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eGreat or MPLAY-HD or something else? I'm just lost.

post #1 of 48
4/11/12 at 9:25am
Thread Starter 
Hey gang. I'd appreciate some advise. Normally I use my PS3 to stream content from my PC, but there are so many formats that it struggles with, I decided to see about alternatives.

That brought me to media Players. The eGreat R200S was going to be my choice, but their rep is holding me back.

Now I see eGreat R6B might be a simplet, easier solution. And then there is the Micca MPLAY-HDnet. Looks cool.

Here is my thing...

My TV is an LG Plasma, the 60PZ950. It does 3D, but I don't care about 3D one bit.

I'd like to use an external 2GB hard drive, but I am happy to place it inside a unit. Whatever. Either works.

Access to a Network is not a must. I can still use my PS3 for that if need be.

Most important is proper video and audio playback and subtitle features that work. We will be watching a lot of foreign film content. So proper subtitle playback is a must! I keep reading about subtitles being chopped off.

Cost should be under $200 shipped, but if I can get what I need for under a hundred, hey, that makes more sense.

Please, experts, do tell.
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post #2 of 48
4/11/12 at 9:48am
Dune or PCH!
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post #3 of 48
4/11/12 at 10:13am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, but that is not very specific. Both have multiple models, most I see way out of my price range. None of the Dune's are under $200 that I can see.
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post #4 of 48
4/11/12 at 10:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens View Post

Thanks, but that is not very specific. Both have multiple models, most I see way out of my price range. None of the Dune's are under $200 that I can see.

I didn't notice the price tag. Dune (any of them), I've got the Smart Series D1, and / or the PCH-A210 or A300 are probably the best out there right now.

Subs being recognized depends on the type of file the subs are in. It also depends how you are going to rip these movies as well.

The only media players that come to mine for around $200:
1) Micca EP950 / EP600
2) Mede8er MED450X2
3) Netgear NeoTV550 (WD isn't supporting this player anymore you can find it new for less than $100.)
4) WDTV2
5) AIOS (was selling for $70 with MIR on amazon and newegg)

Damian, did a review of the Mede8er MED500X2, which is the same as the 450X2, with the only difference of not supporting and internal hard drive. Here's the link for the review:
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2012...e8er-med500x2/
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post #5 of 48
4/11/12 at 10:29am
If you look on ebay you may be able to find a PCH-A200/210 for less than $200 bucks shipped.

I got outbid on a PCH-A210 this morning it sold for $152.50 plus $15.00 shipping.
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post #6 of 48
4/11/12 at 10:33am
Forgot to mention the Popbox V8 as well.
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post #7 of 48
4/11/12 at 10:39am
+1 for PopBox v8 (have one for sale if you're interested). I'd steer clear of the Netgear NeoTV550; it has serious bugs and Netgear no longer supports it. For your needs, assuming you don't need hd audio bitstreaming, you'd be fine with the WD TV Live, Live Plus, or the recent Live Streaming (nicer UI). There's also Boxee Box. So, lots of choices.
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post #8 of 48
4/11/12 at 11:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GusGus748s View Post

Dune or PCH!

No. I beg differ. Neither PCH nor Dune come close when one needs to be flexible in sub titles.

Egreat would be much better.
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post #9 of 48
4/11/12 at 11:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GusGus748s View Post

I didn't notice the price tag. Dune (any of them), I've got the Smart Series D1, and / or the PCH-A210 or A300 are probably the best out there right now.

Subs being recognized depends on the type of file the subs are in. It also depends how you are going to rip these movies as well.

The only media players that come to mine for around $200:
1) Micca EP950 / EP600
2) Mede8er MED450X2
3) Netgear NeoTV550 (WD isn't supporting this player anymore you can find it new for less than $100.)
4) WDTV2
5) AIOS (was selling for $70 with MIR on amazon and newegg)

Damian, did a review of the Mede8er MED500X2, which is the same as the 450X2, with the only difference of not supporting and internal hard drive. Here's the link for the review:
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2012...e8er-med500x2/

NeoTV 550 would be THE WORST choice when it comes to foreign sub titles.
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post #10 of 48
4/11/12 at 11:31am
I have two Egrates one based on Sigma 8643 and the other Realtek 1185. Both are flexible in using mutliple sustitles. You can easily select the subtitle you want the auto encoding detection is very good. I also have the PCH 210A and an older Seagate. While the PCH and Seagate can do foreign subtitles, they only support one external that have to have exact the same name of the video and you have to manually choose the encoding. The NeoTV 550 is the worst that only support very limited number of Western languages and no Asian languages.

