Papa_Sean

So I moved my furniture around a bit and its just occurring to me I should go wireless HDMI instead of toggling this long cord from my laptop to my flat screen. I looked'em up but don't have any personal experience with either so opinions welcome. I'd like a full desktop mirror just like the cable provided. I really don't care about stand alone options so if included its really just an extra accessory.

Chromecast vs Roku

Airtime

Im leaning towards Airtime only because it seems to be the only one that actually delivers the full desktop screen. I just have to wait until it finally drops in May. Maybe there is another device I dont know about? If you have some info please share

TeknoKing

False advertisement as of now it is physically impossible to deliver full HD via wifi dongle...as this exactly what these are...

Roku and Chromecast comes preloaded with apps such Netflix and other gadgets. Both work well to deliver.

All dongles heavily rely on your wifi capabilities. When they will release a true wireless HDMI where it can sprint to at least 25Mbps and provide true hd res with 5.1 DTS, then we shall talk about it. For now these all stream from wifi...none of these dongles are Wireless HDMI. They utilize the hdmi port, that's it.

AIRTAME seems to stream the content of your screen, something Chromecast and Roku won't do as it violates copyrights laws since now you can stream any content (legal and illegal) to big screens, so this AIRTAME won't even make it to the states. It also getting delayed by 6 more months according to the site.

I still rely on my hdmi cable to laptop to provide the quality and the speed I desire for true hd experience without overloading my network: 1080p + surround sound.

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the...o-transmitter/ I still wouldn't buy these either, few years ago these systems were going for $1K... they are getting cheaper.

Whiskers

apple tv

TeknoKing

I hate to admit it, but ^ he is probably right, lol.

stogie1020

I use apple TV and am often disappointed in the 720p resolution. I am happy for the ability to view netflix and my Flickr photos on the TV, but am very disappointed in the resolution and what the apple TV does to the images/video quality.

Papa_Sean

I realized the misspelling after the edit window passed Reading all the reviews for whats currently available and your right about the quality. "Airtame" still looks promising though. I've never been into Apple products. I'll pass on apple tv. I guess I'll buy an extra long HDMI cord for now. Thanks guys

TeknoKing

check out monoprice.com and amazon.com, they have good deals on cable.

350

iTrader: (4)

Chromecast works great with Netflix and HBO GO, but every time I try it with the Chrome browser either on my laptop or phone (beta version) it's glitchy and slow. For what I really need it for it's great, just those two apps. If I wanted to use the TV like a monitor I'm still gonna break out my long HDMI cable. Can't go wrong for $35 though.

Doom878

Agreed. I still go laptop and long HDMI but I've kept on eye on Roku, Chromecast, etc.

speedemon90

Link??

If I remember reading correctly when chromecast came out it was one of the only few devices that supported Netflix SuperHD.. so I want to presume your assumption is false, but feel free to prove me wrong.

I love chromecast but like someone else stated it really matters on your wifi for how you will enjoy this experience. The chromecast at my parents house is on the opposite end of the house from our router. Unless you're doing one of the chromecast apps its not the best experience.

At my apt I have my router near my TV. So wifi signal is excellent. I usually have no problem casting tabs of movies from my computer or even hulu.com. The only time there will be lag is if the internet is going slow, which isnt often.

Honestly buy a hdmi cable and chromecast. You can get both for under $45 probably.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

I'm way late, but getting the gf a Roku for Christmas.

Debating between the stick and the Roku 3. She mainly will use it to stream netflix shows. I heard the stick is slow booting up netflix and the 3 is fast. Is that worth justifying spending $100 instead of $50 and getting the 3 over the stick? Or for mainly netflix streaming should I get the stick instead?

Whiskers

Get the stick.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

I just saw that the 3 is on sale for $78 at Best Buy and Frys... so $80 vs $50. Still get the stick?

doopstr

Can any of those sticks put an entire windows desktop up or is it just the streaming stuff? I'm looking for a wireless version of a direct HDMI cable.

Whiskers

Apple TV does Airplay
Surface has a wireless adapter

litesout

You could always check out WiDi if your laptop supports it. I've got the Netgear adapter that I use with my phone. Its okay. Obviously not full HD though. It might work better from the computer though.

Doom878

I ended up getting the Chromecast a few months ago for $15 shipped refurbed and I got my daughters the Roku LT for $30 on Xmas special directly from Roku. They had the Chromecast before Xmas but they don't care to cast from the phone as they prefer all the Roku channels. Only downfall for the Roku is that it needs to plug into the wall so it's a little far from the TV (TV is to the left and the Roku you have to point the remote to the right).

