Watching Pc Video Files On Tv, New Option

[pgrin]

Over the last 6 months to a year ago I started noticing a lot of low end DVD players for sale in Thailand included a USB port. Out of curiosity I loaded a movie from my computer on to a thumb drive and took it to CarreFourre and Big C. The DVD players recognized the drive and had the proper codec to play the movies on the TV display. I saw a DVD player at Big C for 800 baht that had this feature. I bought a player for 1400 baht and tried it at home and it works great. I have about 30 movies as well as the complete set of Heroes and Lost that I downloaded as avi files. Now I just "send to" removable disc E and plug into my DVD player. The picture and sound quality is excellent and there are no moving parts. I'm still beta testing with different extensions but so far I am pleased.

P

[ballbreaker]

I also have one of the multi-format players but I burn files to blank DVD then play on player.

[swain]

Over the last 6 months to a year ago I started noticing a lot of low end DVD players for sale in Thailand included a USB port. Out of curiosity I loaded a movie from my computer on to a thumb drive and took it to CarreFourre and Big C. The DVD players recognized the drive and had the proper codec to play the movies on the TV display. I saw a DVD player at Big C for 800 baht that had this feature. I bought a player for 1400 baht and tried it at home and it works great. I have about 30 movies as well as the complete set of Heroes and Lost that I downloaded as avi files. Now I just "send to" removable disc E and plug into my DVD player. The picture and sound quality is excellent and there are no moving parts. I'm still beta testing with different extensions but so far I am pleased.

P

Of course the next generation should have a Ethernet port so you can connect it to your network. I have seen these in the USA on the high end systems. Thailand has only just recently fallen in love with the handy drives. Computer networking might be more than a couple of years away but this has to be where it progresses to. A house completely networked.

[astral]

What codecs do these machines support??

I have a collection of films on HD in (xvid).avi

Will they play?

[sibeymai]

well, you know, you could always play movies from your pc using the AV in/out ports to either your CD player or even as far back as your video tape player. Don't need to rush out and buy a new DVD player just because it has a USB port.

[pgrin]

What codecs do these machines support??

I have a collection of films on HD in (xvid).avi

Will they play?

I don't think every machine is the same. The one I have plays avi/xvid/divx. I would recommend taking a flash drive with you and try before you buy. That's what I did.

P

[pgrin]

I also have one of the multi-format players but I burn files to blank DVD then play on player.

I use to do the same but it kind of a waste. I watch the movie once, delete it from the stick, and load a new one. No moving parts, no discs to deal with. I have a 4 gb thumb drive I can load 5 movies on and put it in my pocket to share with friends.

P

[pgrin]

well, you know, you could always play movies from your pc using the AV in/out ports to either your CD player or even as far back as your video tape player. Don't need to rush out and buy a new DVD player just because it has a USB port.

I agree but as I said this is just another option. My computer is in another room from my big screen so it is a bit of a hassle to run cables all over the place. I am not recommending rushing out to buy a new DVD player but for as little as 800 Baht it is a nice option. Also as a heads up for anyone in the market for a new DVD player I would recommend one with the USB port. Many of them do not have one.

P

[Daffy D]

How about an external hard drive with USB connection would that work on these players?

D.D.

[tigerbeer]

How about an external hard drive with USB connection would that work on these players?

D.D.

yes, in Multimedia HDD enclosures. direct to TV. no need dvd machines.

What codecs do these machines support??

I have a collection of films on HD in (xvid).avi

Will they play?

yes.

[Daffy D]

Erm! What’s a multimedia HDD?

I was thinking of just the regular external HDD that’s used as an extra drive or for back-up. This has a USB connection so I’m guessing if the DVD player accepts a USB thumbdrive it would accept a HDD through the same the connection.

Would save a lot of copying deleting and re-copying to thumbdrive.

Merry Xmas

D.D.

[Tywais]

Erm! What’s a multimedia HDD?

He's referring to a HDD enclosure that directly supports video (avi, xvid, divx, etc.) so you just connect it directly to your TV through either composite video, s-video, component video or, if your TV supports VGA input, then through that.

As for the DVD player with USB input, then a standard USB drive enclosure should work.

[Tororoso]

As for the DVD player with USB input, then a standard USB drive enclosure should work.

