how to play movies on my tv....

I am looking for the easiest, hassle free way of playing movies from my external hard drive to my TV.

Currently I have the hard drive networked via my router as a storage device (my router has usb) so our laptops can access the drive.

I'd like to be able to play movies on my tv without having to burn them to disk first. Is there a device that I can buy which can access the movies on my network via wireless and play them on my tv?

I've seen something like LG Smart tv box that looks interesting but not sure it fits the bill....

I have a PS3 too so not sure maybe I can go wireless from the hard drive to my ps3 and then play the movies off of it?

Any suggestions on how best to connect these devices to be able to play movies on my TV without having to burn them to disk or connect the drive to the ps3 directly?
I don't mind buying a wireless device for my tv if needed either.....

 

Thank you for the input! I've been checking out a few options and think I might go with that WD device.

btw my first post on the new board....finally updated my favourites. As a long time member I need to start visiting and contributing more!

 

I have a WD TV Live and for most parts it just works. I have the same issue as many other with WD development team that they should focus on fixing known issues instead of introducing new features ie. like adding games to a media player. If I want to play poker or sudoku then it isn't a must to play on my tv. But that said, read the forums on known issues to see if any would affect you, right now I can't remember any that affect my setup.
Feel free contact me if you think I can help.

 

I use a router (Linksys E3000) that has TomatoUSB flashed on it.

My hard drive is hooked up to it & I have all my media shared via the DLNA server built into the router firmware. The DLNA server streams to the PS3.

There's some other hacks on the router to download/rename/sort my shows as well (combination of flexget/transmission/tvnamer)

 

This is kinda clunky, but I have a vga cable connected to the TV, and I carry my laptop inside, plug into the side of the laptop + connect the headphones output to run through the stereo and run videos via VLC on the laptop - it works for me.

 

Some Blu Ray players will allow USB connected devices to play video through them. I have an LG that does.