do you guys know anything about Roku?

[devilock76]

True, but with Roku, you can stream Netflix as its one of the channel options. I'm not sure of the Sony Streamer since I've never used one before. We probably could get an HD signal where we live but I've never even tried. We lived in the hicks and sticks for so long that until I read that, I totally forgot about broadcast TV :P

Sony Streamer does Netflix among many others, Hulu+, Amazon VOD (and recognizes my Prime membership), youtube, crackle, sony pictures, etc. Many others, and of course reads DLNA content which the roku does not and can read external data devices over USB.

Ken

[devilock76]

Basically, this is a media server that you are running on your computer, it manages all your local media files so you can watch/listen it on your tv via roku.
But it also has tons of plugins/channels such as Youtube, History, SyFi just to name a few...
Another convenient feature is a little bookmarklet for your browser. It allows you to put any video on the web to be placed in your queue, and be watched on your tv at your convenience.

They have very nice help section (http://www.plexapp.com/help/) to get you started.
Forum is also great http://forums.plexapp.com/

It is a way to get DLNA on a roku it looks like since it has a roku channel to bypass the roku DLNA limitation. If it worked on FreeBSD it might be worth considering. Till then MiniDLNA works fine for me and that works on the Streamer already.

Ken

[LordJ]

Was thinking of getting a WD TV live box as I heard it can play a lot of formats that Roku cannot. I have a lot of movies on my PC and they are avi, mp4, m2ts, mkv....not sure what to get yet.

[bakerbarber]

If you have a large personal library of digital media and/or NAS, the the WD TV Live is AWESOME!!

I have one in my living room and love it.

I have a Roku in the bedroom though.

The WD HD Live has a USB port too, well two of them. So it can stream your files, or you can jam a USB into it. I used to have a desktop PC behind my TV and the fan was noisy as hell with the extra heat. The media players are great.

The downside of the WD HD is that you cannot add any channels like you can on the Roku. You can play your own media in pretty much any format though.

[GoVegan]

Just an update - I subscribed to playon for Roku and now have every channel I want and more. My total bill for my internet connection, playon and Hulo + will be less than $65.00 a month. As a bonus, I have found a ton of Bluegrass radio stations. I will never go back to cable!

[Bigblue1]

Just an update - I subscribed to playon for Roku and now have every channel I want and more. My total bill for my internet connection, playon and Hulo + will be less than $65.00 a month. As a bonus, I have found a ton of Bluegrass radio stations. I will never go back to cable!

Good job man. Did you figure a way to get dexter, Boss, homeland, treme, or boardwalk empire?

[GoVegan]

Good job man. Did you figure a way to get dexter, Boss, homeland, treme, or boardwalk empire?

Never heard of those. I did get TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery and National Geographic. It's funny, TLC, Animal Planet and Discovery all use to have great programming. For the past few years they have only been so so. I don't think Animal Planet ever recovered after Steve Irwin died.