If you were going to set up media streaming through the house...

demystified

R34GTT wrote: »

Personally I just use my PS3 to stream downloaded Film and TV shows from my PC using PS3MediaServer which is free to download. This will support just about any format under the sun, including Full HD (1080p) films. If you do plan on streaming HD media then I'd advise having it all wired into a Gigabit Switch to avoid any stuttering videos. Over the years I've had to buy larger Hard Drives on my PC to support my ever growing hoard of media, 7TB and counting! I now have 4 Hard Drives in my PC and have no room left inside it so the next upgrade will be a NAS box of some kind.

If I didn't already have the PS3 I'd buy a Boxee Box Media Player.

I do the same thing I stream everything to my PS3 from my PC via a media server. The regular LAN can cope with full HD live video ok, wireless up to 720p (just). I either stream it live or copy to the hard drive first. I upgraded the PS3's hard drive. The PS3 can play blu-ray and games too which is a bonus. If I didn't have a PS3 I'd build an HTPC (which I may do in the future)

IrishGypsy

R34GTT wrote: »

Personally I just use my PS3 to stream downloaded Film and TV shows from my PC using PS3MediaServer which is free to download. This will support just about any format under the sun, including Full HD (1080p) films. If you do plan on streaming HD media then I'd advise having it all wired into a Gigabit Switch to avoid any stuttering videos. Over the years I've had to buy larger Hard Drives on my PC to support my ever growing hoard of media, 7TB and counting! I now have 4 Hard Drives in my PC and have no room left inside it so the next upgrade will be a NAS box of some kind.

If I didn't already have the PS3 I'd buy a Boxee Box Media Player.

I use the exact same setup (except for the switch, I use 2 200Meg T-Link network plugs to stream 1080p HD content direct from my dedicated PC hard drive to the PS3 that sits beside the router (PS3 also wired into the sky router). The software is fantastic, converts everything I've ever thrown at it (although it helps I have a quad-core PC and 8 Gigs of RAM I suppose). Then then a Bluetooth official PS3 remote control to top it all off.

Heck, the PS3 will even play games if you like

lbbuk

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

wdtv live hub - 1TB hard drive.

+1 for the above, I bought the wdtv live without the built in drive plus an external 2tb drive and it works brilliantly, although I find that when using the wireless connection for streaming the picture breaks up occasionally so I only use a wired connection now, still a good buy though..

baby_frogmella

tombruton87 wrote: »

from what your saying id be inclined to go for a small nas box and a media streamer box such as a boxee box

I've got a Boxee Box and its excellent especially if you watch stream movies from the internet. Think of it as a dedicated media pc which hides behind your TV (remote is RF so doesn't require line of sight). It plays every format under the sun and has wifi N. There are iphone/android apps for it so you can use your smartphone as a remote control and they work very well. I mainly use it to watch Netflix USA (uk version is pants) which works fine via usvideo.org. Wifi N streaming works well on the Boxee providing you've got a decent router m(eg Billion 7800N)...hardly ever stutters even though my router is upstairs. Its got tons of apps incl BBC iplayer, C4 on demand, Netflix , Hulu many of which can be easily accessed by a VPN such as usvideo.org.

clarabella23

baby_frogmella wrote: »

I've got a Boxee Box and its excellent especially if you watch stream movies from the internet. Think of it as a dedicated media pc which hides behind your TV (remote is RF so doesn't require line of sight). It plays every format under the sun and has wifi N. There are iphone/android apps for it so you can use your smartphone as a remote control and they work very well. I mainly use it to watch Netflix USA (uk version is pants) which works fine via usvideo.org. Wifi N streaming works well on the Boxee providing you've got a decent router m(eg Billion 7800N)...hardly ever stutters even though my router is upstairs. Its got tons of apps incl BBC iplayer, C4 on demand, Netflix , Hulu many of which can be easily accessed by a VPN such as usvideo.org.

With this, can you play films, music, etc, that are already downloaded on your computer, or are you limited to what it is able to stream? I've not seen these before, and they look really interesting, especially the hulu, but it would depend on whether you are limited to streaming. I prefer to have it there, ready to go, then if I want to put it on a disc I could.

clarabella23

almillar wrote: »

For flexibility and the ability to do EVERYTHING, a computer underneath the TV is hard to beat. Use VLC (or similar) on it and your laptop, and you can control it from your sofa. I'll guess from your description that your daughter's computer isn't up to it, so buying a decent nettop (tiny computer based on laptop components) would be perfect, and can be done for around £200. Research any specific model to make sure that it can handle streaming iPlayer HD for example, and you'll be set. An AMD based one rather than Intel may be better, as if you only have Intel integrated graphics it might struggle.
So you've got a Windows 7 PC with a web browser for anything you're used to on your laptop, now install either XBMC or Plex, to play any vids you have stored. They'll also do music or use your music player of choice.

Any recommendations for which netbook would be good for this?

almillar

I haven't researched this deeply, but let's start with this. Anyone else have experience with streaming HD stuff (probably the most demanding thing it'll do) on a nettop? My only advice would be to avoid integrated Intel graphics as they can sometimes be weak.
http://www.ebuyer.com/288844-lenovo-ideacentre-q180-nettop-vc71fuk

kingcreech

How's this project going?

You got any kit in place?