Media Players

[SteeleJoe]

First please, understand -- I know virtually nothing about IT and little about modern A/V stuff. I can operate a PC and have a vague notion of how it works and that's about it. Snicker all you like. All I've be willing to take some derisive comments if I can get some information:

I want an external media player; one of those boxes that you can hook up to your TV and play virtually any sort of file format (including HD). I don't need any frills (hard disk or CD drive or internet streaming etc), I just want to plug in a USB or external harddrive and watch or listen to stuff on my Sony home theater. I've noticed that the prices have come down and I've seen some just under of just over 3000 baht -- that falls into the range where I can justify buying one given the low priority and my currently very tight budget.

Who can tell me the best one (in that range)? What should I avoid? If I give some brand names that I've found, is there anyone who can say whether they are decent or not?

I hate being so pathetic but my interests and abilities have always been elsewhere other than technology. I'd really appreciate any and all help.

Thanks

[matador11021965]

hi

the asus o'play hdr1 is nice and simple play's also iso fils and dvd and bluray folder it has a seperate esata port for fast data transfer and a usb port so you can hook up 2 things harddrive and usb stick and also copying betweenthe 2 is no problem

have used it in the netherland and is great the only thing you have to do is download the latest firmware put it on a stick and it will detect it self yust format the stick in fat32

[SteeleJoe]

hi

the asus o'play hdr1 is nice and simple play's also iso fils and dvd and bluray folder it has a seperate esata port for fast data transfer and a usb port so you can hook up 2 things harddrive and usb stick and also copying betweenthe 2 is no problem

have used it in the netherland and is great the only thing you have to do is download the latest firmware put it on a stick and it will detect it self yust format the stick in fat32

Thanks very much (if only I understood more than 75%...)

[sammycic]

I use WDTV Live, perfect for what you want, plug in your USB and it will play anything you can throw at it. Also has optical audio pass through, hook up your home theater with optical cable and hdmi cable to your TV and away you go.

[JusMe]

I use WDTV Live, perfect for what you want, plug in your USB and it will play anything you can throw at it. Also has optical audio pass through, hook up your home theater with optical cable and hdmi cable to your TV and away you go.

Mine's a WDTV Live, and I really like it. Hooked to my tv, I use an external hard drive to connect to my computer for downloads and then USB to the WDTV Live for playing on my big screen.

I'm pretty basic at the techie stuff, and think I could probably set it up so that it would network over a wifi thingy so I wouldn't have to bother moving the hard drive, but I'm too lazy to figure that out.

[Totster]

I bought a DVD player for around bt800 with a usb port. It plays .avi(xvid), mp4, wmv, mp3 and maybe more, but not .mkv. You can get more expensive players that play all files... or so they say.

totster

Edited April 8, 2011 by Totster

[Ginkas]

Bought a WD HD TV media player about a year ago, very happy with it.

Copied my DVDs onto a Hard Drive, as I found the DVDs were deteriorating in this climate.

Found the WD HD TV would not play the copied VOB files, nor ISO files.

Bought an Asus O!Play HDR1, which does play VOB and ISO files.

Again, very happy with it apart from the menu display.

This is in a small box to the left whereas the WD was full screen, like Windoze Explorer.

Waiting for the Asus O!Play HD2 to come to Chiangmai.

A.C. Ryan also get good reviews but not seen it here.

[phazey]

Playstation 3 + ps3mediaserver on your PC. this way you get a free blu-ray player and the odd games thrown into the bargain.

[sammycic]

"I'm pretty basic at the techie stuff, and think I could probably set it up so that it would network over a wifi thingy so I wouldn't have to bother moving the hard drive, but I'm too lazy to figure that out."

i hooked mine up to wi-fi because i was too lazy to keep moving my external hard drive between computer and WDTV and love it, works brilliantly. Plugged the USB wifi adapter in and just worked.

