Been meaning to ask about this for a while now. Have seen an increasing number of these 'Media Player' devices for sale, Fry's, Best Buy, online, places like that, and all different brands and kinds. I am just curious if any of you are using one of them, and what you think about them, how they work, just kind of a general idea, since I am not entirely sure exactly what the heck their best use is anyway... Anybody? Thanks
Well that's what they call them - Western Digital, Seagate, etc.. a little box, comes with a remote, and hooks to your main TV.. but beyond that, I don't know much. They claim it is a device for accessing 'all of your media'.. Do you load it all up on an internal HD ? Or wirelessly stream to it over your home network? or what? and do they work well? Most claim full 1080p capability.. Just curious, I could see maybe getting into something like that, but wanted to consult those here who may have already begun to play with such things...
No need to have a Media Player when the PS3 does all that for me already. Either that, or I'll plug in my laptop to my big screen TV via its HDMI output. No need to copy files to another hard drive. Maybe I will do that for backup, but not for "playing media."
I'd like to know what this is all about also. I've just been using a ps3 for the last 3 years, so I failed to look up what things like the slingbox and roku player bring to the table.
Unfortunatley, the PS3 does not stream file formats like ISO, VOB, MKV etc that a media player will stream! I got an ASUS HDP-R1 media player about 3 months ago. I am very happy with it. I have it connected to my network through a CAT 5 cable. I have connected the media player to my audio receiver through an HDMI cable and another HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV. The Asus media player will play movies in 1080P. It has played just about any media file format I have tried on it. Once set up, I'm able to access all my files on my network through it.
You "think" it doesn't. Fortunately, I can keep these on my PC or laptop or do the procedure aforementioned if the PS3 can't play it.
WDTV Live. Awesome little machine that can play almost anything you throw at it and have a solid firmware support.
I'd build my own HTPC and use a custom player like XBMC. That way you can access certain sites and won't block you from accessing it *cough*Hulu*cough*
I really like my Boxee Box. The interface and scraping of my movies and tv shows kills what any other media streamer can do without modifications. The controller is pretty slick with the qwerty keyboard, even though its not backlit. It even has a flash web browser (hulu blocked though). It is more expensive than other streamers and players at 200, but still cheaper than a HTPC. I also currently own an core i3 HTPC with XBMC in my theater room, and I love that also, but not everyone in the house can pick up how to use it so easily. I got tired of having to move my laptop upstairs then downstairs to watch some movies.
What is up with things like Hulu being blocked? I don't get it. These machines come with certain websites prohibited from showing? What the heck is up with THAT?
when you watch this content on a television they want you to pay for it by purchasing the dvd or itunes/netflix. it mighn't be the best time to get a media player with the current realtek and sigma chips at the end of life. boxee looks like the best bet to futureproof your purchase if you want one now.
Hulu is trying to push Hulu Plus for TV and mobile devices, You can play hulu through third party apps like playon, or you can use an app on the boxee box called Navi-x (you have to add it yourself) and you can watch virtually anything, the app is still buggy, and the newer content buffers quite a bit, but it's free.
