RIP standalone network media players

HP MediaSmart Connect x280n: Member of a dying breed?

(Credit: HP)

Call it a one-two punch: Monday's news that HP is discontinuing its MediaSmart Connect line follows Friday's report that Linksys' line of Media Center Extenders is also on its way out.

While two announcements doesn't a trend make (you need three for that), I'm hopeful that one of my consumer electronics wishes is finally coming true. We may be seeing the end of the standalone network digital media player. And I say "good riddance." This is a product category that never really should've existed in the first place.

To be clear, I'm not talking about digital music players--those products like Sonos, Logitech's Squeezebox line, or the growing number of cheap (often sub-$200) Wi-Fi radios available. That's a maturing product line that's providing real value--allowing you to access your PC-based digital music, Internet radio, and the growing array of online music services (both free and premium ones).

No, I'm talking about video-enabled digital media adapters. (Which brings me to gripe No. 1: the industry couldn't even agree on a common terminology. The products were alternately known as digital media adapters, digital media players, network media streamers, set-top boxes--or some amalgamation thereof.)

There were three big reasons the product category continued to languish in the enthusiast realm and never really went mainstream. The first was price--the boxes were invariably priced north of $300. The second was complexity. By definition, the units required a degree of home-networking knowledge. Often, you'd need to run a program on your PC (acting as a server), which the media receiver would then have to "see" on the network. Even for seasoned tech geeks, it was often a daunting process.

A lot of us thought it would be over once Apple entered the game with Apple TV. That unit brought iPod-like simplicity to the category. But it never rivaled the iPod's popularity. Even after a major firmware upgrade (which emphasized direct access to iTunes movies instead of pulling files from a networked computer elsewhere in the home), the Apple TV has never seemed to connect with users.

Part of the reason, no doubt, was the third big problem with digital media players: "box fatigue." People already had three or more boxes under their TV: a cable/satellite box, a game console, and a DVD player. (Add to that, in some households, a second or third game console, and perhaps a VCR or standalone TiVo.) "Why can't this functionality be built into one of the boxes I already own?" was the inevitable refrain.

Of course, Microsoft and Sony were all too happy to answer. Those companies were busy one-upping each other with the value-added features to their new game consoles, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. And in fact, both of those consoles are, by and large, excellent digital media players. The 360 is both a full-on Windows Media Center Extender (so it can be used to watch live and recorded TV from a properly configured Windows PC) and a "vanilla" network media player (which can access most standard audio, video, and photo files from a networked PC). The latter is true of the PS3 as well; in fact, I'd argue the PS3 is actually a more robust media streamer than the 360. Recent firmware updates adding DivX compatibility (albeit with some limitations) have made these game consoles even better media streamers than when they originally launched.

However, all of those other problems overshadowed the elephant in the room. Manufacturers never acknowledged the true use for these products: pirated content. With the exception of home movies, the only video files you'd really want to stream from a PC to your TV were all manner of illicit content: ripped DVDs and videos from BitTorrent. That left mainstream manufacturers unable to openly market these products for the intended audience.

Effectively, the market was ceded to boutique manufacturers who were happy to cater to the die-hard streamers and their "don't ask, don't tell" video collections. It's no accident that Netgear's Digital Entertainer Elite and the Synology DS209+ but both include BitTorrent compatibility built-in. (Actually, the latter product is really a NAS that still requires an extender for viewing--but I have it on good authority it integrates perfectly with the PS3.) And the Popcorn Hour products seem to have legions of dedicated fans, especially overseas.

So where does that leave non-geeks? Those who don't even want to bother with networking can opt for a growing selection of USB-friendly plug-and-play media adapters. Connect one to a TV, plug in a USB drive full of media files, and you're good to go. Apple fans will love the Apple TV's friendly and easy-to-use interface, as well as the fact that it integrates perfectly with iTunes.

Savvier users, meanwhile, will find a good selection of jack-of-all-trades boxes that handle media streaming, plus a whole lot more. In addition to the aforementioned Xbox 360 and PS3, non-gamers should check out the TiVo and Moxi DVRs, as well as the new LG BD390 (review coming soon). In addition to digital media file streaming, that latter trio of products includes support for YouTube and Netflix access.

