Beware of Chrome Cast look Alikes. No Amazon or Netrfix

[Geek-9pm]

The title says it. Some Wi-Fi screen caster devices look like and work like the the Chrome Cast device.  On eBay you will find Chrome cast sling for almost $10 less than the regular retail price.

But  avoid the even  cheaper dongles if you want Netflix or Amazon videos.
The  low cost vendors have a disclaimer at the bottom of a long, long listing.
Here is one that does Netflix.

Anycast Chromecast Digital HDMI Streamer HD Media Air Play TV Miracast Dongle

But be careful about some of the other.s Of course, maybe you would rather have a Roku instead. A refurbished Roku goes for about $20 on eBay.  The Roku does most of what the Comcast does. But it is different.

Anyway, the point of this is that some of the off 'brand devices do not do Netflix because of security protocol in Netflix streams.

[strollin]

A Roku does lots more than a Chromecast.  I bought a Chromecast when they first came out.  I used it a few times, didn't find it particularly useful, so it's buried in a box somewhere unused.  I have 5 Rokus and they all get used pretty much on a daily basis.  The main use for my Rokus are as a client for my Plex media server but they can also stream Netflix, Hulu and many other channels.  You can attach a USB drive or insert an SD card and play movies, music or view photos from them.  The Roku can also do MiraCast in order to cast your computer screen to your TV.  Much more useful than a Chromecast, in a totally separate league.

[Geek-9pm]

Thanks for the reply.

ChromeCast  requires a tablet, phone or PC to start up the stream. The Roku is a full package and remote  that does not require another device to control it.

The  ChromeCast knock-offs have very low entry prices and somebody might be dissipated to find that a few of them do not decode the Netflix stream.

I agree, the Roku is the way to go. The ChromeCast has a lower entry price and some find that attractive.

Anyway, avoid the ChromeCast look-a likes coming from China.   

[DaveLembke]

I bought a Chromecast when they first came out.  I used it a few times, didn't find it particularly useful, so it's buried in a box somewhere unused.

I just said same thing this morning in a different thread that geek has running about 18 things with roku's.

I bought a chromecast based solely on one friend saying its an awesome deal and you need to get one and they loved theirs. I bought it and realized how crippled the device was. If I needed my computer to be running to put it onto the TV, then I might as well just plug my laptop directly to my TV with HDMI cable, and the user interface of the laptop is so much nicer than casting and wasting local network bandwidth.

I was going to sell my chromecast to try to get $20 back of the $35 I paid for it, but was told its permanently associated with my gmail account so unless you give someone your gmail account with it, its useless. So I said oh well, and tossed the chromecast piece of garbage into the box of computer junk and its somewhere and I could care less if I never seen it ever again. 

My issue is that I should have done some research into the device vs buying it solely on suggestion. If I did research first I would have avoided wasting $35 reading all the many other people who were complaining about how stupid it was that your computer had to be running to cast it to the TV. Its only useful purpose would be for a phone or tablet that wants to cast it to a TV. As for if you have a computer with a HDMI connection, you might as well just connect direct with HDMI. Additionally I dont care for the chrome browser and it required this browser to be installed to run it.

[strollin]

With the Chromecast, once you start casting, the device you used to cast from basically becomes a remote control for the Chromecast so you can start/stop or pause the streaming content.  You only need your computer running if you are casting the computer's screen output to the Chromecast.  If you stream from a service such as Netflix, the Chromecast connects to the service and you could shut your computer down if you wish.  Doing that however, would make it so you would no longer be able to control the streaming content.

I found Chromecast to work best with a phone, wherein I would start a movie streaming via the phone and the phone then becomes the remote.  You can still use the phone to make calls, send texts or browse the internet.

[Geek-9pm]

With the Chromecast,  ...
I found Chromecast to work best with a phone, wherein I would start a movie streaming via the phone and the phone then becomes the remote.  You can still use the phone to make calls, send texts or browse the internet.

Good point. Do you know how hard it is to get a replacement remote control for a TV set? A universal remote costs more than t a cheap smartphone.  So, it you loose the remote for the TV, just get a Chromecast and a use any old smartphone.