WiDi... (1 Viewer)

Does anybody successfully use it? Using what?

I bought a laptop specifically for it last summer and wound up with a Netgear NeoTV Pro with WiDi. I have a lot of music videos that I enjoy playing through the home theater and this by far takes the evolution of doing that to a level I never dreamed of when I was doing it with a composite cable into the back of a 27” Zenith years ago. It’s a pretty sweet little streaming media hub too. I hooked up a Roku for my mother and it’s got tons of channels for sure, but the WiDi sort of levels the playing field. I can stream Crackle, etc. over the laptop and use my laptop for Youtube, etc. without pecking out one letter at a time. I still find myself using the Iphone App to try to do it with that and the built in Youtube, but it’s still pretty glitchy and too new I suppose. I have to pair it each time and I haven’t figured out how to avoid that.

You have to "re-pair" it...hhmmm. The only reason I am curious is because I bought a new HP DV7. My prior laptop is an Acer Aspire. The Aspire came out just before WiDi and I can't even upgrade it to use WiDi(without swapping boards...or some such thing). I prefer the way the Aspire types to the keys on the DV7. So I might go back to the Aspire for work/travel and leave the DV7 to what the Aspire does now(travels around the house and connects HDMI to the AVRs). My office is where I'd put in the WiDi cause that is the only AVR I have(that I use with a computer) without a front HDMI.

Well, yeah, you have to pick a laptop that has WiDi specifically – they don’t all have it. I believe all I Series Intel Chips can have it, but that doesn’t mean they do have it. It’s tied to the video card and drivers, but it’s an Intel thing only as far as that goes. Plus you have to have a WiDi ‘receiver’ device. In my case – I got that Netgear just as they came out with one with media streaming. My first one was WiDi ONLY. The same week they came out with a media streaming model and I took mine back for it and it was cheaper anyway.

The DV7 is set up for WiDi. It is one of the features listed "on the box"... Thinking of snagging this...(the plasma is a 720P) http://www.ebay.com/itm/NetGear-PTV1000-Push2TV-Adapter-/111006482453?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d8808015

That might be the original one I had – I don’t recall. They make some higher end ones now it appears. Mine is down the list of the lineup these days. I love it!

Yeah I researched it... The 1000 is 720P and stereo. The 2000 2.0 is 1080P stereo. The 2000 2.1 is 1080P 5.1 surround. However I don't need the 5.1 because there is already a BD player and an SACD/DVD-A player in the room. Since the plasma is 720P, I don't need anything else. And that is the only place I'd use it.

I "assume" the WiDi also does "enlarged screen" and split screen...not a simple repeat of the present screen? That is the only thing I'm not sure of. Cause if that is the case, I'll buy a wireless HDMI, so I can do Youtube/Vimeo/Netflix on the TV while I have Ebay/CL/Email on the laptop.

Mine does everything that a regular second monitor does; extend, duplicate, etc.

Cool.

Yes, very cool! In my case; I can browse through my collection on my laptop while the current video is playing on the television/home theater sound system and make my next selection. I prefer to pick them ‘randomly’ instead of making playlists – so, this is the perfect setup for me. The thing that you need to know about the older units is the lag. Apparently the older WiDi versions had issues with lag; if only minor. This might be more of a gamer complaint. Mine is pretty snappy, but it’s not unnoticeable either.