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How to watch internet content on TV?

kas23

kas23

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
Hi, I don't exactly know which section to put this in, but here goes: my wife watches a lot of Chinese movies on the internet. These videos are embedded into the webpage, so there is really nothing to download. Now, is there anyway (ATV, other box/service) that could allow her to watch these movies on our TV (short of just plugging laptop into TV and watching with full-screen mode). Maybe getting a mac mini and connecting it full-time to TV would be the best???
 
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Phillie14586

macrumors member
Oct 14, 2010
86
0
I have been searching for a way to do this for a couple months now. the issue keeps coming back to the Mac. Nothing will stream web pages to the TV. The only way is to directly connect the Mac to your TV. There are plenty of iApps to control the Mac if it is not in the same room with you.
 
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kuwisdelu

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,323
2
If it's a laptop, a Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adaptor is easy, and the only way I can think of for movies embedded in web pages.

If it's an iMac that you can't move and is far away from the TV? That's harder.
 
kas23

kas23

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
I've been looking into this all day today. Seems like the Google TV is the way to go at this point. The Apple TV may be able to do this at some time in the future, but it's just a one-trick pony at this point - just a conduit to sell iTunes content. And considering, most basic TVs being sold over the last year already have built-in apps, I would consider Apple behind in the game.
 
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brentsg

macrumors 68040
Oct 15, 2008
3,578
936
That's interesting. I love gadgets of pretty much all kinds. And as much as I'd love a reason to check out Google TV, I can't see any compelling reason to so much as check one out.
 
balamw

balamw

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
19,366
979
New England
kas23 said:
Seems like the Google TV is the way to go at this point.
Click to expand...

?!? Lots of sites are blocking access to Google TV. So until they sort that all out you'd be better served spending that $300 on a "regular" HTPC like the Mini.

B
 
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monaarts

macrumors 65816
Jan 16, 2010
1,168
51
Kennesaw, GA
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Or, you could get a PS3 to browse the web and watch videos.
 
FriarNurgle

FriarNurgle

macrumors regular
Jan 2, 2011
233
0
I also watch a lot of online web based streaming. Got an ATV and it doesn't help one bit other than Netflix... Unless I want to take the trouble and download the content then play it on the ATV throu iTunes library.

Prior to getting the ATV I was looking at just hooking up my netbook to the tv with cables from monoprice.com. To be honest part of me wants to return the ATV and do just that.
 
kas23

kas23

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
balamw said:
?!? Lots of sites are blocking access to Google TV. So until they sort that all out you'd be better served spending that $300 on a "regular" HTPC like the Mini.

B
Click to expand...

I heard this as well. I don't know about "lots of sites" though. I know one of them is Hulu. That said, I don't think I would get this to watch legitimate website's material. It seems like a good reason to get the full internet (web browsing) is to get content from less-than-legitimate websites. I'm not talking porn, but sites that post copyrighted material (sure, call it pirating, but its not stealing).

It would be cool to hear from some people who actually have one. I've heard a big mixed bag in terms of how well it works. Some people say it looks priceless on paper, but doesn't work so well in person. And then some people say it is a godsend, period.
 
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