Gadgetory

hey guys this is Austin and today I'm here with the review of the new Google chromecast this tiny $35 dongle promises to give you a smart TV at a fraction of the price but how does it actually work it comes in a small white box and once you flip it open you'll immediately see the chromecast which looks more like a USB Drive than an Apple TV you'll also find a few accessories included in the box including an optional HDMI extender to improve Wi-Fi signal and help connect the chromecast to tucked-away HDMI ports a micro USB cable for power a wall adapter which you only have to use if there are no USB ports on your TV a little bit of info on not doing stupid things with the product and lastly the chromecast itself up front is the HDMI connector which goes into your TV with a micro USB port for power along with a button to reset the system if you need setup isn't difficult just plug it into a spare HDMI port on your TV and then connect it to power via USB or the included adapter getting it working will require a computer or Android device and while that's a little flaky once up and running it's simple you will have to go into the menu of your TV and make sure CEC device control is enabled so the chromecast can turn your TV on and switch inputs automatically but beyond that you're good to go so how does the thing work pretty well load up a YouTube video in the app or browser on Android iOS or using Chrome on your computer and a share icon will appear give it a second and the chromecast will automatically pick up the video on the TV what's really cool is that if you have multiple people connected to your Wi-Fi any of them can control what's playing or add videos to the TV queue Netflix is another app that's ready to work and here again it's basically seamless just select where you want the video to play and the chromecast takes care of the rest in full 1080p HD your mobile device works like the remote you can pause skip and even change the volume all from the app more apps should support chromecast soon but in the meantime you can also use Chrome on the computer to cast your tabs for example even though Spotify doesn't officially work by streaming a Spotify browser tab I can get my music sent through to the TV if I like and this works for any other side I tried as well all you need is the Google cast extension from the Chrome Web Store which gives you a few basic options to resize tabs and change the streaming resolution using my macbook air the quality was weirdly interlaced where worked perfectly on Windows so that's something to keep in mind overall the Google chromecast is a tiny cheap way of streaming video like YouTube and Netflix to your TV seamlessly being able to control it from your phone tablet or PC is great and while having support for more services would be nice it's by far the best way to watch a video on your TV I've seen yet for $35 if you like watching YouTube especially tech channels like this then the chromecast is a no-brainer if you're interested more I've got a giveaway of a $1500 gaming PC going on right now so feel free to check it out and I will catch you guys next time