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[HELP] choosing the best media player for the money

W

wahdangun

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allright guys, I'm ditching my PS3, can you help me choose the best media player that can play any video format (especially MKV) but under $100.


please guys, ;)
 

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most blue ray players can i think?
 

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Your computer? :confused:
 
W

wahdangun

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most blue ray players can i think?

but, its over $100, I don't have much money right now

Your computer? :confused:

no, I can't use my computer, because the computer is not in my living room.

so I have no other choice except buying a new media player or using my PS3 to streaming it(but its always give my random DLNA error),
 

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I don't quite understand how your PS3 isn't sufficient? I use mine as a media server 98% of the time as opposed to using it for gaming. As for MKV I just use mkv2vob.
Not sure why your having DLNA errors. I use TVersity for streaming but still don't have issues using regular WMP if I choose too. I stream from both my laptop(wireless) and my desktop(wired on a gigabit network) without any issue with TVersity.
 

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Why ditch the PS3, if your getting an error usually a restart of the PC or of the Media Server program fixes that. I don't think there are many other good options out there, the PS3 is awesome.
 
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take a LOOOONG HDMI cable, and plug your PC to your TV.
thats an option.
 

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W

wahdangun

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I don't quite understand how your PS3 isn't sufficient? I use mine as a media server 98% of the time as opposed to using it for gaming. As for MKV I just use mkv2vob.
Not sure why your having DLNA errors. I use TVersity for streaming but still don't have issues using regular WMP if I choose too. I stream from both my laptop(wireless) and my desktop(wired on a gigabit network) without any issue with TVersity.

I have 1 TB of MKV video, and I event can't connect the TVersity to PS3 (its always give me DNLA error), I use PS3 media server although its sometimes give me DLNA error or data corrupted,

Why ditch the PS3, if your getting an error usually a restart of the PC or of the Media Server program fixes that. I don't think there are many other good options out there, the PS3 is awesome.

thats the part why its so frustrating, and sometimes give me data corruption

take a LOOOONG HDMI cable, and plug your PC to your TV.
thats an option.

but " a LOOOONG HDMI cable " is expensive.

btw ahok " mau meliput pameran komputer gak ?"
 

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I have 1 TB of MKV video, and I event can't connect the TVersity to PS3 (its always give me DNLA error), I use PS3 media server although its sometimes give me DLNA error or data corrupted,



thats the part why its so frustrating, and sometimes give me data corruption



but " a LOOOONG HDMI cable " is expensive.

btw ahok " mau meliput pameran komputer gak ?"

10 meter cost like £10 on the net, dont get a gold plated or anyother fancy shit, it is all digital now and makes NO difference so the cheapest will work the best:rockout:
 
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10 meter cost like £10 on the net, dont get a gold plated or anyother fancy shit, it is all digital now and makes NO difference so the cheapest will work the best:rockout:

yep gets my vote as well... get your self a long HDMI cable.
 
T

twilyth

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Anything under $100 probably isn't going to be worth having.

I've used units from Galaxy and a couple other manufacturers and you always run into shit it doesn't recognize.

The best solution is get a cheap dvd player and burn what you want to watch. You can get very good conversion programs for way less than $100 and the Sothink dvd burner will even resample each recording so they will all fit on one dvd. Oh, and it's free (you just get a 5 second nag screen at the start of each title - which you can fast forward through if you are super impatient).

Even better, get a dvd player than can handle mp4, wmv, avi, etc. IIRC mkv is just a container for mp4 so you still might have to do a conversion but it should be simple.

I'm pretty sure you can get recording DVD players that will recognize all those file types for way less than $100.
 
W

wahdangun

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10 meter cost like £10 on the net, dont get a gold plated or anyother fancy shit, it is all digital now and makes NO difference so the cheapest will work the best:rockout:

hmm, is that true, because yesterday i bought 3 meter HDMI cable for $10 and its not even have gold plated in it.

Anything under $100 probably isn't going to be worth having.

I've used units from Galaxy and a couple other manufacturers and you always run into shit it doesn't recognize.

The best solution is get a cheap dvd player and burn what you want to watch. You can get very good conversion programs for way less than $100 and the Sothink dvd burner will even resample each recording so they will all fit on one dvd. Oh, and it's free (you just get a 5 second nag screen at the start of each title - which you can fast forward through if you are super impatient).

Even better, get a dvd player than can handle mp4, wmv, avi, etc. IIRC mkv is just a container for mp4 so you still might have to do a conversion but it should be simple.

I'm pretty sure you can get recording DVD players that will recognize all those file types for way less than $100.

but if I burn it to DVD, I wont have 1080P, and I have over 90 movie in 1 TB hdd so it will be pain in the ass to convert and burn it.

so there are no under $100 media player that doesn't suck ?
 
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"eh kapan?"
boleh"
hahaha



HDMI cable is a bit expensive here though..
so, put that aside, PS3 i think is the best job for watching 1080p movies.
or your PC
 
T

twilyth

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I did a search on newegg for 'media player' and here is what I found (under $100) that looks like it handles 1080p. But read carefully because sometimes they say 1080p compatible or just say 1080 (which probably means 1080i). Anything with composite cables is out obviously. I can't remember though if component cables handle 1080p or just 720p.

the last one is a Haupauge unit that will stream over ethernet. It also does wireless but double check that the wireless side can handle 1080p. Haupauge is a pretty good company so you can probably call their tech support with questions.

Masscool MP-1371RS 1080P HDMI 2.5" SATA HDD/USB/NA...
ViewSonic VMP70 1080p Digital Media Player w/2 USB...
ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 HDMI HD Media Player
Western Digital WD TV Live HD Media Player WDBAAN0...
Argosy HV335T Mobile Video HDD Media Player
Open Box: Argosy 500GB USB 2.0 TV HD Home Media Pl...
Open Box: Argosy HV335T-EN000 Mobile Video HDD Med...
Open Box: Hauppauge Media player 1016 Ethernet 100...

Edit - I'm pretty sure none of these include the hard drive you will need although for the streamers, that's not an issue.
 
T

twilyth

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Might have to scratch the last one - couldn't find what it's max resolution is but if it only handles 802.11g I don't think it will do 1080p wireless.
 

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Yeah I say the wd tv live is going to be your best option.
 
T

twilyth

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Here's another search - don't know why i didn't search on 'media player 1080p' the first time. There is some overlap but some new items. All are between $75 and $100. I didn't see anything under $75 that was what you are looking for.

$75 - $100,media player 1080p
 
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I use the original WD TV Player. It's not networkable but newer versions are.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=30

I've got a Vantec dock connected to it via USB, and a matching dock conected with eSATA to my PC.
http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/414

The WD player has handled everything I've thrown at it. Only downside to my version is it's only HDMI or composite/TOSlink output. But it's got 2 USB ports so you can toss a movie of TV show on a flash drive and plug it into the player without moving cables for other storage devices.
 
W

wahdangun

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wow, I never tough it will be that expensive, I expect it will be around $50 for non HDD one, and around $80 for including HDD.

hmm, what do you think about Argosy HV335T Mobile Video HDD Media Player ? its seems good, and can be installed HDD but is there will be a major draw back that i didn't realize(im noob about this thing) ?
 
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