Im tired of watching TV on my computer....

[TORX]

Was it hard to jailbreak the ps3?
I was super bummed when that cineva hit me.
Currently using a hd hooked to a two bit low def DVD player.

Easy is an understatement. Just takes time and you will loose everything on the PS3 the first time, or at least that was the way when I did it (could be different/easier now). There are issues like not being able to play online, which is a big deal for some, but I do not game online. There are endless possibilities of what you can do once it is jailbroke...but that is a different topic.

 

[AdamS]

If i had the internet at my house, i would get a mac mini connected to the tv acting as my media server and running plex. Plex will then stream to my ipad or iphone and you can use the iphone as the remote. Sadly i cant get highspeed at my house and i have a WDTV with a hard drive connected. I have a bunch of disney movies on it for the kids so i dont worry about dvds. Then i take the hard drive to friends houses every now and them to get new content, all legal non pirated content of course.

 

[Duke]

If i had the internet at my house, i would get a mac mini connected to the tv acting as my media server and running plex. Plex will then stream to my ipad or iphone and you can use the iphone as the remote. Sadly i cant get highspeed at my house and i have a WDTV with a hard drive connected. I have a bunch of disney movies on it for the kids so i dont worry about dvds. Then i take the hard drive to friends houses every now and them to get new content, all legal non pirated content of course.

do the western digital boxes support x264 HD mkv movie files? I personally have had great success with Samsung, both my LCD TV and Blu ray player have a media player that works flawlessly and works great over WIFI, on my computer I use hands down the best streaming software there is, its called Serviio, xbmc and ALL the others cant even come close to its awesomeness, this is nice for me because I don't have to add anything else, Samsung has a nice interface and paired with serviio I get full movie info and cover art for all my files I have. AppleTV is neat when jailbroken, but seems like your constantly screwing with the thing to have the latest and greatest, There is an android based box like the appleTV I've heard good things about to, but same thing, your going to spend more time playing with it than actually watching TV on it.

 

[unibob]

First gen Apple TV since no new updates its a one time thing, never had to do anything to mine.

 

[umbis]

XBMC is the way to go. I run a media center pc direct to my plasma tv via hdmi cable. I'm streaming new releases before they're released. Some are in HD. XBMC is free software I run from my media pc. It streams directly from the net from multiple sites. Best of all, it's all free. I watched The Bourne Legacy last night in HD. Sports, movies, tv shows, youtube, it's all there. I even view videos and pics from my camera with it.
www.xbmc.org

 

[AdamS]

do the western digital boxes support x264 HD mkv movie files?

Yes wdtv plays mkv, but interface sucks large. I would use mac mini, not apple tv. Then i could download and everything right onto it. Plus it will act as wireless router and stream to the ipad in case i need to watch a movie in the bathroom 

 

[Duke]

XBMC is the way to go. I run a media center pc direct to my plasma tv via hdmi cable. I'm streaming new releases before they're released. Some are in HD. XBMC is free software I run from my media pc. It streams directly from the net from multiple sites. Best of all, it's all free. I watched The Bourne Legacy last night in HD. Sports, movies, tv shows, youtube, it's all there. I even view videos and pics from my camera with it.
www.xbmc.org

you just basically have a computer hooked to your tv via hdmi so its like your tv is a monitor.. xbmc is great for that sort of interface, I believe Darryl was looking for something without having to pick up another computer, I watched the bourne legacy too last week in full 1080p.. of course I downloaded it on my computer so then I used Serviio to wirelessly stream it to my TV, which since its a Samsung it can play the video right from the TV menu, just like their Blu Ray players all can and for around 100 bucks you can get a nice one.

 

[Darryl_V]

hmmm....so a samsung blue ray player can play all the formats I would like and will be able to stream media from my pc?  What is serviio again?

 

[umbis]

[quote author=umbis link=topic=3691.msg32087#msg32087 date=1354503832]
XBMC is the way to go. I run a media center pc direct to my plasma tv via hdmi cable. I'm streaming new releases before they're released. Some are in HD. XBMC is free software I run from my media pc. It streams directly from the net from multiple sites. Best of all, it's all free. I watched The Bourne Legacy last night in HD. Sports, movies, tv shows, youtube, it's all there. I even view videos and pics from my camera with it.
www.xbmc.org

you just basically have a computer hooked to your tv via hdmi so its like your tv is a monitor.. xbmc is great for that sort of interface, I believe Darryl was looking for something without having to pick up another computer, I watched the bourne legacy too last week in full 1080p.. of course I downloaded it on my computer so then I used Serviio to wirelessly stream it to my TV, which since its a Samsung it can play the video right from the TV menu, just like their Blu Ray players all can and for around 100 bucks you can get a nice one.
[/quote]
Yeah, that's right. My goal was to get away from downloading...sick of downloading new releases every week. And I use XBMC to play files stored on other computers in my home network. I find XBMC is real smooth for just about everything. I actually put my media center together for a pretty cheap price.