I tried it with my regular external USB HDD, didn't work.

Also make sure that they give you a 1 year guarantee on the DVD players and that they accept it back for repairs. TESCO did not accept my broken DVD player and I still have to take it back to the manufacturer in Samut Prakan -- which of course is impractical.

[astral]

Also make sure that they give you a 1 year guarantee on the DVD players and that they accept it back for repairs. TESCO did not accept my broken DVD player and I still have to take it back to the manufacturer in Samut Prakan -- which of course is impractical.

A good reason for buying branded products like Philips, Sony and Samsung,

as they have a chain of service centres across the country.

[tigerbeer]

As for the DVD player with USB input, then a standard USB drive enclosure should work.

I tried it with my regular external USB HDD, didn't work.

Also make sure that they give you a 1 year guarantee on the DVD players and that they accept it back for repairs. TESCO did not accept my broken DVD player and I still have to take it back to the manufacturer in Samut Prakan -- which of course is impractical.

yes it does not work. doesn't make sense though. something about flash memory as opposed to the regular ones. a 4GB one costs less than 1k these days

Also make sure that they give you a 1 year guarantee on the DVD players and that they accept it back for repairs. TESCO did not accept my broken DVD player and I still have to take it back to the manufacturer in Samut Prakan -- which of course is impractical.

A good reason for buying branded products like Philips, Sony and Samsung,

as they have a chain of service centres across the country.

actually i would keep away from branded ones cause they are fussy about regions and the kinds of discs you have. I recommend the brand ELZE that you can get from any Big-C. Never had problems with them and easily repairable at any OHS (Amorn) shops in case the warranty expires. There is one ELZE model that costs 1,990 that even does SD cards in addition to USB.

[pete_r]

Any other brand to recommend apart from Elze? Or brands to avoid?

[tigerbeer]

Any other brand to recommend apart from Elze? Or brands to avoid?

the only brand i would avoid for playing of divx files would be LG. only because word of ear is that although extremely cheap for a divx player, you are bound to have lots of problems with getting the codecs right.

actually i would go for any cheap brand. 1k plus. its good enough and both my machines have lasted me more than a year.

[lomatopo]

Over the last 6 months to a year ago I started noticing a lot of low end DVD players for sale in Thailand included a USB port. Out of curiosity I loaded a movie from my computer on to a thumb drive and took it to CarreFourre and Big C. The DVD players recognized the drive and had the proper codec to play the movies on the TV display. I saw a DVD player at Big C for 800 baht that had this feature. I bought a player for 1400 baht and tried it at home and it works great. I have about 30 movies as well as the complete set of Heroes and Lost that I downloaded as avi files. Now I just "send to" removable disc E and plug into my DVD player. The picture and sound quality is excellent and there are no moving parts. I'm still beta testing with different extensions but so far I am pleased.

P

Can you expand at all on your experiences?

Make/model of unit?

What is the UI (menu) like for the AVI files on the USB drive? Can you choose which one to play? Stop/start/advance/pause etc.?

Currently I use S-video/audio out from my notebook to play DVD's/AVI's etc., but may finally get a DVD player.

[cowman1]

I got a cheao one (AJ D500-K) around 1300 baht, and it works well, plays almost everything. It also has the USB function, which also works well. But an even cheaper option is to buy a few re-writable dvd's (can get them for about 40 baht) then just erase with nero before you burn new stuff, I just use this method.

[lomatopo]

As for the DVD player with USB input, then a standard USB drive enclosure should work.

I'm still getting up to speed on this but it appears that some DVD players require the USB-attached storage device to be formatted in FAT32. (There are tools available which allow formatting of large drives in FAT32.) There appear to be lots of compatibility issues re: USB sticks and even power requirements. I guess you choose "USB" with the remote but am still not sure what the UI is like.

[Tywais]

I'm still getting up to speed on this but it appears that some DVD players require the USB-attached storage device to be formatted in FAT32.

That's a good point and you are right. I have some devices like that and even one that requires FAT and not FAT32. This does limit you to 32GB per partition.

[Crossy]

I'm still getting up to speed on this but it appears that some DVD players require the USB-attached storage device to be formatted in FAT32.

