Wireless HDD connected to TV

MuddyDog

I'm looking for a HDD that can plug into my TV via either USB or HDMI (or both as it'll need power). I want my TV to be able to look at the directories of the HDD and play content off it. Simple enough so far. However I want to be able to send this HDD data wirelessly from my laptop. So if I have a movie I want to send from my laptop to this HDD I should be able to do that and once that process is done I can just play it on my telly. Are there any such devices out there? 500GB would be enough.

mordeith

MuddyDog wrote: »

I'm looking for a HDD that can plug into my TV via either USB or HDMI (or both as it'll need power). I want my TV to be able to look at the directories of the HDD and play content off it. Simple enough so far. However I want to be able to send this HDD data wirelessly from my laptop. So if I have a movie I want to send from my laptop to this HDD I should be able to do that and once that process is done I can just play it on my telly. Are there any such devices out there? 500GB would be enough.

Why don't you just connect the laptop to the TV?

MuddyDog

mordeith wrote: »

Why don't you just connect the laptop to the TV?

Hassle.

mordeith

MuddyDog wrote: »

Hassle.

You could use a Chromecast

MuddyDog

Can't store anything on a chromecast.

me_irl

mordeith wrote: »

You could use a Chromecast

MuddyDog wrote: »

Can't store anything on a chromecast.

No. But you can stream content to it via your HDD's / laptop.

Videostream will let you do this.

https://getvideostream.com/

It will stream any audio / video file format, where you might be stuck with a certain codec/container (.mp4) off the TV.

MuddyDog

True but I don't have enough storage on my laptop for this so thats why I want to transfer the files over to the device.

smuggler.ie

Ideally you looking for NAS box.
This would give you access to any file(video, audio, document) on it from any device as it sit on network.

MuddyDog

smuggler.ie wrote: »

Ideally you looking for NAS box.
This would give you access to any file(video, audio, document) on it from any device as it sit on network.

Never heard of one of those. Any chance to link to something that'd suit me?

smuggler.ie

Sure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-10-best-nas-devices-reviewed

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=nas

Johnboy1951

MuddyDog wrote: »

True but I don't have enough storage on my laptop for this so thats why I want to transfer the files over to the device.

The laptop could have the HDD plugged into it and stream from that.

MuddyDog

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

The laptop could have the HDD plugged into it and stream from that.

I do not want to move around the HDD. Needs to be permanently plugged into a NAS or the TV.

mordeith

MuddyDog wrote: »

I do not want to move around the HDD. Needs to be permanently plugged into a NAS or the TV.

Why don't you just buy a media player.

MuddyDog

mordeith wrote: »

Why don't you just buy a media player.

Such as? I don't think a media player does what I want. I appreciate all the work arounds you're suggesting but that's not what I want.

Johnboy1951

MuddyDog wrote: »

I'm looking for a HDD that can plug into my TV via either USB or HDMI (or both as it'll need power). I want my TV to be able to look at the directories of the HDD and play content off it. Simple enough so far. However I want to be able to send this HDD data wirelessly from my laptop. So if I have a movie I want to send from my laptop to this HDD I should be able to do that and once that process is done I can just play it on my telly. Are there any such devices out there? 500GB would be enough.

MuddyDog wrote: »

Such as? I don't think a media player does what I want. I appreciate all the work arounds you're suggesting but that's not what I want.

What you referred to in your first post as a HDD, is from your expectations a lot more than a simple HDD.

It seems a media player with HDD might do as you want ...... but even now I am not certain exactly what you want to achieve.

MuddyDog

Something that can plug into my TV that has mass storage. This will stay plugged in. I would access it from another device and transfer files wirelessly to it and remove files from it as I needed. Then I'd use the TV to access it and play/show those files.

Johnboy1951

Maybe a WD TV box with external USB HDD would suit your needs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDCSLPGDYqw

There are lots of alternatives out there some with advanced display options such as 4k and/or 3D.
Some should have built in HDD which might suit better.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/media-player-hdmi-wifi

MuddyDog

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Maybe a WD TV box with external USB HDD would suit your needs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDCSLPGDYqw

There are lots of alternatives out there some with advanced display options such as 4k and/or 3D.
Some should have built in HDD which might suit better.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/media-player-hdmi-wifi

It wouldn't as I don't want to plug a HDD into or out of it constantly. If I could send the box data over wifi then that'd work but the above solution is no good.

smuggler.ie

Maybe a WD TV box with external USB HDD would suit your needs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDCSLPGDYqw

Where it might have some additional features, still can't see how you transfer new files/ remove unwanted files on attached HDD without detaching it from WD TV and connecting to your PC.
NAS would give you option to control/edit your media files without physically touching HDD, and it would be accessible to multiple devices(TV's, PC's, etc.) simultaneously.

Johnboy1951

MuddyDog wrote: »

It wouldn't as I don't want to plug a HDD into or out of it constantly. If I could send the box data over wifi then that'd work but the above solution is no good.

If you are comfortable with doing things yourself rather than buying a pre-made solution then you could try using a device like a R-Pi3 running LibreElec.

You could then access the USB HDD attached to the Pi using SAMBA from your laptop or even mount the laptop HDD in the Pi to facilitate exchange of files.