While I don't have Himeda player, I think they are about the same as Egrate. The bottom line is if you want max. flexbility in subtitiles, Chinese brands probably works better.
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post #11 of 48
4/12/12 at 6:29am
Thread Starter 
Ok, much food for thought. I am more confused now, but at least I have more opinions!

HD audio is not a must, but 5.1 is. Simple stereo sound is from the dark ages.

How about this...
http://www.amazon.com/Egreat-Full-HD...ecc_rvi_cart_1

eGreat R6B. Is USB really fast enough to stream HD video?

PawPawDog, would that model be ok, or is there a higher end model I should go for?

The R200S looks like it can give me what i want for $180...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250933497021...t_20392wt_1145

And then there is the R200-II for $147.

The eBay seller who has the R200-II and the R200S is reputable.

It would be great if I could just purchase the R6B and use an external drive, but I am willing to go up to $200 shipped for something that is definitely better.
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post #12 of 48
4/12/12 at 7:36am
If you don't need 3D ISO playback, then no need for the higher-priced players like R200S. The Amazon Egreat R6B player you linked to should be fine for your needs. But, with all the players you listed, the stock UI is fairly basic. If you want a nice UI, I'd recommend either PopBox v8, Boxee Box or WD TV Live Streaming based on your needs. If you don't care about UI, then almost any player listed in this thread so far will do (except for Netgear's NeoTV550 as I noted).
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post #13 of 48
4/12/12 at 7:55am
Thread Starter 
UI is not important. I always rename and long file-names to something short and sweet anyway. I guess I am leaning towards the R6B now.
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post #14 of 48
4/12/12 at 8:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens View Post

UI is not important. I always rename and long file-names to something short and sweet anyway. I guess I am leaning towards the R6B now.

That's fine if you don't have any kids. My 3 and 6 year old like to look at the picture rather than reading the title. So, a jukebox was a must for me
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post #15 of 48
4/16/12 at 10:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens View Post

Ok, much food for thought. I am more confused now, but at least I have more opinions!

HD audio is not a must, but 5.1 is. Simple stereo sound is from the dark ages.

How about this...
http://www.amazon.com/Egreat-Full-HD...ecc_rvi_cart_1

eGreat R6B. Is USB really fast enough to stream HD video?

PawPawDog, would that model be ok, or is there a higher end model I should go for?

The R200S looks like it can give me what i want for $180...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250933497021...t_20392wt_1145

And then there is the R200-II for $147.

The eBay seller who has the R200-II and the R200S is reputable.

It would be great if I could just purchase the R6B and use an external drive, but I am willing to go up to $200 shipped for something that is definitely better.

My Egreat player is based on Realtek 1185 and the Seagate is Realtek 1073. The Realtek 1055 which R6B is based on falls between the 1185 and 1073 probably will do the job. USB speed was never a probelm with 1073 but netowrk speed was. The Seagate sometimes have problem playing 1080P even with hardwired network connection but that probably is more of Seagate's problem. Another probelm 1073 has is not able to pass through HD DTS but the later 1073DD and 1055 are able to do so. The 1185 also has better video and audio quality than 1073. If you can get a 1185 player within $10 or so difference with R6B, the 1185 probably would be a better choice but I would not pay more than $20 for it.
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post #16 of 48
4/16/12 at 10:51am
Not to forget the 23.976 fps stuttering problem with the Realteks . . . was this remedied in the newer chipsets?
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post #17 of 48
4/16/12 at 10:53am
I believe it was for newer stock Micca EP600G2/EP950 I believe. Don't know about others.
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post #18 of 48
4/16/12 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
Well I ended up buying the Amazon Egreat R6B, but if it stutters on 24p content, it'll go right back. Hopefully I won't have that issue. It should be delivered tomorrow.
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post #19 of 48
4/16/12 at 12:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by perchancetodream View Post

Not to forget the 23.976 fps stuttering problem with the Realteks . . . was this remedied in the newer chipsets?

