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This smells like the best cost efficient device to use as a media center for the living room. Cheap, put Ubuntu on it for VLC. Leave it on and plugged to your b

This smells like the best cost efficient device to use as a media center for the living room. Cheap, put Ubuntu on it for VLC. Leave it on and plugged to your big screen tv 100% of the time. Use my main laptop on my couch to store files via lan, and remote control it. Is there any better alternative to this? Today I just plug my laptop in and out of the tv when I want to watch, and use my tablet as remote control. I have a xbox, but it's so bad compared to having full vlc. I would pay 250 to save me the trouble of connecting my laptop to the TV. It would be the perfect setup of my dreams.

ralfd 14y ago
An Apple TV costs only 99 dollars. You don't need to use iTunes. Mountain Lion and a newer Mac can mirror their whole screen natively. For older Macs or Windows PCs there is the third party software "Airparrot" (10 dollars). Short VLC demo with 1080p Apple TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0lM_R7LQ0Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0lM_R7LQ0Y For Windows: https://twitter.com/AirParrot/statuses/232201363235418112 https://twitter.com/AirParrot/statuses/232201363235418112 http://airparrot.com http://airparrot.com
- rustynails77 14y ago
  YMMV with Apple TV. Specs are here, http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html If you're like me, it will play about 10% of my collection. WDTV Live, on the other hand, plays everything. If you're in the Apple eco-system, Apple TV is great. For those who aren't, it's Apple's way or the highway. I'm half in Apple, half out of Apple, and it's a total nightmare.
  - ralfd 14y ago
    That's the nice thing with screen mirroring, so you can just use VLC with the ATV to play all kinds of video formats. But you are right that there are other boxes available and they all cost way less than $250.
danbee 14y ago
Boxee Box? I love mine.

ralfd 14y ago

An Apple TV costs only 99 dollars. You don't need to use iTunes. Mountain Lion and a newer Mac can mirror their whole screen natively. For older Macs or Windows PCs there is the third party software "Airparrot" (10 dollars). Short VLC demo with 1080p Apple TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0lM_R7LQ0Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0lM_R7LQ0Y For Windows: https://twitter.com/AirParrot/statuses/232201363235418112 https://twitter.com/AirParrot/statuses/232201363235418112 http://airparrot.com http://airparrot.com

rustynails77 14y ago
YMMV with Apple TV. Specs are here, http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html If you're like me, it will play about 10% of my collection. WDTV Live, on the other hand, plays everything. If you're in the Apple eco-system, Apple TV is great. For those who aren't, it's Apple's way or the highway. I'm half in Apple, half out of Apple, and it's a total nightmare.
- ralfd 14y ago
  That's the nice thing with screen mirroring, so you can just use VLC with the ATV to play all kinds of video formats. But you are right that there are other boxes available and they all cost way less than $250.

danbee 14y ago

Boxee Box? I love mine.