content: [Opinion/Review] - Samsung DeX - Underrated as fuck. Totally aimed at the wrong audience. So a few weeks back some people might remember me bitching about an AUD$550 Smart TV on special i had to return. I was actually quite happy with the dang thing up until it pulled an Android system update and shit the bed. But again, one of the things i really want to be able to do with a SmartTV if im going to pay for one, is run Foxtel (Australian Cable TV) which means a nice TV in the bedroom that i can log into the usual app, and run the streaming TV service we already pay for and get the option to log in with other devices. The Viano barely did it, seemingly dropping every second frame but not actually being laggy, and wasnt able to connect to my 5ghz WiFi. It went back. Meanwhile theres two old TVs sitting in my garage collecting dust, and a Samsung S8 in my pocket. Its off to JB Hifi i go - An hour and a half later, ive spent $250 on a Samsung Dex and a Steel Series Gaming pad (Specifically designed to work with Android without fucking about, and it did exactly that) and spending quite literally half of that time de filthing a 6 year old 50inch Panasonic HD TV, firing the thing up and having my first play around with it a little made me rethink the way both Samsung and Apple pull you into their respective ecologies, and rethink the up front value that Samsung at least is charging for their phones, but more on that later... Now the DeX keeps on getting average to bad ratings, being aimed at the business community as a way to lighten the load, with the reviews stating things like 'But why would i carry all that and my own screen around in a bag' blah blah blah, i figured that was silliness anyway, if you do business for a living, youve got a monitor at work with an HDMI port you can slap the damn thing in if thats the way you work, and have complete and working desktop versions of Microsoft Office you arent paying a subscription for - Now me, i just like tech toys when theyre not massive amounts of money, and $150 for a dock for a phone ive already bought seems reasonable to me, so why the fuck not, shitty week, needed a cheer up, and had a few bucks. As it turns out, i had manage to build myself, an Exynos powered Android smart TV/Gaming centre/Wirelessly controlled desktop, using mostly stuff that i already owned and was gathering dust out in the shed that had been packed up after the last moved and upgraded with more expensive but ulltimately more disposable gear.  -So a TV i wouldnt get $50 for at Cash Converters,  -A dock i could buy at Cash Converters for probably $50, -A new game pad (there are issues with using non android specific game controllers with android, without root theyre very fiddly, and the PS4 controller i happily use on the PC is bonkers when you try and use it...) for $99,  -And a set of Logitech 5.1 Surround Sound PC speakers placed strategically around my bed that i bought 6 years ago that JB still sell the exact model of at the exact same $150 Bluetooth mouse connected instantly, but cant for the love of god find my ol little bluetooth keyboard... somehow, someone has thought to make the ol Logitech wireless USB stuff completely compatible with all this so that worked instantly. So for maybe a $500 outlay if i was to go and buy a new cheap monitor and other stuff, rather than a bog standard cheap Smart TV in the bedroom with crap sound, crap washed out screen, and crap washed out remote, im sitting here with a complete system with every currently available freeview channel available with the usual catch up tv, Plex works completely natively with Dex itself, so a few clicks later, full screen running. Netflix itself unfortunately hasnt been tweaked so will no run full screen under the desktop mode. Thankfully Samsung have made it easy enough to quickly switch between screen mirroring and dex mode. A right click later and you have a standard screen mirror, as soon as you run the movie, bang, full screen high def goodness. Back to the gaming... Im not a big mobile gamer so i struggle to get into any. My first thought was EAs Real Racing 3. This one is already built to both project to other devices and be run with a game controller, and ive been banging out race after race for days. Its by no means an eye popping terrifying simulator experience, but its fucking fun. I know there are plenty of great shooters out there, and a million ways to run old classics like Doom and Wolf3D. The retro gaming possibilities alone should send quite a few people bonkers. ALL controlled from a mouse and keyboard. Sitting on my ass in bed. With a pair of speakers at both ends of the bed. And just for night times... somewhere between Dex and the apps.... video and audio is now beatifully synced with at least my bluetooth earbuds (does not apply to games unfortunately, pretty sure the controller being connected ads a load to it but i know fuck all about such things...) So the rethink about the culture? Well i shat on apple fans for a long time, at the height of their craze they put out devices to do everything. All of them encouraged to by Apple branded products, at full Retail+ prices, each one being a fully independant unit specifically designed to only work with other Apple devices. Big bucks were made there. Looking about, ive got my phone. Now up until this point, ive repeatedly refused to pay as much for a mobile phone as i would my kick ass (now 4 year old) gaming PC i went out and spent $1700 on. For a brand new S9+ almost $1300? No way man. Not worth that much. I paid $500 for a second hand refurb. I paid the same for the S7 Edge a year prior to that which now happily sits retired in my GearVR headset i occasionally have a play with, the VR headset only costing some $200, but i have quite easily managed to convert into a Full PC Vive Bypassing VR headset, so far outvaluing itself again. I think i was wrong. Yes, Samsung are sucking people into a new ecology whether intentionally or not, but its not nearly the same as the way Apple went about it. Remember, each a full device designed to only connect with other apple devices, and each at top retail cost. Ive now realised, what Samsung are up to, are they are creating an environment not where you have to buy a bunch of expensive gear to all work together... but the major cost is only in the initial mobile device, which is the absolute heart of their ecology, with a whole host of other stuff being started to be developed around it that dont need to be highly expensive and completely smart themselves, and its getting to be quite seamless. The stuff these guys are bringing out to go with their new phones, is actually justifying some of the outlay for the initial phone itself, again, with the phone itself seemingly now more than just the sum of its parts. Should  y'all go rushing out now and buying new mobile phones just because of this? No. But if you are a cheap muthafucka like me, id actually encourage you to maybe see about picking up an S8 or newer if you see one within a decent price range, because youre picking up something thats being very well lined up to power quite a few cool things. Ill think very hard about an S9 when the next one comes out... and the S8 will be retired to a permanent desk pc/smart tv setup. For me, i think theyre great value in the end, but personal experiences may vary. Enjoy, Trucks. Oh yeah, two USB ports at the back means USB external storage as well, although it wont run actual harddrives. And still no fuckin Foxtel!!! Another edit - Before anyone speaks of Chromecast - Chromecast fucking sucks. Ive had 3, they all got chucked out. You can apparently now cast foxtel to a chromecast device, but again, its not running an app, itself, natively, inside a controlled environment. It merely provides a mirror to your pc that you still need to go via the internet, even if you want to run a video on your own pc, to your tv thats 2 feet in front of you. No, no use for me what so ever. When it has an actual foxtel app that i can just run from the unit itself it gets some value for me. But there are other smarter ways for similar amounts of money to get far far more useability with than Chromecast. Its very much had its day.