media player

janlindy

Active member
Mar 8, 2011
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need a new media player for usb, & WD hard drive where my movies are stored. Any suggestions ??????
 

Buzzard

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2004
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Costambar
I use a "Micca Speck g2", available on Amazon for ~$40US.
Nowhere near as flexible as the WD units, but at least less expensive.
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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Time to clarify...

Are you looking for a media player that can hook up to your TV and connect to a USB drive and your HD or some software to run on your computer itself?

Is your TV connected to your network or sitting all by itself. Does your TV have a USB port that you can plug your usb drive into? Does your WD HD have a usb connection or something else. I assume the HD is in an enclosure of some kind?
 

janlindy

Active member
Mar 8, 2011
344
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will try and clarify.
 A media player that connects to the TV that will play from a USB or an HD via usb port. we have one now but it does not play all movie formats  we have both a mac & PC computers where we down load movies to the usb or HD.  The TV is connected to wifi, there is no usb port However a new tv is one the way so I am unsure if the new on will have a usb (I hope so) we have a new mag254 box for internet movies which has a usb port but our flash drive are not recognized (not sur why). 
hope this helps clarify..........   thanks for all the info......
jan
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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For little to no cost, you can use software that will convert your downloads to a format that is supported by your current equipment and then put that converted file onto the usb stick or the HD.

The other option is a media server (either software running on a specific computer on your network or a hardware box that is connected to your home network) that can then stream the various media files (movies, music etc) to any device that connects to it.

How to best go about addressing your request depends on how you wish to use the content you are placing on your storage devices. If you foresee a need or desire to lie in bed or next to the pool and stream a program to a laptop we'll need to incorporate network connectivity for all devices.

If you only wish to view this content on your main TV in the living room and do not need/want the content to be available for any other device, we can go another way.

My thinking at the moment is that you are attempting to address the issue of some file types not being supported by your TV directly. Even a new TV will not necessarily support all of the popular file formats that are being used to encode content these days. These protocols change and TV's generally do not update the codecs (software to display files on USD devices) very often if at all. You could buy a new TV and in a year or two find yourself back in the same situation you are in today or the new TV may still not play the files that you have today.

If I am correct in my assumptions and what you do now will meet your needs if the TV could just play the content that currently it doesn't understand, you can fix that with software for no cost other than time learning how to convert .mkv files to mp4 files for example. If you would prefer a more robust and scaleable solution that will store, show and backup your media content, we could go with a Network attached storage unit cost $400-$500. The other alternative is equipment similar to WD live media player either with network capabilities or without. Probably in the $50 - $250 range depending on capabilities.

Some hardware solutions are manufacturer supported and you can update their capabilities as your needs change or the codecs for your files change. Others are cheaper immediate solutions that will work now but may become less useful over time and require another solution at some point down the road.

Give it some thought and let me know what you think might work best for you. If you wish to just play what you download and do nothing else, I'd go with a software file format converting solution. If you think some more connectivity and capabilities are a good idea at this time, I'd then move on to the considering a media player box. If you want to store and make available to other devices your movies, pictures, music, backup and protect all of this content from accidental loss and put in place a solution that should last you forever, then we should consider a network attached storage option.

Your serve... :)
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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will try and clarify.
 A media player that connects to the TV that will play from a USB or an HD via usb port. we have one now but it does not play all movie formats  we have both a mac & PC computers where we down load movies to the usb or HD.  The TV is connected to wifi, there is no usb port However a new tv is one the way so I am unsure if the new on will have a usb (I hope so) we have a new mag254 box for internet movies which has a usb port but our flash drive are not recognized (not sur why). 
hope this helps clarify..........   thanks for all the info......
jan
I just have a spare i5 laptop no one is using attached to the TV via HDMI. It can access our personal 4TB cloud via wifi, has multiple USB 2 & 3 outlets and 500GB harddrive.

As a bonus, we can surf the net in 50" HD splendor.