What Media Player?

_Kaiser_

Hey all,

So I've previously used WDTV Live boxes (all 3 generations actually) for my home media needs. This in turn connects to home server which runs Mezzmo DLNA media server.

But I bought a new LG TV a few months back which came with a LAN port and a built-in media player so I've been using that since and while it works, the UI isn't great, playback can be awkward (no proper FF/RW function and it randomly stops working anyway) and some files it refuses to play at all (despite Mezzmo being able to convert anything non-native on the fly)

So I'm thinking of another dedicated player but the Gen 3 WDTV wasn't great.. UI is a bit dated, remote is very unreliable and add-ons are pretty basic.

I don't want to go down the route of a XBMC PC (there's already a Poweredge beside the telly as it is ) and I want something that'll preferably just work with a minimum of config/hassle.
Price.. I suppose a max of about €250 (plucked out of the air.. I've no idea what they go for now but the WDTV was over €100 at the time).

Any suggestions?

Ste-

Raspberry PI running Kodi, lightweight not that slow if you overclock it and a very pleaseant experience. Cheap too.

degsie

My player of choice atm is Amazon Fire TV. You can sideload Kodi, has plex client and access to the growing Fire TV appstore.
The interface is easy to navigate with the cool small remote which incorporates voice search.

BionicRasher

Why not try Chromecast and Plex
Plex to me is easier. Your phone or tablet talks to the Plex server and requests the video in a format that's viewable by the Chromecast
Nice and straight forward and your phone or tablet becomes the remote and its got a nice interface too. You may even want to get a dedicated chepo tablet to be the remote and interface for the TV

tommycahir

I am currently running a RPi with openelec installed for Kodi and works fine , little slow with navigating some menus but plays everything from the NAS I have thrown at it.

My next plan is to get one of the newly announced NUCs and build a HTPC as per this post - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=93223179&postcount=2

Nelbert

Stick a graphics card in the Poweredge? problem solved surely?

_Kaiser_

Cheers for the feedback guys.. seems I've some reading to do - never even heard of Kodi (EDIT: Ahh it's XBMC rebranded)

Just to answer a few questions/points...

- I'd rather an all-in-one device with a remote rather than something that relies on a phone/tablet to control it but it's an interesting idea and I have a Chromecast already

- I tried Plex and the others previously (admittedly about 3 years ago) and settled on Mezzmo because - at the time anyway - it was the only one that could consistently and on-the-fly convert any video format to something that any device could play. They were also very good with frequent updates and support when needed. Will have another look at Plex too though

- Can't stick a video card in the server .. it's running 3 Server 2012 VMs (one of which is the media server) and GPU passthrough requirements in Hyper-V require a lot more investment than I'm prepared to put in

- Don't know anything about Amazon Fire so will check that out as well

Thanks guys

massy086

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?k=intel+nuc any of these with flirc .
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00BB0ETW8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1421957010&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=31LW7F%2BKHJL&ref=plSrch

Should work great

tommycahir

massy086 wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?k=intel+nuc any of these with flirc .
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00BB0ETW8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1421957010&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=31LW7F%2BKHJL&ref=plSrch

Should work great

If you are going with a NUC some of them have a built in IR receiver so no need for flirc add on.

Johnboy1951

A NUC is what I suggest ...... and the model I use has a built in IR receiver so all is good ..... run Openelec on it with Kodi and as well as accessing media files on the LAN it also accesses the tuners in the server for Live TV.

I do have a couple of R-Pi boxes too, but much prefer the NUC ---- but it works out a good bit dearer than the R-Pi.