Streaming Media Player?

I thought I'd start a general topic on this because I'm researching to figure out what I need, after I realized the Apple TV wouldn't cut it. Here's what I've found out so far.

Apple TV - Great if you buy all your video through iTunes, if you don't, you're out of luck until it's hacked. HDMI output, can stream as well as hold content locally, wired and wireless ethernet. Only really plays AAC, MP3 and H264, but will probably have a great interface as per usual with Apple.

Tvix/Mvix/Mediagate - These are all based on the same chipset so they have the same basic interface. They'll play any media format under the sun, however the interface almost universally sucks. Plus, hard to find in the US.

Netgear - Netgear has a media center out which is not supposed to be bad at all, and they have a new version coming out with H264 and HDMI support soon. Oddly enough it won't play OGG music, not sure why. Still keeping my eye on this one, the interface is not suposed to be bad on the EV700, which is the current model.

D-Link - Their media centers play lots of content, but overall they're supposed to be buggy and unstable. Cheap though.

Does anybody else have any experiences with this stuff? I'm still sorta stuck on this because almost every media player has some major faults or another. I'm still hoping someone hacks the Apple TV but I won't hold my breath.

I've got Philips Streamium SL400i. Plays most of stuff out there, except WMV video and DRM'd ACC. Has both wired 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11b/g support right out of the box. DLNA/UPnP compliant. Unique feature -- has a display which allows you to navigate stuff and initiate audio playback without having to turn on the TV. Streams internet radio (eg DI.fm) directly from the source, without having to run some middle-man app on your PC. Comes with a no-frills, but serviceable software. Very simple GUI. Is supported by Twonky, Nero, TVersity, probably others, and I got it to work with WMP11 Media Sharing Services.

I'm still using my XBMC and it works amazingly well as it also has support for other things (YouTube), etc. Not sure if that would be an option for you.

Edwin wrote:

I'm still using my XBMC and it works amazingly well as it also has support for other things (YouTube), etc. Not sure if that would be an option for you.

I was using that before but as I talked about in some other thread, the XBox 1 doesn't have the CPU or RAM to output HD content.

Im currently working up an old PC using TVedia.com's stuff. So far so good. Does some cool net stuff, and it's just pulling the other video from a server in the house, so it's not so much streaming as shared.

Sonos for audio simply cant be beat.. outside non support for Itunes purchased music.. It now even supports Rhapsody and the various Windows Media 11 based subscription services (Zune, Napster etc..) which basically means for my monthly sub fee at Rhapsody and Zune I get all that content streamed to my Sonos system.

Its probably hands down the single best piece of tech released in 10 years.. it simply just works.. and the equipment and interface cant be beat. Its just pricey.

For Video I'm with you Pyro I'm still waiting and searching.. I'm pretty much done using PC's as front ends.. they are just to noisy and difficult to integrate with my Remotes.. Ironically if Microsoft ever opened up the 360 to all sorts of media formats it would be the best hands down.. since Logitech fully supports the 360 with its Harmony remotes.

I've been looking at Mac Mini's with Frontrow, It's like Apple TV but a full blown Mac so you can install whatever codecs you want into Quicktime using Perian. I'm waiting to see what OSX 1.5 brings as far as Frontrow is concerned. It's about twice the price of Apple TV so I'm still waiting to see how it's going to pan out. Has anybody else tried this configuration?

I was just about to start a thread much like this one, Pyro.

My XBMC is dying and I'm going to buy an HD projector soon so I'm looking for something that will allow me to watch the tv shows I download and stuff. The only thing I've come up with so far is a PC, but all the frontend software I can find isn't as good as the XBMC.

I will be anxiously awaiting your solution.

Ironically if Microsoft ever opened up the 360 to all sorts of media formats it would be the best hands down.. since Logitech fully supports the 360 with its Harmony remotes.

I have an "Xbox360" version of a Logitech/Harmony remote, with the dedicated A/B/X/Y buttons. "It's nice", but the support is not quite full -- the triggers and shoulder button commands are unavailable in the remote. This sucks when you want to page down thru a 1000-lines-long list quickly.

Otherwise -- yes, it's very neatly supported.

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:
Ironically if Microsoft ever opened up the 360 to all sorts of media formats it would be the best hands down.. since Logitech fully supports the 360 with its Harmony remotes.

I have an "Xbox360" version of a Logitech/Harmony remote, with the dedicated A/B/X/Y buttons. "It's nice", but the support is not quite full -- the triggers and shoulder button commands are unavailable in the remote. This sucks when you want to page down thru a 1000-lines-long list quickly.

Otherwise -- yes, it's very neatly supported.

Have you tried manually mapping those buttons on the remote? I believe you can do that.

Of course I tried. But these buttons aren't in the standard 360 control profile which Harmony software offers automatically when you add "Xbox 360" to your setup, and since the Xbox controller is NOT infared, there is no way to "learn" its commands...