[kyleheney]

Hey I'm looking for some honest answers on the topic of streaming content from my laptop to my PlayBook (or Boxee Box).

What are the advantages of PlayOn over Splashtop? Splashtop mirrors my computer screen on my PlayBook, then I can HDMI-out to my TV in HD.

Can PlayOn mirror your screen as well, or is it simply used to stream stored content from my laptop to my PlayBook? I'm having a bit of trouble understanding the main advantages of PlayOn.

My current setup is a Boxee Box to watch TV shows. Boxee can also pull stored content wirelessly from my laptop over the WiFi network, so if this is all the PlayOn does, what's the point of it (especially when it's not a free service).

One disadvantage of Boxee is its inability to run XBMC, so I'd like to have it running on my laptop (possibly) and then be able to access it from my TV using a streaming solution (like Splashtop via my PlayBook, or PlayOn via my Boxee).

PlayOn does have a free trial that I'm going to try out, but was wondering if anyone with some experience using these apps can give me some real-world comparisons.

I know this isn't a 100% BlackBerry Topic, but I thought a lot of people on here might be using similar setups, so thought I'd pick some brains. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks

[annon91221]

Splash top all the way...I did first download playon, then travasity thing recently flix, but although I had been using splashtop for other things I never tried it for media streaming thinking it wouldn't be very good. After reading a couple of posts I tried it for watching netflix from computer and it works flawless..well it does drop connection sometimes but definitely better than others.

[mikeo007]

Splashtop is by far the best streaming service that I've used. If you can't RDP, then I'd definitely recommend Splashtop.

[kyleheney]

What's the big deal with PlayOn, then? After doing a bit more reading, it sounds like it doesn't "mirror" in the same way that Splashtop does, but rather it uses your laptop's internet connection to "open" things like NetFlix, etc and then plays them through its app and streams that "app" to the m.playon.tv site that then can be watched on the PlayBook and other sources like my PS3, etc.

Does this mean that I can use PlayOn and then am able to do other stuff on my laptop at the same time? With Splashtop being a "mirror", it relies more on the performance of the laptop, whereas PlayOn seems to rely more on the performance of your internet connection.

Am I correct in saying this?

[mikeo007]

I think the way playon basically works is you are using their computer and streaming to your tablet instead of using your own computer.

[kyleheney]

I think the way playon basically works is you are using their computer and streaming to your tablet instead of using your own computer.

That sounds like a good option for me, since my laptop is old and I'm worried that even with my upgraded internet package, Splashtop will experience lags when streaming to my PlayBook. If PlayOn really only needs my internet connection (and not my laptop's performance), then it sounds interesting to me.

[mikeo007]

You'd have to check I to exactly how it works though. I'm not sure what their limits are. Also, you would have to input your user credentials into their system. While I'm sure they're trustworthy, keep in mind that your usernames and passwords for the various services may be stored on their servers.

[kyleheney]

You'd have to check I to exactly how it works though. I'm not sure what their limits are. Also, you would have to input your user credentials into their system. While I'm sure they're trustworthy, keep in mind that your usernames and passwords for the various services may be stored on their servers.

Thanks for the tip.

Any idea if PlayOn allows you to connect to your local media as well? I'm going to try the free trial tonight after work, but figured if someone has experience with the service, they could tell me beforehand.

[Xopher]

I look at PlayOn being more like a mature version of Orb, which I had running even on my 8830.

SplashTop is like when I had pcAnywhere on my computer and laptop, just with streaming capabilities.

[TheScionicMan]

Here's what PlayOn offers you:








Under the My Media tab, it gives you access to videos, music and pics that are on the PC. A nice benefit is that you get free Hulu on the go, instead of having to buy Hulu Plus, which they don't offer us anyway. In addition to being able to use this on the PlayBook, I can also access it from the Wii, the Roku and I'm pretty sure there's an iOS app for PlayOn.

[TheScionicMan]

What's the big deal with PlayOn, then? After doing a bit more reading, it sounds like it doesn't "mirror" in the same way that Splashtop does, but rather it uses your laptop's internet connection to "open" things like NetFlix, etc and then plays them through its app and streams that "app" to the m.playon.tv site that then can be watched on the PlayBook and other sources like my PS3, etc.

Does this mean that I can use PlayOn and then am able to do other stuff on my laptop at the same time? With Splashtop being a "mirror", it relies more on the performance of the laptop, whereas PlayOn seems to rely more on the performance of your internet connection.

Am I correct in saying this?

Yes, that describes it well. The PlayOn app will perform tests to see how well the machine will perform. I'm running it on a 4+ year old Dell with XP and it's happy performance-wise. My connection could use some more stones, however it works pretty well over a 1.3 DSL

[costas1966]

I use splashtop regularly to check in on my laptops at home...however, when I am home, I prefer to use LAN File Explorer to stream movies, etc...

I tried Playon, and didn't like it. Splashtop worked better for me.