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Best Media Streaming Option for me??

820 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by amesdp, Feb 28, 2014

Tracyman0111

Discussion Starter · Feb 25, 2014

Hey all. Of the 2 TVS in my home, one has HDMI inputs and one does not. My laptop does not have HDMI either. What options are available to me to stream movies onto these TVs from my laptops hard drive?

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ash_man

· #2 · Feb 25, 2014

You would need a media player of some sort, something like a WDTV Live which would connect to your TV via HDMI, you could then plug it into a network that your laptop is connected to and share the movies on your laptop which could then be accessed through the WDTV, or hang an external USB drive or plug a USB flash drive into it to watch your movies.

For the TV that does not have HDMI, it should have component which some media players still support.

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Tracyman0111

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 26, 2014

When you say plug it into a network, does something like this literally plug into my wireless router, or does it receive on its own, or.....?

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Tracyman0111

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 26, 2014

I was looking at that WDTV, but all it has is HDMI outputs, is there a comparable device out there that has component outputs?

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Tracyman0111

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 26, 2014

Sorry for blowing up the thread, but would this product do what I'm wanting to do?

http://www.miccastore.com/micca-mplayhd-1080p-fullhd-digital-media-player-p-38.html

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Kelson

· #6 · Feb 26, 2014

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tracyman0111 /t/1519766/best-media-streaming-option-for-me/0_100#post_24410880

I was looking at that WDTV, but all it has is HDMI outputs, is there a comparable device out there that has component outputs?

IMHO, the WD Live-SMP is the best under $200 media player currently on the market ( currently $79 at Amazon ). The WD Live-SMP has both HDMI and composite outputs. For your TV that does not have HDMI inputs -- is it an HDTV or an older SDTV? If it is not an HDTV then you don't need component output from a media player; it won't make that much of a difference from using a composite connection.

The Live-SMP also has built in wireless, but wireless is not good for streaming high-bitrate content like HD BluRay rips. It should work fine for DVD material (5-7Mbps) -- the closer the device is to the wireless access point (router), the better. If your intent is to stream high bitrate HD content you will want to be connected by ethernet cable from the media player through to the device containing the source files. If wires are impractical and you want to stream HD content, then the suggestion of using an external HDD is a good one. You can buy a 1TB or 2TB external 2.5" HDD that is powered by the USB port which makes it very easy to move to your laptop to transfer content then plug back into the WD Live-SMP.

The Micca you are asking about has no network connectivity. It only gets content from a plug-in HDD. See its dedicated thread.

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Tracyman0111

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 28, 2014

Ok, UPDATE!! After talking with some folks at Best Buy, I ended up going with a Netgear NeoTV Max. It basically does everything a Roku 3 does for half the price, I only paid $50 for it at WallyWorld. Hooked to the wireless, it does Pandora, Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, the whole nine yards. It also has a USB drive which I plug my 1TB hard drive into (I was surprised that it powered the hard drive), and it reads a whole slew of different formats of pics, music and movies. I watched a movie on it last night, and pause, FF and REW all work flawlessly, I'm very pleased with it. It has an HDMI output, but also came with a component cord, which has RCAs on one end and what looks like a headphone jack on the other, so I can buy one for my 2003 model TV as well.

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amesdp

· #8 · Feb 28, 2014

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tracyman0111 /t/1519766/best-media-streaming-option-for-me#post_24422563

After talking with some folks at Best Buy...

Well, there's your problem.

But seriously, as long as it does what you want and you're happy with it, it's fine. While Roku has a lot more channel apps, I personally use mine almost exclusively for Netflix and Plex, so the other stuff isn't all that important. It's too bad if you can't run Plex on the Netgear, but not an issue if all you want to do is play local files.

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