Electronically Obsessed A tech addict's guide to using the Internet to streamline your life

Break free from (and cancel!) your cable or satellite subscriptions (Part II): PlayOn Media Server

TV on the Internet

While Internet TV can be used as a replacement for cable or satellite subscriptions, most people like to enjoy their television programming in their living rooms.  For some, watching television on their computer screens is just not as satisfying.  Enter Media Mall's PlayOn Digital Media Server!

MediaMall's PlayOn Media Server streams web video to game consoles (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and now, Wii) for display on televisions. Cautiously recommended due to impressive video quality (for web video) and easy setup (due to uPnP).

However, PlayOn suffers from inconsistent availability.  Frequently, these outages are outside of Media Mall's control.  Customer service (in addressing the outages), on the other hand, is stellar. Media Mall has a very active user forum.  They are also known for addressing outages quickly.  Cost: Initial 14 day free trial, with a one-time charge of $39.95 after the end of the trial period.

I've been a huge fan of Hulu since the service became available to the public in March 2008. I had actually signed up for the private beta test by submitting my email address, but didn't receive an invite until after the service went public. Not only does Hulu allow me to catch up on previous episodes of some of my current favorite television shows like NBC's "The Office", "Chuck", and FOX's "Dollhouse," I've also been able to watch older shows that I missed during their original broadcast like FOX's "Arrested Development."

Slow Computer Blues

While I initially didn't mind watching Hulu on my Windows Vista HP laptop, I felt that it would be great to enjoy my favorite shows on the couch, in front of my HDTV. Until recently, my standard Hulu setup involved a direct connection between my laptop and the PC input of my television. Unfortunately, my laptop's integrated graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150) just couldn't handle the task of displaying full-screen video without jitter and distracting stutter. I tried everything: updating the drivers, downgrading to Windows XP, installing a clean install of Windows Vista Ultimate, adding a USB key in hopes of taking advantage of Vista's ReadyBoost memory feature. Nothing worked.

I was ready to give up until I read an Engadget post about MediaMall's PlayOn Media Server.

Media Mall's PlayOn

Upon installation, PlayOn enables streams of Hulu, CNN, ESPN, Netflix, CBS, YouTube, and Amazon Video-on-Demand. Downloadable unofficial plugins (which are not supported by MediaMall) from PlayOnPlugins bring even more content (Revision 3, The Food Network, GameTrailers, HGTV, NBA, etc.) to your television.

PlayOn has a 14-day trial period where you can truly test the software to see if it's a good fit. After the trial period ends, you have to pay a one-time charge of $39.95 to continue using the software.

Action Items:

1. Go to http://themediamall.com and download the free, full function trial software.
2. Interface your PC with your Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii (or any other DNLA-compliant media client)
3. Enjoy Internet video on your TV
4. Purchase PlayOn when your 14 day trial is up!

Note: This post is an edited version of a post originally featured on the original Electronically Obsessed site.

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