And it's that final feature set that's really the sword in the heart of the media streamer movement. The whole promise of the mythical set-top box was that you could access a wide variety of content, digitally, without the hassle of tapes or discs. The need to set up your PC as a server and then link it with the living room box was something of a step backward--especially when you were responsible for somehow loading up your PC with space-hungry video files as well.

But now, thanks to cloud-based video services like Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and YouTube, we're closer, in my opinion, to what the masses really wanted in the first place. Yes, the selection still isn't ubiquitous, and the pricing models might not be perfect. But it's a big step in the right direction.

What do you think: Have you think a standalone digital media player is a worthwhile product? Are the media streaming functions of the Xbox 360 or PS3 robust enough for you? Or is a Netflix or Amazon-compatible Blu-ray player more your speed? Share your thoughts below.

[make_or_break]

Meh...these boxes were answers to a question no one in their right (legal) mind would ever have thought to ask.

[Renegade Knight]

Yup.

[bigjohn333]

I know you mentioned it in your piece, Popcorn Hour serves my needs incredibly well.
Like you also mentioned, to say anymore would violate the DMCA.

Still loves me some PH!

have an AppleTV - love it

[jtoy007]

I think the better answer to those that are not super tech savvy, in this new world is spend your money wisely, invest in dsl/cable internet, purchase a computer with hdmi/dvi output, which is now becoming standard on most video cards not built-in to the motherboards (just ask a geek squad member or whatever, find a tech savvy friend to take with you when you go shopping to ensure it has it.) Find one with a decent hard drive space, wireless keyboard, mouse.
Then remember one thing, every major tv network today has a website that will air your most prized shows within 24 hrs of when it was aired on tv, hulu works for all networks outside of CBS (and all but a very few shows have next day 6 a.m. releases guarentee's from hulu.com) Buffering might take a bit, but less comericals, ease of use, no preset schedule you must live by. Only minor setback is sports fans are currently at a loss as there is no major setup for watching sports live on-line at this time. Hopefully within the next year or so sports will catch up with everything else and be displayed online just like it is on tv.

John

[keepntabs]

My house is living cable/satellite-free also, and loving it. We watch programs when we want, and there is so much selection to choose from. Here is a great link to a list of online TV sites composed by Mike Panic: http://www.randomn3ss.com/the-complete-list-of-websites-to-stream-full-tv-shows-and-movies-from/.

If your broadband provider is AT&T or Verizon, you can get access to espn360.com. That sites provides a wide breadth of live online sports. Many of the programs are available to be viewed up to a few weeks after the live event occurred. Some of the programs, such as NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL games can only be viewed until that following day after the event. Since this site shows sports from around the world, you will get an opportunity to see games that are not normally broadcast of U.S. network TV. We have an HP Slimline Media Center connected to our TV, and watching the programs on the site in full screen mode looks like regular TV.

CBS now has its own online aggregate TV site called tv.com. To me it's more difficult to navigate than hulu.com or fancast.com, but the site does carry many of the CBS programs, and also has a social networking feature where viewers can chat about an episode (not my thing, but a lot of people like that sort of stuff).

Our Xbox 360 is in the same room as the HTPC; using it as a media center is a null point for us. Instead of buying a media center extender, I purchased a refurb'd Dell Hybrid Studio. I still get a 1 year warranty, and the thing is small, stylish, and very quiet; perfect for the bedroom. These don't come with a tuner card pre-installed, but that was okay, because I can watch recorded shows from the HP HTPC via the media extender capabilities.

[KenMiller3]

I've had an Apple TV since they first came out and I love it. I use it nearly every day. I not only use it for video, but most of the time I listen to my music collection through the Apple TV.

I may be more technology oriented than some of my friends, but seeing my Apple TV at work has prompted five of my non-tech friends to purchase and Apple TV and they each claim to love it.

[bdube]

I have an HP Media Connect. Purchased it with grand plans of streaming content from my PC. To do so requires that you install software on your PC that bogged it down so badly, I unistalled all of it. I did use an attached hard drive to view some content I had copied from my PC, but even then the interface is just painfully slow. By the time I managed to get to the content I wanted to view, I had lost interest. Just a waste of my technology dollars. While I still have it, I haven't turned it on in 6 months.

