I got a Google Chromecast when it was launched in the UK in March 2014. At the time I was using both a Nexus 4 and a Nexus 7 - both 'Pure Google' products, so I thought there would be no problems.
It worked within minutes of unboxing, even with my 2007 TV. A lovely crisp full-HD picture, and BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Netflix all seemed to work fine.
The problems started when you actually just wanted to relax, and use it to watch a movie or TV show. If you need to pause it quickly - e.g. if there's a knock at the door, or the phone rings, it invariably would be unstoppable! The smartphone or tablet App would have forgotten it was casting a show, and there would be no way to stop it. So you'd have to unplug it from the TV! At this point you'd discover that it was burning hot to touch... so I gave up, I couldn't be bothered with the hassle. I have 3 ways to put online shows on my TV anyway (laptop via hdmi, xbox 360 or YouView box) so it wasn't worth the hassle.
Its now a year later, and I believe it can work with some sort of remote now, so I may revisit it again.
1 Mark out of 5
It worked within minutes of unboxing, even with my 2007 TV. A lovely crisp full-HD picture, and BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Netflix all seemed to work fine.
The problems started when you actually just wanted to relax, and use it to watch a movie or TV show. If you need to pause it quickly - e.g. if there's a knock at the door, or the phone rings, it invariably would be unstoppable! The smartphone or tablet App would have forgotten it was casting a show, and there would be no way to stop it. So you'd have to unplug it from the TV! At this point you'd discover that it was burning hot to touch... so I gave up, I couldn't be bothered with the hassle. I have 3 ways to put online shows on my TV anyway (laptop via hdmi, xbox 360 or YouView box) so it wasn't worth the hassle.
Its now a year later, and I believe it can work with some sort of remote now, so I may revisit it again.
1 Mark out of 5
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