Use the shit out of it. It's awesome.

 

What's the difference of using the Chromecast and HDMI with the laptop to the TV PQ wise?

 

No idea, never tried. I set one up for my grandmother. Haven't gotten one yet because we only have one TV with HDMI, and a Roku is hooked up to it. There are times where I wish I had it, though.

 

Chromecast uses wifi to "cast" content to screen.
if your wifi sucks, the content will get pixilated

there isnt a replacement for hard wiring anything.
this technology just makes it easier to throw content on the big screen.


I dont mess with any illegal streaming services. there are apps that stream the latest movie theater releases.
its not for me, as I like my content in high def or high pq.

I know you have HBOGo and is what I generally stream to my TV.
i also watch youtube videos on the tv.

instead of sitting upright in a computer chair browsing youtube, I browse from my couch.

 

I got it more for my kids' room but my favorite feature is portability since they have unconnected smartphones for YT and Netflix.

 

Only downside to Chromecast is the audio decoding AFAIK. It's AC3 passthrough.

 

My Chromecast after one year of use now reboots itself every 5 minutes when streaming, so it's garbage

 

My Chromecasts work great, I have 2, one of them I ordered the first day it was announced and it's gotten plenty of use. Streams HD from Netflix and HBO no issues, sound quality is fine. All I know is if I use WatchESPN from my phone to the CC it's HD, if I try to watch Monday Night Football on my laptop with HDMI out to TV it looks terrible (they block MNF just on phones). Zero complaints with Chromecast.

 

There is zero reason why a laptop connected via HDMI would have inferior VQ to streamed content. Maybe the laptop isn't outputting the maximum resolution?

Although in my experience the machine usually auto-detects it's a TV and outputs correctly on it's own.

 

It depends what youre using. If you're mirroring your browser to the tv it will be worse quality. But if you use content where the chromecast pulls from the website and is not relayed through your browser like netflix, youtube, hbo. It will be just as good quality as your laptop.

 

mirroring sucks. i never use it.

 

Really? I do it almost all the time. Works perfectly for me with hulu or other tv websites. And streaming as well.

 

when mirroring, there is noticeable lag between my device and the TV.

if the app doesnt have chromcast baked in, I wont watch it.

Ive found an alternate way to watch Xfininty app.
stream xfinity from desktop and with chrome's baked in chromecast feature, i just send it to my TV.

 

wait, what. Why do you care? The video on my laptop is a second or two ahead. But I'm not watching on the TV and the sound matches what's on the TV. So who cares if there is lag between the laptop and tv.

 

Ok I installed it. I used it to test first on YouTube. The quality was definitely worse than the PS3 app as well as plugging it in via HDMI. I then watched Person of Interest though CBS.com. Comes out a little darker and grainier than HDMI but does the job. It's definitely not for quality, more convenience.

 

How is the streaming from a random website work with Chromecast?

Basically, there are some soccer games each weekend I would like to watch but I don't have the channels on my TV. I know several websites I can go to to stream the game and watch at my computer. If I use Chromecast and it displays what's on the computer to the TV, will the picture look all distorted or will it adjust to the size of the TV? Or for that is there something else I can use?

 

You have to use the Chrome add-in to cast to it. The quality will suffer and in my case is darker than usual. Depending on your homework it might hook up. Luckily Chromecast is my last line of watching PC stuff on the TV. I prefer Hulu, Netflix, HBO Go, and HDMI. CC is more if I'm lazy.

 

Yea but I just need something for streaming soccer games from my computer to my TV. sounds like chromecast is more for netflix, hulu, etc.

 

No. I stream CBS's video to my TV via Chrome browswer with the cast add-on. It works but the quality suffers.

 

quality suffers a bit as the highest chromecast does is 720p for streaming. But its defaulted to 480p. You need to adjust it to the higher setting, but only do so if you have a strong connection.

I watch some shows/movies from stream websites and i chromecast those to my tv. It's still good.

 

$20 for Amazon Fire TV Stick

 

If the Fire stick supported HBO I'd have ordered it already and regifted one of my Chromecasts.... gonna have to look into that more.

 

Ordered. For $20, it's good insurance.

Also, HBO Go is due for Fire TV before the end of the year.

 

Good enough, I'll give it a try for $20.

 

So how does this compare to chromecast?

 

4x the storage and 2x the memory of Chromecast, plus a dual-core processor and 1 GB of memory. Comes with a remote. Comes with mirroring apps instead of having to go 3rd party. Like $4 more.