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analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy

Member

Re: Ditching Shaw cable need media player ideas

Too much reading on the media players. So thinking a netbook with HDMI/linux/XMBC/wirelss htpc keyboard or one of those Zotac mini pc's.

Anav
Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic
Premium Member
join:2001-07-16
Dartmouth, NS

Anav to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
Another vote for WD Live. I have it, kids love it. If I was in the market I would be tempted by the Pivos AIOS Media Centre model when its on sale.

»www.memoryexpress.com/Pr ··· /MX40159

twizlar
I dont think so.
Premium Member
join:2003-12-24
Brantford, ON

twizlar to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
I've got 2 WDTV Live Plus boxes and they work great for everything I throw at them.

I also have a zotac bookshelf pc setup for streaming other things but it rarely gets used.
graniterock
Premium Member
join:2003-03-14
London, ON

graniterock to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
+1 for the WD player. I have had mine for over a year. Costco sometimes have them a bit cheaper. The one I have does mkv if you are downloading alot of HD stuff and it supports un-block.us with netflix and hulu. Can't speak for the others because I have never tried them.

capdjq
Be Kind, Be Calm & Be Safe
Premium Member
join:2000-11-01
Vancouver

capdjq to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
Interesting. But what about News, Hockey games, Football games, Olympic Games, World Cup, Poker Games. These, according to what I read, are great if you want to watch movies or TV Shows all day long. Unless I'm missing something.

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

said by capdjq:

Interesting. But what about News, Hockey games, Football games, Olympic Games, World Cup, Poker Games. These, according to what I read, are great if you want to watch movies or TV Shows all day long. Unless I'm missing something.

News can be got on the net and if you want sites will stream live TV so you can watch fox news CNN or whatever news station you're into. On that other stuff some people may not be into it. Now on that poker I don't get how anyone can watch that.

EUS
Kill cancer
Premium Member
join:2002-09-10
canada

EUS to analog andy

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to analog andy
The best feature of the WD unit is the upscaling it does.
Basically all my back up dvd's do not require repurchasing in blu-ray format as the upscaling does a decent job when viewing sd dvd's on 50" tv.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy

Member

Hmm looks like the WD Live might be the way to go although it would be nice to have a full web browser, this is where a netbook would come in handy with a htpc keyboard/mouse pad combo.

Lol I just remembered the kids have two netbooks I'll have to see if they have hdmi and if so I'll repo them.

Anav
Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic
Premium Member
join:2001-07-16
Dartmouth, NS

Anav to analog andy

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to analog andy
I mentioned the Pivos unit because I think it has a better browser capability compared to the WD Live models.

As for the cad who noted what about sports....... heck what is the diff from a d/l TV show or movie to a d/l sports event especially in HD. Why would anybody waste their time watching people play poker. Get a life.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

1 edit

analog andy

Member

Anyone know much about these »www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/ ··· 4541en02

Maybe even this one »www.thesource.ca/estore/ ··· =8001390

Also this one »www.thesource.ca/estore/ ··· =8004101

Just load up Linux and XMBC.

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
well for your mean TV a 300 bucks HTPC would be a good best for the rest streamers are the answer. What is your budget? On that first box on future shop hm never heard of it. If you get that post a review it sounds interesting.
graniterock
Premium Member
join:2003-03-14
London, ON

graniterock to capdjq

Premium Member

to capdjq
said by capdjq:

Interesting. But what about News, Hockey games, Football games, Olympic Games, World Cup, Poker Games. These, according to what I read, are great if you want to watch movies or TV Shows all day long. Unless I'm missing something.

If you don't care about it being live some stuff you can watch after. Playstation has both NHL and Baseball subscriptions you can get. I have no idea how well they work but it could be an option.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy

Member

Anyone know if this would make an ok HTPC »www.tigerdirect.com/appl ··· =3170831

I've stopped following hardware years ago so some of the spec are a bit alien to me.
Doonz (banned)
join:2010-11-27
Beaumont, AB

Doonz (banned) to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
A total solution cost a fair amount up front. But after that your golden.

1: Media Recording Server.
A) Grab a Usenet account (Astraweb $96/yr, Supernews etc)
B) Build a usenet server.
I:) 4 Core +
II:) 16GB Ram
III:) Fast Hard Drives for handling downloads unraring repairing
IV:)Install Ubuntu Sever
V:) Install SABnzbd (Usenet Downloader)
VI:) Install Sickbeard (Tv-Shows)
VII:) Install Couchpotato (Movies)
VIII:) Grab an account at a nzb indexing site. I recommend NZB matrix. There are others.
This server will handle grabbing all your media and sorting them and make life simeple.

2: Media Streaming server
A) Build a Plexmedia server
I:) As many cores as fast as you can afford
II:) 16gb ram
III:) 128gb SSD
This will stream all media to all devices .

