Hard Drive Players

[Greg12]

I just was doing some research on a new DVD/DIVX player and I noticed that there are some hard drive cases that double as DIVX/MP4 players.

Has anyone ever used one? They are the right price, and I have a hard drive for them, but I'm concerned as they seem to be a China thing.

Any advice on them?

[rumplestiltskin]

No answer for you; I want to add my interest in your question.

[buttzilla]

Hey what isn't a China thing these days?

[Greg12]

This is an example of one

[jman98]

If you buy one, let us know if it actually works. I having a lot of trouble believing that something this cheap could actually do what it claims to do.

[XrayDuke]

Go to avsforums.com and you will find information on all of these types of HDD players. There is a forum dedicated to them.

[Bronx]

I own the MG-35. It plays divx, xvid, mpeg, jpegs, and mp3.

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/prod_mg35.htm

I paid $119.00, I put in a 100 gig hdd and am very pleased with it. Just had to update the firmware.

[jkleslie]

I've got a 3.5" TVisto. I don't use it much anymore, but it was a good buy. It will play DivX/XviD so long as GMC and QPEL aren't present. The other expected formats are supported too.

I now have only an 80GB in it loaded with movies for my son. I take it with us when we go visit my parent's out of state or vacations (easy composite/stereo hookups for most TVs).

If you don't expect it to play back everything, you'll probably be happy with one.

[jman98]

Go to avsforums.com and you will find information on all of these types of HDD players. There is a forum dedicated to them.

No, you mean avsforum.com. The extra "s" that you put on the end of forum makes a huge difference.

How nice that there is a forum devoted to it there - if you don't mind to wade through the 1 milllion or so various forums there and can live with the way the forums there are set up, then maybe you can wade through another 1 million or so posting and assuming you can even find the forum to begin with, maybe you will get some useful information. Can't say I blame the original poster for posting here instead.

[Krispy Kritter]

I own the MG-35. It plays divx, xvid, mpeg, jpegs, and mp3.

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/prod_mg35.htm

I paid $119.00, I put in a 100 gig hdd and am very pleased with it. Just had to update the firmware.

Very interesting. The MG-350HD version supports HD files (720p & 1080i) and has component and DVI outputs. It also supports WMV9 format.

[Greg12]

I'd love to find one that supports MP4 H.264 since that's what TIVO Desktop Plus creates.

[bassbinn]

i got this one http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/reviews/102464/atmt-320gb-h855-mobile-media-hdd.html nice piece of kit plays more or less everything you put on it divx jpeg mp3 vobs also has scart on back to connect to tv fan is a litte noisy tho but i think it was a good investment [/url]

[nic2k4]

This one is the best:
http://www.tvix.co.kr/Eng/Products/HDM5000U.aspx

this one is not too bad:
http://www.ziocanada.ca/products/pEurekalx350hd.php?lMenu=multimediaplayer&lSubMenu=eurekalx350hd

This one has the best price:
http://www.airlinktek.com/english/prod_mg350.htm

They're all available from here:
http://www.onlybestrated.com/multimedia-centers-high-definition-media-center-c-24_40.html

Check out the standard definition ones too:
http://www.onlybestrated.com/multimedia-centers-standard-definition-media-center-c-24_40.html

[rumplestiltskin]

One add'l player: Apple's iPod (the "Video iPod"). As long as you don't mind converting the DivX/XviD over to MP4 or H264, it works perfectly. I've been using it for about 18 months and am extremely happy with the results. You need the $19 AV cable (which may be found for $5 if you don't mind a short Google search).

While the number of formats it plays is limited, there are many apps that will do the conversion very quickly (assuming you have sufficient horsepower in your PC/Mac). You will need iTunes to "drop" the converted file into the iPod. No "sync" necessary.

Limitations: Standard def (640x max). I own a SD TV so I'm satisfied.