Endevor Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 Currently, I have my tower (specs below) attached to my TV as well as a monitor, the whole idea was that I could watch movies off my HD and work at the same time. I'd run Windows media center on the TV, windowed, but pretty much still fill the screen, and then run my programs based off my monitor. Well, it works, for the most part. Every once in a while my programs will cause media center to skip, but it's not horrible. Either way, layout has to change so the TV will move to a different room, but I still want to stream movies from my desktop. My first idea was to build an HTPC, but I found these media streamers that sound like they'll do what I want for a lot cheaper. I'm looking right now at Roku, specifically Roku 2 XS. Only concern is I don't know stream movies from my PC very well if at all (without working voodoo on it). Does anyone have experience with this? I like Windows Media Center's format and organization, just curious if anyone's tried Roku or something else like it that they'd recommend. Thanks! And to anyone who saw my sad day post about my computer; Good news is I get to keep it after all. Bad news is I won't have a lot of money for a while >.< Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 If you're running 100 mbit wired Ethernet your machine should be more than capable of streaming pretty much anything. The box at the other end will determine whether or not you can stream smoothly. I'm not terribly familiar with the Roku boxes so hopefully someone else can chime in on that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shurman292 Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 FWIW, my cousin did exactly what you want by buying an Apple TV, "jailbreaking" it, and running XBMC on it. Every file from his computer was easily found and able to run smoothly. I have not had experience with the Roku boxes either, so I can not afford much advice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endevor Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 Ok, Instead of Roku, I tried using D-Link 310 MovieNite... Cheaper than Roku, but I don't think YouTube is worth 50$, and I can't stream from my PC... So we're back to square one. I don't really want to go try a Roku box, but I found something that claims it will stream called RoConnect... Either way, I'd feel most comfortable with a simple Windows Media Center Extender. Anyone know of a decent one? Besides the 360. I'm looking for cheap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 A 360 is awful cheap. ANY computer with a semi-recent GPU can stream HD no problem (a Geforce 210 is even enough). Have any old parts laying around? Even a single core machine could do it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephilumos Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 Depending on how far your TV is from your computer, you can use one of these HDMI > CAT5e/CAT6 > HDMI Adapters: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10105&cs_id=1010504&p_id=8121&seq=1&format=2 They work just like an HDMI cable in every way, but they can go up to 100FT. I use one of these for my tv in the livingroom for my computer in the den. Cost me about $50 to buy the adapater and 2 50FT CAT6 Cables. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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