[Staples] Chromecast with Google TV $59.99 (after $10 off coupon)

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Dec 1st, 2020 1:28 pm

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Oct 25th, 2020 3:15 pm

#241

lead: Deal Guru; Nov 21, 2002; 10007 posts; 2436 upvotes; Winnipeg

Oct 25th, 2020 3:15 pm

TFC2007 wrote: ↑
Back in 2010 the Google TV box was actually ahead of its time with the concept of aggregating content from all sources. It didn't catch on because the streaming industry was just starting.

I don't see any issue with resurrecting the Google TV brand - it actually aligns with the company's other services: Google Pay, Google Drive, Google One, Google Play etc. I bet Android Auto will follow suit soon.

And yes, Google TV is the latest/upgraded version of Android TV which will be replaced by it. Being a Google device, the advantage of the Chromecast with Google TV over other devices is it will always receive the latest updates/features directly from Google first. Other boxes/TV's (including Nvidia Shield) will be updated months later, very similar to Pixel phones vs the rest of Android world.

https://9to5google.com/2020/09/30/andro ... tv-update/

Starting in 2021, Google TV will start showing up on set-top boxes, dongles, and full smart TVs from Google’s current Android TV partners while regular Android TV devices can also hit the market. By 2022, all Android TV retail devices will be using the new platform. Currently available Android TV devices will also either be updated to the new experience or adopt some of its features over time.

it wasn't ahead of its time?? They were following a path started by others already. The very first commercial device was appletv original but it was limited in its online content to apple,netflix youtube and a handful of other stuffetc. The very first true innovator and way better than the googletv back then was the boxee box in 2010 who had an actual hulu app for watching tv shows. It was a hit because it could it all and offered pasthru dts-ma too for local playback. It was too good! It was a threat to the current tv conglomerate at the time. The only thing half decent about the NSZ-GS7 was the remote.

baillieul wrote: ↑Will apple TV somehow work on this device?

TFC2007 wrote: ↑ There's no app, but you could easily just cast to it from Chrome, then use the remote to pause/play/volume.

chrome doesn't support widevine for hd 4k. Last I read edge does in windows based. so your casting over wifi twice for a poorer display. Plus not an applicable option for poor grandma to pull off. Personally anything that needs casting to watch subscription based material doubles the cost to watch it from source.

aidendanger wrote: ↑ How is it "below" Firestick?

no auto-refresh rate in cc.

Last edited by lead on Oct 25th, 2020 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oct 25th, 2020 3:20 pm

#242

12andy12: Jr. Member; Nov 30, 2014; 198 posts; 253 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 3:20 pm

I currently have a dreamlink 2 android box for IPTV using an app called DOL2.

Would I be able to download an IPTV app on this and get rid of my dreamlink android box?

Oct 25th, 2020 3:20 pm

#243

ES_Revenge: Deal Expert; Mar 23, 2004; 28010 posts; 8449 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 3:20 pm

congeestar wrote: ↑ Looks like I need to get the Fire TV stick or upgrade my AVR to play Netflix DD+ 5.1 audio. Thank you

Fire TV stick and Chromecast w/Google TV should behave the same; but yes, to get actual unmolested DD+ 5.1 the only way you will accomplish that is via an AVR that can decode it.

+1

Oct 25th, 2020 3:25 pm

#244

ES_Revenge: Deal Expert; Mar 23, 2004; 28010 posts; 8449 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 3:25 pm

TFC2007 wrote: ↑ Back in 2010 the Google TV box was actually ahead of its time with the concept of aggregating content from all sources. It didn't catch on because the streaming industry was just starting.

Agreed but instead of Google upgrading it in any meaningful way they just dumped it and went with a new version and named it something else. But this is typical of a company that releases a new Android "flavour" every 6 months or so.

TFC2007 wrote: ↑I don't see any issue with resurrecting the Google TV brand - it actually aligns with the company's other services: Google Pay, Google Drive, Google One, Google Play etc. I bet Android Auto will follow suit soon.