 

[Duke]

hmmm....so a samsung blue ray player can play all the formats I would like and will be able to stream media from my pc?  What is serviio again?

Yup, that's what I use in my living room on our LG TV and in our bedroom I have a Samsung TV. both have the same exact media player, Serviio is the program you run on your computer, you point it to your Media Files and it will add them all and then you just click the red button on the remote and it brings up the menu and with a few more clicks you can break it down by folder/ type(audio,video,picture) and sort it by new, name etc etc.. (my wife really loves that) Personally I like the idea of a full blown computer hooked up to the PC but I need it to be somewhat wife friendly for when im not around. Keep in mind to do it wirelessly you need to buy the decent blu ray with it built in WIFI or buy the dongle like I did for my TV.. but if you have CAT 5 your good without wifi you just need to plug the blu ray player into your router.

www.serviio.org is the program, its free and really does the job well, theres no video I have downloaded to date that hasn't played 100% perfect on my TV's, and I've tried a lot of different streaming programs.


Heck they are cheaper than I thought now, this one looks like its got WIFI out of the box.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-blu-ray-player-with-wi-fi-bd-e5700-black-bd-e5700/10197141.aspx?path=dd443998adcb799530ef0cec3ac0f322en02

 

[teebone110]

[quote author=Darryl_V link=topic=3691.msg32093#msg32093 date=1354504918]
hmmm....so a samsung blue ray player can play all the formats I would like and will be able to stream media from my pc?  What is serviio again?

Yup, that's what I use in my living room on our LG TV and in our bedroom I have a Samsung TV. both have the same exact media player, Serviio is the program you run on your computer, you point it to your Media Files and it will add them all and then you just click the red button on the remote and it brings up the menu and with a few more clicks you can break it down by folder/ type(audio,video,picture) and sort it by new, name etc etc.. (my wife really loves that) Personally I like the idea of a full blown computer hooked up to the PC but I need it to be somewhat wife friendly for when im not around. Keep in mind to do it wirelessly you need to buy the decent blu ray with it built in WIFI or buy the dongle like I did for my TV.. but if you have CAT 5 your good without wifi you just need to plug the blu ray player into your router.

www.serviio.org is the program, its free and really does the job well, theres no video I have downloaded to date that hasn't played 100% perfect on my TV's, and I've tried a lot of different streaming programs.
[/quote]

SOunds interesting... would like to try serviio.
Currenty we just connect our 250 gb harddrive to the PS3 to play movies and it works fine.

How would I incorporate serviio with my PS3 and network? Do you still need to download movies?

 

[Duke]

[quote author=Duke link=topic=3691.msg32096#msg32096 date=1354505439]
[quote author=Darryl_V link=topic=3691.msg32093#msg32093 date=1354504918]
hmmm....so a samsung blue ray player can play all the formats I would like and will be able to stream media from my pc?  What is serviio again?

Yup, that's what I use in my living room on our LG TV and in our bedroom I have a Samsung TV. both have the same exact media player, Serviio is the program you run on your computer, you point it to your Media Files and it will add them all and then you just click the red button on the remote and it brings up the menu and with a few more clicks you can break it down by folder/ type(audio,video,picture) and sort it by new, name etc etc.. (my wife really loves that) Personally I like the idea of a full blown computer hooked up to the PC but I need it to be somewhat wife friendly for when im not around. Keep in mind to do it wirelessly you need to buy the decent blu ray with it built in WIFI or buy the dongle like I did for my TV.. but if you have CAT 5 your good without wifi you just need to plug the blu ray player into your router.

www.serviio.org is the program, its free and really does the job well, theres no video I have downloaded to date that hasn't played 100% perfect on my TV's, and I've tried a lot of different streaming programs.
[/quote]

SOunds interesting... would like to try serviio.
Currenty we just connect our 250 gb harddrive to the PS3 to play movies and it works fine.

How would I incorporate serviio with my PS3 and network? Do you still need to download movies?
[/quote]

its pretty easy,. that's actually how I found it in the first place, I know it used to be pita to get certain file types to stream to the ps3 and serviio always came through for me.  basically you have to install it on your PC and as long as the PS3 and your PC are on your network and can see each other it will show up on your PS3 as (Serviio Media Server) and then you can just watch whatever, cineva is still going to kick in tho for any movies that have it, but yes you have to already have the stuff downloaded onto your computer, you can live stream with serviio too but you have to get right into it and know the sites that support it. I just keep it simple and download what I want to watch, im never in a rush as its hard enough to find the time to actually sit down and watch a movie.

 

[umbis]

Can you stream (illegally) with Serviio?

 

[Duke]

Can you stream (illegally) with Serviio?

yes its just like xbmc as in if you know the sites, you can input them into the program on the PC and they show up as video files in the media player on the TV for me. I messed around with the few free examples they have, I believe it was NASA TV HD and some nature episodes, works perfect but I didn't bother trying to source content for it and kinda gave up, you should try it out and let me know tho, if you know some sites I can stream in HD quality through Serviio to my TV I would be happy as heck.

