i need help in buying the best multimedia player within a reasonable budget

[ironman13]

hey guys, i got stumbled recently upon choosing a media player that is really worth the money..i had purchased a full hd sony bravia but honestly never have seen a single hd movie..i was thinking of buying a dvd player which does upscaling upto 1080 hd..but then i came across a whole new generation of media players, but honestly i do not know which one to choose.. since there are pros and cons in every one of them..i've heard that some of them have glitches during playback of certain media formats..i have a hifi music system which is atleast 5 years old,there is no dts hd but just dvd audio which i used to connect from my old dvd player(not the upscaling one) to the music system through the composite audio cable but the sound quality os good when i connect my pc audio to it..so of all the headache ,i need a media player as an alternate to a dvd player that can play.. well almost all the media formats out there and also with upscaling features,wifi capabilities,hdmi 1.3,dts hd and so on.so guys please suggest me a good one to buy with a max price tag of 7000rs or lower

here are few players which i came across---
asus o play air/(asus mini)
zinwell zp520
wd live
seagate freeagent theatre
iomega screenplay
xtreamer
roku

 

[no1lives4ever]

I have a O!Play Mini. This does not have WiFi and the S/PDIF digital output is optical only, so this might not match your requirements.

In terms of playing HD content, this player does a great job with 1080p mkv files. This is also one of the cheapest media players available in the market right now.

One thing to consider here is that if you need to play 1080p files over the network, then WiFi does not work very well. You will need a player with a wired ethernet port and connect your media player to your computer/nas using cables.

-- no1lives4ever

 

[sunbaj]

You can also go in for a Western Digital HD Media Player which has the Wifi model also. It will play almost any format that you throw into it ....

 

[vinshar]

Try Asus...

 

[gk@hyd]

Western digital is a good option.. I have been using WD TV Live hub.. the one with 1TB in built storage.. quality of video output has been pretty good and has got pretty good menu and navigation options.
This can also serve as network storage to be accessed by your other devices, but doesnt have an in-built wi-fi though, I connected it through ethernet port
If you dont need the storage, WD TV Live plus is another option.
Not sure of the availability and prices in India, but Live hub is available for around $200 and Live plus for around $100 in US.

 

[Shivam]

I use Seagate Home Theater Plus and really like the picture quality.

 

[ironman13]

Western digital is a good option.. I have been using WD TV Live hub.. the one with 1TB in built storage.. quality of video output has been pretty good and has got pretty good menu and navigation options.
This can also serve as network storage to be accessed by your other devices, but doesnt have an in-built wi-fi though, I connected it through ethernet port
If you dont need the storage, WD TV Live plus is another option.
Not sure of the availability and prices in India, but Live hub is available for around $200 and Live plus for around $100 in US.

wd live hub is on ebay and its priced around rs.12000.and how much did you pay for it??i noticed that it has hdmi 1.4 support for 3d content..funny part is that there is no component,composite or hdmi cables.did you receive any cables with the box???but my worry is, will my lcd which has a native hdmi 1.3, support the hdmi 1.4....should i purchase a 1.4 cable or a 1.3 cable for wd live hub to view on my tv and which do you think is better wd live or wd live hub and do you think its worth spending 12k on wd live hub and noticed a reviesw saying that it does not support DTS & Dolby HD .

 

[jatinmalhotra]

1.3 / the usual HDMI cables in market will work fine on your LCD.
1.4 is for 3d and ARC which your LCD in any case does not supports

Let me take your questions one by one

up scaling features -> this is abysmal in today's media player and better not to rely on these, our LCDs are better equipped with a better scaler to do the job. This is debatable but I bet no player one can quote under 15k that does good up scaling. I can tell by my personal usage or egreat R1B and Xtreamer MK1 that it sucks.


wifi capabilities - > For HD content this is not suitable, higher bitrate scenes judder and buffer and destroy watching experience. Just use Network Port that us more than enough for HD content.


hdmi 1.3 -> Most common standard today and is suitable for you, 1.4 is backward compatible so even of the player is 1.4 I would say that your LCD is not so no worries.

dts hd and so on - > No player yet today confirms the playback or bitstream of DTS HD under 10K. If any one confirms please quote the player and I am myself lookout for one.

How will you playback DTS hd or Dolby HD, do you have a AVR ?

How do you plan to connect the player to your Hi fi System, is it via optical cable / Co axial cable or L/R RCA ?

Also ironman13 please keep your questions to the point, you will get better answers.

 

[gk@hyd]

wd live hub is on ebay and its priced around rs.12000.and how much did you pay for it??i noticed that it has hdmi 1.4 support for 3d content..funny part is that there is no component,composite or hdmi cables.did you receive any cables with the box???but my worry is, will my lcd which has a native hdmi 1.3, support the hdmi 1.4....should i purchase a 1.4 cable or a 1.3 cable for wd live hub to view on my tv and which do you think is better wd live or wd live hub and do you think its worth spending 12k on wd live hub and noticed a reviesw saying that it does not support DTS & Dolby HD .

I got it from US through one of my friends for $200.

And yes, there wont be any cables supplied with this box. And this being HDMI 1.4 compliant shouldnt be a problem for you as it should ideally work with 1.3 cables and TV. While my plasma TV is 1.4 compliant I cant confirm the same, but somebody else with that kind of combination should be able to assure you on that.

I haven't tried various 5.1 formats yet, as I am still in the process of setting up the 5.1 system.. so I cant comment on which formats are supported vs which are not apart from what I can see out of the specs and online reviews

Between the live/live plus and live hub - the major difference is 1TB, for me having inbuilt memory and that being accessible as network share was a very useful feature, and another factor that has slightly influenced me was the aesthetics part where live hub jells well with usual a/v stuff in living room