Database Develop

[Q] Using a Windows PC to control an XBox 360

Couldn't think of anywhere else to ask this, and couldn't figure out how to phrase the search properly on Google. Here it goes...
Is it possible for me to use my laptop to connect via WiFi to my XBox 360? Here's the catch: I'm not talking about the NETWORK WiFi, but the CONTROLLER ports.
I was given a 360 by a friend who decided to get one of the newer machines. It's in great condition, but he had to keep his controllers. I'm expecting some controllers from various friends soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to see if I could find something that'd let me bend the rules a little.
I have my DualShock3 connected to my Laptop using the MotioninJoy tool. It has an 'X360 Controller Emulator' option which I've successfully used with Games for Windows Live.
The last bit I'm trying to find is a way to use my laptop's WiFi radio to send those controller inputs to the 360.
Can it be done? HAS it been done?

Nexus 7 with portable DVD r/w NAS as wireless entertainment system for car or travel

Nexus 7 with portable DVD r/w NAS as wireless entertainment system for car or travel and can be used a wireless access point if you plug into your hotel or home ethernet port. I use a car inverter plug to power the samsung optical smart hub. I can read. write or stream files from cd or dvd or flash storage or hard drive attached to the hub. Can be accessed simultaeneously by 4 people. Two people can watch same dvd at different stages in the movie or 4 people can watch stream files off usb memory. UYou do not need root for doing this. It works out of the box. see my youtube video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dKvwom5K8s
also see my other nexus 7 videos on my link in my tagline below. see my various nexus 7 and android play lists as well, which might be useful for some people. subscribe to my youtube channel if you like my videos as i will be uploading few more nexus related videos as i have shot some more but havent uploaded them yet and will do so soon.
my nexus 7 is in car entertainment system and is portable as not built into dash and can take with me while travelling. My wife and child watch live TV and tv catch up and surf the net or do skype video chats for free (excluding the cost of my unlimited data plan) by tethering it to my samsung galaxy note by wifi hotspot.
my total cost was 189.99£ for 16gb nexus 7 + about 70£ for samsung optical smarthub from amazon + 15£ for car inverter = cheap as chips in car entertainment system / NAS that can be shared by 4 people wirelesly and can play dvds, read / write / copy / stream to dvd / cd / flash drive / hard drive and do device back ups or watch internet tv and radio and skype video chats. Has got ethernet port to connect to hotel ethernet port to use a wifi access point when travelling. Can connect to laptop to act as internal drive via usb or as dvd player for TVs although i havent tried those features.

so I had obvious questions, like software, wifi setup, etc, but I guess this "smarthub" device has much of that built-in. how is it over bumps? lose data connection any? can this work with any video/media file type or does it have to be DVD movies only?

640k said:
so I had obvious questions, like software, wifi setup, etc, but I guess this "smarthub" device has much of that built-in. how is it over bumps? lose data connection any? can this work with any video/media file type or does it have to be DVD movies only?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i cant answer all the questions today but might be able to either tomorrow or over the next few days. I am on holiday for the last week and will be for about a week more. So busy travelling or making travel plans most of the time as am going on short breaks on a daily basis or recovering in between.
They sent me one with a EU plug and the fit into the inverter is a bit loose. Although i get a contact i dont like it being loose so just use an existing EU to UK plug adapter from tesco (think might have been £1 or so) to plug into my car inverter. The nexus 7 has no probs catching the signal or playing dvds or cds. I tried accessing documents and they work fine as do avi videos from what i remember but i emtied that flash drive for other stuff so cant check the formats now.
I didnt get to use the hub much as my 3y child was more interested with playing on the nexus 7 or watching cartoons on the internet television or my wife was watching television on it so i couldnt check it out as i was driving most of the time. Will try to check it out tomorrow or over the next few days.
The techradardeals website seems to have goofed up and i got an email saying my two 64gb flash drives usb 3.0 are not being delivered, so i am busy making other arrangements for my data for the trip. I had deleted some of my movies from my sd cards in anticipation of getting the drives but now have to copy them to alternate flash drives IF i can find some spares tonight as most of my existing ones are filled with other documents. But will definitely try some dvds tomorrow if my child allows it as she will be using the nexus 7 while i am driving! Today and the last few days she was busy playing on the nexus 7 in the back seat or watching internet TV or skype video chatting or my wife was surfing or watching internet TV, so i didnt get much of a chance using the device myself! Am wondering whether to get another nexus 7 now for only myself. This one was my childs present!!! which i thought i could use but my child has other ideas!!! so my PLAN to get a gadget for myself didnt work out!! I still use the tablet when at home or at night though. But my child uses the tablet the entire journey if she is not sleeping, by playing games or watching TV or listening to songs as she now wants to hear it on the tablet rather than the car stereo and she is only three soon to be four years old.
Anyway enough of me digressing from your queries.
You can see more videos and tutorials and FAQs for the device here http://samsung-odd.com/eng/
the user manual here http://www.samsungodd.com/WebManual/SmartHub/SE-208BW/en/index.html
specifications here http://www.samsungodd.com/WebManual/SmartHub/SE-208BW/en/Specifications_Product.html
you can directly connect this to compatible TVs or photo frames with usb slot function http://www.samsungodd.com/WebManual/SmartHub/SE-208BW/en/Using_AV_Function.html
I am not sure what codecs etc are supported. File sizes cant be more than 4gb. There are a couple more videos on this device on my "android accessories playlist" as far as i remember. see the one by mavericchoi if i remember the name right.

