Enjoy!
Pay with 10% off Ultimate gift card from Coles for further savings
KEY FEATURES
- Find entertainment from all your apps on one screen
- Play your favourites in stunning 4K HDR
- Set it up easily. Just plug it in, connect and enjoy
Most definitely!
Thanks! How about this vs the Amazon stick 4k max?
Google Chromecast is sluggish compared to Amazon Stick 4k max, especially if you switch between different user profiles on these devices.
Also, if you permanently run Google Chromecast on a VPN, the device crashes and reboots every 2 or 3 days. So far I haven't seen similar issues on Firestick yet.
In terms of supported apps, Google Chromecast is better.
Also, if you permanently run Google Chromecast on a VPN, the device crashes and reboots every 2 or 3 days.
That's likely an issue with whatever VPN app you're using.
I have always on split tunneling set up on mine via NordVPN app and the device has literally never crashed on me.
@HomeAlone: My experience with Surfshark, Nord and CyberGhost VPNs are the same. Chromecast crashes and reboots like every 2-3 days. Firestick never missed a beat
@Deceptic0n: My bad. I read it as Google Chrome. I use a Smart DNS for overseas apps with no crashing problems. Sounds like a memory problem.
Amazon Stick 4k Max has better performance but the home recommendations are mostly for Amazon Prime content.
@Ozyow: I found the 4k max often had lag issues - I'd reboot it and it would improve.
I only had 2 other apps installed, MLB and NBA. Find the chromecast a better experience.
UI is much better on the Google one.
Got one of these for free a few months ago, it's still sealed. I've got 2 NVIDIA shields, so I think swapping to this would be a downgrade
Great! what did you have for breakfast this morning?
Apple stick
Nothing, I'm doing 16:8 fasting:D
I was hoping for some thoughts on this vs the Shield lol
Wasn't purely a life update
Swapping the shield for one of these would indeed be a downgrade.
TLDR: for video watching for 95%+ households, get the google tv 4k. If you want to game via in home streaming and have ethernet ports next to your tv and 4x the budget, get the shield.
The shield is snappier and more stable, so it's used on the living room tv, with a HDMI switcher for the family projector.
I have 2 of these with one in the bedroom and the other on the kids toy projector. Google TV 4k is still great for the price as it has a quick-ish interface, with the occasional half second delay when moving around the app icons or video thumbnails.
When streaming video from plex, netflix, prime video and abc iview, the experience is hard to impossible to tell apart. The slight advantage would be to the shield for iview since the app streams in low resolution, the ai upscalling does slightly improve the image but I wouldn't call it great.
For emulation and steam in home game streaming, the shield is just better. It's been a while but I wasn't really able to get anywhere with emulation on google, and I believe the limitation for game streaming is the lack of an ethernet port. Don't get me wrong, it still worked, but there are noticeable visual artifacts and I noticed the latency far more than on the shield and the old steam streaming device (I forget the name).
Neither is immune to android tv quirks and crashes, they will both on occasion close the app you're using, it just seems to happen more on the google tv. The worst case is when both will decide life is too hard and restart. I'd say this happens every 3 months on the shield, but probably a once a month thing on the google units. I'm not sure how much of this is the devices vs the OS, as I've had this happen on older android tv devices.
In saying all of that, for most households I'd still recommend the google tv 4k (I don't have experience with the HD unit, but I assume if it's cheaper and rated to a lower spec then performance might be a bigger issue), the shield costs 4-5x more but the experience is not even 2x as good unless you intend to game on it.
As a side note, the shield remote's design makes it love to roll off the couch and it's a fragile little thing which in my case broke on the second day of owning the shield dropping 50cm. It still works, but I've never understood the love for this remote, other than it being an improvement over the first gen remote. I'd take the google or roku remotes over it in a heartbeat.
@AEKaBeer: Can the Google TV do framerate matching yet? The Shield can do it through Kodi and I have a framerate matching app that works for other stuff. Shame it's not native still though
Thanks man appreciate the life update
Cool story
OK. Love my Shield pro but certainly wouldn't buy another one at 5 times the price for a second TV, so I bought a Google TV. The limited storage is a drawback but otherwise it does a great job, it's very portable for travelling, and did I say it is a fraction of the price?
Just when I bought one for full price a week ago…..
But it, return new one with old receipt is a dodgy way which i wouldn’t recommend doing.
i've just read about 2 weeks price protection, so will try to get the price difference refunded in-store.
