Chromecast

[martyn94]

It turns out that they have been launched today both in the UK (with bbc iplayer on board) at £30, and in France at €35.

[Sue]

Has anyone seen these for sale yet locally?

[Allan]

Has anyone seen these for sale yet locally?

They are available on Amazon.fr but be warned, they don't do very much.

I have one and have been playing with it, it's principle capability is that you can transfer the contents of a tab in the Chrome browser running on a PC to a TV wirelessly.

Beyond that you will need a router configured with SmartDNS or a VPN and then you will be able to kick-off BBC iplayer, Netflix or Youtube from a tablet and then watch it on your TV

Other capabilities will no doubt appear but that's about all at present. If you get your TV on a PC then it is worthwhile for the ability to transfer it to a PC,

What are you hoping it will do for you?

[russell]

It turns out that they have been launched today both in the UK (with bbc iplayer on board) at £30, and in France at €35.

I think iPlayer will only work here with that device if you have a router based VPN or SmartDNS. There doesn't seem to be any support for Filmon although it may come.

Russell.

[Sue]

I was hoping I could use it to play Filmon from my laptop which uses Chrome browser. I have no desire to watch I player, Netflix or You tube. There is enough rubbish on Filmon. Its just we have an Android stick in the tv in sitting room and was merely thinking of getting a Chromecast for the bedroom tv.

[russell]

I was hoping I could use it to play Filmon from my laptop which uses Chrome browser. I have no desire to watch I player, Netflix or You tube. There is enough rubbish on Filmon. Its just we have an Android stick in the tv in sitting room and was merely thinking of getting a Chromecast for the bedroom tv.

As I understand it (although I don't have one to play with) it doesn't stream from your laptop to the TV. The Chromecast unit takes its streams direct from the internet and only uses the laptop, smart phone, etc., to control it. There are a very limited range of apps available for it at present.

By the way, for users of the Chrome browser, Media Hint is now available for that browser as well as Firefox so it can be used for iPlayer without a VPN.

Russell.

[Allan]

I was hoping I could use it to play Filmon from my laptop which uses Chrome browser. I have no desire to watch I player, Netflix or You tube. There is enough rubbish on Filmon. Its just we have an Android stick in the tv in sitting room and was merely thinking of getting a Chromecast for the bedroom tv.

If your laptop runs Windows 7 or 8 and you have wifi in the bedroom then it will do what you want.

With Chrome, you can 'cast' to the Chromecast from a tab in a chrome browser. That tab can be Filmon, or any other web page.

Streaming is an entirely different issue and as I said in my earlier post, is very limited

[Sue]

Think I may invest in one. My laptop supports windows 7, is wifi and is in the bedroom so hopefully it will be ok.

[opas]

I would be interested in what you would watch in the bedroom......aversion of babes tv but for ladies

[Sue]

Smutty.

[russell]

If your laptop runs Windows 7 or 8 and you have wifi in the bedroom then it will do what you want.

With Chrome, you can 'cast' to the Chromecast from a tab in a chrome browser. That tab can be Filmon, or any other web page.

Streaming is an entirely different issue and as I said in my earlier post, is very limited

Sorry, I missed the fact that you can "cast" from the Chromium browser

In fact it works from Linux and Mac as well as Windows 7/8. It could be a good solution if you have a spare computer available and don't mind tying it up to the TV. At least it eliminates the need for a HDMI lead trailing across the room.

Russell