Plugging in a computer to your TV hasn't been easy until very recently. Most computers do not have the hi-def outputs that TVs require. The only standard port you can use from a laptop is probably S-Video. Then there is the problem of appropriate resolution, refresh rates, zoom-levels, and audio quality.

I've had many different computers connected to my TV for almost a decade now. The most annoying part has always been the input device (remote vs. keyboard/mouse vs. Boxee's iPhone app). I have a DVR. I hit "Guide" and instantly the guide shows up. If I have a computer hooked up playing VLC, it's not as simple. You can run MythTV, Windows Media Center, or a bunch of other apps but none of them work as smoothly and nicely as my Verizon FiOS DVR. I even bought a Panasonic ShowCenter ( http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1911939,00.asp ) and while it played nearly everything, it just didn't work well all the time. It crashed, caused audio-sync issues, and I had to keep reentering my wifi info everytime I restarted it.

Right now my solution is to have a small hidden netbook connected to the TV. I VNC into the netbook using my laptop while I sit on the sofa and play it however I want. So far this has been my most favorite option.

My television came with a VGA port on the back of it. The funniest part? Actually setting my video card to display 1080p makes it an unsupported resolution (at 60Hz). It stretches things like 1024x768 fine, but that's not really what I was hoping for.

The thing that worked best was a DVI->HDMI converter (which are apparently very similar). Go figure.

Also, a bit off-topic, but if you're looking for a DVI-HDMI converter, do not buy it from Best Buy. Their cheapest model is something like 10x the highest price I found online for the same product.

Plugging your computer to your TV is not an option unless you have a dedicated computer plugged to your TV. Then you want the computer to be quiet, small and not FUGLY.

You want the computer to be operated by a small keyboard and a remote rather than a mouse.

And you want your computer to have digial out, handle 7.1 surround and have appropriate software to handle GPU encoding etc. When you add that up, the cost goes high.

Hence, something like the logitech box or the boxee box (appropriately priced)will do the job without another computer. (I own an apple tv)

AppleTv got it right - other than the closed / crippled part.

Or, perhaps you just feel like watching that one show on Hulu by plugging your laptop into the TV?

That's what I do when I feel like it. It works just fine. You don't have to have a computer dedicated to being connected to your TV unless you want to. You can have them occassionally plugged in, and for not much extra work, either.

I just unplug one of my consoles, plug in the computer and violà

You describe a Mac Mini. Quiet, small, inexpensive and not fugly!

You can read a bunch of posts here about a techy, clueful, Mac savvy guy and the many woes of trying to use a Mac Mini as a mediacentre:

http://hicksdesign.co.uk/tag/mediacentre/

He seems to finally settle with beaming media to his PS3 via DNLA and buying an AppleTV to achieve his aims.

Key quote on the Mac Mini:

When it works, it’s great. The trouble is that 15% of the time something happens – EyeTV crashes, iTunes has been updated and won’t let you play anything until you’ve accepted terms and conditions, or another app is telling you that an update is available.

For these times, I don’t have an easy solution, other than to screen share and sort it out with the MacBook. Sometimes (like in the instance of EyeTV crashing) you just have to restart.

There's few good answers in this space at the moment. I've got an Acer Revo running Ubuntu and XBMC that's doing great for me but it required me to climb a major learning hump to get it all into shape. I didn't mind that, in fact I enjoyed it, but there's few good, easy options for non-geeks, or even geeks with less time to spend. There are lots of mediocre options but they're all flawed in a variety of ways.

I find a Mac mini + Plex to be an excellent home media center: http://www.plexapp.com/

The new media management features in the upcoming Plex/Nine release look great: http://vimeo.com/11880867

The Apple Bluetooth keyboard is small enough to be living room friendly.

Overall, a Mac mini isn't quite as simple as AppleTV, but it's far more functional.

Yes, it definitely is more functional. Every now and then I am tempted to spend the $600 for a dedicated mini, but why bother?

If a boxee box does the job for $200, has 1080p, 7.1 out, 802.11n / Gig.E why bother spending $600?

I hope the Logitech setup GoogleTv box does the job.

For me, the mini performs other tasks.

It's always on, so it's a great home storage server (I have a Drobo w/ 4.5TB of storage attached via FireWire 800).

It downloads torrents & podcasts nicely.

Also, the shared library support coming in Plex/Nine looks killer. I'm looking forward to running Plex on my MacBook without having to maintain a separate metadata library.

I have two iMacs which already do what you say (Drobo as well). Don't want another device hooked there.

I also have a Mac Mini with Plex - it's an awesome arrangement, and I also have the Mini repurposed as a NAS of sorts.

Yeah everyone is going to use it differently. I no longer download any media, as I got tired of collecting media and then losing it after hard drive crashes. Also everything I want to listen to or watch is online for streaming, minus latest movies. If I want one of them bad enough I'll bit torrent it.

Overall my Mac Mini connected to my LCD TV using a wireless mouse and keyboard (gyration handheld mouse) suits me via Firefox.

You are correct in some ways. But no true optical audio out? You use a Toslink to Optical converter, I read that getting 7.1 out of it was not possible. Not sure about 1080p playback.

Oh, $600 for the mac mini vs $200 for something like the Boxee box / Logitech control box (hopefully $200)

All said and done, Mini is not the ideal box for the consumer, geeks can get it to work, but most people can't.

The mini has 'true' optical out. Mini-Toslink is Toslink, so it's just a matter of buying the right optical cable.

DD/DTS 5.1 is a limitation of Toslink. If you want 7.1 or the newer lossless codecs, that requires HDMI or an conversion to multichannel analog audio on the device (some HD-DVD players did this, back when that was still a thing :)

That is correct. Hence my gripes towards the mini - it wasn't designed to be a digital media player, whereas the AppleTv is (HDMI, optical out). If it supported 1080p and was open, it would be the device. The boxee box could have been the device, but now I am going to wait for the logitech device.

You just described the Windows 7 laptop my wife just got at Costco for <$600 -- including wireless keyboard, mouse and remote.

Cost. Ease of use. Remotes. Integration with existing AV equipment.

All available in a PC connected to your TV, but requiring of effort and understanding.

Rather, marketing. No-one profits from you plugging your PC into your TV, so no-one is going to spend marketing money to tell you you can do it.

It's not hard. 1] Plug s-video cable into TV. 2] Right-click ATI tray icon / secondary display / enable. Done.

Don't forget about audio. Even where the appropriate video output is available, many PC's lack any audio output other than a minijack.

Plug the audio cable into whatever produces sound and you're fine. TV/receiver/pc speakers/whatever. Works for me.

1/8th inch -> standard RCA cable is pretty common I think. I have like 3.

Lots of gadgets throw that thing in for free. Only having 3 is evidence of frugality. There must be 10 of those things around my apartment.

You couldn't pay me to run an s-video signal into my TV.

I have an SDTV. I assume you could do the same with a DVI cable and an HDTV. Just replace the name of the cable, the steps remain the same.

For the same reason Boxee is coming out with a dedicated box. Plugging a PC into your TV, setting up a remote, setting up software, etc. is easy for computer geeks like us, but most of America (and I assume the world?) is still baffled on how to set the clock on their DVD player or microwave.

Not to mention most PC's are surprisingly loud when you leave them running in the living room (or bedroom) 24x7.

Computers are huge.

Also the interface in general is bad for TVs. Media centre front ends such as XBMC can solve this issue, but that's not a consumer friendly "out of the box" solution.