DVD Player that plays video files off usb stick

CyberWaste

Does anyone know of a fairly cheap dvd player or even something that allows you to plug a sub stick into the back of your tv and watch video files, in like AVI etc, off a usb stick on your main tv? I have a price range of about up to 50€ but would like possibly the cheapest. A link to ebay or any irish electronic site or electronic shop on the high street would be appreciated. Thanks.

Black_Knight

Keep an eye on Aldi and Lidl. Thats where i got mine a few years ago.

If that fails, ive my old Aldi one that I dont use. If anyone here can remember the price of them in aldi (i think about €40), you can have it for half that.

Mr.McMoobs

Brand new and Delivered for €42
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/520264/art/sigmatek/xs-390-dvd-player.html

or this one
for a little extra
It has HDMI port included
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/648218/art/biostek/xs-600-dvd-player.html

I have one like them and it plays nearly everything thrown at it.

CyberWaste

Black_Knight wrote: »

Keep an eye on Aldi and Lidl. Thats where i got mine a few years ago.

If that fails, ive my old Aldi one that I dont use. If anyone here can remember the price of them in aldi (i think about €40), you can have it for half that.

Could I get a picture of it if its not too much too ask, and would you post it to kilkenny if I payed postage obviously? Thanks. I really need to get one of these as I always take films "off my PC".:rolleyes: Also whats the input for it, is it composite, HDMI etc.

And, Thanks McMoobs for that, illl have a think about that, maybe get a second one.

CyberWaste

Actually I think im going to go with pixmania, but can you guys or anyone else answer a few quick questions for me:
Those 2 dvds above, do they play video files off a usb no matter the file format? Or do I have to convert the video files to a certain format? Also do they play data dvds, you know dvds that store data by the 4gb not the time limit, you get what im saying?

And you see the dvd player in the second link there, it says it upscales video files, does that mean it makes the quality better, like the xbox 360 does, as when I used to watch usb files off it, the quality was great, even though I was watching on a 42'' philips tv.

Which would you recommend to me, all I want is to watch video files off a usb and have them come out in good quality, and be able to have the standard use of dvd's, but have the audio come out in 5.1 surround. I dont have that much money atm also.

Mr.McMoobs

CyberWaste wrote: »

Those 2 dvds above, do they play video files off a usb no matter the file format? Or do I have to convert the video files to a certain format?

The dvd players play pretty much anything. I had a problem with one or two films at most. Also you need to have your usb drive formatted to fat32. The players also support harddrives up to about 120GB.

CyberWaste wrote: »

Also do they play data dvds, you know dvds that store data by the 4gb not the time limit, you get what im saying?

Yea you can put a couple of your avi files onto a dvd and play it. Well i could anyhow.

CyberWaste wrote: »

And you see the dvd player in the second link there, it says it upscales video files, does that mean it makes the quality better, like the xbox 360 does, as when I used to watch usb files off it, the quality was great, even though I was watching on a 42'' philips tv.

I presume it does improve the image, but I cant say as i have never tried (rubbish tv).

CyberWaste wrote: »

Which would you recommend to me, all I want is to watch video files off a usb and have them come out in good quality, and be able to have the standard use of dvd's, but have the audio come out in 5.1 surround. I dont have that much money atm also.

I would pick the second one as it seems to upscale which would look much better on your tv.

Tony255

do you need the have the files stored in any particular order on a drive? I also notice the second dvd player only plays MPEG4 can anyone confirm if this is really the case, i want something that will be able to play avi's,etc...

Black_Knight

CyberWaste wrote: »

Could I get a picture of it if its not too much too ask, and would you post it to kilkenny if I payed postage obviously? Thanks. I really need to get one of these as I always take films "off my PC".:rolleyes: Also whats the input for it, is it composite, HDMI etc.

Hey, sorry about the slowness!
If you dont mind paying for postage then I dont mind at all.
I dont have the DVD player on me at the mo, im at work, but as far as I know its not HDMI... i think. From memory, theres Composite and Scart output!
I dont have a picture to hand but if your still interested, ill get ya a pic. Its similar enough looking to Mr.McMoobs 2nd link.

But if your going with pixmania, fire ahead, and best of luck with it.

CyberWaste

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/648218/art/biostek/xs-600-dvd-player.html?form=71#tech-specs

Is it just me or does that dvd player not play in 5.1 surround, like have the ability to do that, as I have a surround sound set and want to do that.

Black_Knight

CyberWaste wrote: »

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/648218/art/biostek/xs-600-dvd-player.html?form=71#tech-specs

Is it just me or does that dvd player not play in 5.1 surround, like have the ability to do that, as I have a surround sound set and want to do that.

Just checked another site for the spec. It says: Audio Decoders - Dolby Digital 5.1
Another site says Dolby Digital AC3, and from my understanding, AC3 is the 5 Speakers and sub.

So from what I see, it plays in 5.1 Surround. Mr.McMoobs might be able to tell us if his player has 5.1 surround, but im pretty confident it does.

Mr.McMoobs

I just checked my own dvd player there and its actually the XS-700, (it looks the exact same as the XS-600). It has 5.1 surround on it. svideo , composite and hdmi.

