Media device q

Is there a device on the market that will let me plug all of my source material ie sky, usb drive, dvd etc, and plugs into my a/v reciever for
large tv viewing.
It needs to be able to go online for web viewing as well, and also possibly stream wirelessly (sp?) around the house?

Does this exist?
Cheers.

Oh, and it needs to be able to connect to other computers/devices using wlan.

laptop, hdmi cable between that and TV... sorted?

Short answer is: no.

Longer answer: Yes, there are a pile of different media players around.
I would suggest this: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=735
I've used the earlier model and sold a few, and it works well. This newer model adds wired network, wireless via additional USB adaptor, and it can view Youtube.

What you can't do with devices like this is connect your DVD player or Sky, or stream to other points from those sources, nor just view random websites/streams.

To get more functionality, you'd be starting to look at building a media pc - you could technically capture Sky for streaming across your network, but you'd need real PC's to receive the stream at other points.


Far simpler to get a media player like the above, plug into AV receiver and connect up your USB drive, and away you go.

http://playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=44/ID=6476/SID=1051025654/productdetails.html

Local supplier.

Getting fancier and closer to what you're talking about:
http://playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=44/ID=13628/SID=517987064/productdetails.html

Haven't used, don't know much, but have heard good thing.

Still wont be able to stream Sky.

Ahh ok.
Any links on setting up a media pc?
Ive been checking out Tversity, is this something I should be doing? I was reading a ps3 thread below and was wondering
if I can use my ps3 to do any of the above.]
Cheers

Problem with media PC's are there is about a million different ways of doing it eh. Have a google around for the term HTPC and see what you find out, will help refine the situation a bit for you.

Unsure about Tversity, I'm a broke ass nigga who can't afford no flash PS3 Worth a go tho man, pretty sure G-Dub has used it eh.

OH and I would totally check out the TVNZ On Demand stuff on PS3 if you haven't already.

Primo dude, thanks heaps for your help!

Sounds like you want a computer for your TV bro,
(ps I'm not keen on supporting any more PC's of yours )

If you ditched trying the idea of trying to stream sky around the house its fairly simple. You plug your PC into one input and your sky into the other.

Then just plug your spare PC into the tv and bam, Web, USB on the big TV plus a streaming fileserver if you want it etc.

Your spare PC is a bit borderline though. I should know it used to be mine like 6 years ago

We pretty much have all that except the sky.

Re TVersity - yeah I used to use it when I had a PC (using Mac equivalent now which is creatively named PS3 Media Server).
What you can do is have PS3 and Sky plugged into A/V Receiver (and thru to TV). TVersity on the laptop means any video or audio or photo content you have on that laptop can be seen (via wifi connection) on the PS3. At that point you have all your computer-based stuff available, you can stream web stuff with the PS3 (and think TVersity will do some too) and obviously watch Sky.
You won't be able to record anything with that setup - so depends if that matters.

Streaming Sky around really becomes the feature you wanna ditch. It IS possible, but generally becomes such a hassle it's not worth it. I *have* done it at work actually, so I can tell you how I did it to give you an idea of scope.

Hardware:
*Core 2 Duo/1gb ram/500gb) machine ($800ish at the time)
*Canopus ADV55 DV Capture box - this has RCA and S-Video on one side, and firewire on the other, and automagically converts the analog output from the Sky decoder into pure DV video. Computer just sees DV video coming in and runs with it. ($150ish maybe?)


Software:
*Windows 2003 Server (Host OS, required for Streaming Media Services US$1k retail)
*Windows Media Encoder (Can actually run on any machine, free)
*Windows Streaming Media Service

Encoder captures the DV stream from the Canopus box and converts it to whatever WMV format/spec I configured. I left this at DV quality. Streaming Media Service grabs that stream and broadcasts it across the network on demand. I left it at "broadcast" quality and tested it by opening the stream on every computer on the network I could at once (70ish) and it worked brilliantly, with less than 20% network bandwidth utilised (2 gigabit backbone, mostly 100mbit clients). Hell I was able to dial down the quality and stream it out of the network and watch it at home.

Pros:
*Was REALLY reliable. Never crapped out once.

Cons:
*Cost of hardware/software for the home user (in our case, we have free Windows licences, and were dropping $30k on a media suite, so an extra $1k was no big deal)
*Setup hurdles if not familiar with Windows Server concepts (in saying that, it was pretty straightforward as far as these things go, I had streaming working within 10 mins of looking at it for the very first time)
*You can't change the channel remotely
*Every client watches the same channel
*Only SD

Looking at it today for the home user, I'd try it with something like MediaPortal TV server or MythTV, although they are harder to setup and less reliable, and I don't know if they actually support DV in. That Canopus box is fucking awesome though. I would still use a dedicated server box.

The reason I suggest an embedded box like the Western Digital is they are reliable, play every format I threw at them, and are simple to use. Don't under estimate that last bit. A PC driving it still has a few pain in the arse things about it. A simple remote with a simple menu passes what we like to call the "wife test". Oh, and they run silent too, which a PC doesn't. The "PRESS BUTTAN SEE VIDEO" model is invaluable.

Doing it legally with budget? I'd totally use Apple TV's wherever I wanted a client, and a US iTunes store account. Because it then becomes SO fucking easy.

You could look at an AV sender if you're tired of lugging the decoder up and down the stairs

This is great thanks so much!!
Im just going thru all the options and trying to sort something that will pass the "wife test".
I have a usb video capture device that, while not designed to do what I want, could be adaped for it.

Lol PD, yeah my old pc is pretty rugged, and I know your sick of being our IT guy

We have an av sender, which we use to send sky upstairs, which I could plug into our a/v reciever to send
whatever passes thru that.

Ive been told to check out Itunes for source material, but Ive yet to do so.
What other sites do you guys know about for this?

The key thing with iTunes store is you need a US account to get the TV and movie content. This is doable without a US credit card, but you need to buy US Store Credit vouchers from 3rd party sources and you pay a slight premium for it.

Only other source sites I deal with are piracy tings.

Wanna fill me in?
lesfilterbrats@gmail.com

I only use private trackers, and sadly, am out of invites right now. Will try and remember next time I have some tho.