Media players for Tv's - anyone tried these

[Coffs_Hacker]

Been watching a few "back'd up movies" on the big screen through the PC of late by plugging the pc directly into the tv which means moving it from the office out to the lounge so have been looking into alternatives to this and have found External HDD with media players.

Concept is plug the external hd into pc, download the movies then plug hd into tv.

Has anyone got one of these? If so are they ok, any pitfalls?



here's an example on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Samsung-750GB-HDMI-HD-Media-Player-External-Hard-Disk_W0QQitemZ110339539701QQihZ001QQcategoryZ13155 3QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l126 2

[henno]

A mate of mine has an mvix. I'll have to confess that I have not mucked with it much, but it is both wired and wireless, so files can be transferred without moving the box around.

It seems to do a good job at parties, and hasn't missed a beat yet.

[gazgolf1]

I've got a "chipped" XBox that works well for this.

[ddasey]

I have used the following, and it works a treat.

http://www.mvix.net.au/2500_OverView.html

[henno]

I have used the following, and it works a treat.

http://www.mvix.net.au/2500_OverView.html

Ooops. That's what I meant. He has the MV780.

[shavey]

These look great...

Might have to ditch the Media Centre PC idea seeing as my capture card isn't compatible with 2005 MCE and Vista is too system hungry.

[markTHEblake]

I have had my eye on these for quite a while but i have never seen any yet that can play *.mkv files (high definition rips, sometimes called 720p/x264), and most of these players dont even support component output. The CPU's are just not good enough so i am gunna hang out until the family budget supports a full blown HTPC.

However if you have a huge collection of Xvid/Divx rips why not, they are getting very cheap. Alternatives is most Dvd players now support USB or flash drive input as well.

[virge666]

being doing this for ages and setting them up for friends.

beyonWiz are teh best I have found do far. Mediagate are a close second.

google either for their details - I have bought them all off eBay

[Courty]

I've got a Mac Mini connected to my LCD. Built-in wireless to transfer the movies from the iMac, or I can just download them directly from the Mac Mini.

There is the Apple TV, but I've never had anything to do with them. Consider a refurbished Mac Mini will an Eye TV for a full-featured (compact) media box.

[goonie]

I have a Beyondwiz P1, dual HD tv recorder that also plays video files, DVD files and with the last firmware plays DVD ISO Rips as well. Great machine, you can even connect it to your network and play files from your PC.

3 Guys from work have the Laser Mediamate. and love them. You can buy them with a 320GB drive, or buy it with a HDD. one guy at work has a 1TB HDD in his. They have a lot of features.
http://www.laserco.com.au/networking/NT-MVL320G.htm#
http://www.eyo.com.au/prod_DM-NT-MVL_proddesc_Laser_MediaMate_NT-MVL_Media_Player_Wireless_Lan_DivX_DivX_HD_TP_TS_W MV_HD_No_SATA_HDD_included.html

And one guy at work has the Lacie LaCinema Premier, but I just noticed they have 3 different models now. http://www.lacie.com/au/products/range.htm?id=10049

[henno]

I think my certified linux-geek card would be revoked if I didn't at least mention MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/).

[shavey]

I were looking at the Beyondwiz machines earlier last year but just thought there were too many bugs thus the amount of firmware updates. I really liked them as they were one of the few with a DVD drive. I have about 80 dvd's full of divx and still wanted to use them. However, with the new box and 1TB,that will no longer be an issue :)

I just converted my old box into a HTPC however the capture card doesn't work with MCE 2005 and the older processor doesn't cut it when running Vista MC. It was decided that even when using a third party app in MediaPortal that recording TV (with the current CPU and gfx) were never going to cut it. Plus the remote that was provided wasn't compatible with any of these programs. So now I just stream wirelessly from my main pc when I want to watch movies but have no outlet to record TV.

But herein lies my dilmena... My old mobo just died so I'm trying to work out if it's worth dropping in a new one with a 2.4G P4 chip I have lying around, get a proper MCE/Harmony remote, add some more RAM and try it all over again or get one of these suckers.

[virge666]

beyonwiz shavey - the firmware updates fix bugs but they also add features... like MKV support.

it is all good.

[markTHEblake]

beyonWiz are the best I have found do far.

You bastard! I just lost 2 hours of my life.

never heard of them before, but seems pretty clear that these babies do play (http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=3263&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=mkv&start=15) the good old lost/bsg.720p.hdtv.x264.mkv files.