Also Tony you just need your drive to be formatted to fat32 and it only reads to about 120GB. My player wouldn't read anymore than this.

Hope this helps.

CyberWaste

Im at the checkout on pixmania to buy the dvd player and this thing saying:

Zen Engagement - XS-600 DVD Player

Unit price = € 4,18 Inc. VAT
Choose the Zen Engagement and take advantage of loads of services!
A refund in case your product malfunctions, product trade-ins, accessories at great prices, etc.

I dont want nor care for it so how do I remove it?

Mr.McMoobs

I think there is a link for more info on the zen engagement(the Find more info link). Go into this and you can unsubsribe to the zen engagement at the bottom. Hope that helps

hshortt

DVD players can be funny about the files they will play back. There are many different formats of video files. The most popular types will play back without issue, those being Mpg1, DivX 4 & 5 and some standard AVI files. Unfortunately, AVI is just a container and can store information encoded in DivX, Xvid or a bunch of other formats. so to be 100% sure get yourself a codec checker such as GSpot (http://www.headbands.com/gspot/)

The encoded sound within the file is another issue entirely. AC3 is multichannel audio file, but it doesn't necessarily contain a multichannel audio track, could just be stereo encoded to AC3.

Its a bit messy being honest, make sure you check out as much information as possible on the model you'll buy. The formats it will play will be listed somewhere, another resource for checking out compatible formats is vcdhelp.com where you can enter your model, check for region hacks and compatibility issues.

Some players won't read DVD-R, but will read DVD+R! Check as much as you can before you buy.

Cheerio
Howard

CyberWaste

Well I ordered the dvd player, the biostek off pixmania, so if what your saying howard is true, and it doesnt work well, dont pixmania have a 7 day money back guarantee if you dont like it? SO I could return it if its not that good. Hopefully it will be.

CyberWaste

EDIT: Got it today. Its grand, plays files off usb stick and such.

hshortt

Good news then! Enjoy.

CyberWaste

And it went! I was playing a file off a usb and out of nowhere it went, no sparks or anything, just picture went and shut down, I cant turn it back on, tried everything, and my dvd is in it! I was watching it on 1080i and strangely it came with like a USA plug so I had to use an adapter on it, but would that have contributed to it dying? it seemed sturdy enough!

Whats the deal on returns to pixmania? How long do they take to take it off you and can you get a refund? Anyone ever return anything to pixmania that could advise me here?

Or any ideas on how I could fix this dvd player? Thanks.:mad::mad:

Black_Knight

Did it blow the fuse?

Even if it did, id just return it.

Return if not happy
You have a 7-day money-back guarantee that starts when you receive the product.

Return Shipping
If your product malfunctions and our technical analysis reveals that the malfunction is covered by the warranty, we will reimburse you for shipping fees.
Please keep a record of your shipping fees and send us a copy by postal mail, remembering to include your order number, to the following address:

Pixmania Customer Service
43-47 avenue de la Grande Armée
75016 Paris
France

NB: If the malfunction is not covered by the warranty (e.g. for accidents or if the product is dropped, etc.) shipping fees will not be reimbursed.

Warranty
All products are covered by the manufacturer's 12-month warranty unless otherwise stated. For your additional peace of mind we offer an extended warranty of one (1) year on most products at no extra cost.

Saying that, ive not had any experience with returning goods to them.
Best of luck with it.

Maybe Consumer Issues might know about refunds with Pixmania.

CyberWaste

Thanks for that, I got it back working, but the picture freezes when using the usb stick (which i really got it for) every ten minutes and when I restart the machine, the same thing happens. I changed settings etc but nothing, same thing happens. Does anyone know if I Can get a refund since it is faulty or ask for a different dvd player in return?

I wasnt all that impressed with it also in fairness, for €55 that is. Picture quality on hi def tv is actually worse than when I use my pioneer, but that doesnt have a usb input.:o

hshortt

Have you tried other files on your usb key? Liklihood is that the files are not within the specs of the player and the player is choking trying to play them back. Somewhere within the manual you'll find the specs of the files it can play. This will include the maximum resolution and bit rate, along with types such as DivX etc.

You should also look for firmware updates for the player before returning it, as this might sort it out.

Cheers

CyberWaste

hshortt wrote: »

Have you tried other files on your usb key? Liklihood is that the files are not within the specs of the player and the player is choking trying to play them back. Somewhere within the manual you'll find the specs of the files it can play. This will include the maximum resolution and bit rate, along with types such as DivX etc.

You should also look for firmware updates for the player before returning it, as this might sort it out.

Cheers

hmm ill look into that. Theyre just avi 700mb files you get off the net
Ill have a fiddle around, before returning it.

EDIT: nothing in the manual about it and I cant firmware update it. Any ideas if it is choking, what I should do? The Xbox played them all fine off the same memory stick, but maybe im just clutching at straws here. It says on the back off the manual, Discs compatability: MPEG4, DVD DVD+/-R/RW, VCD, JPEG.CD-DA, CD-RW, USB 1.1. Is it becuase it ways USB 1.1 is why its freezing, or is it saying that it works with a USB 1.1 stick along with 2.0 sticks?
Also would I need to convert the video files to MPEG, or should the just work ok with AVI's? Any Ideas?