I see people mentioning things like XBMC, Plex, OpenELEC, AllCast, etc... What advantages do these apps/software add?
XBMC and Plex allows you to organize your media that's on your PC into user friendly and attractive interfaces. It has the ability to add Movie Posters and information from sources like IMDB to your collection. Basically it gives your media a netflix/hulu type interface to make navigation easy and pleasing to the eyes.
Xbox One for netflix, youtube, etc. However, I use my WDTV a lot for streaming from my PC. I love this product so much. One of my best investments so far to say the least.
I'm an Apple guy. Apple TVs on both TVs, IPhone, IPad and Mac Book Pro. Everything is linked up seamlessly through my home network.
I am too, at least when it comes to mobile devices (iPhone, iPad). I have an Apple TV in the cave, Roku 3 hard wired in the living room, and a Chromecast in the bedroom.
I have AppleTV and Chromecast. They're not really all that useful since I already have cable and don't have Netflix. I have AppleTV in my bedroom, because I didn't want to pay for another cable box. Basically, I can watch some HBO shows in the bedroom plus NBA League Pass (though I always prefer watching Rockets games on the DVR because it's so much easier/smoother to control), MLB Game Recaps, and ESPN3. Plus I like the interface for playing music from my shared iTunes library in my bedroom. The Chromecast I just got cause it was cheap and I was curious. It's hooked up in my living room and I guess it's useful for HBOGO Shows that aren't OnDemand and if I ever want to play YouTube videos on the big screen (which is pretty rare). I really wish streaming video sites would start using HTML5 instead of Flash/Silverlight. Once that happens you'll pretty much be able to send any type of video streams from your tablet directly to your chromecast.
A combo of Roku and Plex. Anything I download goes into the Plex and streamed through Roku. Very simple and easy.
With Netflix or Hulu, I use my Chromecast. With anything else, I have a 15' HDMI that I connect to my laptop and extend my desktop with. So much easier to navigate with a PC and can play anything with no lag.
Chromecast works very well for me. At first, it was terrible at casting tabs because the audio and video wouldn't match. It was only useful for specific apps that were designed for it like YouTube and Netflix. It is good the list continues to grow but that ain't enough for me. Now I can successfully cast full-screen tabs from non-sanctioned websites.
Play Station Media Server from my Macbook to PS3 for my massive movie/TV show archive. I'd say it works 99.9999% of the time. Every very-once-in-awhile, I'll have some random file that doesn't play nice, in which case I just plug the MacBook into the TV via HDMI. Hard-wired PS3 for Netflix and HBOGo in the living room (I use my buddies account; I don't have cable). Roku wireless for the bedroom TV. I have an AppleTV I've literally never taken out of the box. That would change if I had a bigger apartment/another TV.
Samsung Smart TV - Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and HBOGo apps for outside content - Plex app for my media collection I also have my laptop hooked up to the TV for when I want to watch stuff in browser or if I want to use my place-shifting device that I have hooked up to a spare cable box at my parents' house.
Xboxone for Netflix, Hulu, FX, FOX, ESPN3, WWE Network Keep a free hdmi connection for my kindle for HBOGO (unfortunately XBONE still doesn't have it yet)
I use a PC on my main TV because I live out of my home country and occasionally have to use VPN to avoid geo-restriction. It works fine, but is not particularly user-friendly from the couch. I also have a roku in the gym (used almost entirely for netflix), and also a Chromecast that I bought out of curiosity. How can I stream from a non-supported application using chromecast? I subscribe to an Australian Football website that does not have built-in support, and I would like to stream to my chromecast?
Chromecast & Logitech Revue. I really only use my Revue for my plex media server, that app alone brought the unit back to life for me. I love it. (I know it's on chromecast now...but I'm not purchasing the app again) I mostly use Plex for tv shows I download / movies, and Netflix.
