stand alone dvd players that play .wmv or h.264

[scorpio291]

Hi guys/gals. I'm new to this site but have seen an old answer to this question. I'm looking for a regular stand alone dvd player that can play .wmv or h.264 on a burned dvd+/-r. I hate waiting 2 hours to convert and burn a 1 hour dvd, and I don't want to buy another xbox 360 for myself to play them. the kids will start to wonder why I'm taking their xbox to my room! thanks in advance, George

[scorpio291]

just some extra info, I tried looking in google and bing and only get a few useful links, but all are from like 2-4 yrs ago and list names of companies that I've never heard of. I read that if your dvd plays divx, it will play .wmv, but I tried and it doesn't work on my samsung which supposedly plays divx. thanks

[MOVIEGEEK]

This is a popular request lately but the fact is there's no player that supports all formats, your best bet is to make a cheap HTPC or get a external HDD and stream it to your 360.
BTWivX and WMV are very different formats.

[guns1inger]

WDTV and a portable HDD will give you most flexibility in a small format.

[scorpio291]

wd tv looks cool, but reviews from bestbuy.com have some complaints of picture quality. looks like for the time being I'll have to muddle by with nero conversions unless anyone knows of a faster and better conversion program? I actually connected my laptop to my samsung dvdplayer/recorder, but looks like the picture on my laptop (original video file) is better than the copy with s-video connection. at least a 1 hour video will take one hour to record in this setup instead of 2.5 hours with converting and burning. what conversion programs do you guys recommend?