Ok - as promised, I'm at a PC today (forced back to work
)
My media streaming setup at home, which we use for watching TV Shows, Movies, FreeView through our 6-7 year old LG TV with limited DLNA capabilities was built from the following components:
Raspberry Pi 3 :
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Raspberry-Pi-3-Model-B-Premium-NOOBS-Pack-8GB-USB-Switch-2-5A-Power-Supply-/201385350646?hash=item2ee38095f6:g:VxwAAOSwbYZXUuaiThis is all of the hardware I have used - I needed a USB keyboard and/or mouse for the initial setup - it's easier to achieve with a keyboard, but equally configured with a mouse.
I believe these keyboards are quite good, however I've not found the need for one as yet, as our TV remote will also operate the Media Center
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Raspberry-Pi-XBMC-Media-Centre-Wireless-Remote-Keyboard-Mouse-Windows-Android-/191431155278?hash=item2c922f9e4e:g:FcIAAOSwZjJU4i7hOnce the hardware was put together, I installed the current OpenElec version of Kodi on the MicroSD card - Kodi used to be known as XBox Media Center, and now runs on several platforms, of which the Raspberry Pi is one.
http://openelec.tv/get-openelec/category/57-raspberry-pi2-buildsWhen you first boot Kodi (OpenElec) it walks you through a simple wizard that connects you to your wireless or wired network, you're "connected". Next comes installing some Add-Ons to allow media streaming.
For Australian FreeView streaming, I use the following repository installation method:
http://www.openmediacentre.com.au/tutorials/kodi/installing-catchup-tv-au-repo-and-add-ons/There's a new alternative method
http://www.openmediacentre.com.au/tutorials/kodi/installing-bogs-xbmc-addon-tv-repo-and-add-ons/ but I've not tried this one yet.
Once the Add-On's are installed, under the Video/Add-Ons menu you'll see the ABC iView, ABC News24, Plus7, Ninemsn Jump-In, TENPlay, SBS CatchUp TV, as well as NRL and AFL. To view a stream from them, browse to them like you would a file on your PC, and it will open from the streaming provider.
Exodus is a little more complicated to install, and my preferred method is in the following link:
http://www.wirelesshack.org/step-by-step-kodi-jarvis-and-exodus-install.htmlExodus appears as another Video Add-On, and can be integrated with "viewing trackers" and to date, has not had any content we want to watch available, including currently screening movies.
For those that are curious about the legality of watching some content online, there's been some discussion around our offices, and there's a view from a couple of the legal eagles that if the content is being streamed and not stored that it's not contravening any of our current legislature with respect to content consumption