It's not really an "issue" it's just confusing and makes it seem like they're doing their usual "thing" of obsoleting things when it seems that's not the case at least this time. But this doesn't sound that reassuring either:

TFC2007 wrote: ↑ Starting in 2021, Google TV will start showing up on set-top boxes, dongles, and full smart TVs from Google’s current Android TV partners while regular Android TV devices can also hit the market. By 2022, all Android TV retail devices will be using the new platform. Currently available Android TV devices will also either be updated to the new experience or adopt some of its features over time.

What do they mean by "regular Android TV" and what do they mean by "either" updated or "some" of its features? lol Good ol' Google.

Oct 25th, 2020 3:26 pm

#245

Gary320: Deal Addict; Nov 19, 2009; 1171 posts; 466 upvotes; Laval

Oct 25th, 2020 3:26 pm

12andy12 wrote: ↑ I currently have a dreamlink 2 android box for IPTV using an app called DOL2.

Would I be able to download an IPTV app on this and get rid of my dreamlink android box?

Yes you just need to sideload install the app.

+1

Oct 25th, 2020 3:35 pm

#246

Colin0317: Deal Addict; Nov 17, 2007; 2026 posts; 246 upvotes; NB

Oct 25th, 2020 3:35 pm

Is this worth the extra $15 over the Firestick 4K?

Oct 25th, 2020 3:36 pm

#247

coolmanfever: Member; Oct 22, 2016; 224 posts; 68 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 3:36 pm

how is Chromecast with google tv compare to Amazon Fire TV Cube? I got Amazon Fire TV Cube for free as gift. If Chromecast with google TV is better, I will sell Fire TV Cube and buy chromcast.

Oct 25th, 2020 3:52 pm

#248

lead: Deal Guru; Nov 21, 2002; 10007 posts; 2436 upvotes; Winnipeg

Oct 25th, 2020 3:52 pm

coolmanfever wrote: ↑ how is Chromecast with google tv compare to Amazon Fire TV Cube? I got Amazon Fire TV Cube for free as gift. If Chromecast with google TV is better, I will sell Fire TV Cube and buy chromcast.

only if you want to cast within android.

look at this way. The firecube and the shield and the atv4k those 3 have the most powerful socs and gpu on any set top media player on the market. The atv 4k has the most power soc(a10), then the firecube(quad/a73/dual/a53) and then the shield(quad/a57). The shield has the most powerful gpu, then the atv4k then the cube(g52mp6). The cube's s922z soc/g52 is around 2-3 times more powerful than the cc's a55soc/gpu(g31) plus double the nand size of 16gb too so it could natively support more apps.

Last edited by lead on Oct 25th, 2020 4:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oct 25th, 2020 3:54 pm

#249

phillyjim: Member; Aug 17, 2009; 257 posts; 121 upvotes; Victoria

Oct 25th, 2020 3:54 pm

The MIBox S appears to be available here for $99 for anyone considering it... is it competitive with the Shield for features and performance excluding gaming?

https://swiftronics.ca/products/mi-box- ... 2583&_ss=r

Oct 25th, 2020 4:01 pm

#250

lead: Deal Guru; Nov 21, 2002; 10007 posts; 2436 upvotes; Winnipeg

Oct 25th, 2020 4:01 pm

phillyjim wrote: ↑ The MIBox S appears to be available here for $99 for anyone considering it... is it competitive with the Shield for features and performance excluding gaming?

https://swiftronics.ca/products/mi-box- ... 2583&_ss=r

no it has no truehd support nor even dolby vision etc both cc and the firestick are a far better value at a much lower cost.

Last edited by lead on Oct 25th, 2020 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

+1

Oct 25th, 2020 4:02 pm

#251

Feegus: Deal Addict; Sep 6, 2008; 3968 posts; 1773 upvotes; BC

Oct 25th, 2020 4:02 pm

I read somewhere that they pushed an update that allows account switching so different users can have their own recommendations.
This is a very big deal for this device. Can anyone confirm it?

