The Perfect Media Extender PC

The TV is being reinvented! You can access most of your favorite TV shows today online for free. Not only you can access new episodes, you can go back to previous seasons or even watch your favorite series that are not available on TV anymore. Here are just a few examples of the common ways to access free (and legal) content:

• Hulu - This is by far the best destination for online TV and movies. Hulu was created by Fox and Universal, but it delivers content from many other networks for free. They are also adding HD content now!
• ABC provides access to full episodes of all their popular shows.
• CBS also provides full access to their shows.
• South Park Studios gives you full access to all 12 seasons (and counting) of South Park
• TBS just started providing full episodes to some of their shows including Seinfeld.
• Joost has over 20,000 shows and more than 400 channels (requires installing software).
• Miro - Just like Joost, Miro requires a client install. This is an "open source TV" that gives you access to free content (including HD) from channels like National Geographic, Reuters and more.
• Jacked provides free live sports broadcasting.

With all this free on-demand content online why bother watching TV or why even bother using a DVR/TiVo to record your favorite shows? You can just go online and watch whatever you want, whenever you want. Although it is great to be able to watch the shows on your computer (especially when you are on the road), wouldn't it be better to watch them on that big screen TV you spent so much money on and use the surround sound system you installed? There are many options to "stream" online content to your TV. The challenge is to make browsing and searching online content on your TV as easy as "channel surfing" through your remote. I have been researching some options to see what would be the best thing to do and here is what I found:

• Apple TV - As always, Apple does a great job with their user interface and they make it very easy to browse for content on their familiar interface using a small remote. Apple TV gives you access to standard definition and high definition TV shows and movies. You can even access YouTube videos and photo albums on Flickr. The main problem though is that the content is not free. You buy shows and rent movies. I am not sure why Apple thinks that they should charge for the same content that is available legally online? The Apple TV can be "hacked" using different application like the Couch Surfer to browse for free online content but why do I need to pay $229 for this unit and then work hard to hack it so it can provide the functionality it should have built in?
• Apple Mac mini - Another option from Apple is to get a Mac mini, connect it to your TV and tweak it in order to make it provide free content the way the Apple TV should have been. The Mac mini is loaded with Leopard and Front Row, which allows you to browse using the included remote control all the content you have available on your iTunes library in full screen. The mini has a full Mac OS so you can use the browser to access free online content on your TV. The main problem with the mini is that it starts at $599 and goes up to $799 or more.
• D-Link's MediaLounge PC-on-TV DPG-1200 links your TV via VGA, component or composite and connects your PC wirelessly. The included remote controls allows you to control videos, photos and music that is streamed from your Media Center PC. The unit retails for $240.
• The XBOX 360 and the PlayStation 3 provide similar streaming capabilities from your PC so you can use them to watch and listen to your media in addition to playing games.
• The ZvBox seems like a promising product. This unit provides an easy way to access all the online content just like browsing channels. What is interesting about this unit is that it gets the TV output from your computer and turns it into an HD channel on every television in the house (instead of streaming it wirelessly). This product allows you to access Internet TV, browse the web or even check your email on your TV. The ZvBox retails for $500 and is currently available for pre-order exclusively from Amazon (ships June).

There are many other devices that compete in the same market but none of them is perfect. From what I've seen so far, the ZvBox looks promising, even for it's price tag. I think the best thing would be to wait until June and see that it lives up to the expectations.