Streaming media help/suggestions

Retsam

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Messages
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Ok so... Havnt really done much of the home theater/streaming media stuff yet.

So heres my scenario, I need some help and suggestions.

My computer/router is upstairs while my TV/Receiver is downstairs. I just want to be able to play all types of media files such as vobs, dvds, blu-rays, .mkv and all other high def media files. What is the best and most cost effective option here?

I just bought a Amazon Fire TV stick because it was on sale for $25, have not yet opened it or tried it yet.

I was thinking it might just be nice to not have to rely on having my computer upstairs turned on to play digital files, so if that was the case, id need to go with something I can plug into my receiver I think... I wish I could just straight plug in an external hard drive with media files into the receiver but I dont think it would read the files....

Is WD TV live any good? I can get $25 off on it now putting it at $75 which is fairly cheap. Good bet for that and id be able to stream stuff as well I think.
 
The WDTV is good for local (home network) streaming and has a USB port for an external drive. If you go over the network something will be on. If you want to stream services like Netflix & Amazon, then the other devices like the Fire Stick or a Roku would be better. WDTV's hardware is long in the tooth and user interface is slow and clunky versus other devices. But for local, WDTV is a good choice.
 
For consideration: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1829095

Personally, I like having a dedicated HTPC running XBMC for all of my locally stored media. And then I use a dedicated device (bluray player, firetv, chromecast, etc) to do Netflix, Amazon Video, etc. It is relatively seamless with a universal remote.
 
Yeah thanks for the input. Its a tough call. I think I am torn between WD TV and Fire TV. At the moment, id rather just put files onto a portable/external HDD and plug it into something locally. I guess I could do this with either fire tv or WD TV. They are almost the same price so... I guess it comes down to what I want to be able to stream.

Maybe FIre tv is the better tech right now. BUt really all I need is to just plug external devices in locally to my home theater and want to play as many files as possible.
 
Well just throwing it out there but you could always try out Plex and setup a server on your pc then get the Plex client for your fire stick, of course you would have to leave your other pc on, but you can set low power profiles for it. I personally use a Roku but have found this way better (at least for media consumption) that a htpc hooked up to the tv. If you need a little more umph then you could get a chromebox and install open elec (linux XBMC ) and get something pretty powerful as well. You could then hook any kind of external to that through usb.
 
After looking around and thinking about it, I think my solution is going to be a chromebox or maybe a WD live tv. I thought Fire tv would be the solution since I got it fairly cheap not too long ago, but found out you cant actually connect external hdd's to the usb port on it which I kind of wanted.

WD live tv is of interest but I see a lot of feedback from people saying its kind of clunky and has some delays doing some things, I dunno. Still a possibility though. I think chromebox would give the most versatility. Then I can browse the internet etc as well.
 
i have a WDtv live and love it, i stream stuff from my PC either as a network share or using plex, plus the internet deal on it is pretty good as there are a bunch of free on-line movie channels and such.

or plug a usb drive in or a external drive as well
 
consider this option:

just connect the usb hard drive you mentioned directly to the TV and play from there.


(assuming you have a "modern" tv)
 
After looking around and thinking about it, I think my solution is going to be a chromebox or maybe a WD live tv. I thought Fire tv would be the solution since I got it fairly cheap not too long ago, but found out you cant actually connect external hdd's to the usb port on it which I kind of wanted.

You can, you need to root the AFTV. I have a USB stick permanently mounted. It has a bunch of ROMS that I play on various emulators
 
Try this one, if you happen to have an Android device. Get a Chromecast (they are now on sale for $30 incl $20 google play store credits), install chromecast app on your android device. Before only Nexus devices can do screen streaming, but I believe it is getting to most android devices now.
 
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