That's a good point and you are right. I have some devices like that and even one that requires FAT and not FAT32. This does limit you to 32GB per partition.

Still a lot of movies in 32G

I've tried a couple of players with USB, all play MP3s but only the 1500Baht cheapie played video. MPEG1 and 2 only no XVid or DivX. None would spin up my external hard drive without using the power box (not enough grunt from the USB) although once spun up MP3 and video played just fine (FAT32 partition).

[gharknes]

Just a quick note, if you are buying one of these make sure it is DIVX/XVID certified, there are also some TV's with DIVX/XVID mainly Samsung, I also believe the next XBOX upgrade will be DIVX certified following the playstation which already has.

[Daffy D]

Just to clarify, will a normal external hard drive in an enclosure with USB connection work in a player if it is FAT 32. ?

Daffy D.

[pgrin]

Over the last 6 months to a year ago I started noticing a lot of low end DVD players for sale in Thailand included a USB port. Out of curiosity I loaded a movie from my computer on to a thumb drive and took it to CarreFourre and Big C. The DVD players recognized the drive and had the proper codec to play the movies on the TV display. I saw a DVD player at Big C for 800 baht that had this feature. I bought a player for 1400 baht and tried it at home and it works great. I have about 30 movies as well as the complete set of Heroes and Lost that I downloaded as avi files. Now I just "send to" removable disc E and plug into my DVD player. The picture and sound quality is excellent and there are no moving parts. I'm still beta testing with different extensions but so far I am pleased.

P

Can you expand at all on your experiences?

Make/model of unit?

What is the UI (menu) like for the AVI files on the USB drive? Can you choose which one to play? Stop/start/advance/pause etc.?

Currently I use S-video/audio out from my notebook to play DVD's/AVI's etc., but may finally get a DVD player.

L,

My video files all have an .avi extension. I use win XP Home and right click and use send to function to removeable drive location. I make sure there are no discs in my DVD player, plug in the flash drive and turn it on. A menu comes on the TV and lists all of the files on the flash drive. I use the arrow up/down button on the DVD remote and enter. The movie comes on and all functions work, fast forward, pause and reverse. I can also change the aspect ratio. The model I use is called Oz DVD. I also tried it on an ELZE model.

P

[pgrin]

Just to clarify, will a normal external hard drive in an enclosure with USB connection work in a player if it is FAT 32. ?

Daffy D.

DD,

I've got a mission for you. Take you external hard drive to Big C, Lotus or Power Buy and give it a whirl. Let us know how it works out. I strongly advise against buying anything based on what is on the box and expect it to work untested. My player list Mpeg4 and Divx as available. I tried both formats in the store and ended up with a bunch of the sales people( Power Buy)crowded around amazed at was coming off of my magic little stick.

P

[lomatopo]

My video files all have an .avi extension. I use win XP Home and right click and use send to function to removeable drive location. I make sure there are no discs in my DVD player, plug in the flash drive and turn it on. A menu comes on the TV and lists all of the files on the flash drive. I use the arrow up/down button on the DVD remote and enter. The movie comes on and all functions work, fast forward, pause and reverse. I can also change the aspect ratio. The model I use is called Oz DVD. I also tried it on an ELZE model.

P

Thank you for this update.

A lot of people seem to like the Phillips DVP 5982 ($65 USD in the U.S.A.); I plan to check out the brand-name models available here and then research which offer the best USB support. I was shocked to see the amount of firmware upgrades available for DVD players.

[Crossy]

Just to clarify, will a normal external hard drive in an enclosure with USB connection work in a player if it is FAT 32. ?

I've had limited success, mainly because the USB output can't power up my 2.5" external. My 3.5" with a power box work as do 2.5" with external power.

[quiksilva]

I also believe the next XBOX upgrade will be DIVX certified following the playstation which already has.

Correct in fact xbox 360 users had the upgrade about 2 weeks ago.

[gharknes]

AVI extention is most likely DIVX, there are over 100 million devices DivX certified, it;s a good marker if buying a DVD player TV or other in home media device that you want to play movies on, there are now even mobile phones and cameras that have this format, also a DVD is about 5gig, the same movie in DIVX is about 750meg with little loss in quality, I have every movie I ever owned or liked in DivX format, it's like the MP3 of video