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I have a pc in one room with my videos and music on the hard drive. I want to stream music to another room plus videos. I also want to be able to watch you tube in this other room.
What's the best system to use for streaming - Sonos?
Secondly, should I use a pc monitor in the other room or is a TV a better bet?
cheers
I've been looking into this malarky... DLNA stuff sounds like it is the future, but I'm not sure it is there just yet.
DLNA on the PS3 seems to get good reports, but you should be able to do it directly to a DLNA compliant telly; with your PC (or a NAS) serving the files.
I'm tempted by a DLNA compliant AV receiver (expensive at the moment - e.g. [url= http://www.reghardware.com/2010/11/25/grouptest_av_receivers_onkyo_tx_nr708/ ]Onkyo NR708[/url], connected to the telly (and obviously speakers), picking up music and video from a readyNAS. Separating the media rendering from the telly would let me plug a projector in without having to buy a ludicrously expensive networked one.
I'll be interested to see what you go for
Dave
I think I read about a netgear model which did all of this but was very difficult to set up?
Will have a look at that onkyo - any thoughts on pc monitor vs tv?
I think I'd want a tv in the living room... pc monitor is too much compromise for me; nice resolution, but no remote and complicated to run it (would you have another PC under it, or a big long cable? what about noise?). TVs are generally much larger than monitors (unless you go for really expensive displays).
I'm hoping to move soon, so most of my thinking is for what I'll do in the new place. I'd like to be able to play music in the living room without turning on a screen - apple remote is good for this (i already have an iphone), with an airport express connected to an amp and itunes server on a NAS.
I'd like to not have a TV, but have a projector instead, which I'd use with a retractable screen to watch films, with the hopeful side effect of cutting down on the time I spend vegetating in front of rubbish. I'd want a big screen and decent sound; streaming films from a NAS to an AV receiver/amp seems like a nice way to do this.
On the storage side, a Netgear readyNAS is my current favourite, but I have also looked at NASs from Synology. You can set these up easily with loads of RAID storage, so they would be good for backing up photos and everything. The big benefit of a NAS is that you don't need your computer to be on, sucking power - readyNAS only uses about 35W and can be configured to only be powered on at certain times of day.
Dave
cheers Dave
I should clarify that I don't own or watch tv
what I want is something to watch films on and you tube - I'm into my guitar playing and find YT great for picking up new tips, playing along with other people etc
Anything pc related, I can go to my desk top
Can I avoid a NAS and just use my pc to stream vids, music etc?
Also whilst that onkyo looks nice is it multi-room capable and can it stream films ?
Was tempted previously by Sonos but not sure that you can stream films with that system
For just streaming - the Sumvision Cyclone MKV is good [& cheapish], I have one & stream from a Netgear NASduo to it
That's not going to do Youtube for you though, for that you may want to look at a Acer Revo running Mythbuntu, it's silent & very capable & has all manner of outputs HDMI etc.
I have one of these in another room that also streams from the NAS as well as being used as a normal PC
If you're not interested in the TV bit and you don't mind having your PC on, you could go for a much simpler solution.
PC in the 'other room', long DVI, s-video or HDMI cable (this could take sound as well) to a monitor or decent resolution telly in the 'living room', plus a wireless keyboard and mouse (I used to have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse which easily worked all over the house).
Job done, much cheaper than buying all sorts of hifi gear.
Unless of course you want audiophile quality sounds, in which case you could always bring a separate lead in for audio to an amp in the living room.
No need to have a NAS, your computer can do it all; I just don't want to have my computer on if I don't need it.
Dave
uplink, cheers for that but dont understand why I'd need to buy the acer for YT, surely I can just stream across a network or am I missing something??
Edit: just read the first review on amazon and I can see that YT blocked streaming on that device
Dave, no my pc is quite a long way away from where I want to watch films so the long cable alternative is out..
uplink, cheers for that but dont understand why I'd need to buy the acer for YT, surely I can just stream across a network or am I missing something??
Cost basically
The Revo would be less tan £200 & does everything you want, it's tiny & silent