got a few dvds to test tomorrow and some videos (m4v, avi) copying to my flash drive now. will check it tomorrow or over the next 3 days and get back here. they work fine in the stationary car, so i dont see why they wouldnt work while moving unless the electrical connection gets loose. wifi signal strength is great.

640k said:
so I had obvious questions, like software, wifi setup, etc, but I guess this "smarthub" device has much of that built-in. how is it over bumps? lose data connection any? can this work with any video/media file type or does it have to be DVD movies only?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dvd works fine in my car and handles the bumps fine. Did not loose connection at any point. Flash drive seems corrupted, as my movies are not working working. But previous hard drive movies played fine.

I bought one of these as well, and it works great with the Nexus 7. I haven't put it in the car yet, as I'm still doing my testing, but here are the things I've noticed so far.
1. My MP4 files aren't playing when using the Samsung Smart Hub app. It always says unsupported media type. I used handbrake and the ATV2 setting, which works for every other third party player I've tried (BSPlayer, ES File Manager player), but the Samsung video player chokes on them. However, if I use the same ATV2 setting, but choose MKV, they play. Definitely an issue with the Samsung player.
2. The Samsung video player cannot handle any HD content without stuttering. That's pretty much a kiss of death for me, because I'm not ripping the DVDs that come with my BDs just to have them for travelling. So, instead I use ES File Manager - the navigation is very easy and the player works great for all of my HD content.
3. If you want to play DVDs using the streaming app, then the Samsung video player definitely works and does the job perfectly. The only issue I had was getting a message about setting the correct region. All of my mobile devices can play DVDs that way (HTC One X, Nexus 7, iPod touch, and iPhone 4s).
4. MP3s play great using the Samsung video player.
Those are really the only things I've noticed so far. I don't have any other media types to try, because I only use MP4 and MP3, but for me this device will do exactly what I want - have a mobile media hub during our long trips, that all of my mobile devices can use.
If you visit the Samsung ODD support website and read the manual, and watch the videos, setup is a breeze. First thing - make sure you already have a USB drive/stick/etc with some movies or songs on it, because the SmartHub will choke when you try to navigate around in the app. I have a 32GB SD card (Amazon Basics - cheap but works great) and a SanDisk MicroMate SD reader plugged into the Hub, and it works great. External USB hard drives work, too - I've tried two different 2.5 SATA drives and both had no issues. After you set it up, plug the USB drive in before doing anything else. I didn't bother with the included setup CD - I just connected the SmartHub to my home network via ethernet cable, let it acquire an IP, then I used IE and browsed to http://smarthub. I could set everything up that way, including doing a firmware update. My device came with A00, and A03 was available, so I went ahead and did the firmware update. Once that was done, I changed the SSID and password (the default SSID and password is on a label on the bottom of the device), changed the SAMBA sharing password, then I disconnected it from my home network and rebooted the device.
Next, I changed my Nexus wireless network to the SmartHub's - that's very important, because you can't use it at all unless your mobile devices and the SmartHub are on the same subnet! I think that's the biggest issue with people having problems getting things to work. I started the Samsung Mobile Smart Hub (previously downloaded from Google Play), set my SAMBA password, and I was up and running.
I don't think I'd use this for my home network streaming/playback, because I already have things in place that take care of media, but I don't think there's a better media hub type device for travelling.

