Am I being too simple?

[visionary]

My Sony 40W4500 had a VGA in. If I plug my (networked via homeplug) laptop in to it for video and use the SPDIF on the laptop direct into the "Digital in" on my Denon I will have internet and also media streaming from my desktop PC?

Is there any benefit in buying any other solution in terms of better sound or video or facilities? I was thinking of, e.g., Apple TV but I'm starting to wonder if there's any point. I can see that using a NAS would mean not needing my desktop to be on all the time but that seems about all.

I'm sure there will be opinions out there.......

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

visionary:If I plug my (networked via homeplug) laptop in to it for video and use the SPDIF on the laptop direct into the "Digital in" on my Denon I will have internet and also media streaming from my desktop PC?

Yes.

Is there any benefit in buying any other solution in terms of better sound or video or facilities? I was thinking of, e.g., Apple TV but I'm starting to wonder if there's any point.

For a long time I avoided the Apple TV because of all the negative press. Then I realized that the journalists actually didn't knew what they wrote about. Almost any limitations in the ATV might be bypassed with additional software (free or inexpensive).

The most obvious improvement, compared with your solution, is of course that you'll get rid of the cables.

I can see that using a NAS would mean not needing my desktop to be on all the time but that seems about all.

I've got a NAS, but I've found it more convenient to stream from my laptop or syncronize whatever material I want to the ATV hard drive(s).

To use a NAS, your streaming device (ATV or whatever) needs to communicate with the NAS, which has to run supporting software. In short, this will usually result in compatibility issues. If you chose the wrong NAS for the wrong streaming device, you might end up with a very limited choice of file formats.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Fahnsen:
For a long time I avoided the Apple TV because of all the negative press. Then I realized that the journalists actually didn't knew what they wrote about.

You were reading the wrong journalists then - our five-star review of Apple TV here

And yes, software available to boost its capabilities even further... Great product; many of us at WHF own one!

 

[John Duncan]

Clare Newsome:software available to boost its capabilities even further...

...though be wary of some claims made for the hacks, since they don't all work, IME.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Indeed. Some of these developers, eh?

 

[John Duncan]

Clare Newsome:Indeed. Some of these developers, eh?

a hit! a palpable hit!

 

[bigboss]

Doesn't the PS3 do everything that Apple TV does, & a lot more, for a similar price?