Recommended Media Streaming Hardware

[Caiyuo]

hey guys, I'm currently looking for a device to stream media from PC to TV, mostly movies in .avi, .mkv and .mp4, to an HDTV. Preferably it'd be wireless, but wired works as well in case of 1080p media. Ideally this wouldn't be a gaming console as this TV doesn't need it and I'm not really thrilled with how my 360 paired with Tversity handles all my media as it is. FYI, the TV this is for isn't the same as the 360 so simply finding a better alternative to Tversity doesn't solve this.

Is there something made specifically for this that works well? I've heard good things about the Western Digital WD TV, which I think is what I'm looking for, but was hoping maybe someone here had experience with it.

I'm open to anything, really, the above are all just preferences. Thanks for any help!

[SamanosukeShiva]

i've been using PS3 with PS3 Media Server, no problem so far, no lag or anything with wired connection. the only thing that bothers me is that PS3 wont play .wmv files, luckily i dont come across .wmv files that often.

not really familiar with other devices, but i guess you could look here for reviews http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...=Set-Top-Boxes

[Caiyuo]

Thanks for the link, I spotted one or two that I'm looking at now.

As for PS3 Media Server, I gave it a shot last night on an HD episode of The Pacific and even with a quad-core it stuttered 4 or 5 times throughout and the audio didn't sync up for about the last 20 minutes. It seems a lot more configurable than Tversity so maybe I could work the kinks out, but my only real gripe with Tversity was not being able to skip chapters or fast forward without massive delays whereas PS3 MS didn't even allow those functions at all. Really puzzling lol

[Tythera]

I just built a HTPC for this, works so much nicer than all the streaming bullshit but you also pay more. This was what I got:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129080
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152208
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148149

I run XBMC on it and I couldn't <3 it more. The only pain in the ass sometimes is managing the media so it gets scraped correctly.

[Cephius]

I just got one of these. Love it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...05&Tpk=hd-id11

Video showing it off with XBMC: