Streaming to TV solution!

[Luna72]

Hi,

I have a Samsung LED TV non-DLNA compatible and I am trying to find the best way to stream media to it!

I normally connect my notebook to it via hdmi but this means that my laptop needs to be switched on all the time and cannot be used for other stuff.
Specifically I want to be able to stream video content from my Dropbox Cloud account to my HDTV, so in theory I don't even need a laptop as my files are on Cloud.

These are the solutions I came up with so far and none completely satisfies me:

Media player (i.e.: WD TV live) connected to TV on one end and to NAS on other end (NAS could be synched with my Dropbox Cloud directly or via my notebook): expensive and I am tired of buying lots of hardware!

Roku 2 XS has a couple of channels/apps that stream directly from Dropbox Cloud: Roku seems very proprietary and charge extra for most channels!

Android TV box is an open solution, I have one android tablet and I love android, and in theory would give me a full Smart TV for around 50£ plus a free app for Dropbox Cloud: most of these boxes come from China, I wonder how reliable and functional Android is on this platform!

I'm wondering if there is any other solution out there?

[jman98]

Yes, Roku charges for a lot of channels, or more accurately the channel providers themselves charge, but there's a huge difference between Hulu Plus wanting money to access it via Roku and some kind of Dropbox app. The Dropbox app should really be free. You can always check with Roku about this.

Reviews on Amazon about the Android TV solutions have many references to overheating. People seem to like the devices as long as they don't overheat.

[Luna72]

There is a charge of 7£ for a channel that can stream from Dropbox Cloud. My issue with Roku is that it looks very obscure, starting with the fact that apps are called channels!

Another solution I forgot to mention is Apple TV which would allow to "airplay" content from my iPad; but then I don't know if the Dropbox app on iPad supports airplay........also, Apple TV doesn't support NAS if one day I wanted to buy one!

[jman98]

Unless you are a hard core Apple fanboy, I can promise you that you do NOT want Apple TV. Apple TV is inferior to every product out there. The only people who buy it are those who don't know any better or Apple fanboys.

I have no interest in streaming from Dropbox so I haven't checked, but this price is not coming from Roku. It's coming from Dropbox. Apparently they want to make money from people who want to do what you want to do. Roku is not for everybody but it can meet some people's needs. The interface to the channels is something like changing a channel on a TV if you had a graphical interface to the channels. I suppose the reason Roku prefers the name "channels" is that it puts more emphasis on the content to be viewed than on the provider.

[Clockwork]

Unless you are a hard core Apple fanboy, I can promise you that you do NOT want Apple TV. Apple TV is inferior to every product out there. The only people who buy it are those who don't know any better or Apple fanboys.

...or anyone capable of jailbreaking it and installing XBMC...

[jman98]

...or anyone capable of jailbreaking it and installing XBMC...

I work with truly hard core Apple fanboys and none of them have done that, so I've never heard of that. But it does raise the question that given the Apple TV is more or less in the same price range as the alternatives, wouldn't one be better off to just buy something that meets his needs out of the box than to buy an Apple TV, jailbreak it and install XBMC?

I don't want to sound like a Roku shill as I admit it's not the solution for everybody, but Roku supports Plex for free and Plex looks like it basically has the same functionality as XBMC and you don't need to do anything special to get it work, just install the app on your Roku and the server software on a computer.

[Luna72]

Yeah....I don't think I will buy the apple TV ever!

I'm wondering, is there a usb hdd that on one end can plug into my TV via usb and to the ethernet on the other end? Sort of a NAS that can stream via USB (and not just dlna)!

[usually_quiet]

Yeah....I don't think I will buy the apple TV ever!

I'm wondering, is there a usb hdd that on one end can plug into my TV via usb and to the ethernet on the other end? Sort of a NAS that can stream via USB (and not just dlna)!

Maybe you mean something like the Corsair Voyager Air 1TB? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822233002

...but I don't know about using it with Dropbox.

[Luna72]

Yes, thanks! That's the first device that I see that can do that. Expensive but to be considered!