Rokus and Boxees and routers, oh my!

[kydar]

I want to stream video to my TV. It seems like everybody and his brother is making some sort of device to do it these days (WD routers are the newest entry in the game that I've found), but I can't seem to find one that does everything I want.

See, I have thousands and thousands of videos on my HDD/NAS. Theyre in all kinds of formats and containers...VCD, SVCD, DVD, DV, VOB, MPG, AVI, MKV, OGG. VLC can play almost all of them on the desktop PC's monitor. But how to get the picture on my TV??

Here's my setup: HDTV that is not "smart" i.e. has no ethernet port or wifi. Just 2 HDMI, 2 component, & 2 composite inputs. I have a Wii and an Xbox attached to it. I am running a CAT6 cable to the wall behind it, to which I could plug in the Xbox or a BRD player (I will buy one if necessary). The other end of the Cat6 goes to a switch (currently using an old Linksys BEFSR41 in switch mode, but upgrading to gigabit switch soon). My router is also connected to the switch (and to the comcast cablemodem) as are my two desktop PC's (one's a Mac).

Ideally, I'd like to be able to stream both from the internet (Youtube, Hulu, Amazon video, etc) AND from the local HDD/NAS (via the desktop PC and VLC) keeping in mind that there are a multitude of formats, codecs, and containers to deal with, and no I'm not transcoding them.

Is there ONE box that can do all this??

My last alternative would be to run a 25' HDMI cable directly from the mini-HDMI output of my desktop PC's video card to the TV, thereby simply mirroring whatever is shown on the PC's display. Doesn't seem like the best solution though. Sure would appreciate some help. Thx.

[Moontrash]

If you want regular 100mb speed then the Micca EP350 will do th job just fine. If you need the gigabit speed the Micca EP950 will do it also. I know those who have both and they both work fine. It can be finicky on a few stray .avi/xvid encoded things but by enlarge I've been told it strums the WDtv live by a mile. Also has built in apps to youtube and other stuff. You can also add hdd's up to 2 or 3 tb's.

[jagabo]

The AIOS Media Center seems to be getting pretty good reviews. No Netflix or Amazon VOD though. I don't think any of them plays DV.

Lots of players: http://www.iboum.com/net-media-players.php

[kydar]

Holy cow, there are about a bazillion media players on the market now! I didn't realize the market had exploded so much. Thanks for the link, jagabo.

Unfortunately this is going to make the search a lot harder.

[jman98]

Roku is not the kind of device you want. I have one and I really like it and I talked my best friend into getting one and he likes it too, but it can't really stream from your home network. It's an internet streaming device. You should probably eliminate it from your search list.

Your internet streaming requirement is a killer. It's easy to find boxes that can stream the kind of files you have and you can find boxes that can stream from the internet, but both is currently too much unless you want to build a home theater PC (HTPC) yourself. Do note that You Tube severely restricts who can stream it and most of the appliances aren't licensed to stream it, requiring you to need an HTPC. If you don't want to build an HTPC then you need to prioritize you wants and pick something that has what is most important to you.

[kydar]

It sounds more and more to me like I should go the HTPC route. My PC has an EVGA GeForce GT520 graphics card with 2 DVI and one mini-HDMI outputs. I'll just set it up across the room (it'll be the kids' computer) and run an HDMI cable from the PC to the TV directly. Then, anything I can display on the screen (whether from HDD/NAS or internet), I can watch on my TV....at least I hope so. I'll have to test that out.

I'd like to see this thread continued, though, with other media player suggestions just so I can keep my eye on them. The Boxee I think does almost everything I was looking for except stream Amazon video.

[olyteddy]

HTPC can definitely be the win. I use an Acer Revo as a dedicated PC on my bigscreen.