Canceled cable - what next?

[Saga]

I canceled my cable sub simply because I don't spend enough time at home to justify paying what I paid for it. I happily have internet still and I'm looking for the next best option when it comes to streaming content from my PC to my TV.

I have a brobox, a Netflix sub and one HDMI port on my video card (radeon HD5850), but I use that port for my computer monitor. I have two PCI-E slots so I could buy another 5850 and run two of them to solve my single-HDMI port problem. Only issue is I don't want to run that second HDMI cable across the floor to my TV for fear of tripping over it.

So that leaves me with things like Apple TV, Google TV, or an Xbox Live gold subscription just to run Netflix and watch ESPN. I really hate the browsing controls on Xbox's netflix so I'm not sure that's the route I want to go on.

I pretty much torrent all my TV shows and movies but I'm really bad about organizing them on my computer. I've fiddled with Xbox's windows media center app but it's not my favorite thing. That might change once I organize my media.

Basically this all boils down to me wanting another device that's not my computer to stream my media to. Anyone had any experience with Google TV or Apple TV or any other streaming devices that they can recommend?

[Waraji]

Fk HDMI for your Monitor, don't need that shit. Its like DVI but with Audio. Unless of course you lack speakers and your monitor doubles as speaker.

Is there a way to wireless stream to a TV? Perhaps a separate receiver box which could connect Coaxial or HDMI... Why haven't I thought of this already...

[Saga]

Yeah my monitor doubles as my speakers, I don't own set a separate set.

Also, minor detail, I own a router but I don't have a wireless card in my PC, so I've got my ethernet cable connected directly to my modem, but the modem's connected to the router so I think I could still stream if I needed to from my computer.

[izembo]

roku?

[Isiolia]

Many Blu-ray players include streaming, which might be a way to go if you don't have one. PS3 does a nice job of it if you want an excuse to buy one, but you can get a good player for half the cost (or less).

Most can also utilize DLNA to stream content over the network if you want. There are also wireless HDMI solutions, or USB to HDMI transmitters. Haven't messed with that much myself as I have a dedicated HTPC, so I just use regular ol' network shares on my fileserver.

[Saga]

I might look into a Roku box. Noob question, but what's DLNA?

Edit: more stupid questions. So now I'm looking at this: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402254,00.asp

So with a wifi capable blu-ray player, I'd be able to access media from my desktop and play it through the blu-ray player, is that corrrect?

[Isiolia]

DLNA: Digital Living Network Alliance. It's a standardized set of protocols for sharing/streaming media between devices. Basically, the level of functionality you see with your 360 with regard to sharing video from your PC is actually fairly common.

Additionally, you can plug a USB stick or HDD into a lot of Blu-ray players, TVs, and so on to play files, just like with the 360. Exactly which formats are supported may vary (the ones for that LG are listed here). If you get a lot of stuff in (relatively) odd formats, the prevalence of 10-bit encodes for a lot of anime fansubs these days for example, then you'll probably want to look more into wireless HDMI or other methods to actually stream content your PC is decoding.

For basic Netflix, Amazon, Hulu+ (I haven't seen non-PCs stream free Hulu), etc there are -tons- of options. I'd just opt for a Blu-ray player if you don't already have one, in case you want to buy discs too. Some do better than others with streaming though, so I'd scan through reviews if you plan to use it as your primary device for that. There's a list here detailing devices for non-standard capabilities as well. May also want to look at their link for UIs.

[Jakson]

I have used a Roku and have an LG Blu-Ray player that came with usb wireless card. Roku is gonna be like 30-40 bucks cheaper than a DVD or BR player that is wireless, but that's the cheap players. Also, if you hate the Netflix xbox interface, you'll detest Roku or DVD/BR players that support Netflix (at least the cheaper ones). At least xbox's is fairly quick to load and navigate menus - the other players are incredibly slow, almost unbearable. The fast-forward on the LG I have is superwtf fast (this is referring to Netflix). That being said, once you've started your movie or whatever, it will should play properly, just like any other device. Also, I don't know what your budget is like, but, afaik, cheaper players won't interface with your home network, but my LG plays certain files (movies, music, etc.) from USB sticks. The LG I have now (640) should run like $100-$120.