When the Playstation 3 came out with a Blu-ray player, people were impressed and many got the gaming console just for the Blu-ray player. Now the gaming console is turning into an entertainment center. The Xbox 360 is looking to take TV entertainment to a new level.

Watch your favorite TV shows when you want to – in your living room, or on-the-go.

We’ve all been there – we have to make the difficult decision to choose between a TV show or work. Or a TV show or a function. Or a TV show or a social event. In most cases, the choice is obvious – and TV is put on hold. If you’re regularly choosing TV over these alternatives, I’ll be glad to prepare a lecture on how there’s more to life than just sitting on a couch.

Either way, it’s a tough decision – so why make it? I learned over this summer how to keep control over TV while still enjoying TV more than I ever did before.

It all started with a show called Entourage (God bless Ari Gold). I’d heard a lot of good things about it, so I decided to give it a try. The only problem? I didn’t know when it aired, and I didn’t want to pay for a season DVD. I could easily have borrowed them from a friend, but I decided to try exploring my options. I opened a world of media that I had never known about before. And the best part – I never had to watch a single frame on a computer screen, but on a nice TV screen (not that big actually, just 32-inches – but bigger than a computer screen nonetheless).

Here, I already assume you’ve got your TV shows on your computer. The method you decide to acquire them with is entirely up to you – buy (or borrow) a season DVD and rip it, illegally download your TV shows season by season (this is extremely popular), or purchase them off iTunes (or other websites). Either way, after we’ve got the TV shows on our computers, the issue is how to bring them to our TV. Who wants to watch it on a small screen anyway?

5 Cheap and Easy Solutions to Keep TV in Control

1. Computer

A lot of people have old rigs lying around – if you do, then congratulations. All you need to do is buy a TV tuner card (typically $50) and install it in your unused computer. Then, simply transfer the files from your computer to your TV – I simply dragged and dropped them to my external hard drive, then plugged it into my PS3 and played it like that. You will also want playback software – nowadays, VLC is light and covers a huge spectrum of file formats. If it’s media center software you want, I hear some good things about MediaPortal (and it’s free!).

More info: http://lifehacker.com/298408/turn-your-windows-pc-into-a-media-center-powerhouse-on-the-cheap

2. With a PS3 or Xbox 360

I’d already mentioned this, and it’s doubly simple with a PS3 or Xbox 360. A lot of people use these simply as gaming consoles and nothing more; little do they know that these little consoles double as excellent media hubs! I am very pleased with the PS3’s playback interface, as I find it very streamlined. Again, simply drag and drop the files from your computer to your external hard drive, then copy them onto the PS3 or Xbox 360 hard drive (PS3 users, the triangle button comes in handy). Easy as pie.

PS3: http://www.us.playstation.com/

Xbox 360: http://www.xbox.com/en-CA/?fbid=u8aEteIsElN

Another method using a PS3 or Xbox 360 would be to stream the media from your computer to your console (this can also work with a Wii and Orb software). I used Vuze to stream my media to my PS3 – but I wasn’t pleased with the result. My home’s Internet has excellent download speed, but mediocre upload speed, which lead to very laggy and unresponsive playback, with load times and all. I was much happier with the cruder method.

3. With a PVR

This is probably the easiest, but the most traditional and restrictive route; nowadays, tons of cable companies offer customers free PVRs and such for service – so take advantage and get one! PVR’s can tape shows off cable (this is a blessing, as you won’t need to acquire any media files – but unfortunately, you can’t put any on either) and save them onto the PVR’s hard drive, then play them back later on. Undoubtedly, you will probably have heard of this method already.

Of all these methods, I prefer the second one most – the $400 PS3 or $300 Xbox 360 are both excellent investments in entertainment, and open up not only a huge world of gaming, but also excellent media opportunities.

On-the-go

4. Slingbox

This solution has boomed in popularity since I first heard about it a couple of years ago. Slingbox basically streams your media files from your computer to another computer or another device that has a connection to the Internet. I believe that a major issue (as with all streaming) would be the limited upload speed of home Internet, but Slingbox has worked for some people (why would it be selling like hotcakes if it didn’t?).

More info: http://www.slingmedia.com/

5. Digital Media Player/iPod

A lot of us commute to work or school, and the time is wasted staring out the window. Why not do some homework, catch up on sleep…or watch a TV show? Simply download Videora iPod Converter (or your respective converter for your digital media player) and convert the files to iPod format, and drag and drop them into your iPod via iTunes. Ta-da, you can now watch your favourite TV shows on the go.

I hope that these instructions serve you well, and if you have any questions or concerns then fire away!

I’ve always been an advocate for cutting subscription costs out of my life: I guess I just don’t like the idea of having to constantly pay for a service — which won’t be there when you run out of money.  The only essential I’ve never really even considered cutting was cable TV, perhaps because there’s really nothing like it.  At least, there wasn’t — before Miro was introduced.

Miro is an application that is reminiscent of PVR: using the Miro Guide, you can subscribe to channels that you want to watch.  Episodes will be downloaded regularly via RSS feeds, and quality is not compromised because the actual video is being downloaded, not streamed.  Download speeds are impressive for me, but will depend on your Internet service’s download speed.  The best part about having the videos downloaded is the ability to play them more than once and pause them when you need to.  Just like PVR.

The GUI is impressively laid out: very simple, and colourful, but without overdoing it.  The word I’d like to bring out is “pleasant” — in fact, it somewhat reminds me of Mac OS X’s GUI a bit.

The Search function also contributes to Miro’s wow-factor: it allows you to download videos from YouTube, Veoh, and other video sites.  However, as of version 1.2, it was a bit slow when reloading different searches.  The search function does allow you to save the results as a Channel though, interestingly enough.

And the videos: there is quality, and much potential.  However, at the moment, the shows are somewhat less mainstream: I would expect that eventually, mainstream shows like Heroes and even music videos and all will be put on Miro, just as Joost is proceeding to do.  Still, there’s plenty of fun and games with Boing Boing TV, GeekBrief, and even National Geographic.

I know I had taken an earlier look at Miro, but I totally felt like it deserved a second revealing.  Alright, I’ll admit it: I forgot that I had already looked at Miro (grins sheepishly).  Still, it’s a great piece of software and totally out of Beta, so you should give it a try!  If you’ve got the storage and the Internet speed, then what are you waiting for?