Good catch Matt, I missed the Google TV on my read through.
No worries!
I've got the Sony NSZ-GT1 Bluray player / GoogleTV all-in-one-box. I bought it a year after it came out, when there was a big price drop, because I liked how it integrates with my system. The only other video source is my TiVo, which is routed through the GT1, and thus I never need to use my receiver to switch channels. It's a minor thing, but it keeps things simple.
I bought mine (same exact device) for the same reason and I've been amazed by how much I appreciate that feature. Everyone laughed at the HDMI pass-through idea (and they did again for the XBox One), but it really is nice. I even have a remote that makes it dead simple to change inputs, but I still like not having to do it.
The downside of the GT1, aside from its being discontinued and all, is that it's an older Intel platform running a no-longer-supported Android 3.x variant, while newer GoogleTV boxes run Android 4.x.
That is annoying, but I've found that mine performs perfectly fine. I've also been amazed that, as I mentioned earlier, apparently the Plex developers aren't leaving our GoogleTV variant behind! I've seen regular updates over the past couple years I've been using it.
For a while, the only thing I wished was available on GoogleTV was a vudu app, but I've found that other streaming video rental services have caught up on the video quality side.
Also, it's pretty clear where the wind is blowing. Chromecast is the future, and it does almost everything I care about.
Actually, the rumors are that Google is going to move to some sort of "Android TV" platform. I think Chromecast is nice, but I still think a set top box like GoogleTV has it's place. I also prefer to have a self-contained device in the home theater so guests can control it themselves.
EDIT: detailed technical discussion on xda-developers about
Plex vs. Avia.
I'll have to check that Avia out. Thanks!
Pondering, pondering: our circa-2008 bedroom TV only has two HDMI inputs, and three devices fighting for space there: another Bluray player, a TiVo mini, and an Xbox 360. I could swap the two Bluray players, moving the GTV box into our bedroom and using it to pass through the TiVo mini. I could then buy a Chromecast stick for downstairs. And, in theory, I could drive everything with Plex. Tempting.
I say go with that!
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