The R-Pi would then be a full media player & server with a suitable Kodi interface.

Any similar device to the Pi would also suit of course.


Would such a scheme suit your needs?

MuddyDog

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

If you are comfortable with doing things yourself rather than buying a pre-made solution then you could try using a device like a R-Pi3 running LibreElec.

You could then access the USB HDD attached to the Pi using SAMBA from your laptop or even mount the laptop HDD in the Pi to facilitate exchange of files.

The R-Pi would then be a full media player & server with a suitable Kodi interface.

Any similar device to the Pi would also suit of course.


Would such a scheme suit your needs?

I'd prefer to just buy it ready to go such as the NAS that was suggested earlier to be honest although the above solution seems like it'd do the job too!

Johnboy1951

MuddyDog wrote: »

I'd prefer to just buy it ready to go such as the NAS that was suggested earlier to be honest although the above solution seems like it'd do the job too!

QNap and Synology seem to be the favourite NASs these days.
I got an HP commercial server for less, a couple of years ago ....... end of line stock being sold off at special prices.
As it was an Intel CPU machine I was able to put my preferred operating system on it.
It does need space as it is a full sized PC case.

MuddyDog

Thanks all. Last think I need to know I believe is how the NAS connects to my tv? Currently have a non smart tv but it plays media attached to it via usb no problems. Would I just be able to connect the tv and NAS box via usb too and then use the tv menus to browse the directory of the NAS (it can browse the directories of my external HDD when connected no problem).

smuggler.ie

Currently have a non smart tv

This will reduce your selection spectrum - not all NAS have HDMI (or other suitable connection for non smart TV's). Still some options available

Enjoy Full HD videos with HD Station via HDMI
QNAP HD Station integrates the powerful Kodi media player and web browser. With HDMI 1.4a connectivity, you can connect the TS-451 to a HDTV to enjoy your rich multimedia content on the big screen. The splendid user interface and support for 7.1 channel surround sound audio passthrough* bring smooth playback of Full HD videos providing a quality home theater experience**. You can also turn your mobile devices into remote controls by installing the Qremote app or use QNAP RM-IR002 remote control and MCE remote controls via the built-in IR receiver of the TS-451 for convenient & easy control of the HD Station.

Johnboy1951

Enjoy Full HD videos with HD Station via HDMI
QNAP HD Station integrates the powerful Kodi media player and web browser. With HDMI 1.4a connectivity, you can connect the TS-451 to a HDTV to enjoy your rich multimedia content on the big screen. The splendid user interface and support for 7.1 channel surround sound audio passthrough* bring smooth playback of Full HD videos providing a quality home theater experience**. You can also turn your mobile devices into remote controls by installing the Qremote app or use QNAP RM-IR002 remote control and MCE remote controls via the built-in IR receiver of the TS-451 for convenient & easy control of the HD Station.

Seems rather costly for the OP's needs (as I understand them)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QNAP-TS-451-Personal-Quad-Core-Transcoding/dp/B015VNLEOQ?th=2

smuggler.ie

Not selling product, only sample as type of device.:D

Seems rather costly for the OP's needs (as I understand them)

smuggler.ie

Note for OP:
Most of NAS come preconfigured for RAID1(mirror) for resilience. This can be changed to RAID0(striping).

Before commit to buy research all options/configurations available. Basic info on Wiki

You can use RAID calculator to see what storage capacity you will get with different size disks under different configuration .

As you media library will grow in time, don't go to low with HDD's - it might be troublesome to rebuild RAID array if you find yourself short for storage in the future.

NAS box will take any disk, however there are disks specifically recommended for NAS(like WD Red).

tritriagain

I have a fire TV with usb drive attached and transfer files from laptop over wi-fi. Works great for me

smuggler.ie

Possible option alright, would add some benefits to non-smart TV, but to much limitations for me from storage prospective.
Some info from here:

You cannot use a USB hub to mount two USB drives. The Fire TV will only mount the first USB drive it detects.

Amazon’s USB storage requirements state that the USB drive type must be a “Flash drive” and that “external hard drives are not supported and may result in inconsistent behavior."

The Fire TV only supports USB drives formatted with a FAT32 file system. NTFS, exFAT, HFS, ext#, and other file systems are not supported. If you insert a USB drive with a file system other than FAT32, the Fire TV will ask if you’d like to format the drive. Also, if the USB drive has multiple partitions, the Fire TV will only use the first FAT32 partition it detects. The FAT32 file system only supports file sizes up to 4 GB. Many HD movie files are larger than 4GB, so this means you will not be able to store these types of files on a drive that the Fire TV can read.

Amazon officially recommends USB drives that are 128GB or smaller.

With same success I could have(and I had) my USB HDD attached to my Huawei B593 router USB port and enable DLNA. It wouldn't even read 2TB video library in full as it is not designed for such big volumes.

tritriagain

I have only ever used a flash drive on the fire alright. have a couple of cheaper android boxes as well I must throw an external HDD on one of them and find out how they work. Will let you know.

MuddyDog

So in the end I went for a WD Cloud NAS device and also got a WD TV Live which is connected to the NAS and I'm able to wirelessly send files from my laptop to the NAS and then watch it on the telly wirelessly using the WD TV.