Make Your TV Internet Ready with these Media Players

Internet ready TV’s have to be one of the coolest additions to the current stable of HDTV’s being sold.  But what if you just updated your TV, but its not internet ready?  Can you make your HDTV internet ready, without buying a new one?  The short answer is, yes, with one of these gadgets: a new wave of internet media players that give you access to internet TV and movie content on the largest screen in your house.

The strength of this media player is in its ability to play almost any non-DRM (digital rights management) content. It comes preloaded with a number of internet content widgets—most notably Netflix and YouTube.  The WD Live Plus HD Media Player also supports the Play To function in Windows Media Player 12 on Windows 7 PC’s which allows you to stream content from your PC to your TV via your home network.  Retails around the $100 mark.

If your life revolves around all things Apple, the new second generation Apple TV will be your go to media player.  The Apple TV is small, dubbed “the puck” and is sleek and elegant in true Apple design style.  It has limited outputs (HDMI) and outputs only in 720p.  It is however very iTunes centric, so if the bulk of your content is in iTunes format, you’ll do well with the Apple TV.  Otherwise you could spend a lot of time converting file formats.  Apple TV recognizes the same codec’s as iTunes. Price is $99.

The Revue is the priciest option on the list at almost $300.  For your dollars you are getting a Google TV platform that works as a search engine for yout television content, regardless where it comes from— your cable provider or the internet.  The Logitech Revue comes with a full qwerty keyboard remote, addressing the concerns reviewers have of other devices—entering data via a small TV remote.  You can also download an app for your iPhone or android phone to turn it into a remote.  You will find Netflix, Pandora and YouTube apps, but with Google’s open platform and developers behind this device, watch for new apps.

Roku offers perhaps the cheapest offering in the media player line-up. With models starting at just $60, you don’t need a PC to make this media player work, and the line-up of internet content is impressive with Hulu Plus, Amazon on Demand, Netflix, Pandora and YouTube, just to mention a few. The entry level device plays content at 720p. To get 1080p output you need to step up to a premium device, which still retails at $80.

Like the WD TV Live Plus, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV has no built in wireless option, and will coast extra.  It does have a slot for docking a Seagate GoFlex external storage device.  Good range of playback codecs, includes Netflix but no Pandora.  At $100-$140 you have to wonder whether you’d be better off with one of the cheaper devices on this list.

Please note, that the tables below are provided as general information only. The tables will be reveiwed and updated periodically.

Technology, however, moves quickly and with new Apps and functionality being added almost daily, you should confirm all details provided below  prior to purchase.

While these media players are wonderful and still have a place in making non internet ready TV's internet ready, its hard to deny that the price of internet ready TV's has been falling recently.

Prices of internet ready TV's are falling to such a point that it may actually make sense to consider purchasing a new TV! The 32 inch Vizo (pictured to the right) is a great example. Currently selling for $349 and change it makes a feasible alternative to adding a internet ready media player to your current TV. And you get another TV to boot!

Of course, the internet enabled media players listed above still have their place. I personally bought the WD LIve TV Hub. It includes 1TB on storage on board which means my media collection travels with me wherever I go...all in a neat little 1.3 inch x 7.8 ince x 6.3 inch package and complete with remote control. For international travellers, the power pack deals with 120 - 240 volt power so all you'll need is an adaptor for the outlet.

Setup in a remote location is simple - just select the resolution screen you want to output and you are ready to go. The unit also deals with different frequencies found around the world...