[Nonchalant_Canuck]

I consider myself the target market for network media products. For example, I enjoy accessing my music collection throughout my house, cusomizing the playlist and volume depending on the room. For this purpose, I already own a Sonos, which I am quite satisfied with. I also enjoy my home theater, and it is for this that I wish content providers would get their acts together. I will never consider it worthwhile to pay a monthly fee to access programming of mostly inferior quality, tied to a particular schedule, littered with commercials on top of it. I don't even have an antenna, never mind cable or sattelite. I rent or buy movies and TV series on Blu Ray or DVD to watch on my recently purchased PS3, in perfect digital quality, 5.1 surround sound, on my schedule, without commercials, as many times as I want. The only gaps remaining in (legal) availability of desired content are sports programming (pay per view especially), and currently airing TV series. The problem is exacerbated because I live in Canada, where (legal) online access to current programming is even further restriced. If I were able to pay for episodes of currently airing television series, in HD quality (including surround sound), I WOULD. Since this is not generally availabe (I believe even HD content available exclusively in the states, for example through i-Tunes, even with all its licensing restrictions, is still only available in 2 channel sound - please correct me here if I am wrong) I have heard that it's possible to download the same content through bittorrent and stream it right to a PS3. Just saying. In the meantime, I'm waiting for media companies to catch up with consumer demand, and technological capabilities.

[Cheese McBeese]

I have an Apple TV and I love it. Fantastic product that could easily become a god-box if Apple would put some focus on it. Apple TV has reduced my business with Blockbuster by about 70%. Also, my preferred method of watching new TV shows is to purchase the HD versions from iTunes and watch them using Apple TV. PAY ATTENTION HOLLYWOOD, there is a market here if you get off your ass and develop it properly.

[jpfalcone]

There's a lot to like about the Apple TV. To me, the big drawback is that iTunes doesn't offer a subscription plan. For $9 a month, I can watch hours and hours of content on Netflix (via PC, Roku box, and a growing number of compatible devices). But that same $9 will get me 1 movie and 2 TV episodes on Apple TV--just four hours of content.

How much per month are you Apple TV fans spending on content?

[tarmentano]

I agree with jpfalcone. Pay per view is too expensive and represents an outdated model. It would be like $18 for a season of Survivor, $15 for the Office, $36 for American Idol. That's ridiculous. HULU has by far and away the best business model for streaming media and other Companies need to replicate their model or join them. I could also see HULU offering a monthly service for $9/month for people that want all HD content and who don't want to watch any commercials. Apple TV might be cool but they should switch to the HULU or Netflix Model. You would save a tone of cash and they wouldn't continue to look silly.

[timber2005]

I have upgraded my old xbox to xbmc, which w/ networking is basically one fo these devices.
I've always wanted a network to tv device to play all the media I have and I don't go two days without using it. No need to move my Zune or burn CD's or make a dvd (of divx encoded anime that I would need a pricy dvd player to play)... just turn on xbox, and access a network share of all of it.

I hope Netgear isn't the one that makes it a trend. I've been eying that 8000 series.

[superswiss]

There's actually quite a difference between Media Center Extenders like the HP MediaConnect and the Linksys DMA2100/2200 vs. network media players and even the PS3. The big difference is TV functionality. That's what I use these devices for most of the time. The Media Center Extenders combined with a properly configured Media Center PC provide a multi-room DVR solution that's pretty much unmatched. The PS3, Apple TV and the slew of other network media players don't do TV. Once you have more than one TV in your house and multiple DVRs you soon realise that without a central DVR and small extender devices at each TV instead of a full DVR makes all the difference. With Tivo and other DVRs you have to figure out which DVR recorded what and that pretty much dictates which TV you have to use to watch it. The Tivo at least lets you copy recordings from one Tivo to another, but that's a pretty lame solution. With Media Center and Media Center Extenders, everything gets centrally recorded on the Media Center PC and everything is accessible from each Media Center Extender. So if you feel like watching last nights CSI in your bedroom, you can do so w/o having to worry where it is and copy it around. If half way through, you want to continue watching in the living room, you just stop playing the recording in the bedroom, turn on the living room TV and continue where you left off. Unless you experience a true multi-room DVR solution like this for yourself, you have no idea what you are missing and you don't understand these devices. The real problem is that neither Microsoft nor HP or Linksys have done a good job at marketing this. It's pretty much the enthusiasts like me who have realized the potential of this solution and are running whole house entertainment systems based on these devices.