Shoofin

I just picked up an Amazon Fire Stick as a pre-order for Prime members for $19. It replaced Chromecast. Wow. It's awesome!

Doom878

What improvements did you see?

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^ A remote, dual band wifi, little better specs, and easy Prime content access.

Doom878

A remote doesn't make sense to me. I guess I have to see the UI. I kind of prefer just tapping on my phone. And I was curious if Shoofin noticed the performance advantages. I don't have Prime at this time (we get taxed here for Amazon).

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

The remote with my Fire TV is one of it's better attributes IMO. I'm not sure if the Fire Stick is the same or not.

Doom878

Does the Fire Stick not need USB? That's pretty awesome because Chromecast does.

Shoofin

It's similar to the Chromecast. It uses one HDMI input, and requires a power source (USB or wall plug if USB isn't available). Where it's different, though, is that the amount of power the USB input on my TV gives off to power the Chromecast was good, but when I used the same USB input to plug in the power for the Fire Stick, I got an error message saying it wasn't sufficient power, and I had to plug it into a wall power supply. Once up and running, though, it's got a very smooth connection, is very easy to navigate and use, and quick to load. I like! Chromecast doesn't have nearly as much as the Fire Stick offers. With that being said, anyone interested in buying my Chromecast? Make me an offer!

Shoofin

The remote is very basic. Just a simple up/down/left/right toggle, an enter button, FF/RR/Play/Pause, a back button, Home Button, and Options Button. They do make an app that lets you control it all on your iOS/Android device, too.

As for performance, I don't notice any lag whatsoever. The stick responds to the remote instantly. I have Prime, so I can take advantage of the movies/TV/music that they offer. I hope to lower my cable bill by eliminating the premium movie channels that I rarely use, and will rely on Hulu/Netflix/Prime TV for anything I want to watch. I have not tried Hulu or Netflix on the Fire Stick yet, so I'm not sure if it works as seamlessly as it's been when using Prime services.

Shoofin

Here's the app:

The top left button takes you back to your selection of what device you want to connect to, the microphone button allows you to search for stuff by saying the name of the movie or whatever you're looking for, the keyboard is to type the info in.

On the bottom, you have "back", "home", "options", then below that, you can figure out what it is.

Doom878

Are you referring to apps that can be used with it? Chromecast's knock was little app support at first. Amazon learned from that.

Shoofin

Yes It didn't seem like it had much other than a few apps. Also, any time I tried to stream something from my PC to TV at full screen, it was very choppy. I don't know if that had to do with my internet connection, but I have a good/fast connection with excellent wifi connectivity where my PC/TV was. Youtube worked well on CC, though.

350

iTrader: (4)

I have Fire TV and Chromecast and although Fire does more stuff I find Chromecast much simpler for Netflix I'd rather use my phone than the remote and I don't like the fire app really either.

Doom878

Yeah I saw that when I cast from Chrome browser on my laptop it was choppy as well. I just got a new modem as Comcast is charging $10/mo for the lease (another topic) and my router was also purchased this year. My laptop is not even a year either although it's low end. After all that let's see how choppy it is.

litesout

Finally got around to trying the Netgear PTV adapter. It was okay with the Surface for surfing the web, but video playback was really choppy. Very similar to the phone. Same results with my Haswell i7 gaming laptop. Personally, I'd stay away from it.

Mizouse

im going to return my piece of shlt amazon fire stick, always be dropping wifi and cant stream for crap when it did get a connection.

I know its not just me because my friend got one too and has the exact same issue and there are some reviews on amazon that say the same thing.

if it wasnt for the $19 preorder price i would have never bothered with it.

350

iTrader: (4)

I haven't used it enough to have an issue yet I got frustrated setting it up, then didn't care for the app, then thought the remote was kind of annoying, watched a few episodes of Workaholics since it was basically right there, and haven't used it again since then since my Chromecast works so well.

Shoofin

I'm surprised...It's working solid for me!

Nexx

i bought a chromecast strictly for streaming popcorn time. it works and looks flawless.

Mizouse

Well maybe I'll do an exchange first.

Doom878

Please explain. I didn't know that was possible.

Doom878

Hey this should be the cable/sat alt thread or something. Anyone check out this Sling TV service coming out? $20 a month for live ESPN, TNT, TBS and a few other cable networks. No provider sub needed. I like the direction.

Sling TV - Take Back TV

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^Very cool although we need to see the specifics...

Mizouse

Ohh sling box is gonna offer TV service now?