Setup For Movie Watching?

Zak Flaps

Hi guys.

New to this sort of thing.

I'd just like to watch movies by connecting a hard drive to my tv.

Thinking of this setup:

For storage of movie files, a WD My Passport 1TB Hard Drive:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passport-1TB-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B007UOW818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388443963&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+my+passport+1tb

To connect to the TV (Samsung Smart TV), a WD TV Live Media player:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-TV-Live-Media-Player/dp/B005NYOKC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444107&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+live+media+player

or would something like this be just as good? (it's much cheaper, but maybe not as good)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/JUSTOP-Media-Player-1080P-Surround/dp/B006S6F44W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444191&sr=8-1&keywords=media+box

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

BogManInc

also interested in replies to this, looking for a similar set up myself

platinums

i dont think anything can beat Rasberry Pi with Openelec and a Yatse (Android App for tablet)

Its such a nice setup - browse the movies on the Tablet, click play and they play to the Pi on the Screen. Sonos for a fraction of the price. If you take the setup one step at a time its not to hard on the brain either.

Zak Flaps

Cheers. Went with the Justop media box and will use an old hard drive of mine. Can't comment on the media box yet as it hasn't arrived.

Access

You choose well with the little media player... its the same as the sumvision on amazon which has been mentioned in this forum a few times.

The remote which is small has a small operating angle too though which drives my father mad.

Cant understand one thing though... if you have a recent up to date tv like any samsung from the past three years... you do know by just connecting any hard drive that has media on it to its usb it will play all types of movie files. So no need for any separate media player at all.

Zak Flaps

Access wrote: »

You choose well with the little media player... its the same as the sumvision on amazon which has been mentioned in this forum a few times.

The remote which is small has a small operating angle too though which drives my father mad.

Cant understand one thing though... if you have a recent up to date tv like any samsung from the past three years... you do know by just connecting any hard drive that has media on it to its usb it will play all types of movie files. So no need for any separate media player at all.

Hi. Cheers for your input.
I heard that the remote can be annoying. I don't have the box yet as I was away for a few days. Back tomorrow so I should have it then.
I didn't realise that my smart tv could play all types of movie files!! It seemed to play mp4s ok but I just thought it may be limited. Ah sure what the hell! The box wasn't expensive.
Besides, when I watch a movie on my smart tv using a USB stick, the sound just goes thru my tv speakers, at least when I use the media box, I'll be using a HDMI cable thru my AV receiver, so the sound will be a lot better coming out through my external speakers.

Access

Zak Flaps wrote: »

Hi. Cheers for your input.
I heard that the remote can be annoying. I don't have the box yet as I was away for a few days. Back tomorrow so I should have it then.
I didn't realise that my smart tv could play all types of movie files!! It seemed to play mp4s ok but I just thought it may be limited. Ah sure what the hell! The box wasn't expensive.
Besides, when I watch a movie on my smart tv using a USB stick, the sound just goes thru my tv speakers, at least when I use the media box, I'll be using a HDMI cable thru my AV receiver, so the sound will be a lot better coming out through my external speakers.

Ah... good point. Forgot about the sound side of things.

Good luck with it... its a great little bit of kit and it makes watching movies on your tv easy.

sfag31

for what its worth the sky nowtv (if you can get it sent to a Northern address) . Easy to install plex or media browser 3 - with that you can stream films from your htpc to remote tv's).
Works perfectly and costs about €12.
It is very easy to use and has a good remote.

Zak Flaps

Access wrote: »

You choose well with the little media player... its the same as the sumvision on amazon which has been mentioned in this forum a few times.

The remote which is small has a small operating angle too though which drives my father mad.

Cant understand one thing though... if you have a recent up to date tv like any samsung from the past three years... you do know by just connecting any hard drive that has media on it to its usb it will play all types of movie files. So no need for any separate media player at all.

Hi again. I have found out that the justop media box won't recognise my external hard drive. Don't understand why. It will recognise a USB stick, but not the hard drive. Am I doing something wrong?

jgbyr

Zak Flaps wrote: »

Hi again. I have found out that the justop media box won't recognise my external hard drive. Don't understand why. It will recognise a USB stick, but not the hard drive. Am I doing something wrong?

Could they have different file formats ie fat32 & ntfs ? I've a TV that won't play the ntfs drive, only the fat32 one.

Zak Flaps

jgbyr wrote: »

Could they have different file formats ie fat32 & ntfs ? I've a TV that won't play the ntfs drive, only the fat32 one.

I'm not sure. You could be on to something there. I'll check that later.

Access

jgbyr wrote: »

Could they have different file formats ie fat32 & ntfs ? TV that won't play the ntfs drive, only the fat32 one.

Would agree... check does your media player support ntfs or fat32.

For a quick check... format a usb key as fat32 and a second as ntfs and place a movie on each and see will it play on your media player.

If they do play on both it could be the media player isnt supplying enough power to your hard drive. Or you have a faulty media player.

Also check the reviews on amazon for your media player as someone might have had this Issue already and solved it.

let us know how you get on.

Zak Flaps

Access wrote: »

Would agree... check does your media player support ntfs or fat32.

For a quick check... format a usb key as fat32 and a second as ntfs and place a movie on each and see will it play on your media player.

If they do play on both it could be the media player isnt supplying enough power to your hard drive. Or you have a faulty media player.

Also check the reviews on amazon for your media player as someone might have had this Issue already and solved it.

let us know how you get on.