Thanks. OP! I just ordered one as they are on sale for $40 at Amazon (US):
http://amzn.com/B007JUFLS0

Not knocking the Samsung thing -- especially at only $40 -- but anyone considering it should at least look at the (much more expensive) Seagate Satellite. It is a battery-powered 500gb HDD with onboard WIFI and file server. I've installed hacked firmware and can stream four different movies to four different devices simultaneously without problems. Now three kids of differing ages and tastes can watch whatever they want to watch on a long car trip.
At $40, the Samsung thing is a steal -- almost an at-the-cash-register impulse buy. At $160, the Satellite is a good value, but not an impulse buy. But being able to store 500gb of movies... well worth the money IMHO.

SoonerLater said:
Not knocking the Samsung thing -- especially at only $40 -- but anyone considering it should at least look at the (much more expensive) Seagate Satellite. It is a battery-powered 500gb HDD with onboard WIFI and file server. I've installed hacked firmware and can stream four different movies to four different devices simultaneously without problems. Now three kids of differing ages and tastes can watch whatever they want to watch on a long car trip.
At $40, the Samsung thing is a steal -- almost an at-the-cash-register impulse buy. At $160, the Satellite is a good value, but not an impulse buy. But being able to store 500gb of movies... well worth the money IMHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But does the HDD come with an intuitive user I interface that kids can use and understand in order to select the movie they want to watch? That's the biggest draw with the Samsung solution, even if the interface is a little spartan in design.

SoonerLater said:
Not knocking the Samsung thing -- especially at only $40 -- but anyone considering it should at least look at the (much more expensive) Seagate Satellite. It is a battery-powered 500gb HDD with onboard WIFI and file server. I've installed hacked firmware and can stream four different movies to four different devices simultaneously without problems. Now three kids of differing ages and tastes can watch whatever they want to watch on a long car trip.
At $40, the Samsung thing is a steal -- almost an at-the-cash-register impulse buy. At $160, the Satellite is a good value, but not an impulse buy. But being able to store 500gb of movies... well worth the money IMHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for sharing this, any chance you could say where you got the firmware from? This could be pretty amazing with a head rest mount.

Xbox 360 controller

Is it possible to get a wired 360 ontroller working with the Note 2? I've seen it working properly with other android devices and can get the pad to work with a custom IME app but not working as a proper gamepad.
Any ideas or is it not possible with this phone with stock rom?

Chrissssssss said:
Is it possible to get a wired 360 ontroller working with the Note 2? I've seen it working properly with other android devices and can get the pad to work with a custom IME app but not working as a proper gamepad.
Any ideas or is it not possible with this phone with stock rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not recognised as a native gamepad on stock software. You can use it mapped with USB/BT Joystick Centre (using an IME, as you say). I've used one that way with the Note II.
There was a mod on the XDA front page last week about a mod for the Nexus 7 that allows it to be recognised as a native gamepad, that may work with the Note II also (although it was in relation to another device the brief perusal of the thread that I had made it look like it would be widely applicable).

Are there any pads that are recognised without any messing? I've seen people mention the PS3 controller with an app that gives full analog support, maybe I'll have to get one of them instead.
I've seen some drivers for the 360 pad, xpad.ko and something but couldn't get them to work with my Note2.
How many games work with them anyway?

Chrissssssss said:
Are there any pads that are recognised without any messing? I've seen people mention the PS3 controller with an app that gives full analog support, maybe I'll have to get one of them instead.
I've seen some drivers for the 360 pad, xpad.ko and something but couldn't get them to work with my Note2.
How many games work with them anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the PS3 controller on my OG EVO 4G with the SixAxis.apk and it works great! It is compatible with everything because as far as the phone is concerned it sees it as another keyboard. So you can even navigate your launcher/apps with it once its enabled. You just have to download an app to your PC to change the MAC Address on your PS3 controller (very easy and straight forward and takes all of 10 seconds) and your ready to go.
I didn't know until I saw this thread that a 360 controller could be used as well. Ill have to look into that. I would rather do something that was directly connected for games because even though the PS3 Bluetooth is cool, there is a slight lag with Bluetooth. I would be interested to see if a wired controller fixed that.

