Avi Media Players

[Richb2004v2]

A guy at work was selling converter boxes that convert avi formats on a hard drive so they can be watched directly on the TV. I just wondered if anything similar is available here. I have an external hard drive full of AVi files that I keep converting to watch. It would be must easier to use one of these things.

Any ideas?

[joncl]

Many of them and they are referred to as media tanks.

For instance;

EGR1

EGR2

EG4

WD Media

Popcorn

etc etc range in price from THB 4,000 to THB 16,000 depending on the functions. I use the EGr1 and at THB 4,000 they do everything that I need and more besides with a local 12 months warranty.

[astral]

Several discussions in the forum

[BB1950]

I think what you are talking about is what they call a 'Hard Drive Player'. I connects to your TV just like a DVD/VCD/CD player using the 2 audio and 1 video RCA plugs. It usually comes with a remote to use just like a DVD/VCD/CD player. You can connect the player to your computer to you via a USB port. You access it on your computer just as any external drive. Usually the hard drive is mounted within the player. The older ones connected to a 5" IDE drive the newer ones connect to a 2" or 3" SATA drives.

The AVI format is an outer container for various different formats. So not all AVI files can be played. Older players do not support any AVI formats. The file would have to be converted to an AVI format the player would support. But AVI files take up considerably less space than DVD/VCD formats, so it makes more sense to keep files on the Hard drive in the AVI format.

The thing I noticed is that they come and go in Thailand. In other words, sometimes all the computer parts vendors have them, then sometimes no one has them. Recently, I have only seen players that use only 2" SATA drives. Which means you probably have to buy a new drive too.

[angiud]

The thing I noticed is that they come and go in Thailand. In other words, sometimes all the computer parts vendors have them, then sometimes no one has them. Recently, I have only seen players that use only 2" SATA drives. Which means you probably have to buy a new drive too.

?

WD TV doesn't have a HD enclosed, you can connect almost every drive, hd, thumb, etc and is the box that decode the file (.avi .mp3 .mkv, etc) to any kind of TV

[JusMe]

WD TV doesn't have a HD enclosed, you can connect almost every drive, hd, thumb, etc and is the box that decode the file (.avi .mp3 .mkv, etc) to any kind of TV

But be aware that prices here are much more than outside Thailand.

I discovered the WD Media Player and have decided it's exactly what I want to transfer movies and tv series from my computer to my tv.

Luckily, I'm off for a four week trip to North America in August, and have already ordered, over internet for delivery there, at about two thirds of the price I'd pay for the same thing here. I'll toss it into my case for return.

If you do a search for Media Player, you'll come up with a lot of different manufacturers and models. After my own research, I decided the best choice was WD (Western Digital).

As anglud said, it decodes just about any kind of file you download, so no conversions needed. But you do need an external source for those files, as there's no drive enclosed in it. Some of the WD players have wifi accessibility, so one can stream from an internet source to the tv.

[Richb2004v2]

That is more expensive than the guy at work was selling them for. I'll wait and get one from him. I have a WD external hard drive. The thing he sells has the external drive plug into it and then from there to the TV.

[nikster]

That is more expensive than the guy at work was selling them for. I'll wait and get one from him. I have a WD external hard drive. The thing he sells has the external drive plug into it and then from there to the TV.

A lot of the cheap ones can't do HD. The WD TV was the cheapest to do HD when it came out, and if you have a HD TV or are planning on getting one, I'd definitely recommend that. HD quality looks just amazing, it doesn't compare to SD.

If the boxes this guy sells don't do HD, then any cheapo DVD player will play movies from USB (standard definition AVIs and DivX). I have seen DVD players that do this for 500 baht. HD is definitely the future though and I've never seen a DVD player able to play HD.

I have a WD TV first generation - by and large this device does what it says it does. The only issue is that there's a significant lag on the remote, but reviews on Amazon say this is fixed in later models. On mine, turning the device on and off has a 2 - 3 second lag so you're never really sure the device "heard" you. But playing movies is flawless, gorgeous quality too.

