Chromecast or long HDMI cable?

Nimatek

Nimatek

New member
Hey all,

So I want to move my TV a little and since the PS4 doesn't do streaming well at all, I am thinking of either getting a long HDMI cable (about 10m) or maybe using a ChromeCast.

HDMI should be fine at that length and I know it works since I have the TV connected to my PC like this at the moment. But this adds more cable that I hate.

The ChromeCast looks like it should be adequate but being limited to 720p and possible limitations on file types is a worry. Netflix etc will work fine however so that is a plus.

Anyone has any experience on the ChromeCast who can add some feedback on their experience ?
 
A colleague here next to me has a ChromeCast and loves it. But like you say, the 720p thing would irritate even me. I actually did not know that HDMI was supported at that length.
 
AFAIK Passive HDMI cables can be up to 15m in length. Running HDMI over CAT5/6 will allow you to go up to 50m, but you need special adapters for that. Where things get tricky is the HDMI specification 1.4 and 2.0 run perfectly fine at 15m with a 1080p signal. Past 15m you MIGHT have issues running 1080p @ 60fps, but again some people have no issues and others have issues.
 
I think I'm going to give the 10m HDMI cable a try.

The ChromeCast looks very impressive but the 720p thing is going to grate my nerves. I think I'll get the updated ChromeCast later on when that gets released.

Thanks everyone :D
 
Nimatek said:
Hey all,

So I want to move my TV a little and since the PS4 doesn't do streaming well at all, I am thinking of either getting a long HDMI cable (about 10m) or maybe using a ChromeCast.

HDMI should be fine at that length and I know it works since I have the TV connected to my PC like this at the moment. But this adds more cable that I hate.

The ChromeCast looks like it should be adequate but being limited to 720p and possible limitations on file types is a worry. Netflix etc will work fine however so that is a plus.

Anyone has any experience on the ChromeCast who can add some feedback on their experience ?
Click to expand...

Go HDMI cable. Skip ChromeCast, piece of rubbish wants to update whenever you wanna quickly show someone something cool.
 
I have very limited experience with Chromecast, I just helped friends set theirs up once. It's very cool, but it has no direct interface, so you have to drive the thing from apps on your phone or a pc. Eg. if you want to watch something on Netflix, you'll have to fire up Netflix on your phone/tablet/pc, and tell it to play to the Chromecast.

If you want a nice streaming device, the Roku is fantastic, although it's way more expensive than a Chromecast. I hear good things about AppleTV as well, but those are really only great if you have a very Apple friendly environment (ie lots of other Apple stuff)
 
Yeah I was looking at AppleTV and though it is nice , I just can't bring myself to get something like this when I don't use any other Apple devices.
 
Nimatek said:
Yeah I was looking at AppleTV and though it is nice , I just can't bring myself to get something like this when I don't use any other Apple devices.
Click to expand...

Check out the Roku 3, you can get them from Amazon. I got one for my folks, it's an awesome little streaming device, can take a network cable and also has wifi, can also take USB input, and you can get thousands of "channels", eg Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon Prime, some you have to pay subs for (Netflix etc), but there's lots of free ones as well. https://www.roku.com/channels#!browse/movies-and-tv/by-popular. It also supports DLNA streaming over the network, which is cool.

The remote doubles as a game controller as well, It ships with Angry Birds in Space I think but you can probably get other little games, and you can plug earphones the remote control which reroutes the sound through the remote for private viewing.
 
Nimatek said:
hmmm the Roku actually looks REALLY good! Will check it out, thanks!
Click to expand...

Sure thing, fyi though, to use region blocked stuff like Netflix and Hulu, you'll need to use something like Unotelly (as you would regardless of device), but you need to make a US Roku account as well, and block public dns servers on your router. Instructions here http://help.unotelly.com/support/solutions/articles/9488-setting-up-unodns-on-your-roku-us-

I got the US Roku from amazon.com rather than the UK version from amazon.co.uk. I was worried that the firmware might differ and possibly block US content, but it it might not be an issue. The other thing that worried me is that the US uses 110V, but the power block is rated 110V - 240V, so it handles our voltage fine, you just have to get a travel adapter because it comes with an American style plug, you can get them from Dischem for R70 or so. I got one from an AA store.
 
Nimatek said:
Already using Unotelly so no stress there :D
Click to expand...

Cool, just read the setup instructions before you do anything if you get one, as I recall, you have to make sure Unotelly is configured, and also block the public DNS servers before you create your Roku account so that it registers properly as a US account. It's an extra step that you don't normally have to go through because Netflix does a forced public DNS lookup on the Roku
 
I've got both a 10 m cable and the chromecast, and also a raspberry pi B+.

I use the RasPi the most by far. It's running raspbmc, which is a custom debian based build that boots straight into XBMC/Kodi. Reasonably easy to set up if you've used xbmc before, but installing the OS is a bit of a chore, so be careful if you aren't comfortable with this sort of thing.

I set up the 10 m cable when I first got my TV, since I had nothing else to connect it to at the time. It worked reasonably well, especially with XMBC having great android remotes (Yatse bein my favourite), chrome browser having built in desktop remote that works well on android, and Steam big picture mode working well with my wireless xbox controller. It's still the setup I use for gaming on the TV, and I love playing pc games with the noisy pc in another room.

The chromecast is an odd one. Basically, anything you can show in your browser window, you can play on it, so I stream supersport via the web, and cast it to the TV. The great thing is that I can set up and cast one tab so that my wife can watch it, and then carry on doing what I'm doing on my pc, and the two doesn't interfere at all. You can also cast most things you can play on your phone to it, so it makes youtube on the tv a lot easier, and series and movies with the plex app or ES file explorer works quite well. It does, however, feel quite limited compared to both other options.
 
I have been using HDMI with a HD LED tv for nearly 3 years now & I wouldn't think of anything else. Just get the longer cable :)
 
Wont lie Chroemcast is amazing i walk into my house as soon as my phone connects to the home wifi it opens up my universal remote in the notification panel and then i stream whatever i want from plex/netflix/hulu etc
 
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