And beyonwiz is selling from their own website the DP-H1 for only $299. I know that is the really basic version, but I the main feature i want is the playback, and single tuner is all i need (cos anything on telly worth recording is downloadable long before its shown live :-) )

In any case about $1k for the ducks guts model is as good as any HTPC from what i can see and probably better for know-it-alls with no patience.

The only issue i see is that with MKV, my AV reciever might not be able to decode the audio passed through, so it would need to be decoded to 2.1, which kinda defeats the purpose of getting HDTV rips in the first place. whadya reckon?

[markTHEblake]

I think my certified linux-geek card would be revoked if I didn't at least mention MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/).

I'd be all over this by now, but i dont have a DVI/HDMI tv, so it really is only going to work with a video adaptor that supports component. My first effort with the correct adaptor for my card, *ended up in tears, so thats why the appliance interests me.

* though was running windows at the time. I might rebuild that box with Mythtv and see what happens.

[goonie]

I have had no issues with my beyonwiz P1, cost about $700, no DVD but I don't need one in the machine. The firmware updates have just given me more features and they also change/improve the way some things work.

[Fishman Dan]

WDTV (Western Digital) plugs straight from your external hard disk (USB) to your HD TV (HDMI), and scans the box for media. You can then play it straight to your TV. $199 at OfficeWorks, but I'm sure you can find cheaper. A guy at work has one, even plays Blu-Ray rips without a blip.

Otherwise, a PS3 offers similar plus all the other benefits.

[GC]

Most new DVD players have a usb port, just use a usb thumb drive and copy from computer to the thumb drive and plug into my dvd player, pretty cheap option in my opinion.

[goughy]

That's what we do!

[Fishman Dan]

Most new DVD players have a usb port, just use a usb thumb drive and copy from computer to the thumb drive and plug into my dvd player, pretty cheap option in my opinion.

I just bought one for the mother in law - $99 for a Sharp or something (bargained down from $129).

[BrisVegas]

WDTV (Western Digital) plugs straight from your external hard disk (USB) to your HD TV (HDMI), and scans the box for media. You can then play it straight to your TV. $199 at OfficeWorks, but I'm sure you can find cheaper. A guy at work has one, even plays Blu-Ray rips without a blip.

Otherwise, a PS3 offers similar plus all the other benefits.

Another vote for the WD gadget. A few guys at my work use them and swear buy em. I think that's the setup I'll be going to next.

[Coffs_Hacker]

WDTV (Western Digital) plugs straight from your external hard disk (USB) to your HD TV (HDMI), and scans the box for media. You can then play it straight to your TV. $199 at OfficeWorks, but I'm sure you can find cheaper. A guy at work has one, even plays Blu-Ray rips without a blip.



I have looked into these also - only issue was $199 + another $179 for the HD (1tb). Was hoping (ie being tight rs) to find something around the $250 mark. But again have heard the WD does work very nicely

[markTHEblake]

I got my Beyonwiz DP-SI (http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/DP_S1_overview.asp) a few days and also the LIDIC (http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/LiDiC_overview.asp) for free, for $630 on ebay. (it's a refurbished unit, repacked obviously by the manufacturer, in fact when i got it i thought they must have sent a new one by mistake).

I really like the way this sets up, we can now watch Austar, FTA, DVD/CD, VCR, and all Media Files through the PVR, no more switching inputs on the TV and or HT Receiver, which means can almost throw the Harmony 525 remote out.

Not to mention playback from network, USB, Flasdrives and memorycards.

Whenever a big purchase like this is made that has to integrate into other systems there is always something that is a hassle - not this time, this is easily the best peice of kit I have ever had. I am so glad I procrastinated over a HTPC for so long.

The only minor hassle is that i have to copy the x264.720p rips to the PVR for playback instead of sharing off the file server, but thats the Wifi connection that impacted that, not the device itself, if i was using wired eithernet it would be fine.

p.s. thanks to Virge for recommending it. 5 stars.

[Courty]

We don't have pay TV, so we were bummed when we realised the World Cup qualifier last week was only on Pay. I came up with another solution. I located a live stream of the game from the Eurosports channel, copied the link to my Mac Mini (permanently hooked to the LCD), opened it in full-screen and Voila!

The resolution was average, but it was certainly watchable.