media player recommendations (?)

[neuronetv]

I've been using a little sony usb media player to play films on my tv but it has ever-increasing problems playing certain file types, such as .mkv and .mp4 etc which are becoming more common. Can anyone recommend a good little HD usb media player that can play any video file?

[usually_quiet]

All small, inexpensive hardware media players have more limitations than a computer. The higher-end Android TV boxes are more capable and more expensive. How much are you willing to pay? What types of storage do you want to use? USB sticks? SD cards? USB hard drives?

[lingyi]

This topic comes up every so often.

Here's a link with good info about the pluses and minuses of the various options: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/379453-Recommend-a-streaming-media-box-to-replace-WDTV-Live

In a nutshell, Android boxes have basically taken over the low to midrange (<$50 - $100) media player / streaming player market. An alternative for <$100 is a Raspberry Pi, but it requires a good bit of tweaking.

In the $100 - $150 range, you can get a Blu-Ray player.

>$150, there is the KDLinks 720 and high-end Android boxes

>$200 there's the Dune Player and Popcorn Hour

>$400 you're getting into DIY HTPCs

[neuronetv]

thanks very much for these replies, I was thinking I could skip using a usb drive if it was possible to play the videos straight from my network storage drive. Do any of the android (or other) devices do this?

[usually_quiet]

thanks very much for these replies, I was thinking I could skip using a usb drive if it was possible to play the videos straight from my network storage drive. Do any of the android (or other) devices do this?

Most of the Android boxes can run Kodi. I think Kodi can access network attached storage.

The Amazon Fire TV box is supposedly good hardware. Although it doesn't come with Kodi, it is possible to side load Kodi.

This looks like another nice box: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Easytone-Miracast-Streaming-Pre-installed-I8-x/dp/B0718XXKS9/

[aedipuss]

we have a couple amazon fire tv sticks. you don't even have to load kodi. install vlc and it can browse any storage on your network and play most types of files. nas boxes show up fine.

[lingyi]

You can also use a dlna client with an Android box if you're running Plex or Mezzmo on your NAS.

Some (most?) Blu- Ray players support streaming.

[neuronetv]

thanks again, I've seen some little boxes on ebay that come with kodi so I'll probably get one of them.