New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Media Streamer Advice

post #1 of 6
4/10/10 at 3:17am
Thread Starter 
Hi,

not the best at all this AV Solution stuff really, but i have all my videos, music and photos on a NAS drive. (Buffalo Linkstation Live CH1.0T) Which i believe has a media server built in to it if that helps?

I have a TOSHIBA 32 REGZA which has a usb (no network socket) media player built in to it, but i wanted to be able to play these on my TV without having to copy them to USB all the time.

So i spoke to my friend who is much better at all these AV solutions and he told me to buy a media streamer like the DSM-330. So i did exactly that, got the dsm 300. Just unpacked it and set it up. works fine. but it will only work using the divx connected server software which means that i have to turn my computer on to be able to use it. i want to be able to stream through the wired network from the NAS drive to the TV without having to turn any computers on or copy anything across...

Can anyone tell me what the best option is for me? money wise i dont want to spend loads and get appletv or anything - so something cheap, otherwise i have been told i can replace my blu-ray player with a media streamer built in (dont really want to do this as i have only just got my SONY 360 Blu-ray player)

Thanks In Advance,
Jon.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 6
4/10/10 at 6:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_o_uk View Post

Hi,

not the best at all this AV Solution stuff really, but i have all my videos, music and photos on a NAS drive. (Buffalo Linkstation Live CH1.0T) Which i believe has a media server built in to it if that helps?

I have a TOSHIBA 32 REGZA which has a usb (no network socket) media player built in to it, but i wanted to be able to play these on my TV without having to copy them to USB all the time.

So i spoke to my friend who is much better at all these AV solutions and he told me to buy a media streamer like the DSM-330. So i did exactly that, got the dsm 300. Just unpacked it and set it up. works fine. but it will only work using the divx connected server software which means that i have to turn my computer on to be able to use it. i want to be able to stream through the wired network from the NAS drive to the TV without having to turn any computers on or copy anything across...

Can anyone tell me what the best option is for me? money wise i dont want to spend loads and get appletv or anything - so something cheap, otherwise i have been told i can replace my blu-ray player with a media streamer built in (dont really want to do this as i have only just got my SONY 360 Blu-ray player)

Thanks In Advance,
Jon.

Most players should fit what you need and play from your NAS. Take a look at the PCH A-200, Xtreamer, Mede8er, etc...
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 6
4/10/10 at 7:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_o_uk View Post


Can anyone tell me what the best option is for me? money wise i dont want to spend loads and get appletv or anything - so something cheap, otherwise i have been told i can replace my blu-ray player with a media streamer built in (dont really want to do this as i have only just got my SONY 360 Blu-ray player)

Thanks In Advance,
Jon.

Asus O!Play or WDTV Live if subtitles are not important.

philip
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 6
4/10/10 at 11:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_o_uk View Post

Hi,

not the best at all this AV Solution stuff really, but i have all my videos, music and photos on a NAS drive. (Buffalo Linkstation Live CH1.0T) Which i believe has a media server built in to it if that helps?

I have a TOSHIBA 32 REGZA which has a usb (no network socket) media player built in to it, but i wanted to be able to play these on my TV without having to copy them to USB all the time.

So i spoke to my friend who is much better at all these AV solutions and he told me to buy a media streamer like the DSM-330. So i did exactly that, got the dsm 300. Just unpacked it and set it up. works fine. but it will only work using the divx connected server software which means that i have to turn my computer on to be able to use it. i want to be able to stream through the wired network from the NAS drive to the TV without having to turn any computers on or copy anything across...

Can anyone tell me what the best option is for me? money wise i dont want to spend loads and get appletv or anything - so something cheap, otherwise i have been told i can replace my blu-ray player with a media streamer built in (dont really want to do this as i have only just got my SONY 360 Blu-ray player)

Thanks In Advance,
Jon.

I use the WDTV Live, which can play just about any format you can think of,(including FLAC, but it downconverts 24-bit to 16-bit) has really good picture quality, plays 1080p, and costs about $120. Its downside is that it has a very clunky user interface. But Western Digital can hopefully correct its faults via firmware upgrades (there is a homebrew firmware that addresses most of its flaws, but to use it, you really need to know a bit about Linux) Plus the remote is pretty sad too.

Michael
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 6
4/11/10 at 2:28pm
I have used both the WD TV HD media player and the WD TV Live for almost a year.

I don't find the UI "clunky" at all. What I find clunky is the Windows 3.11 File Manager UI of most other media players like the Asus O!Play. While the UI of the WD TV Live is not "eye candy" it IS very functional and easy to use. If you have young children or grand children, they can use the WD TV Live with just a little bit of teaching since the UI can be thumbnail based.

While there are other players that cost less, the WD TV Live, for $120 U.S., is a good all around device and an affordable addition to a Television setup. It also has a small footprint for those of us that are space challenged.

I, personally, do not have any issues with the subtitles on the unit, especially after the latest firmware upgrade that added PGS support and the ability to reposition internal and external srt subs with mkv files. I have not tried it with external subs with avi files, but I imagine it will reposition them there as well.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 6
4/11/10 at 9:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derelict_Drvr View Post

I, personally, do not have any issues with the subtitles on the unit, especially after the latest firmware upgrade that added PGS support and the ability to reposition internal and external srt subs with mkv files. I have not tried it with external subs with avi files, but I imagine it will reposition them there as well.

I sold my unit a while back because it wouldn't support idx/sub external subtitles (you could mux them into an mkv container and they might work). Text subs always worked although the way to access them was not convenient. It's the external image subs that it had trouble with and in fact they never supported them. Is that changing? I moved to a PCH-C-200 and while idx/sub+avi works great they won't work with mp4 ( you have to mux them). The Realtek players seem to have better support for subtitles.

Apart from the sub issue, which may be fixed by now, it's a great player for the price. Since PGS subs are also image based I assume they have decided to move on to the newer (Blu-Ray) format. Perhaps idx/sub subtitles are no longer as popular?

philip
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

AVS Top Picks