pi xbmc - what can it do?

[dobby]

Hi all,
I haven't gotten around to getting a pi. I might order one this week.

I have a 42 inch 'dumb' TV in my room that I don't use cos I have lost interest in broadcast TV.

Can I 'insert' a pi and wifi into it to make it a 'smart' TV so that I can stream video to it across my wifi network. Or even a pi and wifi and hard drive if need be but I would prefer just to stream to it from a desktop or laptop or other mobile devices.

Any simple help is appreciated. I am a techy type so I could work out the software and stuff, just haven't played with the pi yet.

[JoeDaStudd]

Pretty much bare in mind anything using Silverlight like Netflix won't work (although raspbmc is looking into it).
Install either Raspbmc or OpenELEC then follow the instructions. You'll probably need the licenses for the two additional video formats.

If you want a non-techy option then I would recommend you look at the likes of Roku or Android sticks, while they are more limited they are easier to setup and support Netflix and the like.