asked for your help when I first wrote about people who stream video from the Internet
to their TVs, in some cases cutting ties completely with cable and satellite providers.
It seems like a big shift in technology use.
Boy, did I get help. More than 100 readers sent e-mails explaining how they're digging
through the various Internet-based providers of movies, TV shows and sports. And they
told me how they're moving content from the Internet to their TVs.
I'll keep trying new content providers and testing the hardware needed to put that
content on big screens in our homes.
I use both an Internet-enabled Blu-ray DVD player as well as a device called Boxee to
stream video to my HDTV. In both cases, these devices connect to the Internet
wirelessly. Both also have the ability to be connected by ethernet cable.
I have preliminary recommendations for those of you who haven't tried Internet-based
content.
If you're interested only in connecting to some of the big-name players in this new
field – maybe sampling the Internet-based content from Netflix, YouTube and Hulu Plus
– then a DVD player with Internet connectivity has powerful pluses. I heard from
plenty of readers who love the simplicity of a DVD player.
It's easy to set up, easy to use. And DVD players aren't expensive. I found the Sony
BDP-S570 I use on sale for $140.
Getting my own DVD player working with my wireless router wasn't challenging. I just
followed the on-screen prompts to connect it to the Internet. Within five minutes, it
was working. I just scroll through the list of content providers available and click a
button to watch.
But some of what I want to see isn't available from the limited menu offered by the DVD
player. That's where the Boxee comes in. Unlike the DVD player, which is limited to
preinstalled applications such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube and others, the Boxee can
do a lot more.
With a built-in Web browser, it broadens the amount of video I can watch, stuff I can't
get on the DVD player. For instance, I can use the Boxee's remote and type in
www.rte.ie and sample website-streamed Irish television.
I like the fact that the remote has a full keyboard; it also comes in handy when I use
Boxee's browser to do searches and other Internet chores on the big screen.
Especially during the first few days, using the Boxee isn't as easy as connecting with
the DVD player. And it has other liabilities, too. The service has been setting
deadlines for including Netflix in its offerings and missing those deadlines.
There are two big-name players I haven't tried at all.
One, the Roku, drew rave reviews from several of you. Like the DVD players I mentioned,
it's easy to use but offers more sources for TV shows and movies. And readers who have
tried various ways to connect tell me the video quality is even better than what I'm
experiencing from the DVD player or my Boxee.
I'll try to get my hands on a Roku unit to see why it's so appealing to so many of you.
You can read about it or order one at www.roku.com. But the Roku shares a liability
with the DVD players. Unlike my Boxee, it doesn't include a Web browser.
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