Streaming .. What's my options

[guppy]

Up til now the Win7 HTPC has been for storing movies and TV shows, well now the wife wants to use it to stream TV shows, kinda like a cable box. What are the options and what hardware would I need to add. How about Hulu, does that no longer work on media center?

[Sharks]

Define "streaming like a cable box". Streaming as in streaming tv shows from Hulu, Netflix, amazon prime, ect... or streaming your stored content from your home computer to mobile devices?

[mdavej]

Probably means a cable box On Demand content replacement.

Get a wireless keyboard/touchpad/trackball and open Hulu, etc. in a web browser. Or better yet, get a Roku.

[guppy]

Sorry for not making myself clear. I am looking to watch television on my media center. Not the stored content but any other source, I suppose streaming is my only option. I am not crazy about HULU since it does not look like it works within media center, unless the content is really that great? ROKU, so where exactly does it get it's tv shows from .. HULU and netflix? What benefits does ROKU have over my win 7 media center?

[Sharks]

It sounds like you want to watch recent shows and/or live tv.
So you have a bunch of good options if you have cable that supports a cable card:
Ceton & Silicon Dust Tuners are both capable of watching and recording live tv off your cable with a cable card.

Silicon dust tuners can be used for OTA HDTV when paired with a digital antenna.

Streaming in windows media center can be achieved through a number of methods:
Hulu Desktop (Works for some people not many.)
Netflix App
AmazonMCEaddin (Amazon Prime Video)
Playon/Playlater/VMCPlayIt

All of them pros and cons please let us know if you have preferred avenue you would like to go down.

[adam1991]

Roku is just like a cable box. You plug it into a different input to the TV, then when you want to do something that isn't WMC you pick up the TV remote, change the input, then pick up the Roku remote--which is very simple--and use the Roku.

Or you get a Roku TV...

Anyway, Roku is a gateway for other providers such as Netflix and Hulu. They develop Roku apps, you select that app on Roku, sign in, and you're there. It's a complete on-demand cable box.

Shoot, even Sling TV has a Roku app. With Roku and Sling TV, it IS a cable box.

[Scallica]

I recommend the Amazon Fire TV (not the stick). Roku works great, but several apps (Emby, Plex) look like crap on the Roku compared to the Fire TV. The Fire TV also has optical audio out and voice search.

[adam1991]

I wondered why the Roku added voice search.

I just refuse to buy an Amazon anything, no matter how cheap--phone, nothing. Because its sole purpose in life is to drive you to consume Amazon products.

[mike_ekim]

ROKU, so where exactly does it get it's tv shows from .. HULU and netflix? What benefits does ROKU have over my win 7 media center?

Roku has apps for Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Crunchyroll, HBO, Comedy Central, and a many other services.

The benefits of Roku vs a Media Center PC, is a better interface/experience when using streaming services. Personally if I could watch all my WMC content on the Roku(*) I would; I can watch most of my Roku content on a PC but I prefer the Roku. However that "benefit" is subjective i.e. some people prefer using a computer with a wireless keyboard/mouse, others prefer a simple remote like a Roku. There are some websites that don't have Roku apps, some services have Roku apps but don't let you stream on a PC, and some services (like Hulu) have both PC and Roku apps but have a few titles available only on the PC, or only on a Roku.

We have a Windows 7 MCE HTPC that we use as a cable DVR, and a Roku. We switch between them. PC for cable TV/DVR (and an occasional website like MTV.com that doesn't have a Roku app), Roku for everything else. We even use the Roku for Youtube instead of the PC (at least, usually) and cast from our phones.

(*)I have dabbled with getting my Roku to show cable TV content, I have had limited success with SD channels - my PC is low powered/energy efficient, not a transcoding workhorse, and the convenience of using Roku for cable TV isn't worth a a CPU upgrade.

[DrSmith]

We found an xbox 360 extender is the best way to get everything. xbox streaming apps get you netflix, hbogo, hulu, etc. And there's that GreenButton app that we all know and love for live TV and WMC goodness.

[STC]

I just refuse to buy an Amazon anything, no matter how cheap--phone, nothing. Because its sole purpose in life is to drive you to consume Amazon products.

Wow. Not here and I don't have an Android phone. We use Amazon all the time. Their ship and return procedures are excellent.

[mdavej]

We found an xbox 360 extender is the best way to get everything. xbox streaming apps get you netflix, hbogo, hulu, etc. And there's that GreenButton app that we all know and love for live TV and WMC goodness.

I agree it's the best way to get everything. But convenience comes at a price. None of the Xbox streaming apps are 1080p. So if picture quality is a priority, it's still best to have a Roku or similar box for streaming. It's no problem to seamlessly switch inputs with any decent universal remote. On my system, pressing "Watch Netflix" on my remote and switching to my Roku is actually quicker and easier than doing the same with an Xbox, and the picture quality is far better.

[DrSmith]

Roku ... picture quality is far better.

Not sure I could tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p, so "far better" seems a stretch. My Netflix streams in HD and looks fine through the 360. Roku does have a great reputation for keeping up with the latest channels, speeds and streaming services. If I wanted to add a 2nd box to my set up it would be a Roku.

[adam1991]

I just refuse to buy an Amazon anything, no matter how cheap--phone, nothing. Because its sole purpose in life is to drive you to consume Amazon products.

Wow. Not here and I don't have an Android phone. We use Amazon all the time. Their ship and return procedures are excellent.

Oh, I buy from Amazon. What I won't buy is an Amazon-BRANDED thing. Phone? Nope. Silly speaker sitting in the middle of my life, waiting for me to ask it something? Nope. Tablet? Nope.

Amazon can be my retailer, my gateway to things manufactured by others. I simply don't want or need an Amazon-branded thing in my life, the sole purpose of which is to make me buy those things from Amazon. Because frequently I don't want to buy those things from Amazon. Frequently I don't even want to buy anything, period. But Amazon doesn't want to hear that.

[mdavej]

Roku ... picture quality is far better.

Not sure I could tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p, so "far better" seems a stretch. My Netflix streams in HD and looks fine through the 360. Roku does have a great reputation for keeping up with the latest channels, speeds and streaming services. If I wanted to add a 2nd box to my set up it would be a Roku.

I can tell the difference between 720p, which is the max on Xbox streaming apps, and 1080p which is what you get on a Roku. 1080 is more than double the resolution of 720, so yes, it's "far better", 100% better at least. While Xbox looks fine on my 720p TVs, I'm not going to use them for streaming on my big 1080p TVs.

And I'm not exactly married to Roku. Chromecast, FireTV, Apple TV, etc. all work almost as well, overall.