Such a device exists

[Bryan]

Looked up the patriot Box and it seems to be a a real good product. From the looks of it the Patriot can almost do everything.

[lastlight]

If you have an xbox 360 simply install vuze on your computer. It's a torrent download application but it allows you to stream movie files to your xbox. We watch all of our downloaded content this way and it will cost you nothing.

[DanG]

I've got 2 WDTV live boxes. The interface isn't as fancy as some of the other ones out there, but it's dead simple and has played everything I've thrown at it. It will hook to your network or accept files via one of the 2 USB ports. Pictures, video, music.
Costco has them from time to time for ~$80 and I've seen them on sale at Tiger Direct for even less.
They have a new model that has built in wifi so if you don't want to run a hard line, it will connect and stream HD content via wireless N. It also works with netflix, hulu, youtube and a handful of other web media sites.

[MKLKT]

Originally Posted by lastlight

If you have an xbox 360 simply install vuze on your computer. It's a torrent download application but it allows you to stream movie files to your xbox. We watch all of our downloaded content this way and it will cost you nothing.

If you're running media centre or windows media player 11 you can also use your computer as a wireless media hub that your Xbox can connect to.

[lastlight]

We run macs otherwise that would have worked too.

One thing to note is you have to CRANK movies to hear them over your xbox's fan

[Lampshade]

I picked up a $50 dvd player that has hdmi out and reads DiVX/MKV with aUSB port. works great, plays lots of stuff that my xbox say's I can't. Also, you can set up an xbox as a media extender, so it plays movies from your computer. I found it too much work to scroll through them, so just use a USB for most, or plug in the laptop to my TV.

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by lastlight

We run macs otherwise that would have worked too.

One thing to note is you have to CRANK movies to hear them over your xbox's fan

i stream movies from my mac to my xbox no problem. you just need a utility called connect360. works perfectly

[Nano]

I just stream wirelessly to our tv from our computer, or else hook up the laptop with the HDMI and you can view your files from there, I think all tvs have HDMI now days. ours is like 3 years old and it does

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

i stream movies from my mac to my xbox no problem. you just need a utility called connect360. works perfectly

I already had Vuze installed so I've just been streaming with that.

[mike31154]

Depending on what inputs your TV has & how close your computer is to it, you may be able to simply use the TV as your computer monitor & play the movie on your computer while watching the TV/monitor. I have a an LCD TV that's a few years old now but it has a VGA input for computer. I've often hooked my notebook to this input & played videos/movies on the computer while viewing them on the TV. Essentially your TV becomes the computer monitor and you'll see your Windows OS on the TV. If you can do that, simply run whatever software on your computer that shows the media you wish to watch & it should display on your TV. Bottom line, connect your computer's video output directly to your TV if that's possible. No extra hardware or software required, except a VGA extension cable. If your computer & TV both have HDMI IN/OUTPUTS, Bob's your uncle & you'll get full HD.