I thought that was 1186 chip's problem. I did not see it in 1185 player.
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post #20 of 48
4/18/12 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
My eGreat R6B is here, but I can't use the darned thing since it won't see any USB drives I hook it up to. I've played with it for hours, but am lost. The manual is a complete joke.

eGreat support is notoriously nonexistent, so can anyone point me to a website.forum where I might find some assistance?

UPDATE: I got it to recognize a USB stick. Though the film I played through it had audio that was insanely low. And a second file it played, with a PINK cast to the picture. The same pink cast used for the main setup screen. I am beyond frustrated here.

The file that played with a pink cast was an MP4. The one that played with a perfect picture was an mkv.
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post #21 of 48
4/18/12 at 8:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens View Post

My eGreat R6B is here, but I can't use the darned thing since it won't see any USB drives I hook it up to. I've played with it for hours, but am lost. The manual is a complete joke.

eGreat support is notoriously nonexistent, so can anyone point me to a website.forum where I might find some assistance?

UPDATE: I got it to recognize a USB stick. Though the film I played through it had audio that was insanely low. And a second file it played, with a PINK cast to the picture. The same pink cast used for the main setup screen. I am beyond frustrated here.

The file that played with a pink cast was an MP4. The one that played with a perfect picture was an mkv.

USB drive is less than 2TB and self powered? These players don't work with 3TB drives and does not have enough power to drive portable USB drives that draw power from USB.
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post #22 of 48
4/18/12 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 
The two drives were both 2TB in size. They have their own power source. But they are exFAT formatted, so perhaps that was the issue?

A little while ago I did get a small 2.5" drive to work (it's in a small case) that is NTFS. Success. However, MP4's all have a pink cast to them. We are talking about an image that is pretty much pink & white. The pink color of the R6B's menu doesn't disengage when it starts to play the file. For mkv's, no such issue. WTH is going on here?
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post #23 of 48
4/18/12 at 9:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens View Post

The two drives were both 2TB in size. They have their own power source. But they are exFAT formatted, so perhaps that was the issue?

A little while ago I did get a small 2.5" drive to work (it's in a small case) that is NTFS. Success. However, MP4's all have a pink cast to them. We are talking about an image that is pretty much pink & white. The pink color of the R6B's menu doesn't disengage when it starts to play the file. For mkv's, no such issue. WTH is going on here?

I think it only supports NTFS and FAT32 so are most of the Realtek players out there.
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post #24 of 48
4/20/12 at 5:28am
Thread Starter 
You are correct. Right now I am just trying to understand why it loves mkv's, but has a whole lotta hate for everything else.
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post #25 of 48
4/23/12 at 8:31am
Realtek solution is much better than any others chipset.whatever on price and performance.Realtek is better on decoding.

there are some brand you can chose:
Mede8r
Himedia
Bluetimes
Egreat
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post #26 of 48
4/23/12 at 8:36am
Thread Starter 
Well, as stated, I chose the eGreat R6B. it's plays mkv files and some AVI's. But anything NOT an mkv can result in the pink color of the main menu not going away during playback.
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post #27 of 48
4/23/12 at 12:46pm
And you haven't returned it yet??
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post #28 of 48
4/23/12 at 12:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by streamer5 View Post

Realtek solution is much better than any others chipset.whatever on price and performance.

I completely disagree!
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post #29 of 48
4/23/12 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by perchancetodream View Post

I completely disagree!

Me 2!
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post #30 of 48
4/23/12 at 2:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by perchancetodream View Post

And you haven't returned it yet??

I had tried talking with the manufacturer (eGreat) and the seller, but neither would respond. So today I went to Amazon to do a return.

So I am back to square one.

What should I choose?

I don't want 1024/24 stuttering (I would settle for proper 1080p/60Hz playback though, since I would have little 24fps content).

I need proper subtitle playback.

I need proper audio playback (not just stereo).

And I need the price to be under $200 shipped. Under $125 would be great.

Maybe I just order another R6B and see if it has the same issue?
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