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hardrive or summit..

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  • 05-11-2010 10:40pm
    #1
    we'llallhavetea_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,971 ✭✭✭


    hey *geeks :)/ :P

    so, i would like to get my dad a hardrive for xmas. i think :o

    i don't really know what i'm looking for, but i know he wants to be able to download movies to this yoke and then be able to plug it into the telly and watch them :confused: my cousin has one of these and he's been pining since he brought it over :rolleyes:

    so basically, could someone please tell me what it is i'm looking for? :D






    * 'puter genius :P


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    #2
    Deano12345
    Registered Users Posts: 1,594 ✭✭✭Deano12345


    we'llallhavetea wrote: »
    hey *geeks :)/ :P

    so, i would like to get my dad a hardrive for xmas. i think :o

    i don't really know what i'm looking for, but i know he wants to be able to download movies to this yoke and then be able to plug it into the telly and watch them :confused: my cousin has one of these and he's been pining since he brought it over :rolleyes:

    so basically, could someone please tell me what it is i'm looking for? :D






    * 'puter genius :P

    The actual name excapes me but I know exactly what your on about, WD have one.

    Something like this would do

    http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/6657619/art/western-digital/wd-elements-play-2-tb-med.html


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    #3
    hanloj1
    Registered Users Posts: 248 ✭✭hanloj1


    you're looking for a media player.
    This one is seperate from the hard drive: http://cgi.ebay.ie/NBox-HD-Media-Player-Watch-Downloaded-Movies-your-TV-/260587003540?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item3cac321e94

    or this one has hard drive built in:

    http://cgi.ebay.ie/MEMUP-MEDIADISK-FX-500-GB-MEDIA-PLAYER-HARD-DRIVE-/260663573696?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_205&hash=item3cb0c27cc0

    These prob aren't the best price.


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    #4
    we'llallhavetea_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,971 ✭✭✭we'llallhavetea_old


    ah, you're wee stars, thanks lads :)


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    #5
    Voodu Child
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    Does he have a HD television?

    Does he have a surround system?

    Does he have any USB hard-drives already?


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    #6
    we'llallhavetea_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,971 ✭✭✭we'llallhavetea_old


    no hd tv.

    no surround.

    no...

    this isn't sounding very good...


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    #7
    Voodu Child
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    we'llallhavetea wrote: »
    no hd tv.

    no surround.

    no...

    this isn't sounding very good...

    Just wanted to check what kind of connections, capabilities and cables you might need.

    The fact that he doesnt have a HDTV means that a basic (and cheaper) standard-def player might suffice. They connect to the TV using analogue (composite) cables rather than HDMI.

    Such as the Western Digital TV Mini. They won't play the full range of high-def video files, but if you are not connecting to a HDTV (via HDMI) then its kind of pointless to download HD movies anyway.

    That one doesnt come with storage, thats why I was wondering if he had a HDD already. But you can get portable USB drives for not too much money: Link


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    #8
    we'llallhavetea_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,971 ✭✭✭we'llallhavetea_old


    Voodu Child wrote: »
    Just wanted to check what kind of connections, capabilities and cables you might need.

    The fact that he doesnt have a HDTV means that a basic (and cheaper) standard-def player might suffice. They connect to the TV using analogue (composite) cables rather than HDMI.

    Such as the Western Digital TV Mini. They won't play the full range of high-def video files, but if you are not connecting to a HDTV (via HDMI) then its kind of pointless to download HD movies anyway.

    That one doesnt come with storage, thats why I was wondering if he had a HDD already. But you can get portable USB drives for not too much money: Link

    thanks voodoo child :D that's great, i can start shoppin' around now :)


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    #9
    slowlydownwards
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭slowlydownwards


    WD TV Mini's inability to play h.264 (.mkv) should discourage anyone from getting it, no matter how keenly it is priced. Apart from HD movies, a lot of SD (standard def) content is also being encoded with that codec. I would encourage OP to look for media player that supports h.264 (.mkv).


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    #10
    we'llallhavetea_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,971 ✭✭✭we'llallhavetea_old


    slowlydownwards wrote: »
    WD TV Mini's inability to play h.264 (.mkv) should discourage anyone from getting it, no matter how keenly it is priced. Apart from HD movies, a lot of SD (standard def) content is also being encoded with that codec. I would encourage OP to look for media player that supports h.264 (.mkv).

    er.. thats like a foreign language to me i'm afraid :o

    i seen this http://cgi.ebay.ie/TVD-Nbox-Media-Player-View-Downloaded-Movies-TV-/260678815641?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item3cb1ab0f99

    now i know i have to get memory to go with it. how many gb do you think i will need? he's not gonna need too much tbh. do i just get a usb stick? how big do they go? sorry for all the questions!


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    #11
    slowlydownwards
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭slowlydownwards


    This or this (thanks Bargain Alerts) in 1TB versions, or the one Voodu posted, if on a tighter budget.


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    #12
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    Isn't it the same issue again though? AFAIK those cheapie TVDs (and their many variants) use the usual budget codecs, so no H.264/MKV files, HiDef or not! :o


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    #13
    slowlydownwards
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭slowlydownwards


    Well... how do you recommend someone spends four times the money on a media player (that will do more or less the same on the outset) without using the jargon? I detest when people use RTFM liberally, so...


    When dvd-s are backed-up to a hard drive (memory unit) to be played through media players, each movie can take up a lot of space. To counter this, there are computer programs that will shrink those dvd backups. They shrink them down to about 1/5 (one fifth) of the original size with only little quality loss. The above mentioned h.264/mkv allows the dvd backups to be compressed even more (up to one tenth of the original size), again with little quality loss. This is great when moving the movie files around, given their small size. This factor should not be overlooked as most Irish internet services are quite poor and do not allow easy transfer of large files over the net.

    TVD player (and WD TV Mini) will play most movie files, but not ones that are compressed (shrunk) using the h.264/mkv. Hope this helps.


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    #14
    we'llallhavetea_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,971 ✭✭✭we'llallhavetea_old


    slowlydownwards wrote: »
    Well... how do you recommend someone spends four times the money on a media player (that will do more or less the same on the outset) without using the jargon? I detest when people use RTFM liberally, so...


    When dvd-s are backed-up to a hard drive (memory unit) to be played through media players, each movie can take up a lot of space. To counter this, there are computer programs that will shrink those dvd backups. They shrink them down to about 1/5 (one fifth) of the original size with only little quality loss. The above mentioned h.264/mkv allows the dvd backups to be compressed even more (up to one tenth of the original size), again with little quality loss. This is great when moving the movie files around, given their small size. This factor should not be overlooked as most Irish internet services are quite poor and do not allow easy transfer of large files over the net.

    TVD player (and WD TV Mini) will play most movie files, but not ones that are compressed (shrunk) using the h.264/mkv. Hope this helps.

    ah i see now ok, so that nbox thing isn't worth a fiddlers really.

    thanks for explaining the importance of the h.264 thingy, sometimes i just assume these specs are not really necessary for non-geeks!

    i did lol at
    about 1/5 (one fifth)
    though! hehe, i'm not that thick! :P


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    #15
    marco_polo
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 10,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭marco_polo


    This is a bit dearer than some of the other suggestions but it will play pretty well anything you throw at it including h.264/mkv.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-1080p-HDP-R1-Internet-Streamer/dp/B002OQPBVQ


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