Best small form factor computer for streaming media

custardy

Scrilla wrote: »

Since today is US iPad day - national holiday I hear - it would be wrong not to mention the iPad as an alternative.

It supports a 720i output to your TV - with correct connectors of course. Rumour has it a Hulu App is coming which would meet your needs. It's a wait and see option, but may be worth considering given it's price point in comparison to the Mac Mini. Food for thought

720? deary me, how last year

fitshase

What about using a laptop instead? You can get a wireless video sender to hook up your laptop to your TV's HDMI socket (like this one) and stream HD stuff.

Gives you more flexibility than a normal PC attached to your TV.

Marty_J

Scrilla wrote: »

Since today is US iPad day - national holiday I hear - it would be wrong not to mention the iPad as an alternative.

It supports a 720i output to your TV - with correct connectors of course. Rumour has it a Hulu App is coming which would meet your needs. It's a wait and see option, but may be worth considering given it's price point in comparison to the Mac Mini. Food for thought

I had a play with one this morning; it's an awesome device. It just oozes quality, and that screen is absolutely gorgeous. It's also much faster and more responsive than any netbook I've ever seen.

But I don't want to use one for my main media device for the same reason that I don't want to use a laptop (as kindly suggested by fitshase). I'm looking for something that'll live under the TV, and only under the TV. If I get a laptop or iPad, it'll be a fight every time I want to watch something.

I'm considering another device though: the ASUS Eee Box. It's largely the same as the Acer Aspire Revo, though there's a model with a DVD drive and slightly larger HDD. They're also releasing a model with USB 3 ports (though I could get by just fine with eSATA). It also comes with a Windows Media Centre remote, which is a nice touch.

custardy

talking about this has reminded me of the Dell zino
if i was in the market this one appealed to me

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspiron-zino-hd?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

Marty_J

custardy wrote: »

talking about this has reminded me of the Dell zino
if i was in the market this one appealed to me

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspiron-zino-hd?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

The Zino HD was under consideration above, and I was going to go for it until someone who works for Dell told me he would never buy anything made by Dell.

cuppajoe

ASRock's Ion 330HT is a nice option with similar specs and price to those mentioned above.

Also comes with optional Blu-Ray drive.

http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=ION%20330HT-BD

custardy

Marty_J wrote: »

The Zino HD was under consideration above, and I was going to go for it until someone who works for Dell told me he would never buy anything made by Dell.

lol well my Dell lappy has never missed a beat,and that was cheap as chips

custardy

cuppajoe wrote: »

ASRock's Ion 330HT is a nice option with similar specs and price to those mentioned above.

Also comes with optional Blu-Ray drive.

http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=ION%20330HT-BD

good price,shame on the (lack of) style though

Marty_J

cuppajoe wrote: »

ASRock's Ion 330HT is a nice option with similar specs and price to those mentioned above.

Also comes with optional Blu-Ray drive.

http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=ION%20330HT-BD

That's a nice little machine; I think I came across it before. Unfortunately, it'll cost me $440 for one without an OS. I was hoping to use Windows Media Centre, so even if I manage to find a copy of Windows 7 for $100, it's going to cost in total $540. If I were going to spend that much, I would just spend the extra $60 and get a much more powerful Mac Mini.

custardy wrote: »

lol well my Dell lappy has never missed a beat,and that was cheap as chips

I hear that a lot about Dell; some people think they're wonderful and have used them for years without any problems, and some people think they're awful and wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

I do know their customer service (if you could call it that) stinks.