Whats the best solution for streaming HD media from a PC?
XBox360 is probably the best under-the-tv box in terms of bang-for-buck at this point. If you’re running XP, TVersity is a free download that runs on your PC and can stream (and transcode where necessary) a wide variety of formats to your XBox360. I did try a bunch of different programmes recently (both on Windows and Linux) to work with my XBox360, but in the end gave it up in favour of a HTPC – mefi mail me if you want further details.
Well, to chime in again, I don’t have a PS3 – so I can’t speak much to that point, other than that fact that the PS3 does not currently support Netflix instant play streaming (as far as I’m aware). With regard to meta87, I haven’t had any problems with Xvid/Divx/etc on the 360. I’ve encoded my own and download a bunch (legal, of course) and never had one video that didn’t play. Other nice thing is that the 360 handles AC3 surround sound in avi files… I do agree with you on the $100 for the wifi adapter and Xbox Live Gold fees. However, the PS3 is $100 more than the 360… you don’t have to do wifi (or you can a cheaper wifi bridge). Also, you can get Live Gold for less than $60/year if you shop around.
Just to clarify a few things about the Xbox 360. Xbox live is $50/year (or $40/year). Not $60/year or $60 per month as has been stated in this thread. You only need to pay for Xbox Live if you plan on using NetFlix or playing online. It will stream video from a PC on a local network without an Xbox Live subscription. TVersity works really well for that. Also, the Xbox 360 UI isn’t as useful as XBMC. Why not try an AppleTV with XBMC? You don’t get NetFlix, but you get the completely amazing XBMC in a small package with WiFi built in, and a remote. There may also be some hacks that will get you NetFlix through a PC to your Apple TV.
To clarify, you’re running XBMC on an original xbox? Then it’s the xbox that can’t decode HD, not the software, and XBMC is available for many platforms now. I just transitioned from the same setup to a 360, and I have to say, if you love the software’s openness, customization and it’s ability to play anything via samba share then you might be a little disappointed with that move. The 360 is limited in it’s support for formats and requires media serving software to be running on the host computer, and most of the current offerings are bloaty and feature-slim. I do like the HDMI and the Netflix play now, but the HD stuff requires an 8Mbps or faster internet connection, which I don’t have. I’ll probably be building a HTPC soon and putting XBMC on it; it’ll be more expensive than a 360 or some of those set-top boxes, but I’ll be able to upgrade the hardware and software easily as standards and my needs change.
