AS the Mac conversion moves forward, it is time to figure out what to do with an old desktop PC that is not stable enough to handle certain critical functions. Dilemma, dilemma....
The idea crossed my mind a while back about trying to make the PC a stand alone unit for streaming Internet content from certain sites. We have a Wii which is great for being able to stream Netflix but unfortunately, there seems to be some proprietary issues with not being able to access Hulu via the Wii. I looked at other options like Apple TV, or Boxee, etc...The issues was that each product has some sort of arrangement with certain content providers, and not with others. The only way around any of this was to handle the streaming via a computer.
The big picture is to get rid of cable TV and use Netflix, Hulu, etc to watch what interests us and consequently save $$ from having to pay DirecTV each month.
Step 1 was to make sure the hardware could handle the streaming to the TV...we had to upgrade and install a graphics card on the PC, and then add a USB Network adapter so that the re-purposed PC that now sits next to the TV in the living room, can talk to the wireless network. With the new graphics card, it was super easy to hook the PC straight to the TV via a HDMI cable. Once it was all hooked up, it was time to install drivers and then connect to the secure wireless network...then came the true test: turn everything on and try to stream something and see what the picture quality was like.
We were pleasantly surprised, the content streamed via Hulu was good quality (not as good as straight HD broadcast but still good). The other pleasant surprise was that there was no drop in network while streaming - so the content was able to be watched without the start/stop that I was originally concerned about...
At first glance, it looks like it might be a viable option in being able to move from traditional cable TV options to TV via the Internet...here is to being cautiously optimistic.....
The idea crossed my mind a while back about trying to make the PC a stand alone unit for streaming Internet content from certain sites. We have a Wii which is great for being able to stream Netflix but unfortunately, there seems to be some proprietary issues with not being able to access Hulu via the Wii. I looked at other options like Apple TV, or Boxee, etc...The issues was that each product has some sort of arrangement with certain content providers, and not with others. The only way around any of this was to handle the streaming via a computer.
The big picture is to get rid of cable TV and use Netflix, Hulu, etc to watch what interests us and consequently save $$ from having to pay DirecTV each month.
Step 1 was to make sure the hardware could handle the streaming to the TV...we had to upgrade and install a graphics card on the PC, and then add a USB Network adapter so that the re-purposed PC that now sits next to the TV in the living room, can talk to the wireless network. With the new graphics card, it was super easy to hook the PC straight to the TV via a HDMI cable. Once it was all hooked up, it was time to install drivers and then connect to the secure wireless network...then came the true test: turn everything on and try to stream something and see what the picture quality was like.
We were pleasantly surprised, the content streamed via Hulu was good quality (not as good as straight HD broadcast but still good). The other pleasant surprise was that there was no drop in network while streaming - so the content was able to be watched without the start/stop that I was originally concerned about...
At first glance, it looks like it might be a viable option in being able to move from traditional cable TV options to TV via the Internet...here is to being cautiously optimistic.....
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