So - I was actually pretty happy - as far as being happy goes - with the WD TV Live Plus box. It did do a great job of finding media on my network and playing said media. The part where it failed for me was the ability to resume a video that you have stopped. If I am watching a show and I need to stop it for some reason (too tired - want to finish tomorrow), I should be able to start where I left off. This is not the case with the WD TV box. I am forced to start all over - even during the same session. If I leave it on and go to another video and then come back, I am stuck. I think they missed the ball here. Still - not a huge deal, but a pain for me.
So - My wife asked me if we could just hook up one of our old computers up to the TV to get the job done. I sat there with a blank stare on my face for a few minutes and then realized - YES!
I downloaded XBMC and installed it on an old laptop. After playing around with configurations, etc., I hooked it up to the TV. Oops - one problem. How am I going to control it? Play, pause, rewind, etc.??? Well - Google is my friend, so I did a quick search. Did you know that XBMC has a nice little application for the iPhone/iTouch? Well, you do now!!! Through a quick network configuration on my iPhone, I was able to control my XBMC with ease! Not only is it easy, the application is really cool. You can use it to control every aspect of XBMC with ease! You can pull up playlists and songs, albums, etc. I haven't had time to dive too deep into it, but it is pretty darn cool. Only drawback is its price. For a simple app, it is a little high at $2.99. Not as high as other remotes - especially when I have a nice $200 Logitech remote that will soon start collecting dust!
I'll check in when I get this new setup tried and tested a little bit more.
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