DVD Burning and conversion program recommendations

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Rikkitic

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#2508068 19-Jun-2020 13:26

To start with, maybe just check the Offers and Wanted forum here and also place a WTB post: WTB, cheap Android box or media player with HDMI out for .ts and .MP4 files. Since you only want it as a simple media player, you don't need to worry much about specs, though you can do a lot more than just play media files on an Android box. I assume your TV has HDMI in. Someone may even give you something they aren't using for free. That happens a lot here.

All Android boxes will play MP4 files as far as I know. At least some, if not all, can also handle transport streams (.ts) so you might not have to convert anything. I have an old Android box running 7.0 and it plays .ts files without any problem. This would work fine for what you want.

The main advantage of a proper media player is that it will play a LOT of different file formats. I suspect that may be overkill for your purposes but I will look around for you.

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Rikkitic

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#2508071 19-Jun-2020 13:28

Dugimodo:

maybe something like this https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/DVAMIX18554/Xiaomi-TV-Box-MI-Box-S-Media-Player-4K-Ultra-HD-St

Not personally ever tried one though.

That would certainly do the trick but it is way overspeced for what the OP seems to want.

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elpenguino

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#2508105 19-Jun-2020 13:48

If OP is happy to view at up to 1080P then a raspberry pi 2B or 3B running openelec (with kodi) can view pretty much any video file.

You can pick them up second hand at low cost.

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#2508225 19-Jun-2020 15:25

Thank you to Dugimodo, Rikkitic and elpenguino. I'm putting a wanted post up now. The one on PB Tech looks great, but definitely overkill at this point. Aliexpress seems to have a good range as well, but I really do want to keep it local, and cheap if possible, I've already had to spend a heap because of this whole Bluprint closing down thing; more is not ideal! Most of the files are 720P, so the raspberry pi would probably be an option too; now I need to research what those are since it's a rabbit hole I've not yet been down, lol.

Dugimodo

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#2508233 19-Jun-2020 15:35

Rasberry pi is a single board computer developed for students to learn on and with a goal to be affordable.

They can be used for all sorts of projects. It's basically a low powered arm device similar to what's in low end cellphones or tablets.

Can be a fun project but is a little more involved than buying a ready made product, there are various operating systems available for them some aimed at media playback.

I went totally over the top myself and use an intel NUC, running linux for the first year but now using windows 10 thanks to issues with Disney+ and a spare windows key I already owned.

Rikkitic

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#2508254 19-Jun-2020 16:12

I have done some quick preliminary searching. Normally I would look for this kind of thing on AliExpress, but because of the Covid 19 disruptions, I only checked Trade Me to start with. All NZ electronics retailers will have Android boxes of one kind or another that can play media files, but they will be far more elaborate and expensive than what is actually needed for the described task.

Dedicated media players are hardware boxes that play many different formats at specified qualities, but they are not designed with Internet streaming capabilities in mind. They are probably overkill for this purpose. If a decent Internet connection is available, it is probably more sensible to look for a streaming Android box as suggested above, because it can do so much more than just play media files and it is easy to expand playable formats with software. I am no expert but for just playing ordinary video files, I think something like that would be more than sufficient. However, here is a link to a dedicated media player that would also do what is required. I am including this just as an example. I can’t recommend this one or any other as I have no experience with them and they are not top of the market. It would probably be okay, but I can’t guarantee that. It supports .ts files so no conversion would be necessary: https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/home-audio/home-theatre/listing-2666531025.htm?rsqid=a08a4df2594b4af19d8b3c42067c62c4-008

Here is another one, about as cheap as you will find. It doesn’t do .ts but MP4 would work okay: https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/tvs/other/listing-2666448285.htm?rsqid=4eaa2011c13e45faa2948862ff669ef3-007

This is what I would go for. It is a proper streaming box but you would have to learn how to use it and would need some setting up. The dedicated players have the advantage that they are just point and click.

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richms

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#2508350 19-Jun-2020 19:50

elpenguino:

If OP is happy to view at up to 1080P then a raspberry pi 2B or 3B running openelec (with kodi) can view pretty much any video file.

You can pick them up second hand at low cost.

Not as cheap as an android box when you factor in remotes, cases, power supplies, SD card to put an OS on etc.

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#2508352 19-Jun-2020 19:53

Rikkitic:

Dugimodo:

maybe something like this https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/DVAMIX18554/Xiaomi-TV-Box-MI-Box-S-Media-Player-4K-Ultra-HD-St

Not personally ever tried one though.

That would certainly do the trick but it is way overspeced for what the OP seems to want.

I would go for one of these MXQ ones - https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/tvs/other/listing-2667911122.htm they are slow and an old android but they work fine for playing media off a stick and will probably have youtube and other stuff available for quite some time on it. When it finally is out of support you have only lost out on $40 or so vs the more expensive ones. Just be aware that they are massivly underpowered for running more complex media players with databases and stuff like plex or kodi, but the stock player that just plays local files seems fine on them.

Richard rich.ms

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#2508366 19-Jun-2020 20:17

Anyone have thoughts on this one https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/media-streaming/smart-tv-boxes/listing-2666787096.htm?rsqid=77fb00e37c344af8ae28b1eb55c0e715-001 It does TS and MP4 and seems too cheap to be real, though the seller has good feedback.

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#2509439 22-Jun-2020 08:51

I've bought the cheap one I mentioned above, even with shipping it's low enough to not break the bank should it not work and going by the box info it should work just fine without me having to convert all the files. I have definitely determined that my DVD writing problems were the drive; the new one has now written 2 discs without any issues aside from the time taken to encode.

Thank you everyone for your help on this, I really do appreciate it!

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