+1

Oct 25th, 2020 4:06 pm

#252

SpykeYs: Sr. Member; Dec 22, 2007; 783 posts; 429 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 4:06 pm

Can you fast forward or rewind with the remote ?

Oct 25th, 2020 4:11 pm

#253

grca73: Member; Aug 17, 2018; 216 posts; 125 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 4:11 pm

Feegus wrote: ↑ I read somewhere that they pushed an update that allows account switching so different users can have their own recommendations.
This is a very big deal for this device. Can anyone confirm it?

Only played with it for 5 minutes after setup to compare speed and layout to shield, before leaving house. Different worlds as far as I could tell, but bought for travel anyways. Shields are safe.
Some firmware update did push after setup.
I'll add another account tonight to test.

Oct 25th, 2020 4:13 pm

#254

bogolisk: Deal Addict; Jan 18, 2009; 2861 posts; 1416 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 4:13 pm

lead wrote: ↑ only if you want to cast within android.

look at this way. The firecube and the shield and the atv4k those 3 have the most powerful socs and gpu on any set top media player on the market. The atv 4k has the most power soc(a10), then the firecube(quad/a73/dual/a53) and then the shield(quad/a57). The shield has the most powerful gpu, then the atv4k then the cube(g52mp6). The cube's s922z soc/g52 is around 2-3 times more powerful than the cc's a55soc/gpu(g31) plus double the nand size of 16gb too so it could natively support more apps.

The a55's L2 latency is 8 cycles vs 20 cycles for the A73. The L2 is where arm has been putting a lot of work in because the old one in the a73/a53 was giant mess. The bus interface will also be much faster with the A55/A75 than the a53/a73.

Don't look at these devices as PCs, they're not. The real-life performance will mostly depend on:

Amount of RAM
Generic (GPU) and Dedicated Accelerators (Crypto, support for specific codecs in VPU)
Bus's bandwidth.
Network speed
Software's efficiency

The CPU's cores will be idle most of the time. Core's speed matters mostly in UI. That's why the ancient Shield is still a force with 3GB of RAM, real GigE, and a beast of a GPU. However, my 2017 Shield can't do Youtube/GPM HDR because its VPU lacks support for the codec.

Last edited by bogolisk on Oct 25th, 2020 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Usenet

+1

Oct 25th, 2020 5:01 pm

#255

coolmanfever: Member; Oct 22, 2016; 224 posts; 68 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 5:01 pm

lead wrote: ↑ only if you want to cast within android.

look at this way. The firecube and the shield and the atv4k those 3 have the most powerful socs and gpu on any set top media player on the market. The atv 4k has the most power soc(a10), then the firecube(quad/a73/dual/a53) and then the shield(quad/a57). The shield has the most powerful gpu, then the atv4k then the cube(g52mp6). The cube's s922z soc/g52 is around 2-3 times more powerful than the cc's a55soc/gpu(g31) plus double the nand size of 16gb too so it could natively support more apps.

thanks for the breakdown. So If I keep fire stick cube, I will not be able to cast youtube videos onto my TV from youtube app to fire stick cube?

Oct 25th, 2020 5:06 pm

#256

Guccimang: Jr. Member; Nov 25, 2016; 118 posts; 42 upvotes

Oct 25th, 2020 5:06 pm

Just picked one up at Staples with the code. Initial impressions are that i dont really need it since i have a smart TV. However, it's pretty cool to be able to cast your desktop / other tabs on your computer, so will likely keep it just for that. Saves me having to connect my computer via HDMI or transferring files via USB which I do quite frequently. The interface is slick / fast for netflix / disney + etc., definitely smoother than the my samsung tv interface.

Anything else cool i can do with this thing that i'm missing?