[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] Zanthexter:
I spent some time over the weekend trying out various ways to stream movies, specifically ripped BluRays, to my Android phone (EVO) and tablet (Galaxy Tab 7") when I'm outside my home. I thought folks looking to do something similar might appreciate a list of what's available, as in all my searching I didn't come across one.

So here are my thoughts on each with Windows based desktop server software in blue, and Android client in green when from a different source:

VLC server to VLC Direct and VLC Stream and Convert - $4-5

Best quality, seek!, streamed subtitles!, VLC & clients buggy, no security (should be used with VPN), complex setup.

Splashtop Remote Desktop- $5

A remote desktop app promoted as a way to stream video. I set my laptop to 1024*768 and tried various videos, including Netflix and Hulu, and video quality was tolerable. (MUCH better than LogMeIn Ignition, or the VNC/RDP apps I use.) A little cumbersome to use if you just want to watch video, but it's as flexible as the desktop computer you are controlling. I'd be interested in hearing how CrazyRemote compares, as that includes "joystick" controls. - For the $1 sale price, I'll be running this off my laptop for NetFlix and Hulu.

Plex - $5

Soso video quality, easy to set up, included posters with movie data and such, by far the nicest interface. If video quality improves, they'll be the one to beat.

PlayOn - $5 / month for "Premium Services" like Netflix and Hulu, $0 To stream local videos

Similar to Plex without the movie posters and such, but includes Hulu and NetFlix. Unfortunately video and sound wouldn't stay synched.

RemotePotato to Remote Media Center - $0

Set up was tolerable, video quality is acceptable, seek!, big wins on having a very nice desktop silverlight web player and some integration with Windows Media Center. If the (separately developed) Android client continues to improve, and/or they stream from my WMC TV tuners, Netflix, etc, I'd be in love. - This is the one I'm sticking with for now because I like the option of streaming to desktop OR Android, depending where I am at the moment.

Subsonic - $Donation of an amount you choose for video streaming. Audio only is free.

Similar to RemotePotato, but more complex to set up, better security, but browser based FLV playback had soso video quality. RemotePotato was just easier. - http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=968774

TVersity - $0

Seemed complicated and I didn't want to re-encode anything, so after installing I just yanked it without testing. Other folks have had good luck with it though! - http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=6085651

PS3Mediaserver - $0

Another one that I didn't test because it seemed complicated. Again worth mentioning because other folks have had good luck with it though! - http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=898796

Other Android server/app solutions seemingly based off of VLC - $Varies

AndroStream - Server wouldn't install (on two Win7x64 systems)

MyTVStation - Server installed as Admin, but couldn't connect to it. (Dev replied via email that he's working on it.)

Video Source - I tested using a 40GB MKV file ripped directly from BluRay without recompression, including English subtitles and both HD and stereo sound tracks. - As I am NOT willing to spend hours/days/weeks transcoding my BluRay collection to the native resolution(s) of my mobile devices (or to re-transcode them when the devices are replaced) I specifically wanted to include in my testing on the fly transcoding capabilities. (Avatar in this case)

Connection Speed - I tested using WiFi at home, WiFi at another location across town (but with the same ISP) and WiMax at a location which tested as 6Mb down. (My home upstream is 5Mb, and the remote WiFi and WiMax results were comparable, because the streams were all set to around 1-2.5Mb.)

DLNA is interesting stuff, and bears investigating, especially for playback FROM Android to a TV without wires. Normally it will not stream outside of your local network, but I'm thinking of trying it via VPN, as my Galaxy Tab includes a native player.

I realize the reviews are brief and very subjective, and my requirements and testing won't match many peoples. That said, I still thought folks might appreciate just having a nice big list to refer to, with hopefully some good comments on other people's experiences, to save them some time digging around.

After a long weekend of fiddling, I'm using Splashtop for Netflix (not available on my Tab yet) and Hulu, and RemotePotato w/ the Remote Media Center app for my movies and recorded TV.

There also looks to be some development happening with Media Portal plug-ins for Android that could be quite promising for 2.3+ devices in a few months. If things pan out...you'll load your media one time into the server, and be able to watch it on any device, be it iOS, Windows, or Android.