What is best device for wireless connection of PC to HDTV?

[Herkulese]

I currently use an HDMI cable to connect my laptop to my HDTV, so that I can watch movies and TV shows that I stream on my laptop on my big screen. I would, however, like to get rid of the cable and still have the same direct view of my desktop on my TV, or even better, extend my screen to my TV so that I could work on my computer while playing a movie or TV show from my laptop on my TV screen.

I have a ROKU box that works great for subscription versions of Netflix, Hulu, etc…. but there are many other places to get movies and TV that aren’t supported by these kinds of boxes, Amazon for instance, and the on line versions have more content then is available through the ROKU box.

What are the best, least expensive devices for this purpose?

Thanks in advance,
Herkulese

 

[marcplante]

You could buy a connected Blu Ray player that can source your video via your LAN. It can be a little tricky to set up (getting the files in the right format that the player can read, though std MVK works), and you need to set up the folder structure and file sharing so that your player can see it, but it works pretty well. You can connect via wireless (I recommend N, though G will work in a pinch). So you're not really playing actively from your PC to the screen. You're using your PC as a server and using the app on the player to pull the video down.

The smart players will also have amazon, hulu, youtube and other apps to stream the common internet stuff down. Samsung seems to have a solid, extensible library of player widget apps that you can choose from in their players, so you can prolly retire, relocate your roku.

Players can be had cheap everywhere, I think I just got a samsung wireless player at Costco (in VA in the US) for $70US

 

[jtvang125]

Google wireless hdmi. There are a few that uses a HDMI dongle that's perfect for a laptop.

 

[Herkulese]

You could buy a connected Blu Ray player that can source your video via your LAN. It can be a little tricky to set up (getting the files in the right format that the player can read, though std MVK works), and you need to set up the folder structure and file sharing so that your player can see it, but it works pretty well. You can connect via wireless (I recommend N, though G will work in a pinch). So you're not really playing actively from your PC to the screen. You're using your PC as a server and using the app on the player to pull the video down.

The smart players will also have amazon, hulu, youtube and other apps to stream the common internet stuff down. Samsung seems to have a solid, extensible library of player widget apps that you can choose from in their players, so you can prolly retire, relocate your roku.

Players can be had cheap everywhere, I think I just got a samsung wireless player at Costco (in VA in the US) for $70US

I allready have a ROKU box that does what you describe above.
What I want to do is to simply stream my desktop to my TV, so that what I see on my computer, I see on my TV. There are several pieces of equipment that will do this, but they seem to be hit or miss in the reviews.

 

[Herkulese]

Google wireless hdmi. There are a few that uses a HDMI dongle that's perfect for a laptop.

I have already done this, and found almost a dozen different units that do this, but again, they all seem iffy as to whether they work or not, and how well they work. Reviews are all over the map on them.
That is why I came here, just in case there was some item out there that you guys might know of as being solid.
It seems that this technology is not quite there yet.

 

[Train]

I allready have a ROKU box that does what you describe above.
What I want to do is to simply stream my desktop to my TV, so that what I see on my computer, I see on my TV. There are several pieces of equipment that will do this, but they seem to be hit or miss in the reviews.

I don't own a roku myself, but doesn't the Roku media server (which you would install on your PC) allow you to do just that?

Or do you mean like an extra monitor, not specifically streaming a media file?

 

[jtvang125]

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/wireless-hdmi-round-up.html

Basically if you're just using it across the room then they'll all work pretty well. It's when you're trying to go through several walls or a room upstairs that it becomes a flakey. That just the nature of wireless.

 

[Herkulese]

I don't own a roku myself, but doesn't the Roku media server (which you would install on your PC) allow you to do just that?

Or do you mean like an extra monitor, not specifically streaming a media file?

Like I said, I want to simply transfer my desktop to my TV, so that I can stream anything direct from the web, or from a file, of whatever is on my PC directly to my TV.

