Multimedia - Streaming

You've got solutions for the wifi streaming I think.

I've just done something similiar, also due to a redundant PC after buying a new laptop.

The difference is I have put the PC in the lounge and got rid of ALL the other devices except the TV.

I am in a rented house, with a 5 yr old telly, so I'm using s-video at the moment to connect to one of the AV inputs on the telly, and the 2.1 speaker system that came with the PC, but when we buy a new house we'll get a new flat screen installed on the wall and I'll buy an HDMI graphics card for the PC, and the S/PDIF sound output to a 5.1 surround processor and amp, with decent speakers.

We use the freeview tuner on the telly, and switch to the AV input for EVERYTHING else

• DVD
• iPlayer, 4oD, ITV Player, etc including all the same services from France and Spain that my wife watches, & French cartoons for my son.
• Internet streaming such as live tv in French or Spanish, youtube, etc
• Web browsing, but resolution not too good, will be good once using HDMI
• All our music ripped to MP3
• All our photo and video collection viewable in big picture and good sound on the telly
• Scheduled recording or pausing of Freeview using the freeview card already in the PC, or I can use this tuner instead of the telly if I want to watch a film or music channels with better sound than the TV kicks out
• Anything else you can think of that a PC can do

All the other boxes and remote controls have gone, stereo, DVD player, etc, and will go in my sons bedroom when he gets old enough. No CD collection cluttering up shelves, either. Still need a drawer for DVD's as I'd need terabytes of space to rip them to hard disk.

The PC is behind the TV cabinet at the moment so hidden, but we can hear it whirring away sometimes, and there is a wireless keyboard and mouse in the slot the DVD player used to be in, so it's not too messy we can control everything from the sofa. When we move house the PC and amp will be in a sideboard or cabinet and the keyboard & mouse in a drawer so all you will see is the speakers and the TV on the wall and shouldn't hear the PC too bad either, though I will need to put a venting grill in back if the cabinet for cooling so there may be some noise, but only if you really listen for it.

Let us know how you get on with the wifi, because in our next house I'll want to do it the other way around, I will want to do the same and stream music around the house, but from living room, to bedrooms, kitchen, etc.

[L3nny]

PS3 For the win. That will let you stream all of the files from your PC.

If you dont have Windows 7 on the PC download Tversity to act as the media server

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Let us know how you get on with the wifi, because in our next house I'll want to do it the other way around, I will want to do the same and stream music around the house, but from living room, to bedrooms, kitchen, etc.

You can do this with the SONOS stuff, pricey, but wireless

[mr.anderson]

Originally Posted by L3nny

Tversity

That's the setup I have, PS3 <--> TVersity.

Easy to setup. Easy to use.

Thanks -Ralph- and everyone else for the input, its definately given me something to think about.

Having the PC in the lounge will be too noisy and ugly I think, plus I want to retain the PC as a sepetate entity that can be used in my bedroom, with friends round and for dvd's etc when I wanna watch a movie etc... It might be a little more difficult doing it this way to start off with, but as -Ralph- said, we want to stream to the whole house soon.

Ill have a look at this Tversity thing when i get the chance. PS3 does seem like the best direction to head in. As mentioned... 2 benefits straight away: Blu-ray & wireless built in. It will be expensive to start off with, but should be good.

Xbox is another option, cheaper, but with less benefits. I'm not looking for a game experience, so unless one comes up real cheap its ruled out.

I had a look through Tesco and online yesterday and found that Iomega do a Network HD which would be good (500gb/1tb) but this Tversity thing looks like it might mean i wont need it.

WD also do a media streaming hub, which isn't wireless. You plug a HD into it and it streams movies, mp3, photos etc through HDMI and various connections to your TV. It is roughly £80, and looks like an alternative.

Thank you all for the input.

Ben.

P.s, anyone have trouble with any WD HD's? Mine recognises on Mac, but not XP? Its a common querie on Google.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by BournemouthBen

.I had a look through Tesco and online yesterday and found that Iomega do a Network HD which would be good (500gb/1tb) but this Tversity thing looks like it might mean i wont need it.

.

Maplins had a 2TB HD on offer for about £100, not sure if you can network it though.

I've got a media HD which is only 250gb, which is a bit small for my collection