Google TV Streamer smarthome hub US$99

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Google TV Streamer smarthome hub US$99 - September

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#3294106 7-Oct-2024 18:40

I'm tempted to move my older chromecasts with Google TV to the spare bedroom and living room TVs (where they will in turn replace even older chromecasts without remotes), and replace them with these.

I had been looking at the Onn 4K pro as replacements, which are cheaper and review well, but have the hassle of needing to either having to import (and Walmart doesn't ship to NZ) or pick up while overseas and lug back. I think I will wait a few weeks more until some more reviews are in before making a decision.

Maybe pick up a couple in the Boxing day sales.

At least Google released them here this time, unlike the Nest Audio speakers that I was interested in but which never came to these shores.

richms

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#3294360 8-Oct-2024 10:04

The audio settings are a deal breaker for me. I was going to return it but the box got thrown out so it would be more hassle without that.

Richard rich.ms

freitasm

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#3294389 8-Oct-2024 11:20

What's the problem with audio settings?

richms

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#3294407 8-Oct-2024 12:33

freitasm:

What's the problem with audio settings?

It ignores them and only outputs dolby digital over the HDMI out. Others on reddit found the same thing.

Richard rich.ms

gzt

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#3294925 8-Oct-2024 23:49

First impression when opening the box and the charger fell out - USB-A? I was truly shocked. Yes, and a USB-A to USB-C cable. Shocked.

I have yet to sign into the all the services just YouTube for now.

Holds 4K AV1 on my marginal connection. That is the main reason I upgraded. Ethernet integrated is good.

1080 streams look better for some reason. If I had to guess - must be better at YouTube Premium Enhanced Bitrate 1080 compared to Chromecast 4K.

outdoorsnz

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Ultimate Geek

#3295007 9-Oct-2024 11:09

Very happy with upgrading. Chromecast 4k did not play well with my TV. Seems quite fast and responsive.

One thing that has annoyed me is youtube auto resolution! I've come to the conclusion this is a general youtube bug. Auto resolution between 720 and 1440. On fibre. Ethernet.

I turned my network inside out debugging. Tried multilple modems to no avail. Have to manually set and fine.

Senecio

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#3295013 9-Oct-2024 11:54

Youtube does that on all devices. My ATV 4K is connected via Ethernet to Gig fibre and sometimes YouTube randomly plays some videos at 480p. There no rhyme or reason to it.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

richms

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#3295018 9-Oct-2024 11:58

Senecio:

Youtube does that on all devices. My ATV 4K is connected via Ethernet to Gig fibre and sometimes YouTube randomly plays some videos at 480p. There no rhyme or reason to it.

Often I find when setting it back to 4k it will not be able to get the content fast enough to keep up. Even pausing it will only get 20 seconds or so into the buffer so I give up and watch later. Its normally 360p that the automatic option will pick for me. Stats for nerds shows the buffer at zero and it does a weird thing where the audio is fine but the video lags more and more behind it and catches up with it playing even tho it is paused.

See it on the xbox and the other smart tv's so its not a device issue, its just a youtubes CDN being crap issue.

Richard rich.ms

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#3295149 9-Oct-2024 18:06

outdoorsnz: Very happy with upgrading. Chromecast 4k did not play well with my TV. Seems quite fast and responsive. One thing that has annoyed me is youtube auto resolution! I've come to the conclusion this is a general youtube bug. Auto resolution between 720 and 1440. On fibre. Ethernet. I turned my network inside out debugging. Tried multilple modems to no avail. Have to manually set and fine.

That has never been a problem for me. I'm on VDSL with slightly less than 25 down most of the time. Auto selected resolution on CCWGTV always worked well. In my case usually 1080 and solid. I will keep an eye on it with the new thing.

mailmarshall

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#3295155 9-Oct-2024 18:54

Is the new device available in NZ yet or import still??

freitasm

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#3295158 9-Oct-2024 19:22

Available in NZ.

kiwifidget

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#3295159 9-Oct-2024 19:35

I got mine from Noel Leeming.

Delete cookies?! Are you insane?!

gzt

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#3295167 9-Oct-2024 21:15

mailmarshall: Is the new device available in NZ yet or import still??

It appears that it was a local launch on the same date as USA with limited availability initially, then adding more retailers a week or two later.

Available everywhere now including The Warehouse.

gzt

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#3295169 9-Oct-2024 21:22

After setting up my GCVTS while playing a 4K AV1 YouTube video I noticed some odd video freezes. A quick look in the application update area showed several applications with updates in progress. I believe the application updates running at the same time were the cause of that incident. No issues since then.

lchiu7

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#3296102 11-Oct-2024 14:40

richms:

freitasm:

What's the problem with audio settings?

It ignores them and only outputs dolby digital over the HDMI out. Others on reddit found the same thing.

That's interesting. I tried playing some content from my Plex Server using the Plex client which is encoded in DD+ with Atmos and my Samsung Soundbar displayed Atmos which means it's pass ing through DD+, I need to check if I have any DTS content to check.

But I am having other issues. When I turn it on and it turns on the Samsung Soundbar, the soundbar defaults to the DIN input (which I think is optical). So there is no display on the TV since the output from the Google streamer goes to a HDMI switch and then to the Samsung and then to the TV.

I have press the input select button on the remote to cycle through the settings until it gets to HDMI. Then the TV streamer has gone to sleep even though I turned off sleep mode. Now have to press the Home key to wake it up. Finally more often than not, when I start to play a YT video the audio is garbled with what seems like the centre channel suppressed. i hae to do the cycling through inputs to correct that. All very annoying but very WAF unfriendly :-(

Also it doesn't come with a HDMI cable which it really should have and Google has recognised that apparently by selling a good HDMI cable for $10 on their web site in the US.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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