[Hidden-tech] large screen for watching movies on Netflix?

Wed Sep 30 14:57:14 UTC 2020

I don't have any new suggestions, but I do have some factors you may 
want to consider when making a decision.

- Functionality & Convenience — Once it is set up, how well will it 
work for you?
    - Most of the thread has been focused on this so far: being able to 
watch netflix/hulu, not needing wifi or too many cords, etc.

- Ease of setup — Does it Just Work™ or is some fiddling required 
first?

- Price — obviously

- Privacy — Many smart TVs will track what you're watching (even over 
hdmi cable) and sell this data, subsidizing the lower retail price. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/09/18/you-watch-tv-your-tv-watches-back/

- Stability & Support — Internet-connected TVs may require [security] 
updates. How long will they keep coming for? Will the interface stay 
stable or will you have to re-learn it after an update?
    - The latter can be good or bad. Sometimes updates are improvements 
and with a dumb tv you'd be stuck with the same interface, no matter 
how bad; other times updates make things less usable on top of having 
to re-learn the new locations.

- Flexibility & Customizability — Netflix and hulu today, but what 
happens if there's a new streaming service you want to use next year? 
Will you be able to use it with your current setup or will you have to 
make big changes? (eg, a smart TV that never adds support for the new 
service might need to be used as a dumb tv, negating the benefit).

Personally, I prioritize the last 3 factors and don't care much about 
ease of setup. In general, that leads me to prefer the "dumb"-est 
individual components I can find: I want my TV to show whatever it's 
plugged in to via HDMI and that's it. Then, as long as I can stream to 
my computer, I can plug it in to the TV and stream on the TV, too. But, 
I lose the convenience factor of being able to do it all from one 
remote; I need a remote to turn on the TV and then also a 
mouse+keyboard to control the computer.

You'll also notice these considerations aren't unique to TV buying — 
they apply to most all electronics — and I similarly prefer dumb 
speakers, dumb lights, dumb refrigerators and dishwashers, etc; if I'm 
going to add smarts, I'd rather have a single smart thing like a 
raspberry pi controlling a bunch of dumb things. But those are just my 
priorities; yours are likely different and you'll have to decide for 
yourself :)

--
I try to write short, functional emails.

On Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 23:44, Jan Werner via Hidden-discuss 
<hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote:
> Chromecast requires Chrome and Google stopped supporting Chrome on 
> Windows XP several years ago.
> 
> If your laptop has a USB 3.0 port, you can get a USB 3 to HDMI dongle 
> for less than $20 from Amazon, e.g:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Graphics-Converter-Projector-Compatible/dp/B088B8CRM8
> 
> USB 2.0 won't support more than 800x600 resolution, which won't do 
> you much good for Netflix or most internet content.
> 
> Jan Werner
> ___________
> 
> 
> On 9/29/2020 4:12 PM, ed--- via Hidden-discuss wrote:
>> I am thinking of using an old XP laptop as a platform for accessing 
>> internet content (including Netflix and that ilk) and displaying it 
>> on our large-screen TV. No HDMI connection, I guess I'd just use the 
>> RGB (ahem) connector to use the TV as an external monitor, yes? Not 
>> sure if Chromecast works on XP.
>> 
>> Ed Bride
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Hidden-discuss <hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net> 
>> On Behalf Of Jan Werner via Hidden-discuss
>> Sent: Monday, September 28, 2020 4:43 PM
>> To: Diana Hardina <dianahardina at gmail.com>
>> Cc: Hidden-Tech Listserv <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
>> Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] large screen for watching movies on 
>> Netflix?
>> 
>> The Chrome browser resides on your PC so you need to run it on the 
>> PC in order to show the output on the TV screen.
>> 
>> You can do that with a physical connection (connect the video port 
>> on your PC to a TV HDMI input) or via screen mirroring, which 
>> duplicates a PC screen on the TV.  Most Windows 10 PCs and Android 
>> devices allow you to cast the screen over WiFi to a Roku and 
>> directly to many smart TVs without needing any other hardware.
>> 
>> Macs and iOS devices usually require either an Apple TV device and 
>> Airplay, or a 3rd party app to cast the screen to a Roku or smart TV.
>> 
>> Jan Werner
>> _______________
>> 
>> 
>> On 9/28/2020 4:18 PM, Diana Hardina wrote:
>>> oh, one more thing. I would want to access my chrome internet 
>>> browser.
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 1:57 PM Jan Werner <jwerner at jwdp.com
>>> <mailto:jwerner at jwdp.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>      Any TV you buy today is going to be “smart,” but I’d 
>>> recommend
>>>      getting a
>>>      Roku too.  In my experience Roku works far better than any of 
>>> the smart
>>>      TV operating systems.
>>> 
>>>      The Roku remote has dedicated buttons to launch Netflix and 
>>> Hulu, which
>>>      you said are the only two things you are interested in 
>>> watching.  If
>>>      you
>>>      get the Streaming Stick+ or Ultra, you can also use the Roku 
>>> remote to
>>>      turn the TV on and off and change volume. Just make sure that 
>>> at least
>>>      one HDMI port on your new TV supports ARC.
>>> 
>>>      If you really need a keyboard, the Roku mobile app provides an
>>>      on-screen
>>>      keyboard on any phone or tablet.
>>> 
>>>      Jan Werner
>>>      ____________
>> 
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