Lastly, you may not need such a box if you are in the market for a new TV. I just bought a Samsung Series 5 LCD TV (40") which has a USB port built-in. It plays HD, and frankly it works much better than the WD TV. I connected a 500GB external hard drive with all my movies- works perfectly, no need for a box. This TV cost 22k baht - not the cheapest but not terribly expensive either, and all the other big brands offer the same functionality at the same price point.

Since all the decoding is done by a hardware chip, I believe that this will be standard on even the cheapest TVs in the next few years. It's a much better solution than yet another box; and with mass production adding this feature will cost the manufacturers next to nothing. I think the external box that does this is already history.

[angiud]

I partially agree with Nickster when he says the external box will be obsolete soon, but the new generation box with LAN capabilities still are useful.

Example: my home configuration: ground floor restaurant with a WD HD TV Live connected to a hd TV by LAN, Upstairs my computers with a 3 TB NAS (shared data storage Hdd) and another box for my bedroom TV.

In this way the thousands films in my Hdds are shared in all my house. Very fast and useful.

(Some new box can do the same by wifi)

[lopburi3]

I believe direct play onto TV requires that the HD be formated using FAT rather than the current NTFS?

[angiud]

Yes and some Tv doesn't support big HD (big directories) also if FAT 32 formatted. And FAT 32 doesn't support big files (over some 2.5/3 Gb) so Mkv files HD movies cannot be played

ortography

Edited July 19, 2010 by angiud

[lomatopo]

FWIW, The new (2010 models) Samsung LCD TVs (e.g.: LN32C530, 17,990 THB Full HD) have USB-input and support FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS. In a shop I hooked up my own 640 GB (NTFS) HDD and played many TV shows, and movies (with SRT subs), in AVI, MKV, MP4, WMV, ASF.

Edited July 19, 2010 by lomatopo

[Naam]

I partially agree with Nickster when he says the external box will be obsolete soon, but the new generation box with LAN capabilities still are useful.

Example: my home configuration: ground floor restaurant with a WD HD TV Live connected to a hd TV by LAN, Upstairs my computers with a 3 TB NAS (shared data storage Hdd) and another box for my bedroom TV.

In this way the thousands films in my Hdds are shared in all my house. Very fast and useful.

(Some new box can do the same by wifi)

bought in Thailand? if yes where please?

Edited July 19, 2010 by Naam

[angiud]

I bought from InvadeIt. But can find in Panthip Pratunam, Banana.it, etc

[JSixpack]

I partially agree with Nickster when he says the external box will be obsolete soon, but the new generation box with LAN capabilities still are useful.

Example: my home configuration: ground floor restaurant with a WD HD TV Live connected to a hd TV by LAN, Upstairs my computers with a 3 TB NAS (shared data storage Hdd) and another box for my bedroom TV.

In this way the thousands films in my Hdds are shared in all my house. Very fast and useful.

(Some new box can do the same by wifi)

+1. I have this kind of setup and really love it. LAN is wonderful.

[astral]

That is more expensive than the guy at work was selling them for. I'll wait and get one from him. I have a WD external hard drive. The thing he sells has the external drive plug into it and then from there to the TV.

A lot of the cheap ones can't do HD. The WD TV was the cheapest to do HD when it came out, and if you have a HD TV or are planning on getting one, I'd definitely recommend that. HD quality looks just amazing, it doesn't compare to SD.

If the boxes this guy sells don't do HD, then any cheapo DVD player will play movies from USB (standard definition AVIs and DivX). I have seen DVD players that do this for 500 baht. HD is definitely the future though and I've never seen a DVD player able to play HD.

Check the specs before you buy.

