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Boxee, Apple TV, Xbox Media Center, etc: your suggestions on media networking your house/flat?

My TV has a built-in media player. DNLA means it finds the NAS box automatically and diplays the list of folders that I set up in the NAS box's config. Select a file and it plays :)
 
Samsung ue37d5500, but any modern "smart" tv will do it. I bought the Samsung because it seemed to have the best file compatibility and the simplest interface,
 
XBMC can play just about every file out there, but over the last few years this has become less and less important. Most people encode in very limited set of codecs nowadays, having something bristling with codecs isnt really necessary.
 
Best thing on the market at the moment sub £100

Plays everything you chuck at it and also has Spotify Facebook etc...

Picked min up for £90 in argos.

wdtvlivewifiverboxdualview.jpg
 
Samsung ue37d5500, but any modern "smart" tv will do it. I bought the Samsung because it seemed to have the best file compatibility and the simplest interface,

How does yours handle subtitles on MKV's? I need to look for files with hardcoded subs as that's the only problem with my Samsung. I'm not sure if there's a firmware update that sorts it, because I haven't bothered to update it.
 
How does yours handle subtitles on MKV's? I need to look for files with hardcoded subs as that's the only problem with my Samsung. I'm not sure if there's a firmware update that sorts it, because I haven't bothered to update it.
Just fine. I have Princess Mononoke in MKV, with ENG, JAP, ES subtitles and ENG, JAP soundtracks. All are freely accessible and I can change between them on the fly as the movie plays. I have updated my TV to the latest firmware.
 
Just fine. I have Princess Mononoke in MKV, with ENG, JAP, ES subtitles and ENG, JAP soundtracks. All are freely accessible and I can change between them on the fly as the movie plays. I have updated my TV to the latest firmware.

Cheers Crispy :) Mines an older model than yours, but I'll try a firmware update to see if it sorts it.
 
Hmmm, have just read this thread and things are clear as mud.

Can some say in non techy language what to buy to get the films on my USB hard drive onto my tv? I don't want to configure anything, I don't want to tweak anything.

Anyone using words like codec or transcode will be shot.
 
Hmmm, have just read this thread and things are clear as mud.

Can some say in non techy language what to buy to get the films on my USB hard drive onto my tv? I don't want to configure anything, I don't want to tweak anything.

Anyone using words like codec or transcode will be shot.

Buy the WD box in Bob2009's post. Plug your HD into it. Job done.
ETA: Assuming you have a HD TV with HDMI socket.
 
Cool :)

What does the Boxee thing do that this one doesn't, other than win "most stupid design"?
More whizzy interface. It automatically sorts your videos by TV series etc. Pulls synopsis and cover art and cast/crew information from IMDB, has multiple plugins for internet video (youtube, vimeo, iplayer, 4OD etc etc).

The WD box just plays files from a folder list and has a more limited set of internet services.
 
Hmmm, we've got iPlayer on our Wii but 4OD would be cool. Looking at the Boxee site it seems to imply it can stream loads of films and tv shows without me having to (illegally) download them. Is this right, or am I misunderstanding things?
 
Boxee does offer a fair smattering of films and TV shows to watch. The YouTube player app is good too.
 
Hmmm, we've got iPlayer on our Wii but 4OD would be cool. Looking at the Boxee site it seems to imply it can stream loads of films and tv shows without me having to (illegally) download them. Is this right, or am I misunderstanding things?
Both the Boxee and the WD Live have access to online TV and Movie rental/purchase services. Their catalgogues vary in breadth and quality. Hulu is great but only available in the USA - loads of free TV with adverts at the start of the programme. The boxee can be made to access iplayer and 4OD, but not "out of the box" IIRC.
 
More whizzy interface. It automatically sorts your videos by TV series etc. Pulls synopsis and cover art and cast/crew information from IMDB, has multiple plugins for internet video (youtube, vimeo, iplayer, 4OD etc etc).

The WD box just plays files from a folder list and has a more limited set of internet services.

The WD can do that also, you just need this

http://wdtvhubgen.codeplex.com/

and they add more and more services to it all the time, Internet radio, movie rental and facebook, spotify etc... theres 22 services on there right now, there was 15 when i bought it.
 
The WD can do that also, you just need this

http://wdtvhubgen.codeplex.com/

and they add more and more services to it all the time, Internet radio, movie rental and facebook, spotify etc... theres 22 services on there right now, there was 15 when i bought it.
Yeah, but that requires editing on a computer with a 3rd party app. The Boxee "just works"
Boxee still has more internet services - iplayer for starters.

For just playing downloaded movie files, the WD is a great box at a great price.
 
The boxee can be made to access iplayer and 4OD, but not "out of the box" IIRC.
There's Boxee apps for both iPlayer HD and regular and it's as easy to install as an app on a phone. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was pre-installed on the model I had.
 
There's Boxee apps for both iPlayer HD and regular and it's as easy to install as an app on a phone. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was pre-installed on the model I had.
Excellent - sounds like the situation's improved since I last tried it out :)
4OD still requires some hacking about, if google is to be believed
 
My TV has a built-in media player. DNLA means it finds the NAS box automatically and diplays the list of folders that I set up in the NAS box's config. Select a file and it plays :)

Nice. :)

My old Phillips plasma can't do that.
The one they have here at work can play movies straight off a USB stick (not many codecs supported though), I guess that's the same thing.
 
Im still contemplating getting a NAS to use alongside plex on my appletv's...... Anyone used readynas?
 
Im still contemplating getting a NAS to use alongside plex on my appletv's...... Anyone used readynas?
Plex requires the Plex media server, which is a mac app and intel-only. However, it has been ported to the intel-powered Qnap NAS boxes. Still in experimental beta, so not recommended imo.
 
Must mean the ReadyNAS is intel too :)
Does the Plex client for ATV require transcoding on the server end? Cos you'd need a high-end model of the ReadyNAS to get enough CPU grunt. The low-end model (RNDP2000) only has a 1.8GHz Atom - and that starts at £319 without any drives.
 
Yeah that was what im worried about, the test said a readynas 6 is what they used and it was fine, but that obviously has 6 bays, I only need 2, and i think the readynas 2 has a slower processor....

at the moment I use my mac pro as the media server, which transcodes more than fast enough, but I havent got anything slower to test it on.
 
This looks interesting:

pcIJWdWd7swcvbqmM2kvjlAp9DEV8tI2qqQTJUB2D4IQP5Ws-LbJo0PMwnYdyhqHDg=w705


There's been some noise today about an app called Movl SwipeIt that lets you stream content from an iOS or Android device to 2011 Samsung Smart TVs running the SwipeIt app. It's actually pretty neat — you "throw" content to the TV by swiping up on your smartphone screen — but the reason it's making waves is a rumor that Samsung will "announce" the app at CES 2012 as part of a broader strategy to compete with Apple's Airplay.

That's strange enough, seeing as the app's been out for a week now and Samsung's DLNA-based AllShare system already competes with AirPlay, but a little more digging reveals that the rumor all seems to have started with a single blog post that claims Samsung is "pushing" the SwipeIt app to all 2011 Smart TVs. It's further fueled by Movl's liberal use of the Samsung name and logo, but nothing's verified yet — Movl told us they "worked closely" with Samsung on the app but wouldn't confirm anything beyond that
http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/8/2691066/movl-swipeit-streams-content-ios-android-samsung-smart-tv
http://b.akumar.me/2012/01/07/samsung-to-announce-swipeit-an-apple-airplay-competitor-at-ces-2012/
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.movl.swipeit
 
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