Media box for TV - whats best

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Media box for TV - whats best

bbunnys

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#175548 3-Jul-2015 12:35

I need to purchase a media box for my TV at our bach. Basically I will be putting a USB flash drive into it to play video across a range of formats.
I had a WDTV in the past but wondering if there is something better out there now that will do the job. The smaller and more portable the better. Must support 1080p and work ok without internet access.

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#1336389 3-Jul-2015 12:44

Satellite not an option?

gehenna

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#1336391 3-Jul-2015 12:50

Raspberry Pi with Kodi.

dafman

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#1336395 3-Jul-2015 12:54

I have a WDTV live which has a much more modern interface than the older WDTV it replaced.

BigPipeNZ

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#1336404 3-Jul-2015 13:13

WDTV plays pretty much every format, including high bitrate 1080p, nice and smoothly.

Interface isn't 'amazing' but is totally fine.

Most cheaper players won't play many video formats.

So stick with WDTV in my opinion.

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robjg63

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#1336405 3-Jul-2015 13:13

Would agree with the Raspberry Pi if you are ok setting one up.
Not very difficult and osmc (www.osmc.tv ) has Kodi very nicely packaged up.

Hardware wise you would be looking at something like this:
http://nz.rs-online.com/web/p/processor-microcontroller-development-kits/8772457/
The only thing you may need to add on is a wifi dongle - this one always works:
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=NETEDI7811&name=EDIMAX-EW-7811UN-802.11n-150Mbps-Nano-USB-64-128-b

You would need to plug in a USB keyboard and mouse while you set it up - and also have a RJ45 cable to plug it into the internet for initial setup.

Otherwise if you just want an off the shelf box the WDTV is still probably a good bet.

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bbunnys

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#1336406 3-Jul-2015 13:14

gehenna: Raspberry Pi with Kodi.

Yea dont really want to have to make something up. Just want something basic that plugs in and works.

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bbunnys

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#1336433 3-Jul-2015 13:47

dafman: I have a WDTV live which has a much more modern interface than the older WDTV it replaced.

Is newer version any faster at loading video and fast forwarding smoothly etc.

littleheaven

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#1336440 3-Jul-2015 13:58

I have one of these: http://www.expansys.co.nz/minix-neo-z64-64-bit-mini-pc-windows-81-273247/ Reviews suggest it plays 1080p smoothly, but I've not had it long enough to do thorough testing. Needs a wireless keyboard/mouse. If you load it up with the k-lite codec pack when you have internet access it'll play just about anything. I use it for NZ on demand TV, YouTube and Plex. Like it a lot - good value for the small price tag. It's essentially a full Windows 8.1 PC. May struggle with some of the very hi-def files but so far my few odd playback issues have been internet speed related.

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dafman

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#1336488 3-Jul-2015 14:42

bbunnys:
dafman: I have a WDTV live which has a much more modern interface than the older WDTV it replaced.

Is newer version any faster at loading video and fast forwarding smoothly etc.

I have no problems with times for loading. For fast forward, the newer Live has a 32X, which is a great improvement on the older version 16X. Can't remember if visually if fast forward is smooth or in segments.

BigPipeNZ

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#1336492 3-Jul-2015 14:51

dafman:
bbunnys:
dafman: I have a WDTV live which has a much more modern interface than the older WDTV it replaced.

Is newer version any faster at loading video and fast forwarding smoothly etc.

I have no problems with times for loading. For fast forward, the newer Live has a 32X, which is a great improvement on the older version 16X. Can't remember if visually if fast forward is smooth or in segments.

when I want to FFWD longer than a few minutes, I generally use the 'go to time' function and just input e.g. 1.30.00 or whatever to get to the rough area I want.

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dafman

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#1336494 3-Jul-2015 14:54

BigPipeNZ: WDTV plays pretty much every format, including high bitrate 1080p, nice and smoothly.

Interface isn't 'amazing' but is totally fine.

Most cheaper players won't play many video formats.

So stick with WDTV in my opinion.

Occasionally, I see minor judder with some files during playback - so minor that the rest of the family aren't bothered (but I am).

I can fix by via the 'Audio/Video Output' setting by setting video to match the source file - eg either 720p or 1080p, and then selecting the htz rate of 60 htz for video from the US and 50 htz for UK/Europe/Asia regions. A minor inconvenience, only takes a second to change, but a pity that the auto setting doesn't get it right on some occasions.

Other than this, it is a trouble free simple solution for watching virtually any file type.

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Jase2985

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#1336500 3-Jul-2015 15:02

on my one (WDTV) you hit the fast forward button to 2x then hit the next track button and it skips forward 10 minutes at a time

never had an issue with mine, snappy and plays pretty much everything.

gehenna

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#1336511 3-Jul-2015 15:25

bbunnys:
gehenna: Raspberry Pi with Kodi.

Yea dont really want to have to make something up. Just want something basic that plugs in and works.

This is about as basic and plug in as it gets, outside of a WDTV.

richrdh18

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#1336527 3-Jul-2015 16:04

Stick with the WDTV, plays everything.

geekiegeek

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#1336582 3-Jul-2015 18:26

dafman:
BigPipeNZ: WDTV plays pretty much every format, including high bitrate 1080p, nice and smoothly.

Interface isn't 'amazing' but is totally fine.

Most cheaper players won't play many video formats.

So stick with WDTV in my opinion.

Occasionally, I see minor judder with some files during playback - so minor that the rest of the family aren't bothered (but I am).

I can fix by via the 'Audio/Video Output' setting by setting video to match the source file - eg either 720p or 1080p, and then selecting the htz rate of 60 htz for video from the US and 50 htz for UK/Europe/Asia regions. A minor inconvenience, only takes a second to change, but a pity that the auto setting doesn't get it right on some occasions.

Other than this, it is a trouble free simple solution for watching virtually any file type.

I don't believe that any off the shelf box will do this. The auto you talk about is for detecting your TVs optimum setting not for analysis of the video stream being fed to it. This is one of the key reasons I use a PC with Mediaportal as it can analyse the stream and reset the video card to output the correct refresh rate. Equals perfect smooth video no matter what you throw at it. Makes a big difference on a projector screen.

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