock]

Officially giving up on the chromecast. From some of the developers I have been following I think it will be a long time before they allow anyone to make apps for the chromecast. Going to post mine on craigslist and see if I can sell it.

 

[bearxor]

I've not used mine in a few weeks. But it only cost me like ten bucks after the netflix coupon so I'll hang on to it for now.

 

[cronos]

Pretty much the only thing I'm not happy with my ChromeCast right now is the intermittent wi-fi disconnect I'm experiencing. I'm pretty sure this is not the ChromeCast fault but rather it's a limitation of the old fashion WRT54G that I'm using. The disconnect doesn't happen often, but when it does it's just really annoying.

Also, I'm still waiting patiently for the apps, more specifically Plex. It would make the usability of my ChromeCast essentially doubled if it has a native Plex app. Currently the tabcasting works for Plex/Web but not for all movies, at least that has been my experience (e.g. some movies don't have audio, possibly because of the codec).

 

[bearxor]

I was really disappointed it didn't have 5ghz wifi. I would have been perfectly happy with single-stream 5ghz n.

 

[SAWYER]

I use mine all the time

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Kinda feel like I got bait-and-switch'd on this device. It was "unlocked" so to speak when I ordered it, and by the time it got to my house, google had shut down all the development rendering it roughly useless for my purposes. Hrm.

 

[drbrock]

Kinda feel like I got bait-and-switch'd on this device. It was "unlocked" so to speak when I ordered it, and by the time it got to my house, google had shut down all the development rendering it roughly useless for my purposes. Hrm.

This. Thought it would replace my wdtv live, as an easy device to run with my phone. Last time a google product before it is actually finished. Got burned on the HTC Evo when android wasn't ready for the big time and now chromecast. Google does make great things, gmail and new android phones but they need to be more up front about the direction they are taking with new products.

 

[Red Storm]

Kinda feel like I got bait-and-switch'd on this device. It was "unlocked" so to speak when I ordered it, and by the time it got to my house, google had shut down all the development rendering it roughly useless for my purposes. Hrm.

I don't see how you got bait and switched. The product advertises a certain set of features, that's what you paid for.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I'm really happy with mine, it does quite a lot for only $10 essentially.

Though I do wonder where the apps are. Has any new apps arrived since this thing launched some months ago?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've not used mine in a few weeks. But it only cost me like ten bucks after the netflix coupon so I'll hang on to it for now.

Same here. I used it once to play a Youtube video on my TV, and that was it. I've been waiting for apps to come along and support it but nothing seems to be happening on that front or at least, as fast as I thought it would.

 

[TwiceOver]

It really doesn't like being turned off and on with my TV. I have such problems keeping it connected and ready for my phone. Yesterday I spent 15 minutes getting it to work to watch a 7 minute youtube video.

 

[gorcorps]

Pretty much the only thing I'm not happy with my ChromeCast right now is the intermittent wi-fi disconnect I'm experiencing. I'm pretty sure this is not the ChromeCast fault but rather it's a limitation of the old fashion WRT54G that I'm using. The disconnect doesn't happen often, but when it does it's just really annoying.

Also, I'm still waiting patiently for the apps, more specifically Plex. It would make the usability of my ChromeCast essentially doubled if it has a native Plex app. Currently the tabcasting works for Plex/Web but not for all movies, at least that has been my experience (e.g. some movies don't have audio, possibly because of the codec).

That's happened to me and I have a new fairly nice router. I've had a couple times where it's still connected but it refuses to play certain Netflix videos for some reason. Then I bounce back to my Roku box and it plays the same thing just fine.

Right now I'm planning on just using it as a home audio system. The play music app works well enough with it that I'm thinking of mounting a couple android tablets around the house and using it as a jukebox control type of thing when I have people over. There's probably better ways to do such a thing but this seems pretty easy.

 

[zoiks]

I bought one for myself and one for my brother. Both of our chromecasts works perfectly. I use it all the time (when I watch netflix and youtube that is).

 

[cronos]

That's happened to me and I have a new fairly nice router. I've had a couple times where it's still connected but it refuses to play certain Netflix videos for some reason. Then I bounce back to my Roku box and it plays the same thing just fine.

Yeah, it really sucks when that happened. I just really dislike wireless streaming in general. Maybe 10 years from now it's going to be reliable, but now, for streaming media to my TV I'll always choose to run a cable if given the choice.

If only the ChromeCast has an ethernet port... (I'm sure there are more people who hate it than love it if it does ).

 

[Shackanaw]

Hulu Plus has been updated to support Chromecast. I figured that was a good excuse to do a free trial, and see how well it works.

The app implements Chromecast pretty well. The lockscreen widget doesn't cover the entire screen like Netflix, so you don't have to hit the home or back button before you can unlock your device. It doesn't drain the battery like Netflix, either.

So far, the only Chromecast-related issue I've experienced, (and this is a very minor issue,) is that you cannot access the slider to rewind or fast forward unless you're in portrait mode - if you're playing a video on the device itself, it's obviously there though.

 

[EvilYoda]

Hope people still look at this thread! Since I'm buying a new laptop and phone soon, I was wondering if anyone's used the Chromecast in a hotel room? I'm not familiar with how the setup of the Chromecast works and I travel for work so if I'm able to just plug it in and "easily" connect to the hotel wifi, I'll be a happy camper being able to just toss videos over to the TV while still using my laptop in bed.

 

[bearxor]

Hope people still look at this thread! Since I'm buying a new laptop and phone soon, I was wondering if anyone's used the Chromecast in a hotel room? I'm not familiar with how the setup of the Chromecast works and I travel for work so if I'm able to just plug it in and "easily" connect to the hotel wifi, I'll be a happy camper being able to just toss videos over to the TV while still using my laptop in bed.

I don't think it will work out for you. You'd basically have to reset it every time and run through the setup to get it to connect to a different wireless network.

If you're staying in hotels a lot anyways, you should really invest in a small travel router, like the Apple Airport Express or one of the smaller Netgears. Hotel wifi is usually crappy to begin with and this will let you plug it in to the wired connection in your room and give you your own personal wifi network. This would mean a more stable and typically faster connection and the same wifi network name and security wherever you go. This would let a chromecast work for you since it would have your routers info always stored and would just connect to it.