On Wednesday, April 9, 2014 11:07:20 AM UTC-4, Ron wrote:
On 4/9/2014 9:03 AM, trader_4 wrote:

On Wednesday, April 9, 2014 7:25:57 AM UTC-4, dadiOH wrote:

"trader_4" wrote in message







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







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.







OK, "monitor" was a poor choice of words; nevertheless, the laptop (for this



thread) is needed.







What do you mean a laptop is needed? If the OP has a smartphone, she

can use that with Chromecast. Or a tablet. IDK about you, but I'd rather

use one of those to control my TV media source than a laptop and if

you already have a smartphone, all you need is Chromecast.

That is where we're headed, to stream internet video directly to the TV.

Many new TVs have the capability built-in. Or you can buy a Chromecast

or similar cheap widget. Before I went out to buy a PC or notebook

to use for streaming video to a TV, I'd fully investigate the other alternatives, especially when they could be just $40.





Yeah, if you have a smartphone with an unlimited data plan. Plus you are

limited to Google Play, iTunes, Amazon, etc.


The streaming video doesn't go through the smartphone. The smartphone
is just used to select what gets *streamed* to the Chromecast device.
The actual streaming video is from your wireless router directly
to the Chromecast. The above is what DaddiOh apparently doesn't
understand either.

And it's incorrect that you're limited to a few sources. AFAIK,
anything that you can view on a Chrome browser, you can view on
Chromecast.



You can find a laptop on Craiglist for very little money and then it can

used as a dedicated media device.



My little brother bought a Chromecast last December and he isn't happy

with it because there are some kind of conflicts between it and his

Samsung tablet. He says it works fine with his laptop but was ****ed

after he bought it because he wanted to use his tablet.



I'm sure we could all find some incompatibility problems with anything.
And I'm not saying that she should use Chromecast. Just that:

A - As others have suggested, it's an alternate solution. If she
has a smartphone and wireless router she can implement it for $40
instead of buying a laptop.

B - A smartphone is what I'd use to control what I'm watching on
TV, rather than a notebook. A lot more convenient.

C - The whole world is moving to streaming video directly to the TV,
with many TV's already having built-in internet capability.

She can do whatever she pleases, but I don't see anything wrong with
looking at all the options and the choices should be made on fact,
not incorrect info. One advantage I see in a "PC" based approach
is that it can also serve as a DVR.



Personally I have all of the TV stations that I would ever need with my

current cable package. For movies, I use The Pirate Bay

That's where I am too. Over the years I've looked at the available
movies from Netflix, etc, but there is enough similar stuff on cable
that I'm already paying for and not enough special stuff on the
NEtflixs, etc that I'm really interested in.