3:) Media Players
A:) I would Go with the Roku. Very good channel support.
I:) Install Plex Channel
II:) Install Netflix USA
III:) Install Hulu +
IV:) Install NHL Center ice and any other thing you see on Rokus website. Also there are off beat channels for ROku as well.

This whole set up requires a back end storage server.
Also Look at getting un-blockus.

SO costs. Hardware Dependent on what you Decided to get.

The rest

Astraweb - $8/mnth
Supernews - $11/mnth
Block Account - $1/gb Liftime
Netflix - $8/mnth
Hulu + - $8/mnth
Unblockus - $5/mnth

So you've got pretty much access to EVERYTHING in the media universe for $40/mnth
graniterock
Premium Member
join:2003-03-14
London, ON

graniterock

Premium Member

If you are a moderate user looking for a usegroup which is reliable, cheaper but is a bit different I've had good luck with »www.sonic-news.com/ . They run a few servers you can pull from. The first server is speed throttled but unlimited. The second server is unlimited speed but has a daily cap. What you don't use you can bank for another day. The speed and cap are linked the subscription fee you choose (starting at $4 a month). (Note: the speeds on their site are actual kBps not kbps as listed).

In practice I default to the speed throttled server. If I need something right away I use the unlimited speed server and draw from my banked GB (which I have 150 of right now).

My media server is a single core 1.2 Ghz with 4GB of Ram which also streams via network sharing. I bascially took an old computer and added a large SATA drive and SATA controller. Sometimes the usenet downloads take a bit of a performance hit but it works. What you list is the dream / ideal setup but certainly not the bare minimum required. People on a budget can get by on less.
decx
Premium Member
join:2002-06-07
Vancouver, BC

decx

Premium Member

said by graniterock:

They run a few servers you can pull from. The first server is speed throttled but unlimited. The second server is unlimited speed but has a daily cap. What you don't use you can bank for another day. The speed and cap are linked the subscription fee you choose (starting at $4 a month). (Note: the speeds on their site are actual kBps not kbps as listed).

Their upstream is Highwinds (unthrottled servers) but they operate their own server on the side with less retention and some missing groups (some major alt.binaries are not carried). Frankly, it's not good deal. At $4 all you get is 250MB/day (yes that's MB) off of the Highwinds servers (basically ~7GB/month). That's not even enough for moderate users but rather occasional/light users. Honestly for light users, block accounts from some of the providers often discussed in this forum would provide a much better deal.
graniterock
Premium Member
join:2003-03-14
London, ON

graniterock

Premium Member

I took another look.... Looks like I'm on a grandfathered plan with much more generous limits making new accounts less appealing. Looks like they've kept the price the same and halved the usage limits. That said for what I need it for it almost all comes off their own unmetered server. I Set the highwinds as backup or turn it on if i want something now. I've accumulated 150GB of unused high winds credit and pull about 150 GB a month from them. Shows download over night and I watch them the next evening. If you are in a hurry and rely on the high winds as your primary source, it's probably not for you.

But I think you are right. I didn't realize they had changed their rates. If I was starting fresh today it is no longer that great. Which is too bad because the grandfathered rates are decent.
decx
Premium Member
join:2002-06-07
Vancouver, BC

decx to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
With Black Friday coming up, it would not be surprising to find unlimited accounts from a Highwinds reseller for $5-6

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
Yeah that would work fine. You don't need a power house PC to run media now. With what they call gpu acceleration pretty much any modern graphics card will take the load off the CPU and process your video. This is my PC and I can run 1080P video no issue. I got a amd hd radeon 6450.

TOPDAWG

TOPDAWG to Doonz

Premium Member

to Doonz
good god man he does not need a 4 core PC with 16GB to run media. That is way over-kill just for media unless he also wants to run games. I like your idea but that is so costly and can be done so much cheaper.

Andy can you post what your budget is so folks can better list your options. Also what you want to do and how many TV you got and the like.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

1 edit

analog andy

Member

Basically I could get away with two tv's for now. The kids can go to hell and stick to their notebooks.

What I need is a media player that will let me browse the internet and have full video playback. Not worried about audio files. From too much reading seems most of the media players seem half ass attempts at something with each one missing something (I do have a Asus O!play Mini which works good as bare bones video player). So ATM I'm thinking HTPC or a netbook capable of playing video on a 47" TV. I'm also not worried about BR playback as I'm ok with DVD quality and really none of the videos I download are 1080 usually stick to downloading videos in the 1.5td or less size.

Main thing is getting news and having a video playlist availability. We have a 92 year old grandma living with us so when everyone is at work I'd like to just create a play list of bunch of video files and let it play for hours.

I was going to go with Boxee Box but being discontinued I guess I'll pass?. My budget is obviously the cheapest I can get but seems with a new router, htpc/media players/netbooks I'll be hitting close to $1000 for two tv's.

