Playing XviD, MP4 on CRT TV, which device?

[indijay]

Hello folks,

First of all, I am not too sure where to post this so posting here.

I don't watch TV as much so still using CRT TV (and no plans of replacing it until it dies). I have a good stock of ripped movies and would like to watch them on TVs. In the past, I have used a DVD player with USB support and it worked flawlessly. After the move across half of the world, I could not find similar DVD player (as blu ray players came to market) and I have been watching ripped movies on my laptop.

I am tired of watching movies on laptop, so please suggest me a economical device that will hook up to my CRT TV and I can watch movies off my USB stick.

I thought of Roku but the one with USB support costs $100. Is there any other option? I am even open to DVD player with USB support if they still sell it.

Thanks in advance.

[jman98]

The Roku is very good for what it is, an internet streaming device, but it's kind of poor for a media player. I've got one and I like it and it's useful to me, but I rarely use it for media playing because it has a lot of limitations. I did have one weird foreign movie download (I had to download it because it's not for sale outside of the country where it was made) that I could only get the Roku to play but in general it has so many limitations on file playing that I don't use it for that.

Western Digital makes some well regarded streaming media players. I can't get to their website right now (looks like a DB crash took it down) but their model called something like the WD TV Live would be what you need. Don't get the one with the internal disk drive but get the model they sell that only plays from USB. It will do what you want but you'll pay around $100 or a little more for it. It's well worth the cost though.

[jagabo]

If you set up file sharing on your laptop you don't even need to copy files to a USB drive. Most networked media players can access files directly from the laptop via a network share.

http://www.iboum.com/net-media-players.php

[indijay]

@jman98,
Thanks for warning with Roku, I will look into other media players. Its frustrating that there is no 'just' media player. There used to be a few but they never picked up the ground. The streaming media players, IMO, is just a bubble. At least, in the US, getting rid of cable is not that easy as internet is usually bundled with it (otherwise internet gets VERY expensive), plus majority of streaming services are paid so I wonder how people save money in this difficult economy.

@jagabo,
May be the suggestions you gave are superior but my requirement is something that basically plays videos and all rest bell and whistles, good if I get it, no regrets if I don't. Plus, the budget is pretty tight.

I came across something called as HiMedia players but on their website, may are not for sale. The link jagabo linked to had a few. Anyone knows their reputation?

[jagabo]

Hundreds of media players are reviewed at iboum. Many are well under US$100, some can often be had under US$60. The first page lists some of the most highly rated players, that's why they're more expensive. I have the older Western Digital WDTV (the one just before the "plus"). It plays 99 percent of the files I have. Go to Amazon.com and search for media players. Lots of players will turn up.

[yoda313]

What about those phillips dvd players that do divx? I'm sure you could get those dirt cheap on ebay.

Just make sure whatever unit you look at has a rca output (svideo would be a plus but you don't mention what type of connections your tube has - if it has svideo get a unit with svideo out so at least you get the best analog output your set is capable of handling).

Also does your laptop have svideo out? You should be able to do a simple hook up that way and play straight from the laptop. You can get a usb IR remote control for like 20.00 or something on ebay or amazon. You wouldn't need to do anything else.

Edit another thing is there are probably usb add on units that can output a rca or svideo signal from your laptop to send to the tv. Though I don't know how good those work. And if you're on a budget the cheapest units may be poorly made and not worth it.

Just an fyi that if you use a regular dvd player with usb support you'll only be able to play standard definition files. It won't recognize and play high def files. And also I don't know if newer dvd players have ntfs support or not. Bluray players now do have ntfs support. I'm sure there are some dvd players that have ntfs support I just don't know which ones.

But you can search for a used wdtv unit that should come in under a 100.00. Make sure they sell the remote with it. At least the first gen model has rca output. No svideo that I can recall. But I only have the gen 1 model. Other models in the wdtv series may have svideo out I don't know.