Yeah, so let me explain the title of this blog post with a little preamble.
A few weeks ago I decided to cut down on our TV bill by scaling back the channels and upping our internet package (we were on the very basic of the basic which made streaming videos painful). With all the TV shows you can stream, and an iTunes account for basically everything else, there is not much point in having a fancy TV package.
Of course, to make things more comfortable to watch I wanted to be able to watch anything on the main TV in the living room. My first thought was that there must be a way to wirelessly stream video from my computer to my TV. After doing a bit of research I found that you can indeed buy such devices. They all seemed to be $250+ for wireless versions, and a Windows Media Centre “Extender” was about $350.
After some further research and some guidance from my best friend Andy (who was the mastermind behind my audition video for the W Network!) we discovered that a Sony Playstation 3 can access your wireless network and stream video (and other multimedia content) almost effortlessly from your PC. The only snag was that anything recorded on Windows Media Centre (a Microsoft product) would not work out of the box (but it would on an Xbox, which is also a Microsoft item). I wanted the PS3 as it had a Blu-Ray player, and also is the only console that plays Gran Turismo (my favourite racing game from my video game days).
Best of all, the PS3 was now only $299 for the version with a 120GB hard drive.
I googled and found a transcoder (Tveristy) that transcodes most video formats to a format that can be read by a PS3 – so when you stream something from your computer it transcodes it on the fly and hits the PS3 in a version that will work. Tversity has a free version which does everything you need it to for this purpose.
So, all in all, instead of spending $250-$350 for a device that streams wireless video from a PC to my TV, I spent $299 (+tax) and got that ability PLUS a Blu-Ray player, PLUS the latest gaming console.
I thought I would post that since others may want to look into it. Happy savinggaming!
Hey, we are doing a similar switchover in January:
1. Rogers Home Phone —> Magic Jack (which now has canadian numbers)
2. Rogers High Speed Extreme —> Rogers Express + $25 fee for over band width.
3. Rogers iphone start using icall to do calls over wifi when available
4. Stream shows (buying dedicated pc for one tv, using existing xbox 360 for another, and buying a $99 digital media receiver for the third tv)
Savings: 880 for the first year and 1500 thereafter.
Preet, welcome to the land of Video Geeks. You are a neophyte, but at least you recognize it. When you have a home theatre system that plays Imax movies in native format, then we can talk.
You can do the same kind of idea with the SlingBox, but you don’t get the game playing, so yes, this is a great idea too.
Make sure you are playing in full HD format, to get full enjoyment too.
GEEEK!!!!!! :-)
You may want to also look at PS3 Media Server as an alternative to TVersity. I use it mostly with anime videos. I have not had much luck with Quicktime or Windows Media videos though.
Hmmm, the link got lost from that last post: http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/
I actually have a nearly identical though likely more advanced setup. I have found that with few exceptions I can receive any show I desire to watch via the Internet and either a network website or something similar like iTunes. I actually have both a 360 & a PS3 hooked up to my mediaserver (TVersity). I have not done a whole bunch of testing with the latest PS3 update but I have found that the 360 is a much better quality mediaserver than the PS3. It plays videos streamed from TVersity more reliably and without the stuttering that occurs on the PS3. The PS3 on the otherhand is a significantly better DVD/BluRay player than the 360.
Congratulations on the move to a new TV system. I love watching TV when its convenient for me and now you have that option. Enjoy.
Preet,
It’s ok to say you just really wanted a PS3 and skip this entire process of justifying your purchase. We will still respect you as the geek you are in the morning. *grin*
Tim
*cough* thepiratebay.org *cough*
@Connie – good on ya!
@Big Cajun Man – I definitely am a geek. Love Star Trek, too. I get the home theatre bug out of my system when I visit the parentals – dedicated room, 100+” screen, and sound that will shake your filling out. :) I’ll have my turn one day I’m sure – think it runs in the family…
@Gordon – will take a look, but Tversity seems to transcode to PS3 format quite well.
@Cam Birch – I have the PS3 copy the show I want to watch ahead of time to the hard drive and then watch it (transfers at about 2MB/sec). Looks better than straight streaming, perhaps comprimable to XBox360? Have you tried doing that?
@Canadian Dream – Busted! lol
@Jordan – bad boy! :)
Does this pertain to HD or just SD, or both?
@Bob Garagan – You can indeed stream HD. View this for more info: http://www.avforums.com/forums/ps3-media-streaming/1102004-ps3-media-guide.html