Digital Media Players?

[encece]

I've just found interest in using digital media throughout my home and am now kicking myself for not recently buying a Media Center PC.

But I was looking into other options and am finding it hard to locate reviews or options for Digital Media Players.

One that I found is:
http://www.rokulabs.com/

I am looking to share music, video and pics from my PC to my TV wirelessly and hopefully this will include WMA files. Are there any other devices out there worth looking into? Does anyone have any thoughts on the Roku?

I cant wait for some responses! :)

[Jason Dunn]

This is something that I'm interested in myself as well, but I haven't acted on it because for the most part the scenarios where it's useful just don't happen in my household. Hopefully others can be of more help. :-)

[JTWise]

How important is the video piece to you? There are a few 1st gen products that can be picked up pretty cheap, but most don't do video. The one I use is the HP digital media receiver (en5000). It can be a little buggy, but for the most part it works well for my music collection and my pictures, especially for the price.

They can be found at ecost for about $50 for a refurb unit (wired). The sometime carry the wireless for about $65. They are not the perfect solution, but definately not bad for the price.

If video isn't that important, you might also want to consider the slimp3 or audiotron units.

How about a Tivo Home Media Edition or Replay TV unit? I know that the newer replay will connect to your PC and can share some content. Sorry, but maybe someone else can comment further on the ability, I am still using my Panasonic Showstopper (read - OLD replay TV).

I personally dont mind not having video. i just burn whatever content I want to DVD and watch on my TV that way.

Let us know what you end up doing. I am always interested in upgrading and that Rokulabs HD unit looks pretty sweet !!

[encece]

The Roku HD Unit is nice, but it doesnt play WMA files. I was hoping it would be a bit more windows friendly in that respect. But I havnt ruled it out. I'll check out your other options and keep you posted.

[Jason Dunn]

Well, look at that - Roku is one of our sponsors. Hmm - I wonder what what means? :D

[JTWise]

Ok, I researched this a bit more (somehow I know that this is going to end up costing ME money - my media receiver is looking a little old now :wink:)

The Replay will not do pictures, but you might be able to do video with DVArchive and some work. The Tivo Media option looks like it does pics and music (don't know about WMA) but no video.

Ok, this is not exactly for the faint of heart, but there may be another option if you are tech-savvy. How about a modded X-Box? Granted, I keep mine purely factory (don't want to be banned from Xbox Live), but I followed a link on PPCT to a site that had info a a nice-looking Windows Media Center running on a modded box. With the recent price drop an Xbox will run $149, looks like about $50 for the chip, everything else is opensource.

Currently the XboxMediaCenter can be used to play and view supported video/audio/picture formats such as MPEG-1/2, DivX, XVID, MP3, JPG and more direct from a CD/DVD in the Xbox™ DVD-ROM or of the Xbox™ hard disk drive, it can also play files from a PC over a LAN / network via XStream Server software or from a Windows (SMB) share. It has playlists and slideshow. These features enable the Xbox™ running XboxMediaCenter to fully function as a multi-media jukebox.

Looks like a very interesting project, you are only out about $200, you can use digital audio out on the xbox, plus you have a kick-ass gaming system.

Anybody actually done this? I might consider picking up a 2nd Xbox to give this a whirl.
Here is a link to the site (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/info_project.htm)

[ale_ers]

I assume you are trying to get music, pics and video off one unit on to your Entertainment Center.

I just went through this and looked at a lot of options. I have a media center in my bedroom, but I wanted to view it down stairs and listen out side (deck speakers). I looked into a few things and even considered waiting for Microsoft to release their set to box (it will wirelessly transmit to your tv).

Finally I settled on as low tech as you can get...I split the cable and ran it downstairs. It was a lot of work and a lot of crawling around the attic, but it didn't cost much (some cable, connections and a IR to RF converter from Radio Shack) and it works great.

[JTWise]

I will be interested in that set top box once it is released. Might be the missing link that gets me to buy a Media Center instead of these other solutions. I also read somewhere that Microsoft will have a streaming interface for MCPC that uses the Xbox as a front end.

I was looking around at techbargains and found a deal at ecost. This is one of those streaming DVD players, but it does WMA and MPEG-2 streaming on either a wired or wireless system. Might be worth a shot for only $117 plus shipping since you get a progressive scan DVD player and digital outputs.

GoVideo Connected DVD Player for $117 at Ecost (http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?action=detail&dpno=259971#scroll)

Anyone out there with experience with this product?