I think game controllers in Android is still very much in its infancy. So many game still don't support the things, and I HATE touch screen gaming with a passion.

Once released, the MOGA will be recognized as a native controller. I'm not a T-Mobile customer but I'm sure you could buy one from them without a plan. They are set to release for approx. $50.
New games will already be mapped to this controller, I would assume that software to make this usable with older games is not too far behind.

spotopolis said:
I used the PS3 controller on my OG EVO 4G with the SixAxis.apk and it works great! It is compatible with everything because as far as the phone is concerned it sees it as another keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So does it just map to key presses like the way I can get the 360 controller to work? Or can it also be used analogically? Is that a word? On the Sixaxis Controleller info it says:
Support as a native gamepad in Android 3.1+ devices. Full support for analog sticks and analog triggers
Hmm, I don't think this is going to be as easy as I was expecting

PS3 controllers work as native gamepads, plug them in via USB OTG and they work without any additional software. Number of games they work in is limited however, only games that allow keymapping or that have inbuilt support for gamepads (like Shadowgun for example). If you use the Sixaxis Controller app then you can use PS3 controllers wirelessly, and also emulate touch as well, meaning the number of games that become playable with the PS3 controller increases massively - see here:

NZtechfreak said:
PS3 controllers work as native gamepads, plug them in via USB OTG and they work without any additional software. Number of games they work in is limited however, only games that allow keymapping or that have inbuilt support for gamepads (like Shadowgun for example). If you use the Sixaxis Controller app then you can use PS3 controllers wirelessly, and also emulate touch as well, meaning the number of games that become playable with the PS3 controller increases massively - see here:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason I had to use the SixAxis.apk is because my phone only natively supports Gingerbread and so it needs the software. No OTG support.

I thought I was going to be able to use Joystick Center for some emulator goodness but it crashes every time I try to use it
I might have to try out my Wii remote, see if I can have some luck with that instead, although that doesn't have enough buttons for some games.

Chrissssssss said:
I thought I was going to be able to use Joystick Center for some emulator goodness but it crashes every time I try to use it
I might have to try out my Wii remote, see if I can have some luck with that instead, although that doesn't have enough buttons for some games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, USB/BT Joystick Centre works fine for me.
You can use a Wii Classic Controller if you need more buttons for emulators (does require a WiiMote to plug into though, so cumbersome). If you can track one down the Datel Retro Wireless controller is better.

Strange. Wonder why it's not working for me. It works fine when I first run it and detects the controller but when I press back to save the settings the homescreen hangs and if I try going back to Joystick Center it displays a white screen and never does anything. I have to clear the app cache before it'll work again.

Please, I might be a little slow in understanding but just be patient with me. Just a simple question:
Is it possible to use either controller simply by connecting it with a usb without needing to root my phone? If so which one, if not both?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

Tweh said:
Please, I might be a little slow in understanding but just be patient with me. Just a simple question:
Is it possible to use either controller simply by connecting it with a usb without needing to root my phone? If so which one, if not both?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xbox 350 controller for Windows works without Root, but requires the paid app USB/BT Joystick Centre.
PS3 controller works without Root and without any additional apps.
Number of games that will work with either controller that way is quite limited though, only emulators, games with native gamepad support (Shadowgun, Riptide, a few others), and games that will allow control button mapping (like Meganoid). With Root you can do a lot more with PS3 controllers because you can use the Sixaxis Controller app to set up touch emulation, which makes many, many more games playable with the controller.

Well I finally got the controller working with joystick Center. I installed he Omega ROM and it's now working. Shame it won't work as a gamepad. My Bluetooth speakerphone isn't working perfectly with the new ROM though :S

Hmm, I tested it too and my xbox 360 wired usb controller works not the right way .....
I have the N2 smart dock station and the xbox 360 wired controller
Also I bought the BT/Joystick center, here the stick works fine but in gta 3 onlz the left stick to move and rotate works fine. no kezs to jump ......
I use wanam 1.5 rom Android 4.1.1 with redpill .10 kernel
I have tested other roms with 4.1.2 but theres the same problem.
Perhaps this is only a key mapping for the controller.
... the smart dock is awsome !

Has anyone been able to get the wireless USB dongle working via. an OTG cable? This is for a wireless 360 controller. I've seen it working on other android devices...

