Late last week I received a call from a friend. I dreaded answering her call because usually I end up being her shoulder to cry on. Luckily this wasn’t a boyfriend issue, but instead she was looking for advice on whether to cut her cable television bill and cancel her service.
Her intent is to keep internet but lop off the $58.00 per month television service. She had been pondering the change to take place during the summer months to prevent shocking her kids during the school season. Rather than be without, she wants to take advantage of some of the on-demand services for movies and shows.
I was hit with some concerns and asked some basic technical questions which sure beat the “John did this” questions she usually asks. Her concerns were initial financial outlay, monthly fees, and availability of movies and channels to watch.
Normally I build up to the solution, but this week I’ve decided to shake things up. We decided the Google Chromecast device for $30.00 with a $7.00 per month Netflix account was her solution. Together, the two meet her entertainment demands and fall well within her single Mom budget.
Her second option was a Roku type set top box which allowed installing applications and games that could be played using her TV and a separate remote. Her fear was games would occupy most of her kids’ time and keep them in front of the television. The benefit to a set top box is availability of many channels of which most are free.
Another option which we discussed is using a satellite provider. During our phone call I put her on speaker and quickly Googled satellite TV providers. I found one provider for around $25.00 per month with free installation. Although she would have around one hundred channels, she would be encouraging the kids not to do their homework.
An hour after we hung up I found myself picking her up and heading into the big box store. A swipe of her credit card later and we had the Google device in our hot little hands. Inside the box was a USB drive sized receiver that plugs into the TV’s HDMI port and a USB power cable that plugs into the TV’s USB port.
Setup was a breeze using an app that needed to be installed on her phone or tablet. We visited the app store for her device and found everything we need there. Once installed, we’re prompted to connect the Google apparatus to her wireless network and set the resolution. That’s it.
From her phone we installed Netflix and setup her account. My understanding was the phone broadcast to the Chromecast unit, but I was incorrect. What’s really neat is the phone simply tells Chromecast what to queue from Netflix. Once started, the movie loads and plays.
Buyer’s remorse kicked in as she realized she was limited to only Netflix until I looked up exactly what the little silver gizmo can do. I found that many applications including YouTube support Chromecast. Apparently her kids can also use their Google tablets to control the TV. For under $30.00 she effectively turned her five year old TV into a modern smart TV.
Changing to this type of setup isn’t for everyone. Local programming is out because users are limited to on-demand movies and shows. From personal experience, lack of local programming also means not being able to watch news. Later this week I think I’m going to invest $10.00 and get a set of rabbit ears so I can watch my three local channels.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)