[superswiss]

BTW, AppleTV is the biggest joke among these devices. Having TV in it's name is quite an insult. Yes, it hooks up to your TV, but that's about it. You still need a seperate DVR or Set Top Box to watch TV. In my house, the Media Center Extender takes the place of the DVR and/or Set Top Box, so by going this route, I actually reduced the number of devices under my TV. Through the Media Center Extender I can watch Live TV, which gets streamed over the network from my PC and I can pause, record and replay like with a standalone DVR. Not that I watch a lot of Live TV these days, but I could without cluttering up my living room with an STB and another cable drop.

[Cheese McBeese]

@superswiss - I don't understand why you feel that AppleTV is 'the biggest joke' and why it's name is an insult...?

AppleTV connects to all of my TVs. I use AppleTV to watch all of my favorite shows in HD. I pay for the content so I watch it in HD and I watch it whenever I want. No video compression from the cable network!! No commercials!! When I pause my AppleTV, it waits for me. No buffer overflow.

The cost of buying the shows that I want to watch has so far been below the cost of subscribing to the Verizon package that would make them available to me in compressed HD.

The AppleTV is a cheap and silent box with a huge amount of value. If you don't appreciate the value, I think that you are still stuck in yesterday's model of 'network TV'.

[superswiss]

@Cheese McBeese - if you read my post carefully, I didn't say anything about value. I was talking about TV. AppleTV has about as much to do with TV as my Blu-ray player. Just because you can watch TV shows that are made available for download in case of AppleTV or on disc in case of the Blu-ray player doesn't make it do TV. TV today is still broadcast TV via cable, terrestrial or satellite. AppleTV doesn't handle any of those. If you are not interested in broadcast TV, that's your choice, but that's another discussion altogether. Playing downloadable content is not a differentiator with these devices. They pretty much all can play downloaded content. Any PC can for that matter, but as a consumer I expect something that says TV in it's name that it can actually handle a TV signal.

As for the compression comment, with all due respect, you don't know what you are talking about. Any movie/TV show download service including iTunes highly compresses their content. In case of iTunes it uses a more efficient encoding (H.264 vs MPEG-2) that hides compression artifacts better, but the bitrates are still way way lower than cable, in particular if you compare it to Verizon FIOS. Verizon FIOS passes the original signal they receive from the broadcasters through to the customer w/o additional compression. Also, terrestrial HD signals are the original signals from the broadcaster. AppleTV doesn't even get close to that quality.

I have Comcast as my cable provider and they do have a bad rep for overcompressing the HD streams, but to their credit, the quality at least in my part of the country has noticeably improved and these days I notice very few compression artifacts. Shutting off much of their analog channels has freed up huge amounts of bandwidth for them.

[superswiss]

@Cheese McBeese - Also, don't forget that all the TV shows you are currently watching on your AppleTV originate on network TV. What do you think would happen to those TV shows if network TV would go away? For example tonight's 2 hour episode of 24 is sitting on my Media Center PC in all it's 720p glory ready to be watched, recorded in real-time. I don't need to wait for it to download not to mention that it's not even available on iTunes yet.

[Cheese McBeese]

@superswiss: ok, now I understand where you're coming from. To you, TV is a broadcast. To me, TV is an electronic device that hangs on the wall with several inputs, including over-the-air and cable broadcasts.

Think of AppleTV as 'Apple-on-your-TV'. In my opinion, AppleTV is the best media center extender. The interface with iTunes is very slick. The only programming I watch live now is sports and (occasionally) news.

[blondepianist]

@superswiss "TV" refers to the television it plugs into, not the shows that a TV displays when connected to an antenna.

[Khubo]

Amen!! I also fell in love with the idea of being able to watch tv in any room I want to. Dish Network comes close with their multiroom DVR solution but the second room gets SD only and not many houses are wired for this solution (2 coax in every room fed from a centralized location). With the media center extenders I can watch HD in any room that I have a tv and an extender as well as on my computer with my 24" monitor and my surround sound. A couple of issues with Falcone article.

