Chromecast and/or Now tv for my tv.

johnsmi

Hi there,

Getting a new tv, not smart but thinking of buying chromecast and maybe now tv box (the £10 0ffer)

One usb port on tv for chromecasat,

I do have a nexus tablet and all the tv catchup apps on there. Will I be able to stream them to the tv ok with chromecast?

just wondering if I should get the now tv box for a £10 as well for those times that the nexus might be low on charge as I could use the now tv instead?

Thanks for any advice
John

Tamster150

We have had a nightmare setting up Googlechrome as we have a BT homehub, took us lots of hours of surfing to finally find the right settings to change. I think most BT users have ended up giving up and returned it to the shop.

something to bare in mind if you have BT broadband

kremmen

I have a chromecast. It is not guaranteed to work every time. My nephew has just got one also and it is also intermittent.
I would not recommend.

Can't say about other options. Bought a 3 meter hdmi cable which works every time.

Paul

henm2

I have both the chromecast dongle and nowtv box and both work great. I probably favour the chromecast one as it so easy to operate using an app on my phone. Fortunately I have never had a BT homehub and currently use a plusnet router.

xxdeebeexx

check out the apps that work with Chromecast before you decide.
Only BBC Iplayer is available on catch up if that's what you were wanting it for
https://www.google.co.uk/chrome/devices/chromecast/apps.html


I bought a Talktalk youview box from Ebay for about £25 for catchup etc ... it's exactly what I was looking for.


hth


dx

RavingMad

I've got both too but the Now TV box has been assigned to the scrap heap since the Sky entertainment pass ran out. I find the menu system too slow for navigating but it was easy enough for my wife to find her programs

The Chromecast is a bit fiddly at times and I've had to reset it a couple of times bit I like using my phone or tablet to operate it and I watch quite a bit of Netflix, which I'm pretty sure Now TV doesn't have yet.

Another consideration is that the Now TV box streams in 720p whereas Chromecast is 1080p

pete-20-11

I have the original chromecast and a BT home hub.

I had no issues setting it up, it was really easy.

No significant issues using it either - had to restart the chromecast twice, when it froze, but easily resolved by either a power off and on, or restart via the chromecast app.

It uses HDMI, not USB. The. USB is for the power - you can plug it into the mains if you don't want to take up one of your TV's USB slots.

enfield_freddy

buy a now tv box , and modify it to take PLEX (instructions on the web) you can then add all the extra channels you need , plus stream vidios / sounds from your PC , for plex to work your PC must be on ,

johnsmi

Thanks for replies. I'm with talktalk on medium fibre. I do have their basic talktalk box upstairs connected to an old 14 inch tv in bedroom, so I am using it rather like a freeview box, switched off and on when I do view it. To be honest I would be very wary of adding any boosts as even though its one of their latest boxes very very slow to startup, so will be leaving it upstairs.

Very interesting about plex, I will deifinitely look into that, would be great if I can stream videos from my pc to tv, I did see a webpage about setting the now box up for it, must do a google again.

I take it if I make a mistake it is possible to reset the now box?

Thanks a lot folks for all the info.
John

enfield_freddy

http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/av-distribution/now-tv-10-minute-hack-10-wireless-plex-media-player.html


to reset it back to a std nowtv box , you press the hidden reset pin to reset back to factory.


plex is free for a PC , and about £1.50 for a tablet/mobile from the apps store , download the free copy for your PC https://plex.tv/downloads


normally they don,t sell the boxes unless you pay for a "months pass" , often another £10-£15 ,


I have a brand new "hacked" one here , if you want to save the hastle , PM me

giraffe69

We have had a nightmare setting up Googlechrome as we have a BT homehub, took us lots of hours of surfing to finally find the right settings to change.

No idea what settings you are referring to. I have a BT Home Hub and I plugged it in and off it went and has done ever since.