Vcash
Member
Hi Folks,
This is my first post on Hi-Fi Vision - Great community you guys have created.
In the coming few months, I will be seeking advice on two AV setups. I currently have a pair of standalone 32 and 40 720p LCDs in two rooms that I plan to upgrade to a 1080p 46 LED and 1080p 50 Plasma along with a 2.1 & 5.1 HTIB setup. I still need to decide on the components and models for both and will be doing due diligence and posting questions in the relevant sections of the forum.
In the meantime, I have the opportunity in the next few days to get a pair of media players*from the US for both the TVs. I would want to pick up at least one player if not two right now from there as the cost savings are considerable and it is easy to carry these devices as they have a small footprint. These are my requirements for the players:
1. Ability to stream a wide variety of video files either on a network or locally from an inbuilt hard drive.
2. Decent codec support (Regular firmware updates will be much appreciated) - xvid, divx, mov, avi, mkv, H.264, etc.
3. User Interface This is my most important criteria Must be simple, lag-free and fast to use especially while browsing between files.
4. Ease of setup I do not want anything very complicated so HTPCs and the like are out Plug & Play functionality is what I am looking at.
5. Metadata and Subtitle support Extremely important that the player can connect to IMDB and extract metadata (Is this what is meant by Scraping?). Also should be able to read attached sub files.
6. Price: Willing to spend up to $200 on a HDD based model and $100 on a non HDD model.
7. What I dont particularly care for 3D \ Blu-Ray ISO \ 7.1 I will not need support for any of these (Maybe 3D, but once in a blue moon and that too if I buy a 3D TV when upgrading the TVs)
I have gone through plenty of threads in the forum and read about a myriad of options but remain confused as ever. My consideration set started out with a pair of Roku 2 XDs but I believe that these are only good for Internet streaming and not very good for local content.
I then read about Boxees fantastic codec support but was a little disappointed with the negative reviews on the user interface and the fact that its pretty expensive for a non HDD player.
Also from what I have read, videos dont stutter as much if stored on a local HD in the player (Though I may be wrong) This lead me to the WD TV Live hub 1TB* and the WD TV Live combination everything seemed great and marked a lot of the tick marks for me but then I began to read several negative reviews including very slow UI and skipping and stuttering in files.
I know that Popcorn Hour, Lacie LaCinema, AC Ryan, Hi Media 600 & 900, Asus O! play are all available, but frankly I cant seem to decide on the one that is most suitable for my needs?
As of now I am leaning towards the WDTV Live Hub and WDTV Live combination but that is probably because I am overwhelmed with the options out there and these seem the simplest of the bunch. Should I pull the trigger on these or are there better options available?
Thanks!
V
P.S. When I do buy a media player from the US, do I need to be mindful of NTSC VS. PAL support for my future TVs (Probably a Panasonic Plasma and a Samsung LED) or are these redundant when it comes to HDMI inputs, etc. (Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am a complete rookie when it comes to AV!)
This is my first post on Hi-Fi Vision - Great community you guys have created.
In the coming few months, I will be seeking advice on two AV setups. I currently have a pair of standalone 32 and 40 720p LCDs in two rooms that I plan to upgrade to a 1080p 46 LED and 1080p 50 Plasma along with a 2.1 & 5.1 HTIB setup. I still need to decide on the components and models for both and will be doing due diligence and posting questions in the relevant sections of the forum.
In the meantime, I have the opportunity in the next few days to get a pair of media players*from the US for both the TVs. I would want to pick up at least one player if not two right now from there as the cost savings are considerable and it is easy to carry these devices as they have a small footprint. These are my requirements for the players:
1. Ability to stream a wide variety of video files either on a network or locally from an inbuilt hard drive.
2. Decent codec support (Regular firmware updates will be much appreciated) - xvid, divx, mov, avi, mkv, H.264, etc.
3. User Interface This is my most important criteria Must be simple, lag-free and fast to use especially while browsing between files.
4. Ease of setup I do not want anything very complicated so HTPCs and the like are out Plug & Play functionality is what I am looking at.
5. Metadata and Subtitle support Extremely important that the player can connect to IMDB and extract metadata (Is this what is meant by Scraping?). Also should be able to read attached sub files.
6. Price: Willing to spend up to $200 on a HDD based model and $100 on a non HDD model.
7. What I dont particularly care for 3D \ Blu-Ray ISO \ 7.1 I will not need support for any of these (Maybe 3D, but once in a blue moon and that too if I buy a 3D TV when upgrading the TVs)
I have gone through plenty of threads in the forum and read about a myriad of options but remain confused as ever. My consideration set started out with a pair of Roku 2 XDs but I believe that these are only good for Internet streaming and not very good for local content.
I then read about Boxees fantastic codec support but was a little disappointed with the negative reviews on the user interface and the fact that its pretty expensive for a non HDD player.
Also from what I have read, videos dont stutter as much if stored on a local HD in the player (Though I may be wrong) This lead me to the WD TV Live hub 1TB* and the WD TV Live combination everything seemed great and marked a lot of the tick marks for me but then I began to read several negative reviews including very slow UI and skipping and stuttering in files.
I know that Popcorn Hour, Lacie LaCinema, AC Ryan, Hi Media 600 & 900, Asus O! play are all available, but frankly I cant seem to decide on the one that is most suitable for my needs?
As of now I am leaning towards the WDTV Live Hub and WDTV Live combination but that is probably because I am overwhelmed with the options out there and these seem the simplest of the bunch. Should I pull the trigger on these or are there better options available?
Thanks!
V
P.S. When I do buy a media player from the US, do I need to be mindful of NTSC VS. PAL support for my future TVs (Probably a Panasonic Plasma and a Samsung LED) or are these redundant when it comes to HDMI inputs, etc. (Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am a complete rookie when it comes to AV!)