1. XBox 360 as a suitable replacement. I tried this and it is indeed a wonderful extender, if you can hear over the fan noise. An even bigger problem is the failure rate. I know that some people are still running initial launch consoles but I went through 5 consoles in 2 years. Microsoft replaced 3 of them under warranty but the last 2 were a DVD Drive failure ($129 to fix) and then an anomalous issue that Microsoft couldn't diagnose but they owuld be happy to look at it if I sent it in (at least another $100)

2. Difficulty to setup. My DMA2200 arrived while I was out of town. My wife was very anxious to watch Survivor so she set it all up by herself. It is not the least bit difficult to pair with my PC. It does require that both be on and that you type in info on both the PC and the extender but my wife had more trouble hooking it up to the tv than she did connecting it to the computer.

3. Cost. My DMA2200 was $130. Pricey for an upconverting DVD but cheap when you consider that it is also my TV and my music streamer

4. Yet one more box. Since I am using DMA2200 it is also my DVD player. In fact this has replaced my DVD player, my XBox 360 (as a Media Center Component) and my Roku Soundbridge. So I actually have fewer boxes in my cabinet than I did before.

5. Hulu, Youtube, and Netflix as substitutes. With the use of a free media center extender plug in all three of those services are available through extenders.

All in all I love the technology and the ease of use. Until someone else comes out with a low cost, easy to use way to watch all my tv shows in any room in my house, when I want, in HD and surround sound I will stick with this technology. The only thing I am really wishing for is that someone would build the technology into a BluRay player. It looks like they are getting close but not quite.

[andrewrm]

I can not live without my Apple TV for one reason. All 300 plus CDs and now purchased legal content are on my mac. I'm done with physical media. It's about moving the music to my living room from my office without discs with easy access to all of it. The Apple TV is an easy and elegant solution.

[Renegade Knight]

Funny you mentioin being done with physical media. It's entirly because I want to go digtial that I now buy more physical media than ever. No annoying EULA and TOS to get in the way of my music. I rip it myself and my own TOS = Fair Use Enjoyment. Digital Media Resellers have to many rules and regs that if you actually took time to follow them would get in the way of the enjoyment of the product.

[datamuncher]

Apple TV and EyeTV Homerun combination vs:
- TiVo
- Any STB
- Xbox

Have em all..

[Cheese McBeese]

Yes, agree completely. Add PS3 to that list because I also have that in my home network.

[celticbrewer]

PC as a server? Isn't that a bit dated? I prefer my RAID'd NAS with Twonky as the media server. There's no way I'm keeping my PC on 24/7. And the PS3 streams everything wonderfully. I just wish there was a decent and, more importantly, reasonably priced device that I could use on other TV/Stereos in the house. Streaming netflix would be a cherry on top. I don't need DVR access. The DSM-510 seems okay.

[Renegade Knight]

PS3 Does stream well enough. The interface though, utterly sucks.

[Brent212]

I agree leaving a PC on 24/7 kind of sucks. I don't mind leaving a laptop on 24/7, however.

[JonDeutsch]

This article is suffering from presumption bias. The presumption is that cloud-based content is what is needed, and -- legal or not -- is what the market demands.

As someone who has a cablecard-enabled Windows Media Center and a few Media Center extenders (like the ones being discontinued), I can say that none of the alternatives provide me what I want -- my full digital cable line-up (live TV and DVR/recorded TV alike) available to any and all TVs in my house for about $100/box, with no monthly fees.

It's really as simple as that. Cloud-based content is mostly pay-per-month subscriptions (a la -- a new cable bill). Most torrent-based content is illegal (overseas or not, ahem).

Media Center + Extenders bring my digital cable investment to life with no additional monthly fees. This is the KILLER APP because, what, 90% of Americans subscribe to cable TV? It's not like torrent and cloud-based content is taking over by storm. Cable still rules. And until it doesn't, I want all that great content where ever I am in my home. I don't want Comcast billing me another $20/month for every additional box in my home, without even the ability to pool my content together.

