Recommend a HD media player

[Nanu]

Hi,

I am in search of a HD media player.

My requirements are as follows:
1. I should be able to connect it to a Pioneer VSK 522 AVR for audio via HDMI or Optical but need Surround.
2. Should be able to play .MKV and other common media file formats
3. I don't care so much about WiFi, lan port would do.
4. I don't care so much about any included HDD, though it would be nice, but not needed.
5. USB 3.0 would be nicer.

I don't mind even importing it from Amazon or from Bangkok.

So far I have only looked at WD TV and that seemed fine but I heard it has issues with some Audio issues over HDMI,
while connecting to a AVR. Is it so or this has been fixed in the newer Rev 3?

Thanks a lot for all the help and suggestions

Cheers.

 

[KiranPS]

I have an Asus Oplay mini plus. it's pretty good and supports Mkv. No USB3 though.
I was able to play a 40mbps m2ts over usb2 with no issues. You need to update to the latest firmware , this fixes few bugs. I have not had issues with audio. You will have to switch audio setup between PCM and RAW incase you have audio issues. Leaving this at Auto will also work.

 

[darshanjoshi]

Can it pass thru Dolby TrueHD, DTS-MA and HD Audio to an AVR thru HMDI?

 

[KiranPS]

It Does Passthru DTS and Dolby, When you set the Audio Mode to RAW. I don't know about TrueHD.

 

[dpdcp]

no it doesnt pass through true HD, downmixes to DTS/Dolby

 

[MusicHeart]

Well when it comes to media player , WDTV live will be at top (since most popular). But I will advice you to go with any Asus media player as its hardware is much strong than WDTV. I am using both media player. WDTV scores in terms of beautiful software and User interface while Asus O Play Live will outperform it in terms of performance. Though software of O Play is bare bone basic , it does best what it has to do. Play any format seamlessly and connect mega drives as fast as can which my WDTV Live fell short at these important aspects.

Next will be Amkette Flash TV HD and Philips HMP3000/5000.

If you are ok with other than these brand names, then himedia and kaiboer models can give you lot more features with lesser price tag but I am still skeptical about their quality and long term durability.

 

[rbalagopalan]

In case you have no problem in spending little higher look in to popcorn hour from sybas technologies USA. Iam owning almost for two years now and the performance is excellent. Their new range c300 is more versatile.

 

[CeeKay]

In case you have no problem in spending little higher look in to popcorn hour from sybas technologies USA. Iam owning almost for two years now and the performance is excellent. Their new range c300 is more versatile.

Thanks balagopalan, but can you give us insight on the buying procedures from US. I am sure this would help many on this forum.

 

[ankitbhargava]

No mention of Xtreamer here? No one loves it?

 

[soulforged]

No mention of Xtreamer here? No one loves it?

There are plenty of owners here including me (Xtreamer Pro). It's a decent product and I am quite satisfied with it. However, in general Xtreamer guys have been quite unprofessional in selling their products with false promises of features and future enhancements that never happen. They also keep launching newer products and stop actively supporting older ones. Their official forum is very regimental in nature. They do not respond nicely and most of the times your negetive comments would disappear with no notice.

You can also check out Dune in case you have the money to spend.

You can look at this list of popular and good media players -
Popcorn Hour (there's on on sale in the forum, check it out)
Dune (I have BD Prime 3.0. Let me know if interested)
AC Ryan PlayON HD
WD Live
Asus OPlay
TVix (Super expensive but really good)
Zotac (no first hand experience but heard a lot of good things about it)
Himedia (no first hand experience but heard a lot of good things about it...good some fanboys here)
You can go for a assembled HTPC route as well...

:cheers:

 

[aashish351]

Himedia (no first hand experience but heard a lot of good things about it...good some fanboys here)

And, I am one of them...

For 3K delivered... Himedia HD200A is an excellent HD Media Player. It has slot for 2.5" HDD, HDMI out, Plays everything, has USB 3.0, decent UI.... no lan, no wi fi.

The best $50 I have spent in a long time!

 

[ngd]

Xtreamer: great value for money. Plays almost anything.

 

[ankitbhargava]

There are plenty of owners here including me (Xtreamer Pro). It's a decent product and I am quite satisfied with it. However, in general Xtreamer guys have been quite unprofessional in selling their products with false promises of features and future enhancements that never happen. They also keep launching newer products and stop actively supporting older ones. Their official forum is very regimental in nature. They do not respond nicely and most of the times your negetive comments would disappear with no notice.

You can also check out Dune in case you have the money to spend.

You can look at this list of popular and good media players -
Popcorn Hour (there's on on sale in the forum, check it out)
Dune (I have BD Prime 3.0. Let me know if interested)
AC Ryan PlayON HD
WD Live
Asus OPlay
TVix (Super expensive but really good)
Zotac (no first hand experience but heard a lot of good things about it)
Himedia (no first hand experience but heard a lot of good things about it...good some fanboys here)
You can go for a assembled HTPC route as well...

:cheers:

I bought xTreamer Prodigy Silver last week based on suggestion of a friend who has been using xTreamer Pro for sometime.

I havent been able to decide how happy/unhappy I am so far also cant compare with other options since this is the first time I am using a Media Player. I did consider Popcorn Hour but got a quote of Rs. 30K

One need to be good at Linux/Unix to play with Firmware of xTreamer, even Apps installation is not easy. I had tough time installing "Transmission". Though they do have Android 2.2 as well but the UI isint that appealing.

My TV & Blu Ray Player has direct access to Youtube/Vimeo etc content sites so I am really not dependent on xTreamer for that.

My major purpose of buying xTreamer was to have a device which could work as NAS, can download Torrents on its own 24X7, play many form of contents, some Apps for premium content.

UI of xTreamer is decent and there are ways to 100% customise it on your own, you gotta be techie.

 

[bpranay]

At 10,889/-, Himedia HD900b seems to be the best bet virtually supporting every audio/video format with TruHD and DTS-HD MA. Did i mention about 3D support?

I have seen lots of media players supporting lots of formats but lacking in a single thing which is actually crucial for some guys or for the future upgrades.

Like I have seen some devices not supporting AAC and if they are then they wont support either truHD or DTS-HD MA or just one of them.

So such things does not give you complete flexibility to operate your device. What you need is a device which is ready for the future.

And Xtreamer prodigy is double the price of Himedia HD900B.

Infact Asus players also supports some, not all formats.

So Himedia seems to be the best bet with quality as well as format support.

HIMEDIA HD900B 3D Full HD Media Player | eBay

HD900B - Products - HiMedia

PS: haven't yet bought a media player

 

[sharma_u]

I have a WD Live media player and although it plays almost everything I throw at it, I was disappointed mainly because I had gotten used to the awesomeness of XBMC on my PC.

So I bought a Apple TV 2. Jailbreaked it and installed XBMC. Now I can play everything as long as my receiver supports it. Keep in mind that it doesn't have USB input so you will need to have some kind of network storage. I have a dlink dns 323 which houses all my media so it wasn't a dealbreaker for me.

Any device that you can install XBMC on will suit you just fine. Apple TV was the cheapest one at the time. Now you can even do it on a raspberry pie. You can try that too.

 

[harsh247]

hey
i have a measy e8hdl. Lan/hdd/usb 3.0/upnp support/ great subtitle support.
i got it from bangkok 4-5 months ago. have installed a 1 tb hdd on it. plays all files, including all audio formats. bought it for 7400. i am going in for a alienwarex51, so i dont need the player. if u like u can have it for 7400 with the hdd. its a replacement hdd i got for my old hdd, but works perfectly fine. i dont have any box or bill though. if u interested pm me.