hodg100
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As well as considering Smart TV vs Media Streamer you might also want to add Smart Blu-Ray Disc Player vs Media Streamer.
I have a relative who recently asked me how she could get Netflix, iPlayer, etc, on her TV. She has non-smart (or very limited smarts) HD TV and a DVD player. She wanted to avoid more remote controls and boxes if possible. A £60 BDP will give her the streaming capability she needs, and will replace the existing DVD. It will also probably play stored media, access a media server, etc. That's cheaper than some of the streaming devices and a fair bit of the functionality.
A Chromecast would get you most of that, I think...?I have a relative who recently asked me how she could get Netflix, iPlayer, etc, on her TV. She has non-smart (or very limited smarts) HD TV and a DVD player. She wanted to avoid more remote controls and boxes if possible.
Which devices offer all three, then?if you want a box with any combination of 3D ISO, HD audio pass-through and 4K playback you will need to check closely that you can do so with your chosen device.
I've come to the conclusion that the main fault with a Chromecast is that they are too cheap. Obtainable for £30, or sometimes less on offer, customers think they are not going to be comparable with boxed devices at twice the price. As far as I am concerned their only downside is the lack of Amazon services.I was quite surprised to see no mention of the Chromecast in the article, even just as a comparison
Nothing "unfair" about it. All the customer has to do is decide to take their business to somewhere other than Amazon.Amazon deliberately pulled selling Chromecasts in order to boost sales of their own product. An unfair practice in my book. Let the customer decide.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't that long ago Tesco were in trouble unfairly pushing their own brands over the other brands, pretty much the same situation really.Nothing "unfair" about it. All the customer has to do is decide to take their business to somewhere other than Amazon.
Advice please. I'm hoping to send a late Christmas present to someone who would like to turn his fairly standard TV into a slightly smart one. Specifically he would like to be able to get Netflix, YouTube, iPlayer and (for preference) Amazon Prime without tying up one of the computing devices. This in the hope that it will keep the kids quiet just long enough for him and his wife to do the dishes or sort out some business.
They have BT Infinity (though only at 38MB) and the TV sits almost next to the router, so he would like to have a device (box, dongle etc) which can be connected by Ethernet. They aren't expecting fancy Ultra HD quality (see YouTube!) because the TV isn't that posh, but do want something which will stream fluently enough so that the kids don't start yelling for Dad. They do have a USB connection and a spare HDMI port on the TV.
I had thought of suggesting a Raspberry Pi, but I think he wants a maximally simple solution. I'd looked at the Kindle stick, but that doesn't have Ethernet and at Roku 3, but there seems to be some doubt as to which of the services listed above are actually available on Roku and I read elsewhere that Roku is ad-strewn. After that I'm having problems disentangling the technological details to find out what does what.
I can't even work out where the Chromecast fits into all this.
Comments?
I have recently found a product called "The Rho Board". It is pretty new, you can find it on facebook, or on the webpage with the same name.
I have recently found a product called "The Rho Board". It is pretty new, you can find it on facebook, or on the webpage with the same name.
It is a 4K HEVC Android TV Mediaplayer wich gives you a lot of freedom. The powerful hardware of the Rho Board supports hardware decoding and output of video up to 4k HEVC. It comes with a digital TV tuner that handles any DVB cable or terrestrial TV signalThe interesting part about it is that you can buy a customized package. The full package, which includes the board, 12V AC/DC PSU, plastic case, air mouse remote and a TV tuner is priced at 79 USD.