I have had this concept in mind for years but never had the resources to bring my idea to life. Here is the scenario:
I have literally thousands of audio and video files stored on one main system (known as the beast). All of our media content is stored on this one computer and streamed to other computers throughout the home via our wireless network.
I have always wanted to stream to our televisions but never had the correct hardware. Originally, I was going to use a device from Netgear but I saw nothing but poor reviews on that device so I passed. We now have Fios in the home. The Fios service comes with a free download of Verizon's antiquated media manager software. The UI is awful, the functionality is poor, and the support for it is non-existent.
After talking to my colleagues at work, the vast majority of them have console games. They all state that both the PS3 and the XBox 360 offer streaming of content over the existing wireless network. However, none of them have actually tried it. We are already looking at picking up a XBox 360 but I do not want to be let down if I have to turn around and buy another device to stream our media content properly.
So my question is two-fold:
- Has anyone used a gaming console to stream media content? If so, how is the UI, functionality, and overall performance? Is there loss of quality while streaming? (I know this last question depends highly on the internet connection but, trust me, we are not hurting in that part.)
- Are there any third party devices that will give me a seamless connection to our network as well as provide a fully functioning UI so everyone can access media as if they were using a computer?