The ROKU, and others like it, only have channels that you can connect to. Some have the DLNA service, so that you can connect to a specific folder on your PC, but that is not what I am lookin for.

Yes I am going no more that 20 feet, and almost line of site. The receiver would be just inside a cabinet, 8 to 15 feet away.

 

[UnklSnappy]

I use a Nyrius Aries Prime with my laptop, which works very well for distances up to about 30 ft. The Aries Pro model is good for up to about 150 ft.

 

[Herkulese]

I use a Nyrius Aries Prime with my laptop, which works very well for distances up to about 30 ft. The Aries Pro model is good for up to about 150 ft.

Thanks, I will take a look.

 

[Herkulese]

Thanks, I will take a look.

OK, I have done a pretty thorough search for the Nyrius Aries Prime, and while it seems like a solid enough device, there are precious few reviews to be found on it, and with the other devices, I found a lot of great reviews, but when reading through lots of customer reviews is when I found that they are very hit or miss.

I would like to think that this device is the one to buy, but would like more background on it.

Can anyone shed any light on this particular device?

 

[Herkulese]

I think that I have found a different, much less expensive solution to this isue. Since I am only looking to be able to control the desktop wirelessly, I can just leave the keyboard near the tv, and use a wireless keyboard.

I am considering the following units and not necessarily from Amazon:

1) Logitech K400
2) Logitech diNovo Mini
3) IOGEAR Multi Media Keyboard with Lazar track ball and buttons

The IOGEAR Multi Media looks like the most feature rich of the bunch, but the reviews are pretty unanimous that it is very poorly manufactured.

I am leaning toward the Logitech K400.

Any comments?

 

[Number1]

So working on the laptop and watching a movie on the TV at the same time is no longer a requirement?
I have a PC connected to a 60" TV and a 24" monitor. I much prefer consoling the PC using the monitor and only use the TV for watching movies.

Wireless HDMI is the much better solution for what you want to do.

 

[Herkulese]

So working on the laptop and watching a movie on the TV at the same time is no longer a requirement?
I have a PC connected to a 60" TV and a 24" monitor. I much prefer consoling the PC using the monitor and only use the TV for watching movies.

Wireless HDMI is the much better solution for what you want to do.

Working on the PC while watching a movie on the TV never was a requirement, but it is something that I would like to be able to do.

I agree that Wireless HDMI is the best way to go, but the bottom line is that I can get the K400 keyboard for $30 and change, and the cheapest I have seen wireless HDMI for is $150.

All I really wanted to do with the laptop was to controll the playback at the sofa without stringing a cable all the way accross the room. I can do that with a K400. I can leave the laptop by the AV cabinet, with a short HDMI cable, and use the keyboard at the sofa.

I will probably go wireless HDMI at some point however.

 

[jtvang125]

Depending on how far you sit away from the tv the text might be too small to read. You can increase the font size so that it's legible on the tv but that might make it too big when using the laptop.

 

[Herkulese]

Depending on how far you sit away from the tv the text might be too small to read. You can increase the font size so that it's legible on the tv but that might make it too big when using the laptop.

Mostly all I need to see is the Pause, Play, Stop, etc.... buttons when playing a movie.

If I am surfing the web, I can just "Control +" the screen to make it bigger, and then "Control -" to take it back down again. 2 finger stretch should work on the touch pad as well.

 

[Herkulese]

I was down to the Logitech K400 or the Lenovo N5902.

So, I was in my local Target, and decided to just ask what they had for keyboards, and low and behold they had the K400, and for $29.99. I picked one up, and I am very pleased with it. I does exactly what I need it to do.

It becomes a wireless keyboard so that I can plug the HDMI cable into my laptop, and run it through the HDMI pass through (I use the Game Port) on my receiver, and then stow my laptop by the media cabinet. I now have no cable strung all over the floor. Instead, I just pick up this light weight little beauty (K400) and I run my PC on my desktop from my sofa.