Moga lacks some buttons. Best hassle free controller out there right now is the onlive wireless controller. It like a cross between the ps3 and Xbox controller. Simple Bluetooth pairing. No rooting required. Downside is that it cost 50 dollars. I've bought scuf controllers though so price was OK to me.

Best controller that works out of the box via USB is a genuine Sony PS3 SixAxis controller. If you want to use PS3 controller's wireless capability you'll need to root and buy the SixAxis app which is well worth the few bucks for it.

My XBOX 360 controller works perfectly in conjunction with USB/BT Joystick Centre.
A great app and well worth the money. GTA vice city plays very well and on the Note II.
I haven't played Need for Speed™ Most Wanted yet but I expect it to change the game completely
Can anyone think of any other good uses for the controller on android as the buttons can be mapped to pretty much any keyboard stroke so im sure there some handy uses

[Q] Console Live stream equipment?

Hello guys.
I'm thinking about starting to live stream when I play Xbox 360 games and I don't know which equipment I should use.
I would like to be able to keep playing with 1080i on my TV but stream in SD resolution. And I'm using the YpBpr cables (the composite ones).
The capture device should be connected to the computer through USB 2.0 since I'm using a laptop, and I wish to be able to use a headset to talk to the viewers so some kind of mixer is also required if I've understood what I've read.
Don't know if there's anyone here that's used to these kind of things, but if there is I would love some recommendations on some equipment that's enough to start with.
I'll be streaming on Twitch from an Sony Vaio (Intel i5 2,4GHzx4, 1024MB GFX, 6GB RAM) running Windows 7, soon Windows 8, if that information is required.
Regards
Izaac

so... whats the point of chromecast vs HDMI out?

So, I finally bought a chromecast and after 30 minutes was left wondering "why did I buy this instead of just getting a 15' HDMI cable to dual monitor my laptop on my TV.
It seems like casting from a tab uses more resources, uses double the bandwidth, and has limited features compared to just dual-monitoring.
In order to continue using a VPN and chromecast I have to mod the firmware on the router. chromecast uses a fair amount of resources when casting video. And as far as I can tell there's no benefit (besides it being wireless) compared to HDMI out dual monitoring... am I missing something or is it really just nothing that special?

codecobalt said:
So, I finally bought a chromecast and after 30 minutes was left wondering "why did I buy this instead of just getting a 15' HDMI cable to dual monitor my laptop on my TV.
It seems like casting from a tab uses more resources, uses double the bandwidth, and has limited features compared to just dual-monitoring.
In order to continue using a VPN and chromecast I have to mod the firmware on the router. chromecast uses a fair amount of resources when casting video. And as far as I can tell there's no benefit (besides it being wireless) compared to HDMI out dual monitoring... am I missing something or is it really just nothing that special?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Codecobalt,
The main benefit is convenience. There's something just very natural about selecting content from your phone and then having it play on the TV - with how the chromecast connects it's actually the device that creates the connection to the provider and as such there shouldn't be any increased bandwidth usage (only control information is sent via your phone in most cases - excepting applications that pass your data via external services).
If you wish to use a VPN you may have to mod your router however you can normally just add a route or some mechanism to stop it's connection to google DNS servers which will force the device to fall back to locally defined DNS servers if that helps. If you require assistance with the whole router thing let me know (as I've done many of them in many different ways).
Again as I said, the main reason for the device is convienience - I personally although being a tech head don't like the idea of having to launch movies with a mouse and keyboard off a laptop and all the rigmarole that comes with it (since purchasing chromecasts I haven't used my local movie stash in around 3 months).
Well that's my speel about it, if you have any specific requests please do not hesitate to ask and I hope you grow to love the device as much as I do.

I have no real gripes about it, I just don't see the real benefit to me, but I'm a laptop user who always has my laptop in front of me. I can understand though how you like the ability to use your android phone to launch videos wirelessly. I love to use my phone to launch youtube videos on my PS3.
It just seems like so long as you already have an HDMI out connection (and a laptop infront of you at all times) it's more universal to just dual monitor. for instance while casting "Watch ESPN" on my PC to TV, I can't fullscreen the video in the tab so that the video on my TV is fullscreen and still use the PC.. which kind of defeats the purpose. but with dual monitor I can have the video fullscreened on my TV while still using my laptop screen for everything else.
If it were a wireless option to dual monitor I would LOVE IT! but that's not what it was intended to be. I like it being wireless, but since I already have a 15' ethernet cable (just prefer it to wifi when available), usb to mini usb cable to charge my ps3 controller, and a wired headset for my ps3, one extra cable (the hdmi) running across the floor doesn't really bother me too much.
It's cool tech and very affordable for what it is, but it just left me wanting much more... thought I had to be missing the point.
For people without a ps3 or xbox or multiple TV's/chromecasts I can see the advantage.. just not for me I suppose.
I mostly wanted it so that I could watch my comcast xfinity online account (watch espn/2/u, FX, FXX, etc to stream live TV as an alternative to my netflix while I'm away from home and have a real screen. the ps3 doesn't have an xfinity app and I liked the idea of being able to stream only 1 specific tab. but then I have to use the zoom function on the tv to make it fullscreen and still use the laptop.

