WD Live, AppleTV, or other suggestion

R

rhouck

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NOTE: I've built several HTPCs (heck I have one just sitting in my closet) and understand why they are superior and would never get something gimped for myself. This is not for me.

I am looking for a device to play movies from an external hard drive and/or network to a TV. This is for my mother. She is competent enough for the basics but I'm not going to deal with tech support calls for a full-blown HTPC.

She has a Wii already so Netflix support would be nice but not a make/break necessity.

Considering WD Live Plus but it seems to get mixed reviews.

Also considering AppleTV (new or old). She has an iPhone and uses iTunes (although doesn't have a Mac) so this would seem to be a nice option for music/movies. I understand some of the limitations as I have used one before, but she's not going to care if she can watch whatever amazing 1080p fancy reference frame crap that it won't play.

Anyway, do people have specific suggestions? Any network streaming would be over Wi-Fi, so I wouldn't mind having onboard storage/external hard drive hookup in case that is laggy/goes to shit.
 
What type of media are you going to use?

If you are planning for 1080p, wireless is just not going to cut it.

I put a PBO in my mom's house so my kid can watch movies when we go visit. It streams 720p movies from a PC via wired connection. It can also stream 720p movies from my lap via wireless, but 1080p is choppy.
 
Stoly said:
What type of media are you going to use?

If you are planning for 1080p, wireless is just not going to cut it.

I put a PBO in my mom's house so my kid can watch movies when we go visit. It streams 720p movies from a PC via wired connection. It can also stream 720p movies from my lap via wireless, but 1080p is choppy.
Click to expand...

wired is definitely the way to go. If you don't want a long ethernet run, you could grab a pair of powerline a/v adapters. I'm using these http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Western+Digital+-+Livewire+Powerline+A/V+Network+Kit/1221566.p?skuId=1221566&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=1221566&ref=06&cmp=RMX&loc=01&id=1218237044348and they absolutely fantastic. I average about 150mpbs in 30 year old home w/ copper wiring.
 
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