The mouse pad is great, and the upper left corner Left Mouse Button is a very nice addition.

The range seems very good, as I set the curser on pause in Pandora, went upstairs to the farthest room, which is not that far, but it worked perfectly to pause and play.

The only knock on this keyboard is that it is not backlit, but that is a very minor issue for me.

For $29.00, I am ecstatic with this item.

 

[ask_123]

I do not intend to hijack the thread here but I am trying to achieve something similar. I have a Logitech revue with Google TV on it and a Computer from which I want to stream whatever I am playing in my browser to the TV. I would like to use my existing Wifi connection to do it. I know using some sort of DLNA server I can access the media files (movies and songs) I have on my PC from the TV but I am wondering if I can use some sort software which will stream normal Hulu stuff or some other internet video from my browser to the TV over my wifi network. Is this thing even possible? I don't mind something geeky but don't want to open up my revue box. ...

Thanks in advance for your help.

~AK

 

[Herkulese]

I do not intend to hijack the thread here but I am trying to achieve something similar. I have a Logitech revue with Google TV on it and a Computer from which I want to stream whatever I am playing in my browser to the TV. I would like to use my existing Wifi connection to do it. I know using some sort of DLNA server I can access the media files (movies and songs) I have on my PC from the TV but I am wondering if I can use some sort software which will stream normal Hulu stuff or some other internet video from my browser to the TV over my wifi network. Is this thing even possible? I don't mind something geeky but don't want to open up my revue box. ...

Thanks in advance for your help.

~AK

No worries about the higack. The only way that I have found to wirelessly transmit from a PC to a TV (full desktop on the TV) is with wireless HDMI. Below you will find a link to one example, but there are many, and the reviews are all over the map on them. They seem to work very well or very poorly, depending on what, I don't exactly know.

Just Google - "Wireless HDMI"

In the end, I just put a shelf on my media cabinet to set my laptop on, and plug it in with an HDMI cable. I then use the new Logitech K400 keyboard to control everything from my sofa. This is under $30 where the Wireless HDMI is $150 and up. I have my full desktop on my TV as if it was my actual laptop screen, so I can watch anything that I can bring up on my computer. No ROKU or BLUERAY limited channels, or DLNA limeted media folder. Everything is there.

http://www.amazon.com/Nyrius-Transmi...=wireless+hdmi

 

[Number1]

I do not intend to hijack the thread here but I am trying to achieve something similar. I have a Logitech revue with Google TV on it and a Computer from which I want to stream whatever I am playing in my browser to the TV. I would like to use my existing Wifi connection to do it. I know using some sort of DLNA server I can access the media files (movies and songs) I have on my PC from the TV but I am wondering if I can use some sort software which will stream normal Hulu stuff or some other internet video from my browser to the TV over my wifi network. Is this thing even possible? I don't mind something geeky but don't want to open up my revue box. ...

Thanks in advance for your help.

~AK

Most streaming boxes that I know of have netflix, hulu and others built right in, Put in your user name and password et voila. No PC needed. It will also acces your media files on your PC if you have streaming enabled on the PC. Some also have a built in browser.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/cate...spx?path=4c811b472d8119806627458d13462a28en01

Here is the ultimate streaming box if you can find it in your area.

Apple TV 2 Replacement G-Box Midnight Android XBMC 1080P

 

[Herkulese]

Most streaming boxes that I know of have netflix, hulu and others built right in, Put in your user name and password et voila. No PC needed. It will also acces your media files on your PC if you have streaming enabled on the PC. Some also have a built in browser.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/cate...spx?path=4c811b472d8119806627458d13462a28en01

Here is the ultimate streaming box if you can find it in your area.

Apple TV 2 Replacement G-Box Midnight Android XBMC 1080P

Yes, but I am not aware of any other way to get ESPN3 other that on the PC.

BTW, this little keyboard (Logiteck K400) is just the coolest thing. It is so simple to use, and has mostly full keyboard functionality. I absolutely love it.