I have the WD (Western Digital) Tv Live Media Player, yes; this little box can be connected via wireless to your computer, then play any media you have on your computer drive through your tv set.
While the Roku was specifically designed to stream Netflix; it really only plays Mp3 audio files, and Mp4 video files with AAC audio well. Sure, it has the ability to play Mkv video files with AC3 audio, but in my own experience, it doesn’t to these things well at all, where the WD tv live media player can play ANY format thrown at it, and does this very well.
The WD tv live media player can access your computer wirelessly without adding PLAY ON, or any other channel. Here’s a very easy to understand video showing how to access media that is residing on a computer’s hard drive (using Windows 7) wirelessly through the WD tv live media player =
http://youtu.be/KSvrepOa_T4
The WD tv live media player can play media in ANY FORMAT through wirelessly accessing a computer’s hard drive, or using a USB port (via an external hard drive, or a flash drive).. while I also have a Roku, in my experience,the WD box outshines the Roku in every way..
I’ve read that certain broadcast channels can be accessed through the Roku via Play On, or some other channel. Some Roku channels may also provide a Web Browser so the internet can be accessed through your tv set. The WD tv live media player does not have that ability, as of yet.
Also, I’ve read that DELL is coming out with a gadget, that LOOKS like a Flash drive, which can wirelessly connect to any device that has a HDMI port; it’s actually a very small COMPUTER with a Web Browser in it.
The article stated that DELL would be releasing this gadget later this year, with retail price to be somewhere around 100 dollars. Here’s the article =
http://www.fiercecio.com/techwatch/story/dell-ophelia-usb-sized-computer-could-debut-soon/2013-07-30
Wow, I had no idea there was so many solutions out there. I have a lot of reading to do. All the set top boxes usually just showed “apps” to get Netflix and Hulu. I found out about the Google TV with Chrome and went from there. I will explore all these solutions to see what’s best and cheapest. Thanks for the warning about Roku players. I was looking pretty strong at them, but even with the Plex option, I’m not sure if it would satisfy my requirement to just surf the net and play a church sermon from a local website. It seems I would have to download it to a local drive and play it from there. I like the Google cast thing, but it seems to be limited to 720p. I could live with that if needed, but I’m still looking.