So, let me quickly lay out what I get with my Media Center extenders combined with my Media Center "brain":

- Live digital cable TV to any TV in my house without any set-top-boxes from my cable provider.
- Unlimited space for recorded digital cable content, streamed to any TV in my home on-demand
- Access to most of the integrated cloud-based content within Media Center (including XM Radio, MSNBC, NetFlix, Reuters, YouTube, etc.). Hulu access is available, but not via extenders just yet.
- Ability to stream my entire music, photo and video library to any TV in my house, on-demand

You get the picture? Virtually any/all media that I have stored can be accessed whenever and wherever I want, for no additional monthly fees. And no iTunes per-unit-purchases either.

So, my counter to this article is another type of presumption bias -- I presume that people want access to the content they're already subscribed to (Cable TV) anywhere in their home with no additional monthly fees (since they're already paying for accessing it once). And, I presume that streaming live and recorded digital cable in addition to the rest of their content (cloud, stored, whatever) is quite a compelling proposition.

I'd like to hear the author's response to this alternative bias.

Thanks,
Jon
[e-mail]

[jpfalcone]

@JonDeutsch:

You make a lot of good points. And I certainly agree that renting more boxes from the cable company is not the direction we want to be heading.

I love the *idea* of a central media depository that can be accessed by thin-client extenders throughout the house. But the CableCard solution was never ready for prime time, in my opinion. I've gotten through two installs, and my colleagues have done it once on a PC--it was never the plug-and-play experience that we were originally promised.

A PC is certainly the most flexible, with full access to Hulu, Netflix, and any other Web-based content. And if it's working for you, that's great. But I think your setup indicates that you're a tech-savvy user--and that's probably true of many CNET readers. I think that average consumers just don't want to have a PC-as-cable-box. It's too expensive, unreliable, and often impractical (most folks find the PC to be too noisy or bulky for the living room).

Now that we're transitioning from CableCard to Tru2way, perhaps we can hit the reset button. I think something like the EchoStar SlingLoaded DVR could be a possible compromise here. Live and recorded programming could be accessible throughout the house (indeed, even anywhere you can get an Internet connection), and multiple tuners could resolve the conflicts that currently exist with Slingbox + SlingCatcher setups. Add to receivers the ability to access online content (Netflix, Amazon, etc.), and I think you'd have a really good solution. But I'd still like the receivers/extenders to either be dirt cheap ($99) or to include more functionality (DVD or Blu-ray playback).

[Renegade Knight]

Your set up is what I have with Basic Cable. It's what I want to replicate with Digital though they seem to want to make that difficult. I have a Media Server that essentially replaces media extenders in that My PS3, 360, Latop etc, can all access the data. It's even possible to set up on PC to be a DVR and have that content on the Media Server (not completely easy to do) and then available elsewhere.

Biggest problem is a universal file format. That and I still want all my TV's to have TV signal like Basic CAble works now. Sometimes I just want to surf what's on.

[Khubo]

"Hulu access is available, but not via extenders just yet" I was using Playon when I was using an XBox 360 as an extender and it worked great for Hulu/CBS/YouTube/etc... when I switch to a Linksys DMA2200 I lost that ability. Apparently there is a now an add-on (vmcPlayIt) that allows for this capability again. I can't wait to get home and try it out.

The one place that this technology has failed is that a few years back Sony introduced a 200 disc DVD changer for the computer. If I could have streamed that content to an extender that would have made these extenders the true killer app. To be able to watch all my movies without having my kids touch any of them would have been awesome.

[beelissa]

Okay, I agree it would be great to have DVR content available on all TVs, and in our house we'd also like the chance to watch and at the same time record more shows than we can currently. We're constantly fighting over who is watching what and recording what, to the point where I mostly forego recording anything I know I can later watch online, just to eliminate a fight. But if I could watch streaming hulu or other online network shows, that would be almost as good as having the DVR content in all rooms. I just haven't found the way to do that yet, I'm not as technical as most of you, apparently.

[PirateVandal]

Good Riddance is not what I like to hear at all. These products are meant as a cheaper way of using your HDTVs to access the media stored on your computer or server.
Why would I want to pay a service like Netflix everytime I want to watch something? I've got my own DVD library stored up and ready to watch on my 55" HDTV LCD but I'm reading, with dread as the cheapest way to bring my TVs onto my home network, and my media out of storage, bites the dust.

