As the title says. A little annoying always going back and forth with a USB drive. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I'd like to stay away from building a media pc and rather just purchase something that works.
Does your TV support DLNA? Many things can just be streamed without any hassle that way. PS3 media server does a pretty good job if you need to trans-code on the fly. Otherwise, you need some kind of box. Google TV or something, there's quite a few out there.
BOXEE BOX! http://www.boxee.tv/#home Ihave x3 in my house and love em. They can work wirelessly or wired. Best buy i ever made. Also supports netflix/hulu etc.
I'm not too worried about streaming services just yet. Just files from my pc. Thanks Doxy, I'll take a look into those.
Right, you're streaming from your PC. That's what DLNA is. If you're TV has it, or is hooked up to something that has it, all you need to do is turn on media streaming on your PC. Boxee now does it, all sorts of Blu-ray players, your TV might on it's own if it's fairly new. Then all of the Google TV devices like this thing: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009VXUFLG/ref=cm_sw_su_dp, the Logitec Revue, Sony NSZ-GS7
What Rbstr said. You simply right click on your movie folder in your pc and share it on your network. Turn on boxee and it will wirelessly pick up your pc and that folder you shared. You can now watch files up to 10ish gb in size.
There's always the option of running a really long HDMI cable. Assuming it's a long distance from your pc to your tv.
This is what I do. I bought a pretty cheap HP Laptop over a year ago that is lightweight and has an HDMI Out. We don't pay for cable or dish at my house. My GF and I have Hulu Plus and Netflix for streaming content. For a DVR I had an over the air antenna installed in my attic. This was hooked into the splitter in the basement (that came with the house) so 3 rooms have over air tv just by plugging into the wall. Then I got something to allow me to record local tv. This is what I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815345007 Allows me to record and watch using Windows Media Center. Every now and then I have picture glitches in the recordings but for the most part I am happy with it. I think the main issue is the signal is split before it gets to the wall jack, and then I have a cord from the wall into this unit. I think if I could have it on it's own antenna it might get rid of all the glitches. I have noticed when I watch TV on media center I seem to get less glitches than recording (but that might be just a gut feeling). The recorded files are pretty large so make sure you have a plan for storage. The laptop I bought had something like 800gig HD in it and since I just use it for media it's really not a big deal to let things stack up. I also bought a cheap USB remote that I use from time to time (usually I just have the laptop close enough to reach).
Got an old laptop? run it headless.. or rather use your tv as the head. Or accomplish the same thing with a Boxee Box, as Doxy rec'd. They are pretty excellent for an all in one plug and play solution. I prefer using an old computer plugged into a tv with XBMC installed. that's a bit more than you are interested in, I assume. If you are interested in talking more about options, I am a bit of a streaming junkie as are several guys in the FPS div. Catch me on TS and we can go into all kinds of options!
I do indeed have an old laptop but I think the boxee sounds like the best solution for me right now. I just want to set it up and forget it with as little fiddling as possible. Not a fan of the HDMI idea as the TV I want to use is in the main room of my house and my pc isn't in a good spot to be running a cable from. The logitech also looks pretty interesting, I have always liked logitech products. Do boxee and the revue do basically the same thing? just different companies? I know there was a thread on a here a while back about XBMC. Any good sites that are good getting started guides for XBMC so I could do a bit more reading on it?
Might want to read this and see if you think it has merit: http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2012-11/boxee-tv-review Another idea could be this: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...d=1011011&p_id=8087&seq=1&format=1#largeimage
personally i run an old headless laptop running XBMC with an asus wifi N adapter stream from NFS shares. Very slick and fast. I dont like DLNA its to slow personally. my XBMC looks janky as fuck cuz its a torn apart lappy but then i turn the TV on and women throw themselves at me without any regard for personal health and well being.