Hi Access. I formatted a my USB stick to the same as my external hard drive - Mac Os Extended (journaled)....WD recommended i format the hard drive that way. Now the USB stick won't work so you may be right.
Can i reformat my external hard drive to fat32, or is it a bad idea to reformat a lot? Will my mac regognise fat 32?

Zak Flaps

Ok. So I reformatted my external hard drive to MS Dos (FAT). The media box still won't recognise it. It freezes after a few minutes. I can't reformat anything to NTFS, as I'm not given that option. Maybe it just has trouble with large capacity hard drives.

I ordered a WD Media Play last week, so hopefully that will work the way I want it to!

Access

Zak Flaps wrote: »

Ok. So I reformatted my external hard drive to MS Dos (FAT). The media box still won't recognise it. It freezes after a few minutes. I can't reformat anything to NTFS, as I'm not given that option. Maybe it just has trouble with large capacity hard drives.

I ordered a WD Media Play last week, so hopefully that will work the way I want it to!

I have no idea on macs or anything on the dark side!

Bog standard fat wont work im afraid...Your media player needs to have a ntfs drive connected so... Just format your external drive that you intend to use full time with your media player on a windows pc and format it ntfs.

I am lost to figure out why you have gone and bought another different wd media player as well though?

you dont need any of these media players at all... like I was saying earlier... by just plugging your external drive into the usb port on your tv you can view all your media using your tv remote to control it.

shrapnel222

no need for a media player if you have a smart TV btw, you can plug the hard drive directly via the USB slots or hook it up and play it over your network/wifi etc.

Zak Flaps

Access wrote: »

Your media player needs to have a ntfs drive connected so... Just format your external drive that you intend to use full time with your media player on a windows pc and format it ntfs.

I am lost to figure out why you have gone and bought another different wd media player as well though?

you dont need any of these media players at all... like I was saying earlier... by just plugging your external drive into the usb port on your tv you can view all your media using your tv remote to control it.

I don't have a pc so can't format it to ntfs.
If I plugged my external hard drive into the tv, the sound would just be coming through the tv speakers. With the media box, it goes through my AV receiver and external speakers. Sound is so much better.
The WD player arrived and is streets ahead of the justop box. Much better remote control(justop one sucks), the interface is really nice(justop interface horribly cheap looking), recognizes my external hard drive and you get a few apps thrown in also(netflix etc....). Just for an extra €25.Glad I made the purchase.

shrapnel222 wrote: »

no need for a media player if you have a smart TV btw, you can plug the hard drive directly via the USB slots or hook it up and play it over your network/wifi etc.

If I plugged my external hard drive into the tv, the sound would just be coming through the tv speakers. With the media box, it goes through my AV receiver and external speakers. Sound is so much better.

shrapnel222

if your speakers are plugged in to the TV, you can select them for audio, regardless of where the video is coming from, or am i missing something?

Scotty #

platinums wrote: »

i dont think anything can beat Rasberry Pi with Openelec and a Yatse (Android App for tablet)

Agreed.

With this solution you don't need external drives or media libraries. Every movie/TV show you can think of (1000's in HD) are available at the push of a button (or rather touch screen). Hundred's of live TV channels too.

You need...

• A Rasberry Pi - £28 (amazon.co.uk)
• 8GB SD card - €10.49 (Argos.ie)
• Rasberry Pi Cover - £3 (amazon)
• HDMI cable - €6.99 (Argos)
• Micro USB charger - €8.99 (Argos)
• Wireless Dongle - €20 (Harvey Normans)
• USB keyboard - for initial setup only.

Install openelec from http://openelec.tv/ on the SD card.

Use your phone/tablet for controller. Lots of apps available.

Then install 'fusion' add on from http://www.xbmchub.com/blog/2013/05/26/how-to-instantly-configure-xbmc-with-the-xbmc-hub-wizard-beta-addon/

The Rasberry Pi can also be used on older non HD TV's as it also has RCA connection.

Whole set up takes less than 10 mins.

larchielads

Zak Flaps wrote: »

I don't have a pc so can't format it to ntfs.
If I plugged my external hard drive into the tv, the sound would just be coming through the tv speakers. With the media box, it goes through my AV receiver and external speakers. Sound is so much better.
The WD player arrived and is streets ahead of the justop box. Much better remote control(justop one sucks), the interface is really nice(justop interface horribly cheap looking), recognizes my external hard drive and you get a few apps thrown in also(netflix etc....). Just for an extra €25.Glad I made the purchase.



If I plugged my external hard drive into the tv, the sound would just be coming through the tv speakers. With the media box, it goes through my AV receiver and external speakers. Sound is so much better.

if it was just the sound that was bothering you, you could have ran an optical lead from your tv to your av receiver while watching your movies from hard drive. voila!! the sound gores thru your external speakers. optical lead prob cost 20 quid for a decent one.

any way the wd player def handy as you could bring it round mates house and play thru hdmi if they aint got usb connection on their tv. how much was wd player??

Zak Flaps

larchielads wrote: »

if it was just the sound that was bothering you, you could have ran an optical lead from your tv to your av receiver while watching your movies from hard drive. voila!! the sound gores thru your external speakers. optical lead prob cost 20 quid for a decent one.

any way the wd player def handy as you could bring it round mates house and play thru hdmi if they aint got usb connection on their tv. how much was wd player??

Ah!! If only I'd known that earlier!!
No too bothered though. I'm happy with my WD.

It cost me €60 including delivery.