[Renegade Knight]

Media Extendres vs. Media Hubs. One device, Many devices. It's pretty easy to see why they are going by the wayside.

[kev7773]

@PirateVandal - but if we are to believe what the MPAA defines as piracy, we are not allowed to convert our purchased DVDs into a digital format - to do so would be "illegal". Therefore, if we want to watch a movie without buying a DVD, we need to get it through legal means, ie, digital download from Apple, Amazon, Netflix, etc.

[dk jones]

i have an Apple 802.11(n) wifi network & my "media extenders" are the computers that i own. i have a 17" Intel iMac w/ 1.25 TB of attached storage(music & my fave DVD rips) connected to my LR 42" HDTV & AVR set-up & a MacBook(my work 'puter) i can use anywhere but, mostly in my bedroom to connect to my 26" HDTV. w/ iTunes & all my Macs, set to sharing i can send anything stored on the iMac "Server' or any of my Macs to any other Mac & w/ my iPod Touch or iPhone i have some control of iTunes(mostly w/ music) from any of my Macs. & now that Apple allows any Mac that's capable to play HD content, not just the Apple TV, the occasional movie rental is a good deal for me. i no longer have cable & using the network sites a well as aggregators like Hulu, Joost & Fancast i can watch just about anything i want. i still have a couple of VCR/DVD player combos to record TV shows or Movies i just want to see once then i re-use the tape. so, i use a mix of the old tech w/ the new. i think the whole point of the tech is to see what you want when you want & w/ the aggregators as well as some network sites like NBC & ABC, i've been able to discover some things i wouldn't have on "TV"(cable/sat or OTA) as well as they have some older shows & movies that i've not seen in along time or in some cases never seen. just some of my thoughts.

[SRN74]

I was seriously considering purchasing one of these media extender recently. I have a HTPC setup with music, home movies and ripped DVDs for my kids. I wanted to be able to listen to the music and watch the videos in another room. I don't use the PC as a DVR because of the difficulty/expense of recording HD premium content, so I use the comast box as a DVR. I didn't realize the Xbox costs roughly the same as one of the extender and may wait for the blu-ray version and go that route. At some point I think I'll drop the comcast premium subscription and go with a basic cable/Netflix/Roku setup. It seems like the field is changing constantly and as soon as you get something two months later there's something better. Plus while I'm relatively tech-savy, other members of my household are not and I want stuff to work 99% of the time. (Which, currently, it does not, unfortunately, needing reboots because of audio problems frequently).

[mikemc3]

Being a working stiff with bills, I have never been able to afford all the Tech-Goodness I read about. But I do read about it alot and I agree. In this age of "all in one" gadgets, having a gaming consol that can also stream Netflix, etc along with your home media content is much better then yet something cluttering your TV-Stand.

[Renegade Knight]

There you go. You understand perfectly this issues. Simplicity.

[AnthonyNYC]

That is also another reason why i love the "Roku" box, it is so tiny! Fits anywhere on tv stand, and doesn't clutter up anything. Better to replace bulky stuff and just have this hidden even behing the flatscreen, it is smaller then you think it will be, love it! And being wireless, you just need a wire going to your tv in, that's it oh and outlet for power.

[nowimcool]

I use an xbox 360 with a 1TB HDD for all my tv needs (usually plugged straight into the xbox usb). I have a mac so I partitioned off 32 gigs and put Windows on it to test out Media Center because I had been using the (what the author refers to as) 'vanilla' version of media streaming since before the 360 upgraded the videos it could play.

I didn't like MC at all. First, it was slow, I had been using the 'vanilla' and I have all my files organized I could get to what I wanted fast! Second, it was confusing. For some reason it would only allow tv that MC recorded to be put in the tv section and pictures and video were put in the same category. In the video section it takes too much time loading screen shots from all the video that are so small they are useless (well, the are useless anyways).

Lastly, I tried for the life of me to get movie posters on the movies I have ripped, no go - or at least I can't figure it out. So I went back to the vanilla. It's not pretty, but (as a strict media player) I think it works better.