The Best Streaming Media Player

DeviceGuru writes "It's looking like 2012 will be a watershed year for cord-cutters wanting to replace expensive cable TV services with low-cost gadgets that stream movies and TV shows from the Internet via free, subscription, and pay-per-view services. Accordingly, this DeviceGuru smackdown pits five popular streaming media player devices against each other. The smackdown compares Roku, Google TV, Apple TV, the Boxee Box, and Netgear's NeoTV, tabulating their key features, functions, specs, supported multimedia formats, and other characteristics, and listing the main advantages and disadvantages of each device. Then, it provides a summary chart that attempts to quantify the whole thing, so you (theoretically) can pick the best one based on what characteristics are most important to you. Of course, the market's evolving so quickly that the entire process will need to be redone in 6 months, but what else is new."

Frame rate sync

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm yet to see a review that takes under account the ability of the media player to re-negotiate HDMI mode to match the frame rate of the source material.

Most players are guilty of either a single frame rate (atv2, I'm looking at you) or having to manually change modes (great user experience, right?).

Of all players I know, only the Popcorn Hour ones have the ability to configure which modes you want it to auto-select. This results in silky-smooth playback.

Otherwise, try playing 24000/1001 fps on 25fps display or 25fps material on 30000/1001 fps display. It's always jerky and fugly.

But I guess it's more important that the thing plays protected content or that you can watch cats on youtube.

Pfft, get off my lawn.

(captcha: bashing)

WD Live

[zeronitro]

I got my WD Live for $80 about a year or so ago. Plays 1080p mkv flawlessly off of a samba share from a linux server. It just works.

Looks different and a little more expensive then mine, but probably still worth getting: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136997 [newegg.com]

Using the wrong remote

[microcars]

Apps are written in Python. There are currently about 250 now. I was shocked when I saw a friend's AppleTV... there was no web browser - stay in the garden children.

True, if you use the simple -out-of-the-box- minimal remote that comes with the device.
But if you use your iPhone/iPad/iPad Touch as a WiFi remote (with the free Remote app from Apple), you have a really sweet remote that also does mirroring via Airplay [apple.com]. Anything visible on the screen of the i-Device shows up on the TV.

I'm always surprised at how many I-Device owners had no idea that they could use their device as a remote control and display content on their TVs.
At family gatherings we just turn on the TV, fire up the AppleTV and then everyone pulls out their iPhones and shares photos.

Re:Apple TV

[jo_ham]

The older Apple TV does if you put an expansion card into its PCI slot (you have to remove the wireless card to do this though), then it will support 1080p quite happily in XBMC with the exception of some of the more silly encode settings.

It's been a while since I looked at it. Crystal HD or something?

Re:What about openness?

[RDW]

They should probably have a 'hackability' score - e.g., the tiny current version of the Apple TV is a very nice piece of hardware that's capable of much more than Apple's lockdown allows out of the box. Hack it and most of the limitations (lack of a web browser, limited media compatibility, access to non-iTunes network shares) go away:

http://www.appletvhacks.net/ [appletvhacks.net]

Re:I can't see the point of standalone media strea

[netsavior]

I have a PS3 and a Roku, I can tell you they both do netflix and hulu plus, and the PS3 even has a much better interface for netflix... we still use the roku more. The PS3 has to install an OS upgrade every week or so, the "controllers" or remote control system will use up the batteries completely in about 10 hours of idling, the device itself gets really hot even idling, etc. So for the roku, it is always on, the remote always works. For the PS3 we have to turn it on, wait for a firmware/OS upgrade, then remember to turn the controllers off while we watch TV. It does way too much to be an appliance. The PS3 is a game console with streaming, the Roku is an appliance, and there still is a big difference.

Re:Raspberry

[Anonymous Coward]

Hardware based mkv h264 decoding. Other than that most people say it wont have enough power to decode other codecs.

Re:I can't see the point of standalone media strea

[bhcompy]

Exaggerate much? PS3 has upgrades semi-often(less than once a month these days) and they are NOT required to use anything other than the PlayStation Network. These upgrades add features anyways, like the native Netflix application. As far as the batteries and the heat, the original model did get hotter(not like the 360, though) than the current design that runs fairly cool, but many of those units have been phased out anyway(unless you've replaced the laser by now) and the batteries last plenty long and are rechargeable anyways. If you use the ps3 bluray remote, you can use rechargeable AAs or just turn the remote off during the shows(is it really that hard?).

From a standalone device perspective, the PS3 is hard to beat in functionality outside of a dedicated PC. As with all multifunction devices, it has it's shortcomings, but some of those that you mentioned aren't true or aren't really shortcomings(takes longer for my stereo to turn on and load an HD signal than it does for my PS3 to turn on)

Another WD TV owner

[mu51c10rd]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one wondering why they left out the WD line. WD has the best hybrid of local playback and online apps. I have yet to have a file format thrown at it that it can't handles. It also can play from SMB shares, uPnP media servers, and lots of online apps. How did the reviewer fail to add that to their queue? The newest model even has the builtin wifi. I tend to recommend the WD line to people over the Roku, Boxee, Apple TV, or Google TV.

Current Boxee and Current Google TV Dead Ends

[Kagato]

Boxee and the Current crop of Google TVs have the same problem. They threw their lot in with Intel for the the System on Chip family (CE4X00 series). A ton of things are provided by Intel from Video, Flash, The problem is Intel has dropped this business line. It's basically has a skeleton crew of developers for upkeep, but it's pretty obvious from the bugs that have stuck around that Intel is phoning it in until their contractual obligations end.

Google has already announced a new hardware platform, it's not clear what boxee is going to do.