 

[Duke]

ok I found this on their forums, theres plugins for all these that are currently working..

LiveFeeds - 24/07/2012
Youtube - 29/09/2012
Hulu - 09/10/2012
W9 Replay - 25/09/2012
M6 Replay - 25/09/2012
Tuned In Radio - 06/10/2012
ARD Mediathek - 26/04/2012
TF1 - 19/01/2012
Pluzz - 27/01/2012
SvtPlay - 26/11/2012
4OD - 26/06/2012
Wat - 19/01/2012
Crackle - 29/03/2012
BBC IPlayer - 05/01/2012
Shoutcast - 26/04/2012
Escapist - 30/08/2012
Arte.tv - 12/01/2012
PBS - 14/12/2011
TV3Play - 18/10/2011
Gulli - 08/01/2012
CNN - 18/06/2012
rtve - 16/11/2011
Gamespot - 05/01/2012
Hypem - 24/07/2012
Wimp - 05/10/2011
ESPN Radio - 10/12/2011
AnOrinat - 21/01/2012
Packers - 01/12/2011
Gametrailers - 22/09/2011
DailyMotion - 06/08/2011
Tv8Play - 02/04/2011
Blip.tv - 24/09/2011
iptv.ORF.at - 01/10/2011
Tv4Play - 01/10/2011
Tv6Play - 01/10/2011
Reuter News - 05/10/2011
TV3Play - 03/10/2011
Penny-Arcade - 26/9/2011
Snotr - 25/09/2011
Canal+ - 09/02/2012
NBA - 10/02/2011
CBS - 30/08/2012
Stepashka - 10/11/2012
AlloCine - 22/03/2012
HaHaSport - 11/11/2012
TED - 27/09/2012
ITV Player - 31/05/2012
Playlist - 04/07/2012
RadioBremen - 26/04/2012
DigitallyImported - 26/04/2012
APVideo - 26/04/2012
ILive - 11/11/2012
Force Refresh - 04/05/2012
Castalba - 14/08/2012
Comedy Central - 14/06/2012
Youtube Top 100 - 01/12/2012
Veetle - 14/08/2012
Team Coco - 03/08/2012
Syfy - 30/06/2012
ABC - 30/06/2012
CW - 13/10/2012
Walla - 07/07/2012
HD-Trailers - 14/11/2012
Rage - 24/07/2012
Ustream - 28/08/2012
Myiplayer - 25/09/2012
Desistreams - 22/08/2012
Refresh - 07/08/2012
ZonyTV - 28/08/2012
PBS Kids - 19/08/2012
ZengaTV - 29/08/2012
Sopcast - 08/10/2012
ABC iVIEW - 06/09/2012
Billboard Top 20 - 22/10/2012
XVideos - 27/09/2012
TurboTV - 13/10/2012
RedTube - 19/11/2012
Beeg - 01/12/2012
SkySportsPlus - 26/11/2012
CoolSport - 26/11/2012
Uzg - 01/12/2012


Not sure what will be viewable from Canada? Is there anything in that list that u notice that plays pirated movies?

 

[umbis]

In XBMC, I install what's called an 'add-on' that is kinda like a program within XBMC. The 2 I use most are Icefilms and 1Channel. I click on either one, then choose a movie, tv show, etc and they scrape the net for streaming sites.

 

[teebone110]

thanks for the info.

I have been using a work around the cinev issue, by changing the date back and fourth, but it gets old fast,

 

[umbis]

ok I found this on their forums, theres plugins for all these that are currently working..


Hulu - 09/10/2012

Not sure what will be viewable from Canada? Is there anything in that list that u notice that plays pirated movies?

I have used Hulu. I had to get a fake USA I.P address to get it to work though. But since I've used Icefilms & 1Channel I don't use Hulu anymore. All the popular sites like youtube, cnn, espn etc are built in to XBMC, I believe.

 

[Duke]

In XBMC, I install what's called an 'add-on' that is kinda like a program within XBMC. The 2 I use most are Icefilms and 1Channel. I click on either one, then choose a movie, tv show, etc and they scrape the net for streaming sites.

Ever since the demise of ninja video I kinda have up on streaming sites, not I just download everything in hd and it works for me

 

[Darryl_V]

Is it just me or are the possibilities of the internet endless......just too much crap to sort through though.  That is why apple makes money....it works, seamless integration and cool style.  For most people that is all they want....but if your a geek and have time on your hands the possibilities of what you can do are endless...only problem is the difficulty in setting this crap up, the fact that they can have bugs and you need to be smart to troubleshoot.


Anyway...so now Im between the samsung blueray and the WD live....same price.  Any advantage of one over the other, besides the obvious ability to play bluerays?