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Media sticks...Amazon fire, chromecast, roku...what do you use?

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This question depends on what kind of phone/computer you have.

If you have an iPhone/Mac you'd be makin a serious mistake by not going with the TV4

Any other platform go with Chromecast. Boom.

Kurt Angle said:
which ones the best for streaming video files from a mac to the tv?

*dont say apple tv, shits expensive
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Just get a 2nd gen tv off craigslist for $40
 
Ashhong said:
Yes this works fine. Can select the video from phone or pc
Click to expand...

Shit, cool. I didn't know that.

So, how do you tell Chromecast to look for Plex on my Mac? In my experience of Chromecast, I send YouTube etc to it from my phone. Does Plex on the Mac see Chromecast as a device, I assume?
 
KennyLinder said:
Shit, cool. I didn't know that.

So, how do you tell Chromecast to look for Plex on my Mac? In my experience of Chromecast, I send YouTube etc to it from my phone. Does Plex on the Mac see Chromecast as a device, I assume?
Click to expand...

You're really telling your Mac to look for the Chromecast. Just boot up Plex on your Mac, and if you have a Chromecast on the same network you will see a little Chromecast icon on the top right. Click it and select the Chromecast you want and you should see your TV react instantly

Chromecast never really looks for anything. It receives
 
Future said:
I was about to pull the plug on a fire stick yesterday, but there are a surprising number of low star recent reviews complaining about stuttering, buffering and general slowness. Kind of hard to believe, since literally every device in my house plays Netflix, Hulu, etc just fine. Is it really that slow?
Click to expand...

I'm returning the stick today for the fire tv

i dont trust my wifi for streaming honestly.. i have my ps4 connected via ethernet
 
I use Chromecast. I like it because I can cast a browser window to my TV. I know it's not the most powerful, but it's useful when I want to watch a Giant Bomb video or read an article on a bigger screen.
 
Ashhong said:
You're really telling your Mac to look for the Chromecast. Just boot up Plex on your Mac, and if you have a Chromecast on the same network you will see a little Chromecast icon on the top right. Click it and select the Chromecast you want and you should see your TV react instantly

Chromecast never really looks for anything. It receives
Click to expand...

Cool, good to know. Is Plex Premium required or is the free version good for most stuff?
 
Nabs said:
I'm glad you're liking it. The latest update made it so you can rearrange the apps list (long push), it's nice if you're just using it for Kodi and Netflix. The Nexus Player has been a really solid box.
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Hey are u sure the rearranging feature is in? I'm completely updated and long push of any button does nothing

KennyLinder said:
Cool, good to know. Is Plex Premium required or is the free version good for most stuff?
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Nope you should be fine with free. Not sure what Premium does
 
Does anyone know the requirements of 'being on the same network' for Chrome and Plex (on a laptop).


- My Mac is wired into router upstairs
- Router connects to powerline
- Powerline downstairs has wifi on it (its own network name)
- Chromecast connects to that wifi


Would this work? If required, the Chromecast might be able to reach the upstairs router.
 
Chromecast for the bedroom TV and Roku 3 in the living room. I love both of them equally, especially with Plex premium hooked up as well.

The Roku YouTube video streaming quality was recently fixed too in a recent update, so I have no complaints there as well.
 
Nabs said:
Yep. You did just get your box, so it may just take some time before you're fully updated. It's the updated leanback launcher than gives you that functionality.
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Yea but I sat there manually doing the system updates until it said fully updated. I'll look into the lean back launcher thanks

One issue I'm having, audio from Kodi doesn't play out of my Bluetooth headset if it's turned on before the video starts. It also disconnects if it starts buffering. Had this issue with Netflix but was fixed on the last update. Gonna have to go to kodi forums I suppose

KennyLinder said:
Does anyone know the requirements of 'being on the same network' for Chrome and Plex (on a laptop).


- My Mac is wired into router upstairs
- Router connects to powerline
- Powerline downstairs has wifi on it (its own network name)
- Chromecast connects to that wifi


Would this work? If required, the Chromecast might be able to reach the upstairs router.
Click to expand...

I think so. This is my setup

- router plugged into powerline downstairs
- PC connected to powerline upstairs
- Chromecast connected to router downstairs (5ghz band)
- my PC can see the Chromecast, and my phones can see it whether I'm connected to powerline adapter wifi or my router wifi
 
KennyLinder said:
Does anyone know the requirements of 'being on the same network' for Chrome and Plex (on a laptop).


- My Mac is wired into router upstairs
- Router connects to powerline
- Powerline downstairs has wifi on it (its own network name)
- Chromecast connects to that wifi


Would this work? If required, the Chromecast might be able to reach the upstairs router.
Click to expand...
It should work. I mean the Powerline is just creating it's own wifi that links into the same network.
 
Ashhong said:
Just wanted to update. Setup the nexus player and this thing is awesome. I'm not in Google or Amazon ecosystem do things like Amazon video or Google video apps don't matter to me. All that matters is that this thing flies compared to my Amazon stick, kodi streams load much quicker, and casting works just like Chromecast

Oh and the best part? With Marshmellow I can use Bluetooth headphones to listen to everything! This is amazing. My tv only has optical audio out so I have had a very hard time figuring out how I could use headphones at night.

Can't wait until the next Google tv comes out.
Click to expand...

Cool, I really leaning towards picking this up. Been thinking about it for a while.
 
I have an Amazon Fire TV, but now that my Vizio finally added Amazon Prime and stopped asking for a subscription to use Plex I mostly just use that. The interface is less attractive and far slower, but I like just using the one controller and not having to switch between inputs all the time.

Still use the Fire for occasional less common video apps and if I'm going to marathon a TV show or something and want the faster interface.

edit: Although after messing around with PSP/PSX emulators on my phone recently i might get something that can do those easier and faster eventually.
 
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