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You can also stream movies and TV without putting a Mac in the mix. If that solution is best for you, one of these spiffy little boxes is the way to go.
If connecting a Mac to your TV just isn’t in your cards, the next-best option is a dedicated streaming box. While we want to love us some Apple TV, the fact that it only streams iTunes content makes it a disappointing one-trick pony. Other manufacturers are leaping in to fill this void, and these five streamers (some of which aren’t yet released) are the options most worthy of your consideration.
The most ambitious concept of the bunch doesn’t have a definite release date (we’ve heard whispers of “sometime in the fall”), but anytime Google, Logitech, Sony, and Intel unite on a project, we’re listening. Billed as a perfect marriage of TV and the web, the Android-based platform (and accompanying Revue set-top box from Logitech) will access Hulu, Netflix, Amazon VOD, and others through its built-in Chrome browser, as well as a library of apps from third-party developers. We just hope it enjoys a better fate than the Nexus One...
There’s a whole lot to like about Boxee, a free, open-source, cross-platform XBMC-based program that mashes social networking and streaming media--and D-Link’s Box (due out in November) looks to bring it all together in a funky, M.C. Escher–esque package. It still can’t receive a live TV signal, but it’s equipped with everything else necessary to slide right in to our home theater: HDMI, optical audio, Wi-Fi, USB, and an SD slot just for good measure.
A relatively under-the-radar family of media players from Western Digital--WD TV Mini, HD, Live, and Live Plus--offer full-HD 1080p and can either pull media off your network or from a connected USB drive. Lack of built-in wireless drops WD TV a few slots below its competitors, but its cheaper-than-Apple TV flagship model syncs with Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, and Flickr.
Starting at $69.99, the miniature Roku player packs a surprisingly large punch in its five-inch frame. With a no-nonsense attitude and an ever-expanding library of channels, including Netflix, Amazon VOD, MLB TV, and FlickStream, what Roku lacks in bells and whistles, it makes up for in value and simplicity. What’s that they say about small packages?
Today’s gamers demand more than cheat codes and killer graphics, and the top consoles have all jumped into the streaming-video pool with both feet. Along with Blu-ray, PlayStation offers streaming videos from a variety of channels, including ABC, MLB, Netflix, and Hulu Plus; Xbox adds Zune support to its streaming capabilities for Apple TV-like syncing; and Wii provides a similar Netflix hook-up and a variety of streaming channels, along with an Opera-based Internet Channel tricked out with Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 support. And we hear they’re pretty good at playing games, too.
With almost three years between upgrades, We're happy to announce that the Apple TV was finally updated during Apple's annual iPod event. In fact, if you pre-ordered the new Apple TV, there's a good chance it's being shipped to you right now.
The new Apple TV is a quater the size of the old model and sports a fancy new A4 chip. Unfortuntately, it's still stuck in 720p land. It no longer offers onboard storage and everything is now streamed to the device. That means the end of endless syncing . But it also means you need to leave your Mac on in order to watch your videos. The best bit of news about the new Apple TV is that Netflix streaming is standard for Netflix customers.
And for some awesome ideas on hacking the old Apple TV, check out maclife.com/20_atv_hacks.
Every home needs a TV, right? Not necessarily.
The 27-inch iMac is more than just a hot computer. It can serve as an actual TV replacement, especially if you live in a dorm room or other small space. You can mount it on your wall just like a flatscreen HDTV, and with the help of a few add-ons, the iMac ably handles music, digital videos, DVDs, live TV, and even your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Blu-ray player.
To really convince yourself that your 27-inch iMac is the center of your entertainment hub, rather than a mere computin’ machine, why not mount it on the wall like an HDTV? To do this, you need Apple’s descriptively named “VESA Mount Adapter Kit for 24-inch/27-inch iMac and 24-inch LED Cinema Display” ($29, apple.com), as well as a VESA-compliant mounting solution that can support the iMac’s 30.5-pound weight. We found a variety of VESA-compliant mounting arms at MacMall.com, starting at $35. The Mount Adapter Kit comes with everything you need to remove the stand from your iMac and replace it with a mounting bracket, including a little plastic card to help trip the latch, Torx and Hex screwdrivers, and the three necessary screws and bolts. Apple’s detailed, illustrated instructions walked us through the whole process in about 10 minutes.
