Roku 2 vs Apple TV vs Boxee vs etc

[frankcastle]

Okay set up a TV with nice coputer speakers in teh kitchen for the SO. I ran a ethernet cable through the wall.

We want to stream content from the net (netflix) plus stuff shared on my other computers (movies, TV shows).

What's the most cost effective way to do this?
-we want netflix
-access to my computers

in addition we'd like to experiemnt with
-internet radio
-creating playlists from teh harddrives

Roku...... doesn't allow dlna so that means I can't access shared material
Apple TV I have upstair and while great for netflix most of my media is not in apple formats
WD TV and Asus O!Play..... I own and they don't do netflix....although newer models might but not sure about internet radio station access

Have an xbox 360 and ps3 they would do the netflix...... haven't tried them for streaming shared content.... is that the way to go?

Boxee box.... from what I read does the media sharing through ethernet but not sure about it's internet streaming apps.

What's a guy to do?

 

[minnie_me]

I use Apple TV.

All my movies are via torrents and use the Vuze app to automatically convert and store them in my iTunes so I can watch them on my TV.

A neighbour jailbroke his Apple TV and is now able to stream videos from a number of popular sites.

 

[frankcastle]

I use Apple TV.

All my movies are via torrents and use the Vuze app to automatically convert and store them in my iTunes so I can watch them on my TV.

A neighbour jailbroke his Apple TV and is now able to stream videos from a number of popular sites.

Hmmmm i'll try that as I already have an apple TV. If I like it I could buy another. I just hate being under the apple umbrella. Only reason I bought the first apple TV was that at the time it was the cheapest way to watch netflix via wi fi.

 

[thewheelman]

WD Live Plus flashed with WDLXTV firmware is the way to go.
Combine that with a $14/ month unlimited Usenet account from someplace like Newshosting.com
and you will have it all, whenever you want. And you will never go back to Netflix.

 

[frankcastle]

WD Live Plus flashed with WDLXTV firmware is the way to go.
Combine that with a $14/ month unlimited Usenet account from someplace like Newshosting.com
and you will have it all, whenever you want. And you will never go back to Netflix.

Is that firmware from WD? What does it do?

I dabbled in newsgroups and focused on blu rays but found it was a pain. After the time to download those huge files I had to extract them. Plus I am stuck with rogers and they just upped the max charge for bandwidth overuse to 100 bucks. Will be going to tekksavy once my contract becomes cheap enough to buy out of ($20/month).

I went back to torrents and smaller files. Have newsgroups gotten better? At the time the only blu rays available looked like guys who shopped at best buy for cheap discs and so great you could download Robocop on blu ray.

Does WD allow for streaming of music from the internet?

 

[Tangwhich]

I went back to torrents and smaller files. Have newsgroups gotten better?

Gotten better? When was it bad??? Usenet is the best source for stuff like wheelman said and always has been. Getting blu-ray rips is no issue.
Get a decent news reader and it will automatically decode everything for you. I use NewsBin, but there are others. I click on what I want and everything is taken care of for me.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Newsgroups have always been the best of the best to get ANYTHING your little heart desired and were my prime source when doing heavy downloading in the past....

 

[Chimpanzeethat]

That's what I've done. Jailbroke the ATV2, and got Firecore Flashblack. You get XBMC and bunch of other stuff. With my newshosting account I watch or listen to whatever I want, when I want. Note that you'll need a good internet account for this....like my unlimited one.

If you don't want to jailbreak and have an iOS device, (ipad, iphone, ipod touch), just get the Air Video app for $2.00. Works great and streams most video formats very well. I used that for over a year before jailbreaking.

 

[thewheelman]

WDLXTV is a third party firmware, well established and supported.
Yes it will get you all the internet radio you want, including Shoutcast and more.
WDLXTV will also get you WDFlix which has every movie and TV show you can think of for free.
Only issue with WDFlix is a bit of congestion at times, since it is used worldwide to get USA shows.
But newsgroups cannot be beat,and at 18MB/s it only takes 5-8 minutes to download a TV show, 30 mins. for a movie.
"Grabit" is an excellent free newsreader for Windows that decodes and extracts automatically. Use Binsearch or NZBIndex to search the Newsgroups.
Switch to Teksavvy from Rogers, 18MB/s and 300GB per month for $45, and it uses the same Rogers network you have now.
All you have to do is resist the 70% off discount Rogers will offer you once you cancel Rogers internet service.
I add TVersity to the mix, which is a software Media server, that allows me to create my own radio station lists and serve movies and music to any device I have...like my smartphones, WD Live, or other PC's.

 

[frankcastle]

WDLXTV is a third party firmware, well established and supported.
Yes it will get you all the internet radio you want, including Shoutcast and more.
WDLXTV will also get you WDFlix which has every movie and TV show you can think of for free.
Only issue with WDFlix is a bit of congestion at times, since it is used worldwide to get USA shows.
But newsgroups cannot be beat,and at 18MB/s it only takes 5-8 minutes to download a TV show, 30 mins. for a movie.
"Grabit" is an excellent free newsreader for Windows that decodes and extracts automatically. Use Binsearch or NZBIndex to search the Newsgroups.
Switch to Teksavvy from Rogers, 18MB/s and 300GB per month for $45, and it uses the same Rogers network you have now.
All you have to do is resist the 70% off discount Rogers will offer you once you cancel Rogers internet service.
I add TVersity to the mix, which is a software Media server, that allows me to create my own radio station lists and serve movies and music to any device I have...like my smartphones, WD Live, or other PC's.

They gave me 80% and I foolishly locked myself in for another 16 months.

I put in wdtv live plus (without the third party firmware and the SO loves it)

But after doing some research I think making a server and htpc is the route for the future. In my bedroom it could replace 3 boxes. In the mancave... 2 boxes plus add pc gaming to the mix and the dining room/kitchen it would bea 1 for 1 trade but the htpc is an amazing idea (spend 400 and up to have so much more variety)

The 100 wetv was a stop gap and I'd compare it to having tv with rabbit ears vs htcp being deluxe tv package.

 

[WoodPeckr]

...newsgroups cannot be beat,and at 18MB/s it only takes 5-8 minutes to download a TV show, 30 mins. for a movie.
"Grabit" is an excellent free newsreader for Windows that decodes and extracts automatically. Use Binsearch or NZBIndex to search the Newsgroups.

D/L speeds are amazingly fast with newsgroups.
I also liked using 'Grabit', then switched to 'Pan' for Linux which was even easier to set up back when doing heavy downloading.