On Tuesday, April 8, 2014 2:49:41 PM UTC-4, dadiOH wrote:
"trader_4" wrote in message



On Tuesday, April 8, 2014 6:18:55 AM UTC-4, dadiOH wrote:

"Don Phillipson" wrote in

message







"Higgs Boson" wrote in message



...







I'm trying to score a cheap or free old laptop so I



can watch Internet programs on TV.



What do I require in a laptop that will do the

job. Does it need to



have the equivalent of the TV? Or...?







Do you need a laptop at all?







The site you linked says so...







"Google's Chromecast is a small dongle that plugs into

a spare HDMI port on



your TV to stream media from the internet to the living

room screen using



your smartphone, tablet or computer as a remote."







Ummm, it doesn't appear to say that you need a laptop.



True. It is saying that SOMETHING is needed to which the TV can function as

a monitor. In the context of this thread (see subject) that would be a

laptop.



It's not even saying that. The smartphone, PC, or tablet is just used
to *control* what happens on the TV. For example, with my Tivo, I
can use my smartphone and it's display to search for a Youtube video
or a Netflix movie. Having found it, I can then command that it be
played and it shows up on the TV by being streamed to the Tivo.
I wouldn't say the TV is functioning
as the monitor for my smartphone, any more than I'd say the TV is
functioning as a monitor for an ordinary remote. The TV is essentially
serving as a display for the chrome device.

If you're using a PC and it's video card to play media and then have
the TV connected to it, in that case I'd say the TV is functioning as a monitor,
because it's connected to and displaying what would normally show up
on the PC monitor.