# Do you have a media streamer/HTPC (Home Theatre PC)?



## canabiz (Apr 4, 2009)

We just cut the cord and I am looking for free and cheap(er) alternatives for our entertainment.

I will have an OTA antenna (tried with indoor and will install outdoor in the spring) that will give us 12-15 Over-the-Air channels (I am in South-west Ottawa) so that is taken care of, TV channels-wise. I am now looking at media streamers/HTPC for streaming/converting my plasma TV into SmartTV and am wondering if you guys can give some recommendations? 

My criteria are pretty simple

- Affordable: I am not looking to spend more than $150. I have seen plenty of sub-$150 media player deals and considering how much we will be using this (or lack thereof), I think this is a reasonable number. I could build my own HTPC but it will invariably cost more than $150 so I'm not looking @ that route at the moment.

- Ease of use: I am fairly computer literate so I can get around and set it up any player but the wife isn't so a clean, easy-to-navigate interface is very much required. I don't want her to go back to cable 

- Good support in terms of apps availability and regular updates

From my research, there are quite a few choices

*The basic players*

- AppleTV
- GoogleTV
- Roku
- Boxee
- WD TV Live

*The more advanced players*

- Pivos (AIOS, XIOS)
- Raspberry PI
- JynxBox

Do you own any of the above and if so, do you have any feedback to share? TIA.


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## Bulldogge (Aug 5, 2011)

Have 2 WDTV's and 1 Apple TV. If you require a high WAF and she has an IPad then the Apple TV is the way to go. She can find the content on her IPad and then stream it to the TV effortlessly. WDTV is easily hackable and contains everything you need for streaming as well. You can set it up with a universal remote to increase the WAF.


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## somecanuck (Dec 23, 2011)

My television, Bluray player, and Xbox allow streaming directly to them over the network. The Bluray player has built-in WiFi and also accepts USB storage. We tend to just plug in a USB hard drive or stick with the shows and movies we want. I'll use WiFi if I need something transcoded, which Wild Media Server handles from my computer.

My brother has a WD Live and loves it. A friend of mine has an Apple TV and Boxee, but isn't much of a fan.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

old laptop?


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

XBMC is what I use works great.

I also use mythtv with an Antenna.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I use WD TV hooked up to a 2 terrabyte hard drive containing movies and tv show I like. I still use Direct tv since over the air tv is not worth wasting time on. In Vegas I got about 50 channels none of which were worth wasting pixels on.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I thought about building a HTPC years ago, but PS3/XBox consoles have always been sold at a loss and are ready made for TV. The PS3 is now $170 and is everything the little streaming boxes are as well as Bluray player, 160GB+, and it plays games. You can stream from your PC to PS3 or XBox or from the internet obviously

Now I have an Apple TV and I prefer it over PS3. It just works better with other devices and it's faster to use. If I'm watching a video in a 3rd party app on iPhone I can hit airplay and it streams right away, or I can select files on iPhone to play from the Mac Book over WiFi to the TV. It basically integrates any Apple device with the TV effortlessly and a smartphone is easier to use than using the internet on a TV. I never have to go restart a crashed program (or install it and setup) like I did on Windows and it's more responsive to the iPhone than PS3 was with any 3rd party apps.

Say I want to watch the new Top Gear from last night. 1. Open app on iPhone from anywhere and tell my Mac Book to download it in HD 2. Open it from iPhone and Mac Book streams it to the TV. You can probably do this with the others, but it was more of an afterthought for PS3. I find it easier to just download the few shows I watch


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## SpIcEz (Jan 8, 2013)

I use XBMC on a small fanless PC like this : http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101131

Mine is an older model of that same pc. It streams 1080P flawlessly.

There is some work involved in installing and configuring it, but once its done, it works without a hickup.


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