Doesn't your Samsung Smart TV remote have a qwerty keyboard? Mine is over 3 years old and does. However when I first got it, it was seldom supported and assumed that since Samsung was using the Smart Hub for their Blu-Ray players that didn't have a qwerty keyboard, they'd eventually create a different useable interface for the Smart TV but that still hasn't happened.

Trying to use the browser is nearly impossible due to the lack of a pointing device and although the qwerty keyboard is used, you have to first use the arrow keys to position over the desired field, hit enter, and then a separate window pops up that allows use of the qwerty keyboard.

If you get internet and phone from cable company, it might be cheaper to get the tele than to ditch it. That's the case for us with FIOS, it's $20 cheaper than if we didn't have the tele.

Also without having the tele, wouldn't have the option to use NBC sport streaming online and all the rest of them.

Roku is handy if you use a lot of the streaming services like Hulu/Netflix/Amazon etc, especially if you're not a Mac household.

I don't know what the big advantage over Roku 3 is over Roku 1 or 2 though, other than having a motion sensor controller for games and the later 2 generations having a headphone jack in the remote.

No. At the time I think so e of them might have done, but the kids wanted the 3D, and the model we went for didn't have the keyboard on the remote. Shame, because the 3d is a big white elephant, while the keyboard may have actually got used.... at the time, I sort of assumed I'd be able to tie a wireless/Bluetooth keyboard to it but that ain't happening....

I also have 3D and it is a "white elephant". I was talking to someone from Sony about 3 years ago and she said by all indications, Sony was betting the farm on 3D.

The new Bravia 3D is amazingly nice though....even the fake 3D isn't to bad...but then the passive glasses are cheap as chips and aren't as heavy as the other kind.

As for Samsung and keyboard, isn't there a android/ios app? Most TV's and the like I thought would have one and you'd use that as a virtual keyboard over wifi.

The Samsung 3D is pretty decent also including the fake 3D but even when they introduce 3D without the need for glasses, I doubt many people will use it very often and if it wasn't included in the TV, I doubt many would care once they had a TV previously with it.

I think all the apps come from the manufacturer (core applications probably come from the media suppliers) so until the manufacturer provides the interface such as a modified android app, I doubt there is a way to make it work correctly.

I'm mulling my TV options right now. I have cable and internet and pay $119/month for a 25Mb/s connection and a cable package that gives me BBCAmerica and NBCSports for the Premier League. If I was to just go with the internet my monthly bill would be $30.......so I'm looking at going with Netflix, Roku and over the air TV for NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS etc. I'd save a bunch. but have to give up BBC America and the Premier League.

BBCA wouldn't be a big loss, if you've got a VPN and Netflix, you'd get the UK catalogue, so would have those programs, along with anything on BBC iPlayer/ITV/C4 etc.

The footie might be more of a challenge and limited to dodgy sites like http://www.wiziwig.tv/competition.ph...pline=football

Though with Chromecast, you could fling a desktop browser tab at the tele as most of these are flash, should work well but quality is variable. The non-flash feeds are better quality but have no idea how they would work within the browser.

It's something I've been looking into recently, but I've run out of HDMI ports on the tele and HDMI splitters are a bit iffy is they aren't powered and would add a couple more power cables at the back of the tele, but would be cheap, $35 for Chromecast, $10 for a splitter, $4 for another HDMI cable to plug the splitter into the tele port.

Just a shame that the Chromecast can't throw content from your desktop without it going through the browser and that it's a bit iffy via tablets as the chrome browser on the tablets can't throw content over.

With the VPN services how much TV (ie data) can you watch, I see OpenVPN charges $50 for 500Gb, I figure that might be good for 6 months heavy viewing ie 8 hours a day.

Can I use Chromecast to view web videos from my Mac over WIFI on a TV in another room, and if so how do I control them. I'd like to use VPN to watch BBC ITV etc and be able to see it on my Mac and my Sony Bravia in another room.....my TV does not have WIFI itself

We have a Roku. Our home entertainment system pre-dates HDMI so we also had to get an HDMI/RGB adapter in a direction no longer manufactured -- but it was available on Amazon.

We have Amazon Prime for "free" shipping but that includes streaming, much in the way of which is no extra charge. Netflix is nominal sum per month.

There are no charge channels from TED and Smithsonian which I find pretty neat.

Living in Los Angeles, there is a plethora of over the air channels especially since the swith-over to DTV.

Datacaps, I've no idea, they are all different. Going the DNS route would mean it auto channelling things needing a UK IP, so unless you're watching the Beeb all day, you're unlikely to blow that kind of data.

As for Chromecast, basically what you watch on the web browser gets thrown onto the device, which is plugged directly into your HDMI port on the tele, along with a small power source that's either a little power box or a USB connection. The Chromecast is marginally larger than a thumb drive.

It seems not to work with everything though, such as Silverlight based video feeds, so Amazon Instant Video won't necessarily work, unless you select to view via Flash.

Chromecast has wifi built in, so will join your network. To set it up, it broadcasts a network signal, you join it with your laptop or whatever, then you tell it what your home network settings are and it joins your home netowkr, and then it pulls what ever your browser throws at it. So it doesn't matter where your laptop/TV are, as long as they are all connected to the same home wifi network.

Edit: As for how you control it, it's similar to how Airplay works, or the TV option on youtube enabled devices when viewing on a tablet and throwing that feed to the app on the tele. Hit the little icon and sends over the browser, which is why you watch in a new tab, in full view mode.

So I'd need a laptop/pad/smartphone to use Chromecast if my Mac is in another room.

No.

The Mac just needs to be connected to the same home network that you connect the Chromecast to.

Advantage of a mobile device being not having to nip next door to change the feed/channel, but as you can only throw what the browser is seeing via a desktop/laptop version of the chrome browser, you're either got the laptop with you or you're nipping off to the computer anyway.

The tablet/phone apps basically have apps within to get things like Hulu/Pandora/Netflix etc to be thrown to the Chromecast, but they can't throw over what you view on your web browser, which is what you'd need for Amazon Instant Video, BBC/ITV and other UK content.

So if the mac and the Chromcast/TV are in different rooms how do I control what comes on the TV without getting off the couch?

Children.