Edited April 8, 2011 by sammycic

[Mugg]

hi

the asus o'play hdr1 is nice and simple play's also iso fils and dvd and bluray folder it has a seperate esata port for fast data transfer and a usb port so you can hook up 2 things harddrive and usb stick and also copying betweenthe 2 is no problem

have used it in the netherland and is great the only thing you have to do is download the latest firmware put it on a stick and it will detect it self yust format the stick in fat32

Thanks very much (if only I understood more than 75%...)

Here are a few options for you to look at .. Compare

Edited April 8, 2011 by Mugg

[SteeleJoe]

Thanks very much indeed folks. This is exactly the kind of info i was hoping for (though I'm not interested in getting another DVD player -- got 2 already and those that play mulitiple formats dont usually do ful HD, I believe -- and I don't want to spend as much as I need to for a Playstation at this point).

I feel fortunate to have this resource and I'm glad I asked. Cheers.

[craigt3365]

I've got a WD Live also and really like it. Problems are it gets hot. So have to unplug it when not in use. I don't do streaming due to bandwidth issues.

I like that Asus, but read it is HDMI only. So make sure you can handle that.

Naam recommended the Egreat. What I like is you can add a hard drive inside and it has a cooling fan. Along with connections for anything you need. Seems to be a nice player.

http://www.egreatworld.com/en/

[angiud]

I use WDTV Live and I'm very happy with it

[bobbin]

I have the Apacer AL460. Plays everything and will do wifi.

On sale now at Tesco-Lotus for Bt. 2800.

[astral]

This thread may help you.

[SteeleJoe]

I have the Apacer AL460. Plays everything and will do wifi.

On sale now at Tesco-Lotus for Bt. 2800.

This thread may help you.

I just found the Apacer AL460 today and it was the cheapest in the shop (2,900) -- good to now you're happy with it. Same shop had both the Asus O!Play HDR1 (3,300) and the Asus O!Play HD2 (5,000+) but the latter is more than I want to pay and according to the very cursory explanation from the shopgirl (who could tell I wasn't going to buy today was too busy bother much with me) the only difference between the two was the HD2 has a hard disk.

I haven't seen a WD in my area but as rare as it is that I need to, it would be nice (though not essential) to be able to to play ISO and VOB.

I'm really intrigued at the idea of being able to do everything via WiFi and not have to shit my external hard drive back and forth - but I don't want to spend any extra to make that happen...

Astral:

I should have known there was a thread for me already. Sorry for redundancy.

[BngkkB]

This is a great Thread and has a lot of good information and links, Thank You.

One more question? Where is the best place to shop for, compare and purchase these type of players?

Thanks,

B

[BngkkB]

I forgot to add:

The best plae to shop, compare and purchase one of the players in Bangkok?

Thanks

[SteeleJoe]

Did some reading -- a lot of just confuses and overwhelms me but it has been of value. I think I've narrowed my choice down to

Asus O!Play HDR1

or

WD TV HD Media Player

Problem is, as is often the case with such things it seems, there's some peole that say one is definitely bettwre and then another that says the other one is definitely better. But the tech stuff is way over my head so basically they both sound good since I did understand they play everything that I want.

I actually like some thing about the Apacer too but a dealbreaker for me was the way the USB ports are on the front: it makes it easy fro using flashdrives but if you want to hook up an external hard drive it's going to be inconvenient and aesthetically displeasing to have the cable running out of the front.

[JSixpack]

I haven't seen a WD in my area but as rare as it is that I need to, it would be nice (though not essential) to be able to to play ISO and VOB.

I have a WDHD Live and it plays ISO and VOB just fine. I can't conceive that it wouldn't.

[SteeleJoe]

I haven't seen a WD in my area but as rare as it is that I need to, it would be nice (though not essential) to be able to to play ISO and VOB.

I have a WDHD Live and it plays ISO and VOB just fine. I can't conceive that it wouldn't.

I don't want LIVE -- I want the cheapest, not willing to pay another 1,000 or whatever for stuff I don't need -- and I've read and been told by an owner of the WD TV that it won't play them. But what do I know?

[sammycic]

I don't want LIVE -- I want the cheapest, not willing to pay another 1,000 or whatever for stuff I don't need -- and I've read and been told by an owner of the WD TV that it won't play them. But what do I know?

