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need a super cheap wifi streaming solution
- Thread starter eon
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used ps3?
I use a Western Digital WD TV Live Plus for my 5 and 3 year old's playroom TV. Plays pretty much anything I throw at it. Supports DLNA and the "play to" function with windows 7 which is nice for changing movies from my machine. Those cheap 10 dollar wireless N adapters work great with it too.
Are you trying to play a downloaded movie or a streamed movie? Is the downloaded movie from a digital service like Amazon Instant video? What is its file format and is the file format going to be consistently the same? Are you willing to recode those files into a different format?
I can think of a few ways with an xbox (any generation should work)
1) If its in a shared space on your HD, an xbox can play it directly, but its a little picky about format. I think it improved a while ago, but its still picky by most standards. So if you were willing to recode this would solve that problem. The interface isn't pretty but it works.
2) If you have a PC with windows media center, you can play it off the PC through the xbox's windows media center app. Works really well. The interface isn't all that more functional than the approach above, but its prettier and easier to do previewing.
3) Lastly, I've been uploading some downloaded videos to a Pogoplug which can be had for $30 these days. <a place that shall not be named it seems> was the last place I saw it for that price. you can shutdown the PC and just view off the Pogoplug (+ your own supplied external hard drive or flash drive) on the xbox. The trick is that I'm not sure how to automate the uploading forcing you to download from the web then uploading as a 2nd step. I think the device offers a backup service so you could include the movie directory into your backup and pull it from there, but not sure. May not show up right away. If you're adventurous, you can mode these Pogoplugs into mini-DLNA devices or samba shared server and probably do your downloading from the web directly to them saving a step.
As for your original question, I have a sub $100 blu-ray player that will play off my PC similar to the 1st xbox option I mentioned. the biggest problem is that its also a little picky on file format. I think 3rd party software can be running that will automatically transcode your files as they are being read though. Probably would work for both the xbox/ps3 approach or blu-ray player if they have picky expectations on file format.
I can think of a few ways with an xbox (any generation should work)
1) If its in a shared space on your HD, an xbox can play it directly, but its a little picky about format. I think it improved a while ago, but its still picky by most standards. So if you were willing to recode this would solve that problem. The interface isn't pretty but it works.
2) If you have a PC with windows media center, you can play it off the PC through the xbox's windows media center app. Works really well. The interface isn't all that more functional than the approach above, but its prettier and easier to do previewing.
3) Lastly, I've been uploading some downloaded videos to a Pogoplug which can be had for $30 these days. <a place that shall not be named it seems> was the last place I saw it for that price. you can shutdown the PC and just view off the Pogoplug (+ your own supplied external hard drive or flash drive) on the xbox. The trick is that I'm not sure how to automate the uploading forcing you to download from the web then uploading as a 2nd step. I think the device offers a backup service so you could include the movie directory into your backup and pull it from there, but not sure. May not show up right away. If you're adventurous, you can mode these Pogoplugs into mini-DLNA devices or samba shared server and probably do your downloading from the web directly to them saving a step.
As for your original question, I have a sub $100 blu-ray player that will play off my PC similar to the 1st xbox option I mentioned. the biggest problem is that its also a little picky on file format. I think 3rd party software can be running that will automatically transcode your files as they are being read though. Probably would work for both the xbox/ps3 approach or blu-ray player if they have picky expectations on file format.
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wow my bad didnt realize how unclear i made my question. This is for movies I already have on my computer in a media share directory. Just this morning my bro texted me he has a PS3 and dont play the 360 i got him anymore so I can grab a wifi adapter for that.
I was pretty sure what you meant, just wanted to know 100%, though in case you were using a 'streaming service' which some do allow you to download first before viewing. But the format is proprietary usually. That would have made a big difference on what worked for you.
Word of warning for using the xbox directly on files on your pc. I download show from time to time. I was puzzled because some of the files list and others wouldn't list. I came to realize that even though the xbox will display the theatrical title and description, it internally works on actual filenames. Moderately long filenames weren't being listed by the xbox.
I've started using the WMC app on xbox instead. I haven't had a chance to check this, but it may be smoother if you go that route in general. Less likely to have the filename issue