This is what I was thinking of for the htpc

»www.ncix.com/products/?s ··· oid=1230
»www.ncix.com/products/?s ··· oid=1230
»www.ncix.com/products/?s ··· oid=1230
»www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61144
»www.ncix.com/products/?sku=41337
»www.ncix.com/products/?sku=52411

Oh yah and say another $60 for a small HD. I have a bunch of Segate 500/1BExpansions which I use to store the video.

Total is $300+ tax and give me the ability to go to i3/5/7

I would run Linux on it and XMBC. I do have a bunch of Humble Bundle games I bought and with Steam being in Beta for Linux I'm thinking an HTPC.

I also fund this cool little guy »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13138368

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

4 edits

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

OK that PC would handle all your needs but I'd add a GPU in the mix too for the GPU acceleration. For the other tv's I'd get a WD live box. they can be had for like 100 bucks and play media on their own if you don't want to store everything on the network.

Someone may can come in here and list out some better hardware for the same price or a little more. I don't keep up on hardware much.

»www.tigerdirect.ca/appli ··· pot%2002

Take a look at some PC's on there some nice hardware for cheap prices. I got my father in law a system to build him off there 2 weeks ago for a good price.

»www.tigerdirect.ca/appli ··· CatId=31

A system like this would cover all your needs I'd think. If I'm wrong someone please say something. No idea of the build quality of the hardware but hardware wise this would cover your needs. Some of the reviews on there say the case sucks.
Doonz (banned)
join:2010-11-27
Beaumont, AB

Doonz (banned) to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
said by TOPDAWG:

good god man he does not need a 4 core PC with 16GB to run media. That is way over-kill just for media unless he also wants to run games. I like your idea but that is so costly and can be done so much cheaper.

Andy can you post what your budget is so folks can better list your options. Also what you want to do and how many TV you got and the like.

If he wanted to run HTPC then i woulda just recommended a Zotac and called it a day.

But i figured since the poster was looking for a solution I provided one that would not only grow with the next new thing but is simple and easy to use and can also allow him to bring his media on the road also would allow playback of any file type onto any device..

Just for reference My setup:

Usenet Server:

Quad core xeon @ 2.6ghz with 16gb ram, 4x240gb ssd in raid 10 (This set up was required to achieve full speed on Usenet on 250/15 package from shaw)

Software installed: Sabnzbd, sickbeard

Couchpotato Server:

Virtual machine running 8X2.6ghz cores with 4gb ram

Deluge Server:

Virtual Machine running 8x2.6ghz with 16gb ram

PlexMediserver

cpu 2x 6x2.4ghz opterons with 32Gb ram, 4x 128gb ssd in raid 10

Freenas File server
Quad core xeon @ 2.6ghz w/32GB ram

16x3tb in raid 10

End Devices (Multiple in use at the same time)

3x Ipad
1x Iphone
1x ATV2
1x Android phone running plex
3x Roku 2 XS

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

oh yeah I like your set-up you posted as it's future proofing more then what I posted exp if 4K ever comes home you'll need more then a dual core to run that I'd guess. Issue was OP did not give enough info on what he wanted and his budget.
TOPDAWG

1 edit

TOPDAWG to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
OP I just saw this on engadget. It may be a good HTPC for ya. hm looking at it seems like by time you get everything it's a bit piracy. Also looks like dell.ca does not curry it.

»www.engadget.com/2012/11 ··· -priced/

»www.anandtech.com/show/6 ··· hands-on
Doonz (banned)
join:2010-11-27
Beaumont, AB

Doonz (banned) to TOPDAWG

Member

to TOPDAWG
said by TOPDAWG:

oh yeah I like your set-up you posted as it's future proofing more then what I posted exp if 4K ever comes home you'll need more then a dual core to run that I'd guess. Issue was OP did not give enough info on what he wanted and his budget.

Most time people settle on the lowest price but not necessarily what they wanted...

CyberCam
join:2008-04-21
Whitby, ON

CyberCam to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
Right now the best media box on the market is the Vizio Co-Star, when it comes to embedded media players! You just can't get any better for $99

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· o5NY_SPs


The only thing better is a HTPC!
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy

Member

For the living room I'll go with a HTPC with the above build but with an i3

Totally forgot about game system emulators so this should let me play all the games I want. I'm not into the life like games so prefer my games to be what look like a game should be cartoonish.

For the other tv's I'll just get the WD Live media players.

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

said by analog andy:

For the living room I'll go with a HTPC with the above build but with an i3

Totally forgot about game system emulators so this should let me play all the games I want. I'm not into the life like games so prefer my games to be what look like a game should be cartoonish.

For the other tv's I'll just get the WD Live media players.

What PC you getting? yeah sounds like this will cover all your needs you want.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy

Member

This list here »Re: Ditching Shaw cable need media player ideas except I'll go with a desktop tyle HTPC case. I'll go with the i3 for now.