Solid Media Player to stream 1080P over hardwired network?

A

amd7674

[H]ard|Gawd
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I use my main rig (win7 pro 32bit – see my sig) as my file server. My HTPC (win7 pro 32bit – see my sig) has no issues to play anything (including 1080P mkv) via 100mb hardwired network using ‘shared drives’ between the two. If necessary I can always add a 1GB switch to my router, but I think it might be an overkill.

Now I’m planning to buy something for my living room, as I cannot stand going thru my stash of 100’s dvds to find a movie/music I want or waist time to burn a DVD every time I want to watch something in the living room, where most of the stuff is already on my file server (divx/xvid/mp3/h264). I’ve already have hard wired drop behind my TV, so I’m looking for something that will play up to 1080P content without hiccups from my win7 file server. I’ve read some horror stories and problems accessing win7 shared drives from various media players.

Also the device must be able to down-mix DTS/AC3. I don’t really care about nice GUI, as long as UI is decent. So to sum up

I want:
- solid wired network performance with win7 based file server
- DTS/AC3 down-mix
- Support for xvid/dvd/mp3/h264(720P/1080P mkv)
- HDMI output
- Good PQ
- Good firmware support
- Quiet

I don’t care:
- support for online sites/services (i.e. youtube, hulu, Netflix etc)
- space for an internal drive
- GUI with movie covers

I did own WD TV box before and I was happy with it, however at the time it didn’t have DTS down-mix built-in so I did return it and I’ve built a el cheapo HTPC box.

Are there any good units up there that fit my needs i.e. WD Live or Asus O’Play? Or should I wait for the upcoming popbox or boxee players (both probably an overkill for my needs)?

TIA ;)
 
I would wait for boxee if it comes out soon.. But if not WDTV Live is probably the best atm.
 
Acer Aspire Revo 1600 ($200) + XBMC media center software (free).

The Acer running Linux will support full 1080p streaming while barely breaking a sweat. The key is XBMC's use of VDPAU, which offloads video processing to the Nvidia GPU in the Acer. I use one at home at play full BR rips and DVDs alike. [URL="http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=67819"] Check out this thread[/URL] for my tips on setting one up. If you've not used XBMC before, you're in for a treat.

To your specific points, the Acer is very small, makes almost no noise, downmixes, HDMI output, and I have it set up to stream from my Win7 x64 file server. Make sure you read "pitfall 4" on the linked thread to get Windows 7 to behave properly as a file server.

Any questions, let me know.
 
Thanks guys,

Anybody using WDTV Live with Win7 over a wired 100mb network?
 
i am sure some searching in this forum will find you plenty of threads that people started already about ripping their collections and playing HD content.
 
MrGuvernment said:
i am sure some searching in this forum will find you plenty of threads that people started already about ripping their collections and playing HD content.
Click to expand...

Thank you, that is a very good idea ;) however hardware/firmware change sometimes and info in threads become outdated.
 
I'm using a WD live with WHS over a wired network. But i have used it to access the W7 HTPC in the living room. so no issues to report.
 
there have been ac ouple of threads (including one I started) that have discussed this int he last couple of weeks. the WD live is the default choice right now. the boxee and a new product by the makers of the popcorn hour are the most anticipated cometitors. both are supposed to be out this year. my buddy just got a wd live and is happy with it. he almost exclusively uses it for HD playback.
 
IDversusEGO said:
there have been a couple of threads (including one I started) that have discussed this int he last couple of weeks. the WD live is the default choice right now. the boxee and a new product by the makers of the popcorn hour are the most anticipated cometitors. both are supposed to be out this year. my buddy just got a wd live and is happy with it. he almost exclusively uses it for HD playback.
Click to expand...

While I have no issues with the WD Live, I think it's worth mentioning that it is more likely to be the default choice for those most interested in a simple setup that works more or less out of the box, but who are willing to make some compromises in terms of customization or features. (Full disclosure: I do not have one myself, so I am going on reviews I've read that mention things like lack of chapter skipping support on MKV files, etc.)

Other alternatives like Boxee or XBMC are decidedly more complicated to set up and as of today don't come pre-built (i.e. you buy the hardware, you get the software, and you put them together), but these do offer a lot more customization possibilities like a plethora of custom skins to change the user experience, a far more "slick" GUI in general (IMHO), and greater customization options for the remote controller interface (custom commands to jump directly to certain categories of movies, music, favorite lists, etc).

Just to be clear, I'm not saying one is much better than the other, just that each offers different things for different types of users. If I was buying a machine for my mom or non-technically savvy friend to use, I'd definitely lean toward the WD to keep my tech support calls to a minimum :), but if I was buying for someone who didn't mind getting their hands a little dirty with configuration and troubleshooting, I might look for one of the other options.
 
boxee isnt out yet and XBMC isnt a media player its a front end for a PC based solution. OP stated that boxee was probably overkill so a HTPC mini system based on Linux is most definitely overkill. Not saying your options arent appealing, i was just making a recommendation based on what was asked for.
 
I am in the same boat. I don't want to build a 4th htpc for my master bedroom. I want a simple box to hook up that will stream my netflix account as well as my mkv files. I am waiting fingers crossed for the popbox to be released this spring.
 
Similar to the WDTV Live, I purchased an Asus O!Play HDP-R1 network media streamer a few months ago. Asus product page. I bought it about 2 weeks before the WDTV Live was released. At the time, Newegg had it on sale for around $90 with a free HDMI cable. It's pretty nice.

What I like:
  • No fans - completely silent.
  • Massive codec support - handles all my L4.1 BD rips perfectly
  • Decent support in the form of regular firmware updates and active forum.
  • Simple remote
  • Chapter skip & subtitles (.srt) work on all my MKV's
  • Resume play works on a per-movie basis

What I dislike:
  • It has never automatically found my unRAID server. It's really strange - if I any other Windows client is running on my LAN, then the O!Play will automatically find my server. But on it's own, it doesn't see it. The workaround: telnet into the O!PLay and enter the server's IP address and smb share as a "shortcut". After that, shares appear in the O!Play's shortcuts (but you still can't "browse" to the server).
  • The interface is really basic. No cover art. No metadata. Just a file browser. It sounds like this may be a plus for the OP.
  • When you navigate to a media file, you have to wait for the O!Play to check the network bandwidth (seriously) before you can press play. This is really dumb.
  • The red/blue LED is too bright.

Overall, I like it. It replaced an Ubuntu/XBMC HTPC. I though I would have liked the HTPC more, but my family never used any features that justified having a full-blown HTPC. No web browsing/email/etc (inconvenient on a 40" 1080p set from 9 feet away), no DVR (the main HTPC handles that), no ripping/transcoding (handled by main HTPC), no gaming. Just streaming from the server. And for this role, streaming devices are awesome.
 
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