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Popolou
932 posts
77 months
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Waspy1 said: So these boxes like Apple TV and WDTV plug into your TV with an HDMI cable do they? and then the box receives a wireless signall from your PC?
Have I got that right? Yes. No. They give you full HD (if available) via hdmi but they can either connect to your wired or wireless network. The wdtv box will either connect to a network share with all your media (pc or local network drive) or detect a media server (aka dnla) to stream content. Pops
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Waspy1
Original Poster
2,184 posts
46 months
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OK so I just need to have the files on the PC then, I don't need to actually play them. Doh!
I just have to make sure those files are shared so the WDTV box can see them.
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Waspy1
Original Poster
2,184 posts
46 months
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Also, I guess I could buy a wireless network drive with all my movie files on it?
Any recommendations?
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Ultuous
1,624 posts
61 months
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Road2Ruin said: A lot of modern tvs have built in dlna, so you may not need anything Indeed - as do a lot of Blu Ray players (some with wireless built in, a lot with an additional dongle required often at silly extra cash)... worth bearing in mind in case that's a better solution for the OP than investing in another separate widget!
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Popolou
932 posts
77 months
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Yes to both. You can either provide read access to the files and share them out to all over the network, or lock it down with username and password credentials. The little box can handle it all.
Perhaps see how it goes first off your pc. There are many Network Attached Storage devices out there, some even with their own media server built-in. Trouble is, hard disk prices are bonkers atm so you can wait it out.
If you stream off the home pc, better it is connected via a wired connection to the home network.
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Waspy1
Original Poster
2,184 posts
46 months
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Popolou said: If you stream off the home pc, better it is connected via a wired connection to the home network. Yes, but I would not need to stream would I? Just so long as the box can see the shared files on the PC?
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Geezer-20v
819 posts
64 months
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Get yourself an Xbox. (About £50 on ebay or £100 new)
Download TVersity and install on your PC.
Add video files to TVersity.
Turn on Xbox and enjoy HD movies flawlessly.
Xbox also has BBC iPlayer 4oD etc now as well.
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Road2Ruin
2,726 posts
86 months
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Waspy1 said: So these boxes like Apple TV and WDTV plug into your TV with an HDMI cable do they? and then the box receives a wireless signall from your PC?
Have I got that right? No. They receive a wireless signal from your router! You then need something else connected to the router with your content on like a nas or pc(this would need to be on).
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vladcjelli
1,317 posts
28 months
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If you buy a network streamer like wdtv or something from AC Ryan, you may also be able to connect a usb hard drive to it to store files, freeing up space on your pc. It will also act like a network share so if you decide to expand your streamers to other rooms, they will be able to pick up the files from there without having your pc on all the time.
If I was doing it all again though, I would buy a small, quiet pc for under the tv, with hdmi out. Then you have the option of films, internet, games - the lot on your biggest screen in the house.
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Waspy1
Original Poster
2,184 posts
46 months
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Road2Ruin said: No. They receive a wireless signal from your router! You then need something else connected to the router with your content on like a nas or pc(this would need to be on). Got it. Thanks.
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fadeaway
1,359 posts
96 months
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Waspy1 said: Popolou said: If you stream off the home pc, better it is connected via a wired connection to the home network. Yes, but I would not need to stream would I? Just so long as the box can see the shared files on the PC? don't get hung up on the word "stream". We mean that the thing plugged into the TV (Apple TV, xBox, PS3, etc...) connects to your PC, pulls the videos from there and plays them on the TV. Its not technically accurate, but is often describes as "streaming from your PC". It doesn't mean that your PC is playing the video, its just storing the files.
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Popolou
932 posts
77 months
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Waspy1 said: Yes, but I would not need to stream would I? Just so long as the box can see the shared files on the PC?
Correct.
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Waspy1
Original Poster
2,184 posts
46 months
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fadeaway said: don't get hung up on the word "stream". We mean that the thing plugged into the TV (Apple TV, xBox, PS3, etc...) connects to your PC, pulls the videos from there and plays them on the TV.
Its not technically accurate, but is often describes as "streaming from your PC". It doesn't mean that your PC is playing the video, its just storing the files. Right, yes the word 'stream' was throwing me. Got it now.
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Morningside
16,855 posts
99 months
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aspen said: What tech have you got at the moment?
Where are you streaming from?
PS3 and xbox make decent media centers.
If you have apple stuff then an apple TV integrates easily. I dont use HD and I find that my old xbox works wonders. Silent and faultless.
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Popolou
932 posts
77 months
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fadeaway said: Waspy1 said: Popolou said: If you stream off the home pc, better it is connected via a wired connection to the home network. Yes, but I would not need to stream would I? Just so long as the box can see the shared files on the PC? don't get hung up on the word "stream". We mean that the thing plugged into the TV (Apple TV, xBox, PS3, etc...) connects to your PC, pulls the videos from there and plays them on the TV. Its not technically accurate, but is often describes as "streaming from your PC". It doesn't mean that your PC is playing the video, its just storing the files. Cheers fella 
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Waspy1
Original Poster
2,184 posts
46 months
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Further complications:
I've just checked my Blu-ray player and it has an ethernet port and it can connect to the router via a cable.
Cable is not practical but is there something that will plug into the ethernet port and pick up the wireless network from the router (wirelessly)?
Xbox sounds interesting.
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Dodsy
5,568 posts
97 months
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get a pair of powerline adapters, job done. I stream HD over 200meg powerlines from my media NAS to a netgear media player never had any problems. If I was doing it now the only change I would make would be to use Gig powerlines instead of 200meg.
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Road2Ruin
2,726 posts
86 months
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Dodsy said: get a pair of powerline adapters, job done. I stream HD over 200meg powerlines from my media NAS to a netgear media player never had any problems. If I was doing it now the only change I would make would be to use Gig powerlines instead of 200meg. Indeed. I use powerlines too and have had two streams from the nas running at the same time. Mine are the 200mbps ones.
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Waspy1
Original Poster
2,184 posts
46 months
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Dodsy said: get a pair of powerline adapters, job done. I stream HD over 200meg powerlines from my media NAS to a netgear media player never had any problems. If I was doing it now the only change I would make would be to use Gig powerlines instead of 200meg. Interesting, can they be plugged into an extension lead?
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einsign
2,950 posts
116 months
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