I use Google chromecast for that. It works great with say YouTube that has the app built in, but not so great with other services
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Which digital streaming is better?
- Thread starter ctenidae
- Start date
Edd
Well-known member
Have you tried the Chromecast at any hotels on trips?
I'm thinking of picking up a Roku stick for traveling. If the hotel has decent wifi, I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work.
gmcunni
Active member
I have not. The only thing I usually stream are live concerts from Phish, Widespread Panic etc. So, I bought the Chromecast for that because I wanted to be able to watch the stream on TV, yet use my lap top on another webpage at the same time. You can't do that with a straight HDMI hookup. Ustream is the webpage / company that hosts these live shows and they don't have the Chrome app and using Chromecast works very poorly without it. I do have horrible wireless though. The building needs to be rewired by Comcast. It's 30 year old cable in the walls from the building was first built.
Apple TV can mirror most anything on your device. You may have to adjust the TV resolution (normal, expanded, widescreen) to get the picture bigger, but mirroring can be a good work around for apps that don't support AirPlay. The Comcast app won't work via mirroring; very sneaky.
Chromecast is difficult to set up at a hotel using their wifi since you usually have to log into the wifi via a browser to gain internet access.
Roku is another option. They've gotten better with their apps in the more recent devices. They have Netflix and Amazon. They now also have History, PBS and a few others.
Chromecast is difficult to set up at a hotel using their wifi since you usually have to log into the wifi via a browser to gain internet access.
Roku is another option. They've gotten better with their apps in the more recent devices. They have Netflix and Amazon. They now also have History, PBS and a few others.
benski
Active member
Also you can't mirror dvd's on Apple TV. Mirroring also does not work with Mac OS 6.
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Geoff
Well-known member
Yeah, that magically stopped working on WinDoze 7 with some update about a year ago. I used to use my laptop as a DVD player and push the video over HDMI with a DVI to HDMI converter to the hotel room flat screen. Then it stopped working. I can put my laptop display on the flat screen so I can stream Netflix but not DVDs. With the typical hotel room crappy WiFi performance, I want to be able to watch a DVD.
I have a large DVD/Blu Ray collection. I keep saying I'm going to set up a home theater PC with a big disk array, rip all my discs, and use DLNA to stream to an upgraded AV receiver. It probably won't happen until I upgrade to 4K and a much bigger panel several years from now.
For the moment, I'm fine streaming Netflix and Amazon Prime to my plasma using my Panasonic blu ray player.
Edd
Well-known member
Roku has the largest app selection by a long shot over the other boxes. The interface is outstanding putting blu-ray and smart TV software to shame.
gmcunni
Active member
roku 4 announcement due soon. as a result you can pick up a roku 3 for $79.99 @ Best Buy (and probalby elsewhere).
i did
i did
Edd
Well-known member
I'm guessing it will support 4K. If so, I'll probably pick it up.
gmcunni
Active member
rumor yes, will actually be called Roku 4K.
o3jeff
New member
Apple TV is $69 now.
HD333
New member
Netflix users. It seems that I can't get Netflix to stream in HD on my TV, Samsung 4K. I can stream in HD on another non smart tv with Chromecast.
Any ideas ?
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Any ideas ?
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Edd
Well-known member
Stream in HD? Are you saying that it's streaming in SD?
HD333
New member
Yes. Shows are playing in SD on the Smart TV, Samsung, but on another TV they stream in HD through Chromecast.
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danimals
Active member
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Internet bandwidth may be an issue. Sometimes the smart tv software will just downgrade it to sd if bandwidth is bad
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Edd
Well-known member
Is it hard wired to the router or are you relying on a wifi connection? If it's wifi, you could try to hard wire it to eliminate wifi issues. After that, the obvious is to look at settings on the tv, which I'm guessing you've done.
Smart TV interfaces are a disgrace compared to Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, ect...My advice would be to ditch smart TV usage and use it as a dumb TV with a box or Chromecast hooked up.
Smart TV interfaces are a disgrace compared to Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, ect...My advice would be to ditch smart TV usage and use it as a dumb TV with a box or Chromecast hooked up.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
Netflix is going from $8 to $10 per month. Not a big deal, but I hardly ever watch Netflix so I am thinking of ditching it.
Can anyone compare Netflix to Amazon Prime Video? Since I am a Prime member, I am thinking that there is no reason to have Netflix.
We are cord cutters. Right now we have Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and Sling TV - all through Roku. Sling TV is temporary because we have a friend who is appearing on a reality show. Once that's over we will get rid of Sling TV.
I also have a Plex Media server on my home network. I am a huge fan of Plex. Of course everything on my media server has been legally downloaded.
Lastly, I pay $25 a year for a VPN spoofing service. This allows us to directly stream BBC shows, ITV shows, CBC shows, etc. We are at the point where we watch just as much British content as American content.
I don't miss cable one bit. If you are a sports fan you really need cable, but I'm fine without it. We now watch less TV, but just as much quality TV. We just don't watch the mindless crap that we used to watch.
And thanks to cord cutting I have become a huge rugby fan. Rugby is SO much better to watch than American football. Way more exciting, just as much strategy, and a lot more action. For those interested in checking out rugby, the RBS Six Nations tournament begins on February 6th.
Can anyone compare Netflix to Amazon Prime Video? Since I am a Prime member, I am thinking that there is no reason to have Netflix.
We are cord cutters. Right now we have Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and Sling TV - all through Roku. Sling TV is temporary because we have a friend who is appearing on a reality show. Once that's over we will get rid of Sling TV.
I also have a Plex Media server on my home network. I am a huge fan of Plex. Of course everything on my media server has been legally downloaded.
Lastly, I pay $25 a year for a VPN spoofing service. This allows us to directly stream BBC shows, ITV shows, CBC shows, etc. We are at the point where we watch just as much British content as American content.
I don't miss cable one bit. If you are a sports fan you really need cable, but I'm fine without it. We now watch less TV, but just as much quality TV. We just don't watch the mindless crap that we used to watch.
And thanks to cord cutting I have become a huge rugby fan. Rugby is SO much better to watch than American football. Way more exciting, just as much strategy, and a lot more action. For those interested in checking out rugby, the RBS Six Nations tournament begins on February 6th.
Edd
Well-known member
Amazon, like Netflix, has some great original content. I think Netflix is superior to Amazon as far as the rest of the shows go. Far more variety.
If you order from Amazon regularly, the Prime membership seems worth it to me. We get packages weekly, on the average. I'm even using the Prime streaming music stations at work, because my company is blocking every other service out there.
If you order from Amazon regularly, the Prime membership seems worth it to me. We get packages weekly, on the average. I'm even using the Prime streaming music stations at work, because my company is blocking every other service out there.
ctenidae
Active member
I flip between Netflix and Amazon for binge watching purposes (though, usually 1 episode a night, so not really binging). I can't ever remember which thing I was watching what show on, so that's a problem.
For daily/normal watching, though, still can't get over the hump of having to decide what to watch. We just don't invest that much effort in it. Sit down, turn on HGTV, turn on computer, zone out for an hour, go to bed. I hate paying $100+ a month for that. Kids watch "more" though still very little, and their needs are entirely manageable with the iPads.
Just have to decide to rip the cord out.
For daily/normal watching, though, still can't get over the hump of having to decide what to watch. We just don't invest that much effort in it. Sit down, turn on HGTV, turn on computer, zone out for an hour, go to bed. I hate paying $100+ a month for that. Kids watch "more" though still very little, and their needs are entirely manageable with the iPads.
Just have to decide to rip the cord out.
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