codecobalt said:
So, I finally bought a chromecast and after 30 minutes was left wondering "why did I buy this instead of just getting a 15' HDMI cable to dual monitor my laptop on my TV.
It seems like casting from a tab uses more resources, uses double the bandwidth, and has limited features compared to just dual-monitoring.
In order to continue using a VPN and chromecast I have to mod the firmware on the router. chromecast uses a fair amount of resources when casting video. And as far as I can tell there's no benefit (besides it being wireless) compared to HDMI out dual monitoring... am I missing something or is it really just nothing that special?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Casting from a tab (or the entire desktop) is not Chromecast's core use case. If that's all you're doing, then you are better off using HDMI or WiDi.
Chromecast's advantage, in addition to the sheer browsing/usage/convenience factor that @Kyonz mentioned, is "offloading" the playback duties. Chromecast's power usage is far less than your laptop, and you're free to take your laptop/phone/tablet and run if you need to while Chromecast continues to play. Someone else in the household can easily take over control of Chromecast from another device as well (there's some annoyance/bad to this too, but it's good as long as everyone plays nicely).
Likewise, I can move where media is being played back in most apps by pausing the playback, and resuming it on another Chromecast. Sadly, it won't turn off the TV though.
The previous paragraph deals solely with Chromecast-native applications, ie, not tab-casting or desktop-casting with the Cast extension from Chrome. Like I said in the beginning, if you're mainly trying to cast your computer's tab or screen, Chromecast is not the ideal solution.

I find the chromecast handy in my TV room... No hdmi cables everywhere. Just pull out my phone or tablet and pull up whatever I want to watch then send it to the chromecast and put the phone down.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

rans0m00 said:
I find the chromecast handy in my TV room... No hdmi cables everywhere. Just pull out my phone or tablet and pull up whatever I want to watch then send it to the chromecast and put the phone down.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
also a nice way to upgrade an older non-smart TV to semi smart......

I never got it to work with my jellybean android phone. installed the app but never saw a chromecast feature in anything... chrome browser, watch espn, gallery nothing... but again didn't really try too hard.. hdmi for me.

codecobalt said:
I never got it to work with my jellybean android phone. installed the app but never saw a chromecast feature in anything... chrome browser, watch espn, gallery nothing... but again didn't really try too hard.. hdmi for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all apps have the casting feature. Avia does YouTube does. ESPN and gallery do not
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

One of the Advantages is to be able to stream content to TVs in other rooms for Family and Friends without having to tie up your Laptop.
Truth is a Laptop has the fewest options available for using the CCast. None of the CCast compatible Apps will run on a Laptop and the only real benefit is you can launch a Netflix, Hulu and YouTube movie to the CCast from their Webpages.
So you can watch a movie on your TV while you do other things with the Laptop.

In the OP's case a secondary out from the computer doesn't "tie it up" much except for CPU and network usage. Well, launching a full screen game or something would likely jam things up.
Sent from a device with no keyboard. Please forgive typos, they may not be my own.

When using the hdmi out wont the graphics card be stressed also? Using the chromecast eliminates that altogether i thought...i use plex mostly for my entertainment system and debated getting a dedicated graphics card...in the end i chose casting between my devices because i have the bandwidth to support it and no desire to push my graphics card too hard if i chose to watch a 1080 trilogy....hows my logic?

That's reasonable logic too. Chromecast had hardware processing for the (limited) formats it supports, so it uses far less power than a laptop, perhaps even less power than a tablet because it's not also powering a screen. Personally I like the "start it up and let it go" aspect - no worries about what I do on my phone/tablet/computer once it's playing.