GatewayRedbirds.com

So the joys of a la carte could wind up taking us back to a world where there were 15 channels or so.

pioneer98 wrote:So Chromecast....They advertise that it only costs $35 but I'm wondering if there are any subscription fees.

They also advertise that you can get ABC and ESPN on it, but I'm wondering about blackout restrictions on those channels, and others.

So, Amazon is selling their firestick (yeah, awesome name) which is the same as chromecast but with more something (memory, speed, I don't know) for $19 yesterday and today to Prime members (I think you get a free month of prime with the purchase?). It won't be available until 11/19 plus shipping and/or delay for backlog. But, if you're still looking, this might be a good deal for you.

time to dock my firestick

So I see others are talking about this...I just wanted to post this article

http://gizmodo.com/fire-tv-stick-vs-chr ... 1651295833

and note that even after reading it I'm not sure what a "stick" (in this context) or a "dongle" is or does. They look like flash drives or something that allow you to stream TV signals. I think.

Vidor wrote:So I see others are talking about this...I just wanted to post this article

http://gizmodo.com/fire-tv-stick-vs-chr ... 1651295833

and note that even after reading it I'm not sure what a "stick" (in this context) or a "dongle" is or does. They look like flash drives or something that allow you to stream TV signals. I think.

The chromecast/fire stick/whatever is a little drive (?) that hooks into the TV's HDMI port and picks up a feed sent from a computer or phone or tablet and sends it to the TV. Both the stick and the tablet/computer/phone have to be hooked up to the same wifi/internet network for it to work.

That feed can be a lot of different things and is different for each of the sticks. But, in general, watchespn, netflix, youtube, prime tv, hulu, etc etc etc can all be watched on your TV instead of on your phone/computer.

If you have a smart TV, I'm not sure they're necessary. But, if you have an older TV like mine, it allows you to see all that stuff, which is nice. Also, fwiw, I can cast watchespn to my tv through my phone and get an almost flawless picture whereas watching it directly on my computer is not as good.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:

Vidor wrote:So I see others are talking about this...I just wanted to post this article

http://gizmodo.com/fire-tv-stick-vs-chr ... 1651295833

and note that even after reading it I'm not sure what a "stick" (in this context) or a "dongle" is or does. They look like flash drives or something that allow you to stream TV signals. I think.

The chromecast/fire stick/whatever is a little drive (?) that hooks into the TV's HDMI port and picks up a feed sent from a computer or phone or tablet and sends it to the TV. Both the stick and the tablet/computer/phone have to be hooked up to the same wifi/internet network for it to work.

That feed can be a lot of different things and is different for each of the sticks. But, in general, watchespn, netflix, youtube, prime tv, hulu, etc etc etc can all be watched on your TV instead of on your phone/computer.

If you have a smart TV, I'm not sure they're necessary. But, if you have an older TV like mine, it allows you to see all that stuff, which is nice. Also, fwiw, I can cast watchespn to my tv through my phone and get an almost flawless picture whereas watching it directly on my computer is not as good.

Hm. So I can plug one of those suckers into my TV and watch youtube videos? Interesting.

Vidor wrote:

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:

Vidor wrote:So I see others are talking about this...I just wanted to post this article

http://gizmodo.com/fire-tv-stick-vs-chr ... 1651295833

and note that even after reading it I'm not sure what a "stick" (in this context) or a "dongle" is or does. They look like flash drives or something that allow you to stream TV signals. I think.

The chromecast/fire stick/whatever is a little drive (?) that hooks into the TV's HDMI port and picks up a feed sent from a computer or phone or tablet and sends it to the TV. Both the stick and the tablet/computer/phone have to be hooked up to the same wifi/internet network for it to work.

That feed can be a lot of different things and is different for each of the sticks. But, in general, watchespn, netflix, youtube, prime tv, hulu, etc etc etc can all be watched on your TV instead of on your phone/computer.

If you have a smart TV, I'm not sure they're necessary. But, if you have an older TV like mine, it allows you to see all that stuff, which is nice. Also, fwiw, I can cast watchespn to my tv through my phone and get an almost flawless picture whereas watching it directly on my computer is not as good.

Hm. So I can plug one of those suckers into my TV and watch youtube videos? Interesting.

Yes. Assuming you have an internet connection at your house, a TV with an HDMI port, and a smartphone or computer. It should also be noted that the chromecast (and I imagine the other ones) need a power supply. I just plug the cromecast cable into the USB port in the TV and draw power from there. It says not to do that if it can be avoided in the instructions, but I've had no problems.

You don't need a smartphone or a computer with the Firestick or the Roku, fwiw. Those aren't mirroring devices (although the Firestick apparently has the functionality to do both) like the Chromecast where you have to send it the media from a second device.

The big difference between sticks and larger streaming devices is functionality and footprint. I have a Sony Google TV in my living room that has a remote with a full keyboard, full browser and streams my windows media folder over the network, but in my kitchen I have a TV that flips down from under the cabinet with a Roku stick. It's the size of a large flash drive and just plugs into the side of the TV. The setup takes zero counter space. They're also really portable. My Google TV doesn't have an HBO GO app so sometimes I grab the Roku from the kitchen and use it in the living room. I went from $200/mo for Uverse to $28/mo for Charter internet. I don't miss anything.

Doesn't the chromecast have it's own fully functioning apps though, independent of a phone or computer? I thought using the computer was just an option. Supposedly you can also send local media to it by opening it with the browser.

ghostrunner wrote:Doesn't the chromecast have it's own fully functioning apps though, independent of a phone or computer? I thought using the computer was just an option. Supposedly you can also send local media to it by opening it with the browser.

I thought you had to open the media on a second device (and "cast" it), but maybe it has apps as well. I've never messed with one.

edit - according to the article Vidor posted, you have to control it from your phone or tablet or whatever, but it does have apps. It's more of a remote control issue.