I love my Google Chromecast. It’s light weight, cheap, simple to use and is very transportable. I’ve tried many bulky pieces of equipment to enhance my home theater experience such as a Roku, Google TV, and Apple TV. For all the extra features those products could provide, and the extra costs they had to have them, Google Chromecast is the only that has given me exactly what I needed. Sometimes less is more; this is one of those cases.
One thing the other products failed to appreciate is how much of my time is based on my laptop, and how readily available it (or my iphone) is. I don’t need a second computer to run my TV. My laptop has everything I need so making the main media hub makes sense. No additional keyboards or remotes needed.
Chromecast uses your wifi network and its built-in HDMI jack to create a media bridge between your computer and your TV. Once connected you will need to download the Chromecast extension for your chrome browser. Once it place you’ll have the ability connect your browser (and everything on it) to your screen. If you want to play movies then all you need to do is drag your movie file into Chrome and the browser will play it as well. If you want to share your desktop with your screen just use the Beta screen casting option – which is still a bit hit or miss.
I don’t need more and I am happy to pay less. (Chromecast is 66% less than most alternatives in the market today.) If you haven’t taken the leap to get one I suggest you do, or make sure it is on your christmas list 🙂
Sean Shadmand 