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Streaming media players and PVRs 
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I've decided to wait for my chosen 40" LED TV to drop in price a bit further before buying.

A while back, I looked at NAS. What I wanted to do was rip DVDs and BR to HDD/NAS and then stream to my PS3 and watch on my TV. Turns out that the PS3 has issues with some file formats, and the cheaper NAS drives can't transcode on the fly whilst the more expensive ones can't transcode blu-ray (properly).

So I'm now deciding on what to do. I've also been thinking about PVRs. I will definitely buy one but may be at a later date (looking at humax PVRs).

What I want to be able to achieve:

- store all media files to a HDD (here's where I'm thinking NAS but maybe a large HDD will do?)
- play all media files via TV +/- laptop
- be able to add in a PVR at a later date (though bonus if it does it)
- needs to be minimal maintenance once set up

I see that WD have a livestream player. Any thoughts on this or other suggestions? I basically just want to watch something of my choosing without too much faffing around.

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Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:22 am
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I've tried a few things in the past, and looked at many more. In the end, the least amount of faffing about is still just to use a PC plugged into the TV:

No worries about transcoding.
Easily upgradable.
Stream to portable players.
Use it as a NAS.
Download or stream directly from any internet source.
Fit a tuner for PVR features.

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Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:37 am
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I use my iMac and an Apple TV to do all of that. You can either add them to iTunes or use an app like Beamer or air video server to stream anything


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Mon Dec 31, 2012 6:28 am
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Looking at it, the Apple TV does look better than anything I've tried. I don't think it can actually store anything or play from a USB drive though, so you'd either need a PC on the local network or subscribe to a compatible cloud service.

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Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:29 pm
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Mac Mini and Apple TV here. I did try the PS3 and associated software on the Mac for streaming, but it was clunky and didn't play any media bought from iTunes.

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Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:46 pm
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The only apple related hardware I have is a single iPhone. I am not interested in more apple stuff.

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Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:36 pm
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I've got a couple of wdtv live boxes which I use to watch videos that are stored on a wd mybook live. Hdmi output and plays everything I throw at it. Why a couple you ask. One in our bedroom and one in the girl's room. So good I bought two! :D

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Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:48 pm
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HTPC running MythBuntu would be the way to go IMO.

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Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:42 am
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John_Vella wrote:
I've got a couple of wdtv live boxes which I use to watch videos that are stored on a wd mybook live. Hdmi output and plays everything I throw at it. Why a couple you ask.

sounds great. Any problems with set up? Any useful features to be aware of? Any limitations? Will it stream blu-ray quality?

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Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:06 am
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cloaked_wolf wrote:
John_Vella wrote:
I've got a couple of wdtv live boxes which I use to watch videos that are stored on a wd mybook live. Hdmi output and plays everything I throw at it. Why a couple you ask.

sounds great. Any problems with set up? Any useful features to be aware of? Any limitations? Will it stream blu-ray quality?

It was pretty much plug and play. It has an ethernet port and wi-fi and it plays hd video fine over lan. I think it was ok over wi-fi but I've got everything wired now.

Useful features? iPlayer, youtube, spotify (whatever that is) and bookFace. You can play media from usb. Also plays music and I believe you can plug in a usb keyboard and mouse. There are also some services such as netflix which obviously must be paid for.

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Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:33 am
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Any problems with playing any particular file types? Amazon reviews have been scathing.

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Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:14 am
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cloaked_wolf wrote:
Any problems with playing any particular file types? Amazon reviews have been scathing.

That might be down to technically being unable to set them up properly. Most people are dunces when it comes to tech.


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Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:18 am
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+1 for the WD live stream

been using mine, only thing is the keyboard is a little iffy if you use the andriod or apple remote apps, saying that I dont use the remote anymore, only my phone to control it.

been able to play anything from 700mb to 10gb movies, any container I have.

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Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:51 pm
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I haven't had any problems playing any videos, including mpg, avi and mkv. I think it plays iso files as well.

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okenobi wrote:
John's hot. No denying it. But he's hardly Karen now, is he ;)

John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker :P
Sorry :roll:
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Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:39 am
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Well it's been ordered. We shall see how it goes.

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Wed Jan 09, 2013 4:27 pm
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