[Naam]

bought for wife an "Egreat" (Taiwan made) media player in Tukcom, Pattaya today. has LAN, USB, SATA plus a slot for an internal 2.5" drive (max 500gb), price 5,900 Baht. wife busy copying on a 1.5tb external USB drive, price 5,450 Baht. copy speed an excellent 1.8 gb/min. if she is satisfied with the performance i will get the same set for me tomorrow.

thanks for all the helpful advice! until today i had no idea that these players existed :jap:

[astral]

Moved to Computer FAQ and References

[KunMatt]

bought for wife an "Egreat" (Taiwan made) media player in Tukcom, Pattaya today. has LAN, USB, SATA plus a slot for an internal 2.5" drive (max 500gb), price 5,900 Baht. wife busy copying on a 1.5tb external USB drive, price 5,450 Baht. copy speed an excellent 1.8 gb/min. if she is satisfied with the performance i will get the same set for me tomorrow.

thanks for all the helpful advice! until today i had no idea that these players existed :jap:

I would have, and did do(!), brought a PS3 for 10k. This way you get a decent blu ray player, a PS3 games player and the external and internal hard drive player that the OP wants plus more included such as internet streaming, iPlayer (need a UK proxy). Everything HD too.

[Naam]

"wife busy copying on a 1.5tb external USB drive, price 5,450 Baht"

sorry! typo. price was 4,450 Baht.

[thedivezone]

"wife busy copying on a 1.5tb external USB drive, price 5,450 Baht"

sorry! typo. price was 4,450 Baht.

Naam,

can you comment on the Egreat player's performance, please ?

Does play all the relevant files without problems ?

Does it connect via HDMI cable ?

You said the biggest Harddisk it takes is 500 GB (or is that 1.5 TB) ?

Thanks for your help !

[Naam]

"wife busy copying on a 1.5tb external USB drive, price 5,450 Baht"

sorry! typo. price was 4,450 Baht.

Naam,

can you comment on the Egreat player's performance, please ?

Does play all the relevant files without problems ?

Does it connect via HDMI cable ?

You said the biggest Harddisk it takes is 500 GB (or is that 1.5 TB) ?

Thanks for your help !

-i have not yet encountered any file that Egreat can't handle.

-HDMI = yes.

-the internal slot takes a 2.5" max 500gb drive, externally no limitation that i know of. i have a 1.5tb connected.

-i am happy with the performance.

[thedivezone]

"wife busy copying on a 1.5tb external USB drive, price 5,450 Baht"

sorry! typo. price was 4,450 Baht.

Naam,

can you comment on the Egreat player's performance, please ?

Does play all the relevant files without problems ?

Does it connect via HDMI cable ?

You said the biggest Harddisk it takes is 500 GB (or is that 1.5 TB) ?

Thanks for your help !

-i have not yet encountered any file that Egreat can't handle.

-HDMI = yes.

-the internal slot takes a 2.5" max 500gb drive, externally no limitation that i know of. i have a 1.5tb connected.

-i am happy with the performance.

Great info, Naam, thanks !

[pjclark1]

Can you post a photo of the box, etc., so we can all easily identify it in the shops.

Thanks

I have a Samsung series 5 32"LCD (LA-32A55), USB only plays photos and music

Edited January 19, 2011 by pjclark1

[astral]

I think this is the one he is referring to.

http://www.amazon.com/Egreat-EG-M34A-Network-Media-Tank/dp/B002IRBKOS

[Kilgore Trout]

Most new tv's have a usb port and software; you can just plug a hard drive into your tv and watch avi's. If you are thinking about buying a new tv, problem solved

[astral]

Reports suggest that TV's will handle a USB stick, but struggle with a hard drive..................

[Kilgore Trout]

Reports suggest that TV's will handle a USB stick, but struggle with a hard drive..................

I have an lg 32 inch lcd, have a 500gb hd connected; no problems whatsoever

[rayinkrabi]

Reports suggest that TV's will handle a USB stick, but struggle with a hard drive..................

I have an lg 32 inch lcd, have a 500gb hd connected; no problems whatsoever

The key phrase here is 'HDMI' (high def multimedia) my tv also has usb but can't do films so I connected a new hdmi dvd player to it, now no problems but much better to get a tv which states it has hdmi in the first place.

[astral]

I think you are getting muddled here.

HDMI is a physical link (cable) between the player and the TV.

All LCD/Plasma/LED tv's will have this connection.

Kilgore is talking about connecting a Hard Drive to the TV on the USB port.

Some TV models support this, others do not