[DaveyJJ]

OK, now that Apple has finally gotten hit US shows here in Canada, and my current HD cable bills is $1400/year I am trying to work out if 20 HD series (between my wife and I) will be cheaper via iTunes. That means I will finally get Apple TV on next revision. Or ...

Is there some way to stream (wirelessly) video and media content from your iTunes library to either a PS3 or Xbox 360?

Just thinking out loud as the PS3 will have Heavy Rain.

[teflon]

Yes, but not iTunes' DRM'd video content, nor their DRM'd music.
After heading onto the Canadian store, I did some quick sums to guesstimate the cost of 20 HD series. Based on 20 series at an average of $70 (from my quick browse that seemed to be a fair average) it came to $1400, so you gain nothing. If you go SD its cheaper, but then so would cable. Also, I dont know if youve got a package deal with phone and internet thrown in aswell, where youd then have an extra overhead. So based on that number of TV series I cant really see you coming out far in front, if at all.

Anyway, of the two consoles, the PS3's media capabilities far outstrips those of the X360, as it comes with an upgradeable HDD (meaning you can have a 450GiB media centre with tons of video and music or whatever) and a wireless card built in (unfortunately only 802.11g, so streaming HD content might not be the best experience unless its a wired connection).

In either instance, I (and forum dictator Frost) both use software from nullriver, and they do both X360 and PS3 versions.

Another interesting development is that some people have managed to hack the PS3's remote PSP control system so that it works on windows and OSX. So if you have a hacked PSP (or a friend with one who can set it up for you), its now possible to remotely manage the PS3 as you can the AppleTV. In fact, more comprehensively as you can take it onto the PSN store, play a small selection of remote play games and so on.

But at the end of the day, I dont see there being that much difference in price to justify dropping cable. If you want to get the PS3 for Heavy Rain though.... then do it!

[Ranger_Joe]

Thanks for the heads up. I had been holding off on an Apple TV purchase due to lack of content. I'll take a closer look at iTunes and make a decision.

[DaveyJJ]

Yeah, I did some math at lunch with my better half and based on the number of shows she watches I'm not coming out ahead at all. I have a co-worker of mine that gets his extreme Net package, more channels (HBO etc) and phone thrown into the Rogers mix at only $20 more per month than I am spending (my DSL sucks has a monthly cap 1/5th his) so I may just call them and force them to upgrade me too.