Chromecast

[mids]

I want to try it to play music at home via Google's streaming service and for £30 it's not much of a risk. I'd have used Sonos but google music isn't available through that.

[djfaulkner]

hmmm - Was hoping it would be able to stream games, but don't think it can

[KTF]

djfaulkner said:

hmmm - Was hoping it would be able to stream games, but don't think it can

I cant see how that would work even if it could as the tablet you are streaming it from would be the controller?

[LordGrover]

Does it have it's own newtwork/DNS setting or does it rely on telly or router?
I'd want to be able to set US DNS servers for netflix.

[KTF]

LordGrover said:

Does it have it's own newtwork/DNS setting or does it rely on telly or router?
I'd want to be able to set US DNS servers for netflix.

It connects via wifi to your existing internet connection so if you set the DNS in your router then it uses those details.

[LordGrover]

Ta.

[Silverbullet767]

Going to keep a close eye on this, I would like to be able to stream a chrome webpage from ios onto the TV, I see there's already beta code on the android version, so fingers crossed it'll be transferred over.

£30 is a decent price point too. £25 from amazon if you do it right. I don't have facebook though, so I'll stick to £30 to not have to look at facebook.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/google-chromecast-...

[ZesPak]

mids said:

Thanks, I figured I'd use a USB plug to power it if it was possible to stream the music via the TV whilst it is off. Just seems a bit naff to have to turn the TV on when I just want to listen to music.

The actual reason I'm asking is I'm looking to buy a soundbar and just trying to figure out if I need to get one with a HDMI slot or not (most don't seem to have one).

Since I'm a bit "into" tech, I've got one for testing purposes.

It does need to be USB powered, but it doesn't need a TV. You can just send music to it and it'll play it through the HDMI port so it'll work no problem plugged into a sound bar/amp.

The TV in the bedroom isn't a smart tv, so I use it for watching youtube on it but to me Play Music and Youtube are the only uses so far, so for now imho it doesn't offer enough.
Youtube these days can be done on nearly any system (media players, xbox, smart TV). The dismissal of apps that allow local streaming really kills what could otherwise have been a great device imho.

[Luke.]

Just bought ordered one to stream Amazon Prime Instant videos, bit it would seem that you do it. Feck. Anyone know if there's a workaround? Seems odd to me.

[mids]

ZesPak said:

It does need to be USB powered, but it doesn't need a TV. You can just send music to it and it'll play it through the HDMI port so it'll work no problem plugged into a sound bar/amp.

Cheers. I was looking at it from the other direction i.e. if I buy a soundbar without an HDMI slot can I still play music through the soundbar with the chromecast plugged into the TV whilst the TV is off. I doubt it can but still haven't figured out the answer.

[ZesPak]

mids said:

Cheers. I was looking at it from the other direction i.e. if I buy a soundbar without an HDMI slot can I still play music through the soundbar with the chromecast plugged into the TV whilst the TV is off. I doubt it can but still haven't figured out the answer.

Oh, that would be quite impossible!

Well, it displays the albumart when it's on but I can understand people would see it as a waste . We use it in this configuration on a daily basis though.

[mids]

Thanks ZesPak

[jjr1]

KTF said:

LordGrover said:

Does it have it's own newtwork/DNS setting or does it rely on telly or router?
I'd want to be able to set US DNS servers for netflix.

It connects via wifi to your existing internet connection so if you set the DNS in your router then it uses those details.

Is it very hard to set up a router to have US DNS settings? Is this the easiest way to fool Netflix on a Chromecast?

I use a Hola extension on a laptop and it is fantastic but I would love US Netflix on the TV to.

[ajprice]

jjr1 said:

I use a Hola extension on a laptop and it is fantastic but I would love US Netflix on the TV to.

I use Hola too, I would think that Hola and Netflix on the laptop would send to a Chromecast to get it on your TV.

I'll be finding out tonight .

[contractor]

jjr1 said:

Is it very hard to set up a router to have US DNS settings? Is this the easiest way to fool Netflix on a Chromecast?

I use a Hola extension on a laptop and it is fantastic but I would love US Netflix on the TV to.

It's not just the DNS settings, you are geolocated by the service provider. You need to appear to initiate the request from an IP that is in the US.

edit. read this, it explains it better
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t...

Edited by contractor on Wednesday 19th March 14:57

[KTF]

jjr1 said:

Is it very hard to set up a router to have US DNS settings? Is this the easiest way to fool Netflix on a Chromecast?

I use a Hola extension on a laptop and it is fantastic but I would love US Netflix on the TV to.

Depending on your brand of router, its normally as easy as logging in and changing the settings for the DNS servers from automatic to fixed IP address.

An example of how to do this is here: http://www.groovypost.com/howto/google-add-public-...

[Luke.]

Luke. said:

Just bought ordered one to stream Amazon Prime Instant videos, bit it would seem that you do it. Feck. Anyone know if there's a workaround? Seems odd to me.

Anyone?

[LordGrover]

contractor said:

It's not just the DNS settings, you are geolocated by the service provider. You need to appear to initiate the request from an IP that is in the US.

edit. read this, it explains it better
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t...

I've not followed the link, but I can set DNS server on my apple tv to whatever is current on netflixfixer and it works automagically. No need to fiddle with anything else.

[contractor]

LordGrover said:

I've not followed the link, but I can set DNS server on my apple tv to whatever is current on netflixfixer and it works automagically. No need to fiddle with anything else.

yeah, netflix are pretty relaxed (at the moment). Others such as Hulu are more stringent in their checking.

[ZesPak]

As per this thread I'm currently setting up "Plex". My first go on the much praised platform