I know you don't want one but if you go for the WDTV, make sure you buy the LIVE version as it is the latest model and does everything you want.

You don't need live + as you can't access netflix etc from here anyhow. Check the WDTV website heaps of info there.

Edited April 9, 2011 by sammycic

[Schooner]

I have a Slim S1 from TVIX (6,000 baht). It is my second media player. I started out with a cheaper unit, forget the model which did not have a fan and I think it overheated. It also had a crappy remote and no option for WiFi. This unit takes a seta drive plus 3 USB ports. So far (2 months) it works perfectly.

My bedroom TV is a Samsung series 5 which has a built in basic media player and 1 USB input.

[craigt3365]

I haven't seen a WD in my area but as rare as it is that I need to, it would be nice (though not essential) to be able to to play ISO and VOB.

I have a WDHD Live and it plays ISO and VOB just fine. I can't conceive that it wouldn't.

I don't want LIVE -- I want the cheapest, not willing to pay another 1,000 or whatever for stuff I don't need -- and I've read and been told by an owner of the WD TV that it won't play them. But what do I know?

One thing to remember about the live version, you can update the firmware. Which is a big deal. I've read reviews from users of the non live version that had problems due to the firmware. I've updated mine 2 times in the past year or so...

You can also access internet radio and play it through your stereo...which is pretty cool. YouTube also.

[SteeleJoe]

I haven't seen a WD in my area but as rare as it is that I need to, it would be nice (though not essential) to be able to to play ISO and VOB.

I have a WDHD Live and it plays ISO and VOB just fine. I can't conceive that it wouldn't.

I don't want LIVE -- I want the cheapest, not willing to pay another 1,000 or whatever for stuff I don't need -- and I've read and been told by an owner of the WD TV that it won't play them. But what do I know?

One thing to remember about the live version, you can update the firmware. Which is a big deal. I've read reviews from users of the non live version that had problems due to the firmware. I've updated mine 2 times in the past year or so...

You can also access internet radio and play it through your stereo...which is pretty cool. YouTube also.

Thanks very much for that. I really want to get something around 3,000 but you make a very good argument for spending more...

[genobkk]

I have the popcorn hour I love it, it plays every type of file HD, etc. check out their site www.popcornhour.com I have the c-200 that I bought when it first came out but their newer smaller box would work just fine. The chip the box uses helps a lot if you want to watch HD you need a powerful box. My issues is now am running out of Hard drive space and looking at what options I have to correct. I have the 1.5 TB hard drive in the bay of the box wish is full and a 2TB Desk top hard drive wish is filling up fast to.

[SteeleJoe]

I have the popcorn hour I love it, it plays every type of file HD, etc. check out their site www.popcornhour.com I have the c-200 that I bought when it first came out but their newer smaller box would work just fine. The chip the box uses helps a lot if you want to watch HD you need a powerful box. My issues is now am running out of Hard drive space and looking at what options I have to correct. I have the 1.5 TB hard drive in the bay of the box wish is full and a 2TB Desk top hard drive wish is filling up fast to.

Geno: Did you get it in BKK? If so, where? And what sort of price are we talking about?

[astral]

The WDHD (non live model) is no longer supported for firmware updates.

[SteeleJoe]

The WDHD (non live model) is no longer supported for firmware updates.

Yeah, a friend (who has one) just told me that today.

[genobkk]

I have the popcorn hour I love it, it plays every type of file HD, etc. check out their site www.popcornhour.com I have the c-200 that I bought when it first came out but their newer smaller box would work just fine. The chip the box uses helps a lot if you want to watch HD you need a powerful box. My issues is now am running out of Hard drive space and looking at what options I have to correct. I have the 1.5 TB hard drive in the bay of the box wish is full and a 2TB Desk top hard drive wish is filling up fast to.

Geno: Did you get it in BKK? If so, where? And what sort of price are we talking about?

I bought it online, the tax was only 400 THB or something like that. It has been 2 years now almost. I had thought about buying a few and trying to resale but changed my mind as it seemed not much of a market for that kind of thing at the time