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HTPC vs. Roku or WD TV live

Nintendesert

Nintendesert

Diamond Member
Hello everyone,


I just bought a house and am looking to build a home theater in it. I have tons of spare computer parts as any of us enthusiasts does, but not quite all of them to build enough HTPCs for each TV.

Now, I'm thinking of using WD TV Lives to play media from my server that will contain all my movies and tv shows that I rip. Does this make sense or is there some benefit to having a dedicated HTPC at each TV viewing area?

Maybe I'm a little confused and wondering what advantages building a PC for each area has over some the WD Live, only because the latest version seems pretty full functional when it comes to playing movies.

Any help and guidance would be appreciated, and if I missed a sticky that answered that I will gladly take my flogging. 😱
 
I'm a Plex/Roku fan in case you hadn't heard, but interestingly enough I'm helping a buddy set up his WD TV Live Streamer probably tomorrow. He's not ready to dump cable. As for the HTPC, that's not my area. I build PCs but haven't done an HTPC setup yet.

The WD Live seems to be able to play just about every format and that's why I directed him to that. The Plex/Roku combo hasn't missed a beat on any formats for me, but admittedly I haven't tried many.
 
I've got a WDTV Live Plus and it's fantastic. I replaced my HTPC with the WD and really don't miss it. If all you need is movie/media playback the WD does a great job.
 
I absolutely love the Roku now that most the Plex issues are resolved and the additional channel adds from within. Pretty much stopped using my PBO completely.
 
If you are just looking to play movies and shows the WDTV will work beautifully. It doesn't do much else though.
 
Do you have cable and want it at every tv? In addition to streaming my movies, netflix, youtube, etc., my HTPCs act as cable boxes for all my TVs. They access the hdhomerun prime tuner for live tv and my main computer for recorded tv.

That's the one thing I can think of that the little boxes might not do. Although for all I know the little boxes might do that sort of thing now.


I also play computer games on my htpcs, but the gpus are pretty weak so this wouldn't be a plus for most. Played things like Rush, defense grid, serious sam hd, flight simulator and Monkey island recently.
 
Had the same dilemma a few months ago when I wanted to replace my PS3. My main purpose was to stream local music, photos and video with a DLNA server on my PC. I eliminated the Roku because I couldn't find anyone that could explain an easy way to do that. The Roku is awesome at streaming internet services, though. By the time I'd finished my research, I was leaning towards a Boxee Box since it seemed to be the best compromise.

Then the WD Live Hub got some nice firmware updates and I jumped. For the same price as the Boxee I got a box that will play back virtually any file, support for NetFlix, Pandora, CinemaNow, Vudu, Hulu Plus, Flicker, Spotify, Shoutcast, YouTube, Facebook, etc., full DVD .iso support when you store the rip on the 1TB internal HDD and it will also act as a DLNA server for other devices in the house. Supports external storage devices, keyboards, etc. Plays really nice with my Harmony Remote, too. If it supported Amazon VOD and didn't take half an hour to start up (slight exaggeration), it would be almost perfect. At $170, you could buy a couple of Rokus, but only half of a decent HTPC. I am thinking of getting a couple of the sub-$100 WD Lives for a couple of the bedrooms, though. Seems like the proper thing to do.
 
I have WDTV Live and it's great for all formats of video, of which I have a usb hdd containing 1.5tb. Unfortunately, the player is basically worthless for playing a music collection. I have a music collection with over 100gb and the interface is slooowwww. I am disappointed as I am out of range of WiFi and really wanted to use the wdtv to play my music through my receiver and sound system.

Does anyone else know if this is always the case, or is there some way to fix this? Any alternative solutions to play my media library?
 
Im enjoying my two HTPCs (one in living room, one in bedroom). Im sure it works pretty much the same as a wdtv or roku for me. I use it 90% of the time just to stream movies/tv off my unraid server. But i do also have them setup for watching basic tv and recording shows as well. It is nice the couple times i've wanted to watch something and being bale to just go online and watch a stream of it.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone, I would mostly use it for streaming and not recording etc. so it seems a WD Live or even a PS3 would work best. I think I'd spend the left over money that I would have used on an HTPC and setup a better server.
 
smitbret said:
My main purpose was to stream local music, photos and video with a DLNA server on my PC. I eliminated the Roku because I couldn't find anyone that could explain an easy way to do that.
Click to expand...

Not to be Mr. Roku Fanboy of the year but the Plex channel does all that when you install Plex Media Server on your PC. We watched my daughter's violin and piano performances on the 55" screen (much to her displeasure) just yesterday. There's an icon right on the Plex channel for my iTunes library. If I remember correctly you can scroll by artist, album, or song. I'll have to revisit that again. Usually I just stick with Pandora channels these days.
 
Unless your wanting to watch TV through it skip the HTPC and get a WD box. Roku sucks for streaming from a server. The WD will stream the native file without it needing to be transcoded.
 
refried said:
I have WDTV Live and it's great for all formats of video, of which I have a usb hdd containing 1.5tb. Unfortunately, the player is basically worthless for playing a music collection.
Click to expand...
The opposite is true, IMO: I've set up WDTV units solely for music. Not with the internal browsing, but as a DLNA target using a server and Android app (2player) as browser/control.

If your unit is working standalone and not networked, though, I'm not sure what you can do.
 
The wdtv is going to be the easiest and cheapest method, basically it just works. It might not have fancy menus and organize your collection, but if you want something you can put on a network, play a file off a networked pc, netflix, or usb drive, the wdtv is the way to go.
 
HTPC pros are a better interface (MUCH better with XBMC), tv tuner support, better file format support (like 10 bit), 3D support, and the ability to have synced libraries (aka pause in one room continue in another).
 
Zotac Zbox Nano with the AMD Fusion processor. Size of a CD wallet, mounts to the back of the TV. Sells for $200 sans RAM and HDD. I've got mine running Linux and XBMC.
 
jhansman said:
Not with Plex it doesn't. I can stream all my media clear across the house without a problem.
Click to expand...
+1

Hey are you having any issues with Plex crashing when using bookmarked myPlex content? Man I couldn't believe how cool the Plexit! bookmarklet was, and it works, well until I stopped whatever I was watching. Then the Plex media server stopped running and had to be restarted.

Still, the above issue is not even applicable to normal streaming of local content. Its an amazing add-on feature of Plex where you basically bookmark a website where a video is playing and then it shows up in your queue on your TV when you open the Plex channel on the Roku. I bookmarked a music vid on Youtube at work, came home and the vid was queued up when i got home. Plus my entire library can be played on my iPhone (not that I really plan on that), but I suppose it works for an iPad as well, no matter where I am in the world. Crazy. Just crazy.
 
Nintendesert said:
Thanks for the feedback everyone, I would mostly use it for streaming and not recording etc. so it seems a WD Live or even a PS3 would work best. I think I'd spend the left over money that I would have used on an HTPC and setup a better server.
Click to expand...

Just say "NO" to the PS3:

http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=41581

... or pretty much any Sony device if possible.

If you rip a Cinavia protected disc, it'll be unwatchable on a PS3. Just an FYI.
 
Well, if you already have one, set up and give it a shot. Except for the Cinavia thing, the PS3 was about as smooth for DLNA file sharing as you'll get. Add Tversity, Mezzmo or PS3 Media Server to your PC that has the media you want to stream and enjoy.
 
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