One of the selling point of 7th generation consoles (Wii, PS3, Xbox 360) is how they can perform multiple media functions aside from just gaming.
I have a 360 and aside from gaming I use it for DVDs (6th generation consoles did this too though), and I use it for netflix. But it isn’t very good for netflix and I usually just use the laptop or roku box in another room. Plus paying $50/year for a 360 gold membership when I get netflix for free via Roku or the laptop is a waste.
Do these consoles really offer any multimedia functions that are worth looking into? I’ve always used my laptop as my multimedia console (videos, music, internet access). I don’t see what a 360 would offer.
We use our PS3 for all our netflix streaming and works fantastically, better than the PC we had hooked up to the TV previously. The PS3 streaming is also free, which is even more of a bonus.
We also have networked all of our computers and can play media from them through the TV which has the killer sound system.
We use a wired network hooked up through the electrical system of our house. Works really well, never a glitch in the connection.
I spent $100 on my Roku box (before the PS3 had streaming) but I can get a used PS3 on craigslist for about $230. In retrospect I would’ve rather done that for netflix and never gotten the Roku box.
I might just sell it on ebay.
I’ve got a powerline adapter kit too for the Xbox 360. I like it. However netflix via the xbox has given me a lot of problems.
I use Tversity on my xbox360, which allows streaming of radio stations, media files from your pc (music, video, pics), and video feeds from things like google, youtube, RSS, etc…
Yep I have an external WD USB drive hooked to my PS3 and use it to display photos and videos, and play MP3s. Works great, there is a LOT of media right at my fingertips. I do find that the PS3 doesn’t play every video format out there, it plays about 75% of them.
Wow! Thanks for the link, I’m going to try this out. It has been pissing me off to no end that I can’t get my 360 to play nice with my home network (Windows XP). Microsoft insists on tons of extra Vista “media center” crap that isn’t backwards-compatible with XP.
I use the PS3 for blurays, DVDs, Netflix, and occassionally stream music through Tversity. I’d stream video, but I don’t have any digital videos.
Seriously - where does everyone get enough digital video files to make this a common occurrance (outside of porn)? And what (legit) programs get shows from Hulu? Tversity doesn’t, does it?
Can you remote access a PS3 or 360 from the internet? For example can you leave a disk in the console at home and then access it via a laptop and play the game using a controller connected to the laptop via USB on your lunch break at work?
If not, they should add that, that’d be sweet. Of course you’d be limited to one game which would be a lil drawback. But people can remote access DVRs and home computers, so gaming consoles should be able to do that too.
We use the 360 for Netflix, DVDs, and to stream media from our computers. Our 360 got the RROD earlier this year, and for the week or so we were without it, we were really at a loss over how to entertain ourselves. It was awful. Since then we got a blu ray player and that’s just as well–it’s a bad idea to have one machine do everything.
I’ve not researched this in a while, and I’m lazy and you guys are knowledgeable: Is there a television viewing solution for this generation of devices? I currently still use original Xboxes with XBMC and MythTV plugins*. This doesn’t support high-def formats, though, and so I’d like to think about upgrading. We literally never watch “live TV” in the house. Even “live TV” is always via the backend server.
Of course this involved me modifying my own personal property in order to allow unsigned code, which I’m not sure has been done on current hardware.