Once the Kit is installed, you’ll have an iMac with an aluminum mounting bracket on the back--it matches the iMac’s sheen and everything. Then you’ll need a VESA-compliant mounting system to attach that to your wall; use a stud finder to make sure your precious iMac is hung in a secure spot, a wooden stud. The Adapter Kit keeps the iMac’s tilting behavior intact, so you should still be able to reach the ports on the back after the iMac is hung, but that ultimately depends on what kind of VESA mount you buy. If you think you’ll need to access those ports frequently, consider a hinged mounting arm that lets you pull the iMac away from the wall to get to the ports, swivel it to new viewing angles, and then fold it back up against the wall when you’re finished.
Forget the cable company--an internet-connected Mac is the real place for on-demand video. You’ve got Hulu, ABC.com, CBS.com, and all the other TV-streaming sites out there. Season passes and à la carte shows in the iTunes Store. Want movies? Netflix customers have the whole Instant Watch library at their fingertips at netflix.com, and obviously DVDs are a simple matter of shoving a disc into your optical drive.
But it’s a snap to get live TV on your Mac too, and you can even record it if you’re not around. You need a TV tuner--the Elgato EyeTV One ($119.95, elgato.com) is a fine choice--and you can pick up a coaxial digital TV antenna for pretty cheap. (We found an $11 option at Best Buy.) The antenna connects to the tuner, and the tuner goes in a free USB port in your Mac.
Elgato’s included EyeTV 3 software finds the available over-the-air channels in your area, includes a year of free TV Guide programming to help you find what’s on, and can even record your shows like a DVR. EyeTV 3 also exports your shows to iTunes so you can sync them to your iPhone or iPad. Or leave ‘em in your EyeTV library and stream them to your iPhone or iPad with the $4.99 EyeTV app, which can also play live TV. The EyeTV One doesn’t have an IR sensor, so you can’t use Elgato’s EyeTV Remote with it, but the EyeTV 3 software does accept input from the Apple Remote. If you step up to the EyeTV Hybrid tuner ($149.99), the EyeTV Remote is included.
Most people we know use their TVs for a bit more than watching TV and DVDs. What about videogame consoles, you may wonder? Or watching high-def movies on Blu-ray discs--Macs don’t come with Blu-ray drives, after all. Not to worry. The 27-inch iMac is unique because its Mini DisplayPort allows video-in, which means you can connect an external video source, like your Blu-ray player or game console, and watch that video signal on the iMac’s display.
Of course, you’re far more likely to find HDMI outputs on your video devices, rather than a Mini DisplayPort, which, come to think of it, we’re only used to seeing on Macs. The Kanex XD ($149.99, kanexlive.com) bridges that HDMI–to–Mini DisplayPort gap. Designed for 27-inch iMacs, it lets you connect your video device to the iMac’s video-in port, giving you full-screen playback from your Blu-ray player, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, DirecTV, Dish Network, or other video device with 720p HDMI output.
But the Nintendo Wii lacks HDMI output, so it can’t connect to the Kanex XD. To play the Wii using your 27-inch iMac as the display, you need both the Kanex XD and a little dongle called the Wii2HDMI ($39.95, neoya.com), which plugs into the Wii’s proprietary AV output, then lets you connect an HDMI cable to the other end. That cable connects to the Kanex XD, which connects to your 27-inch iMac. Problem solved.
The 27-inch iMac weighs 30.5 pounds, so make sure you use a VESA-compliant mounting arm and screw it directly into a wooden wall stud.
We got this sturdy, foldable Bretford Mobile Pro mounting arm at apple.com.
Elgato’s EyeTV One attaches to your Mac via USB (shown here with an extension cable), and then you attach a coaxial antenna to the other end to pull in over-the-air TV signals.
This little silver box is the Kanex XD, made just for 27-inch iMacs. Connect your Xbox 360, Blu-ray player, or other HDMI-equipped device to the Kanex’s HDMI port, then connect the Mini DisplayPort cable to your iMac’s video-in.