Been running two of these on a pair of 2017 LG TVs for a couple of years now. Good way to move away from the slower processor that's inside your older TV, running the streaming apps on this device instead, giving the TV a few extra years of life. Pair the nice little Google remote with the TV and you forget about the original remote when you're not using broadcast TV.
Runs better than my newer hisense series 7 (2022)
If my TV is only HD is there any point to upgrading to the 4K version? Is there a speed or RAM difference?
if your tv dies you'll prob be forced to get a 4k.
Yes, there are some RAM and CPU differences between the Chromecast with Google TV 4K and the HD model.
CPU
Chromecast with Google TV 4K: Amlogic S905X3
Chromecast with Google TV HD: Amlogic S905Y2RAM
Chromecast with Google TV 4K: 2GB
Chromecast with Google TV HD: 1.5GB
But if you get a new TV you might not need a Chromecast…
depends
if someone buys a cheap EKO tv from Big W or some other similar you definitely would want it dot dot dot
various other tvs a chromecast would be a better experience also
@bohn: Hence why I used the word "might"
Let's not pretend that the Chromecast 4K is the perfect experience, it's great but slow and sluggish.
Having said that, I just bought two at this price for my parents and in-laws!
Thanks OP
I'd definitely go the 4K for the extra speed and RAM. The HD competes on price with lower end Amazon sticks but otherwise, meh.
used price protection
need it to go lower
Got an very old tv… bought like 15 years ago? it has HDMI and USB slots, can I buy USB converter and pug this Google thing in and watch TV?
Appreciate the assistance. kind of noob in these :)
Yes. It plugs into HDMI on tv so you don't need any kind of converter.
USB is for power, the device is a HDMI device into your TV.
I have an old samsung series 6 , worked fine.
I would say though that I think the amazon devices are better, I'm planning on getting rid of google devices entirely now, they're shit.
Thank you, have been waiting a while for this to go on sale
I've got the older HD one of these and for $40 it's great, but it's shocking how little support the internal google software teams have given to things like the youtube app. The youtube app that runs on this system is functionally and visually exactly the same as the one that ran on my entry-level 2012 Samsung TV, it's terrible for trying to use for youtube music, it's clunky and it's ugly. Why this hasn't been updated i'm not sure, does anyone know if you can sideload a better solution onto these?
SmartTube is the go. Strips out all the ads. The interface is the same, I think, but I don't use youtube anymore. The layout doesn't worry me.
Saw Smartube and smartubeNext, have installed smartube and will give it a go, i've got premium so the ads etc aren't a big deal for me, i mostly just want a better interface (And a dedicated YT music app/section like the normal android store has, which smartube won't help with i assume). Cheers!
I have a Samsung Q80B and I can't cast Google photos to the TV. If I use this, can I cast Google photos?
Depends on your phone but if it is chromecast compatible, yes.
I am holding out for the new version that is supposedly in the works. No idea about any benefit or price but figure I might as well wait.
My guess is it will compete with the Amazon 4K max. More storage and better specs but higher priced (overpriced?) until they start discounting.Though not sure Google is all that committed to TV, getting rid of its on-demand streaming service and TV apps they can't be bothered supporting anymore. Not a lot of money in it for them compared to Amazon, which effectively uses its devices to boost Prime and online retailing.
Good device but be aware in 4k it does stutter and drop frames - I have 3 and they are great, but 4k can be hit and miss. Best to google it and see the complaints.
I have fire stick 4K connected to projector. I guess the reason that it gets disconnected can be the 4K then!
Does it do splitscreen on kayo?
Yes it does for me but they've limited the functionality in later updates
Is the code stackable with the $10 perk?
Update: just tested myself and a no :(
Should I get the HD or 4K version? My TV can only stream 1080p content.
1080p. By the time the TV breaks tthere will probably be another cheap Chromecast out.
4K. It's faster with more ram. Then you can run all the good stuff like Kodi, Stremio, Ace Stream and kiss your subscription services goodbye.
You can run that with the 1080p version too though.
Any acestream tips? Tried to pm but you don't have it as an option.
where do you buy a quality replacement remote for one of these?
I got remote from Google store for $30 few months ago.
https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_google_tv_voice_…
Still only 2 gig for the 4k….
Do you think they will increase this soon?
Would this provide a considerable upgrade over using the built in apps and processor of the TCL 745?