Need advice for a multimedia device for my TV

[seymoria]

Hi.
I have an old plasma TV which doesn't have a USB input.

i need to connect various portable hard drives of recorded media to playback on my TV.

I had a multimedia device (Lacie LaCinema Mini) which had a usb input for my hard drives and had an HDMI output to my old TV.

It was so awesome, it could playback almost any file format (MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV, etc) and any disk format (FAT and NTFS). Also had a plethora of nice controls, best being remaining time display of video.

The device gave flawless service for many years but has now malfunctioned. I have tried a lot but can't find a similar one anywhere (ebay, alibaba. amazon).

I purchased a close one, LaCinema (not mini) from ebay but it doesn't play NTFS, only FAT.
I then purchased another device from a maker but it hardly plays any file format except MP4.

Can you friends guide me about a good similar device? A google search returns only streaming video multimedia devices, video from internet. That's not my need.

Thank you for help.
Regards.

[lingyi]

Lots of good discussion here: https://forum.videohelp.com/showthread.php?t=405970

[jack_666]

I recommend that you purchase an android device, does not have to be expensive, and load VLC media player (free) on it. Connect to TV via HDMI. Connect the portable HD(s) to the android device. That's it, problem solved.

[jagabo]

If you go the Android TV route and think you might ever want to run other apps (streaming, games, etc.) be sure to get a certified device. There are a lot of devices that claim to be Android TV but really run Android O/S for smartphones or tablets. The apps that run on them expect a touchscreen and will not work well without one.

[fooledagain]

Roku Ultra which is often on sale is simple, works, and will do many other things.

[jagabo]

Roku Ultra which is often on sale is simple, works, and will do many other things.

It won't play media located on network shares. It requires a UPNP/DLNA server for that. And that can be problematic with poor seeking, lack of codec support requiring on-the-fly transcoding, etc.

I have both a Roku Ultra and a Chromecast+GTV. The latter is far superior for local (LAN) playback. And it costs half as much. If you must play media on a USB device the Chromecast is not the obvious winner though. Since it only has one USB port and it's used to power the device you need to add a USB hub with Power Delivery for external USB devices. Then you end up with a messy Frankenstein setup that costs almost as much as the Roku Ultra.

[usually_quiet]

I also have a Chromecast With Google TV, which I like a lot for both streaming and for using Kodi or VLC to play shared files stored on a Windows computer via my local network. Unfortunately, the Chromecast WIth Google TV has only one USB C port, and normally that USB C port is just used to power the Chromecast, although it is an OTG port.

It is possible to attach the Chromecast to a compatible USB hub and attach the USB hub to a different, stronger, power supply capable of powering the Chromecast, the hub, and an attached portable HDD, although this adds to the expense and clutter.