With the rise of home media streaming devices, the features available to consumers will continue to increase. That is why I have decided to write an article on the importance of choosing the right device to suit your needs. When looking at the streaming media device, it might appear that it has Wi-Fi capabilities along with the ability to stream Netflix and Pandora, so you’re assuming you’re all set. If these are the only features you’re looking for, then that’s great and by all means make the purchase. My only regret is that there is probably a media streaming device for the same price that will offer more features. Thus, streaming media devices are capable of much more than Netflix, YouTube, and Pandora. Three aspects that I will cover in detail are the supported media file formats that the device can read, the importance of USB ports, and automatic media categorization.
The biggest challenge used to be finding a media streaming device outside of your PC that offered the ability to play your entire media collection. Now consumers are spoiled for choice, allowing for a multitude of selections. For this example, I’ll be comparing the media file formats supported by the Boxee Box and Roku. With the Roku and Boxee Box offering a huge selection of apps and the ability to stream Netflix, there’s still a big gap with the number of supported media file formats onboard. Roku offers only 3 supported media file formats compared to Boxee Box’s 21. This is a huge gap in supported media file formats and if you have a personal collection of media, chances are good that Roku won’t be able to meet your needs. Another notable point is that these supported media file formats cannot be updated. It would be as good as if you were on your PC going to a website and installing a file, these devices don’t have this capability. Both the Boxee Box and the Roku are great products, but at the same time it’s up to you to decide which one is the best fit for your home media center.
Most devices these days offer USB 2.0 ports that will work well for any home media collection. Something to keep in mind is the number of USB ports that the product offers. When I first started my media collection, before the invention of NAS devices, I used to save movies and music to just about any storage device I could find and then plug it into my computer. Fortunately, with today’s technology, there are NAS devices that help us keep our collection in one place on our network. If you’re new to the hobby, you’d probably see an eight terabyte NAS and say that’s crazy, you could never fill that. Well… Let me tell you, you might get there sooner rather than later. So, going back to my original point, you’ll probably buy an external hard drive to start your collection. If you only have one USB port, you’ll spend countless hours transferring data to a larger drive when it fills up. With a second or third USB port, you can simply plug in another hard drive without interruption. The obvious answer is to buy a NAS with expandable bays, but this is an expensive expense and if you’re just starting to get your feet wet with the hobby, this option might not be realistic.
Something that Boxee and XBMC have done very well is the ability to categorize your media collection. Let me give you an example that explains what I’m talking about. In your media collection you have The 40-Year-Old Virgin on your storage device. Once you direct Boxee or XBMC to that file source, it will detect your movie and add it in the movies section. Once in the movie section, a movie cover image will be applied with information about the movie and often trailers. As your collection grows, each movie will be added, giving you the ability to categorize it however you like. The benefit of automatic media categorization is that you don’t have to dig through files to find what you want. With this, you have the ability to give your collection a visual appeal accompanied by information that is imported from different sources on the Internet.
I hope you enjoyed my article on choosing the right home media streaming device. If there’s anything else you’d like me to cover that wasn’t in my article, please let me know. For information and discussion on home media centers, see http://www.homemediaspot.com. Make sure you like Home Media Spot on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.