I wrote a couple years ago that I’d managed to put together what I thought at the time was the best media center option on a budget. My solution seemed elegant at the time – a nettop computer (the Acer Aspire Revo in my case) running software dedicated to the task – XBMC. Since that time, streaming players (like the Roku, AppleTV, etc.) have really made a strong presence on the market. Add to that a new line of “Smart devices”, aka TV’s and blu-ray players, there’s a lot of options for what you can do.
I’ve run the gamut of devices over the last few years. My requirements (I thought, at least) were pretty straightforward. Must be able to play local digital content (ie DVD’s and Blu-rays ripped to a file), stream from services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and be pretty straightforward to use with a remote (no keyboard/mouse).
The Nettop Option
This was the first method I started off with, and was pretty good for a first option. At the time, I didn’t have a subscription to Netflix streaming or anything else. It played all my local content without a problem. The setup to get it going was a little bit of a learning curve, but for anyone with a modicum of tech savvy could get it up and running. I bought the thing and immediately reformatted it to run both XMBC and Windows. Why I had it setup to dual boot is beyond me – I rarely ever booted into Windows, but I did it anyways. XBMC has a gorgeous and customizable “10-foot interface” – meaning that it’s easy to read from 10-feet across the room. Incidentally, this is about the ideal distance you’d watch a standard 42″ TV.
The problem with this option is if you want to watch streaming content. Most services like Hulu and Netflix don’t play well with Linux variants. There are some hacks available for XBMC, but most of the time they require a full desktop operating system install first (either Windows or Linux). That kind of defeats the purpose of a dedicated media center, doesn’t it? You have to drag out the keyboard and mouse, navigate to someplace and open it up. Not ideal.
Roku
For awhile, I ran both XBMC and a Roku together. This is a decent halfway point, but it’s a little bit of a pain. Mainly because programming a multi-purpose remote (Logitech Harmony) to run both side by side is trying.
The Roku has a simple, intuitive interface and simplistic controls. It’s meant strictly for online streaming. While the upper tier model (currently the Roku 2 XS) has a “gaming remote” and an SD card slot, your primary entertainment is Netflix or Hulu or Amazon. (Incidentally, Roku is about the only box out there that natively supports Amazon).
The Roku 2 XS has limited support for playing “local” content – mainly through a USB port. I say limited because it has issues reading certain file types from said USB drive. That was a deal-breaker for me.
There is an option to use the channel “Plex” for connecting to local content, but I found it to be buggy at best. The internet is full of glowing praise for the Plex ecosystem, but I had issues with it. Maybe it’s just my setup being on a full linux server, but there were no shortage of issues. Adding new content to my plex library was always an exercise in frustration. There were people running newer NAS solutions that said it worked just fine and never had any issues, so I’m still left wondering what the issue was.
The other problem I had with Plex and Roku is that in order to watch something out in the living room, the Plex server had to “transcode on the fly” all of my local content when I watched it. This is a nightmare, because it lowers the quality of some of my movies and I often had issues getting the 5.1 surround to actually play anything other than stereo. WTF? For what it’s worth, even on the other storage systems, it still has to transcode the media to be able to watch it. The direct-play never worked correctly with the Roku.
Even with all of that transcoding, I still had to be hard-wired into the network. Not a problem for me, as I already had a line run for the nettop initially, but still, some people may find that off-putting.
WDTV Live
My latest (and most successful) experiment is having the WD TV Live. After I’d been frustrated as hell with the Roku and Plex, I went out and did some research on the available options. The one thing that kept popping to the forefront for local content was the WD TV Live. It just worked.
To be fair, there were some issues with getting it set up. It’s not as intuitive as working with XBMC. The menus are a bit hidden on certain things, which is frustrating. There’s a manual, but I’m a guy, I don’t need manuals! Realistically, read the manual, and the setup will be a heck of alot less painful than it was for me.
I also needed to make a change to my server, which wasn’t that hard, really. It was just setting it up to use the NFS protocol – edit a couple of lines and boom, it’s done.
The big problem I have with the WD TV compared to XBMC is that realistically, the “media library” isn’t as refined. Sorting through everything is a bit of a pain, but do-able. The other issue I have is that the fonts are a little small once you get into looking at a specific movie or TV show. It’s not such a huge problem, but it is a problem, nonetheless.
It still supports Netflix, which is the big thing. I don’t have to go switching cables or anything to get it to work. Netflix is a bit slow in terms of navigating the content, but nothing that can’t be handled with a bit of patience. To be honest, on any of the systems that I’ve used, navigating through the content library on Netflix/Hulu/Amazon has always been a little lackluster. It is what it is, I suppose.
Ideal Setup
In my search for the perfect streaming player, I saw a lot of references to a jailbroken Apple TV running XBMC. They aren’t without their little headaches (namely jailbreaking them, for one), but looked like a good option. I’m a little leery of being beholden to Apple’s ecosystem anymore than I already am, but that’s more a personal preference than anything else.
I think that barring any major developments with the Apple TV systems (ie Amazon support), I’m pretty much settled with where I am in terms of media players. Again, the WDTV isn’t perfect, but it plays my local content without a hitch (wirelessly, no less) and still does Netflix.
Smart devices
My friend Beau recently decided to copy my setup (after his own fashion which is a bit more bastardized when he explains it to me). They bought a new TV this year and made sure it was Smart-enabled. He’s also got a pre-built NAS box from Synology. He says he’s been able to play his converted content directly through the TV direct from the box, but I still question that a bit. From my reading, these newer Smart-enabled devices are pretty hit and miss in terms of streaming the local content – often getting audio/video issues because of codec incompatibility. Many people have gone the Plex route in order to get them working, which again, to me, is a pain in the butt.
Without spending a grand on a new TV, my next option would be to look into a Smart blu-ray player (as my current setup does not have one) that supports Amazon and Netflix. Ideally, I’d either hack the WDTV (which makes it lose the Netflix option) or see if the AppleTV 3 is finally jailbroken to run XBMC. I just don’t like the idea (after having experienced it) of having to transcode or use some other type of “media server” like Plex. I can just see more headaches ensuing again, unless of course they make significant strides.
I’m still of the opinion that we’ll never see Smart devices able to flawlessly play local content like the WDTV for the simple reason that those companies are in bed with the studios. They’re going to restrict codecs or make sure that something goes wrong to force you to watch the physical disk and not a legally (or illegally for some people) ripped movie.