MultiMedia Player HDMI HD

DarkAngel · June 26, 2009, 09:53:56 PM

Im currently looking for a Multimedia player that gives full HD transfer through HMDI, can anyone suggest a good item?

I would like it to have around 1Tb of space and not cost more than Ã,Â£150 if possible.

Something like this seems appealing

DannagE · June 26, 2009, 11:29:51 PM

I think this would be a better option if you're not after network storage

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-1080P-Media-Player/dp/B001ILFDCK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1246055200&sr=1-1

You can use any USB thumbdrive or USB harddrive then.

Or if you want to be able to play movies over a network with true audio and loads more codecs then you can't go wrong with a network media tank like this -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Popcorn-Hour-HD-Networked-Media/dp/B001OG7WGE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1246055288&sr=1-2

Obviously alot more expensive once you add it up but a much better choice imo.

Dr Sadako · June 27, 2009, 12:00:26 AM

I have the Western Digital HD TV
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-1080P-Media-Player/dp/B001ILFDCK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1246055200&sr=1-1

Works very well. The only thing I lack on it is a wireless connection on it.

DarkAngel · June 27, 2009, 11:07:36 AM

Thanks guys, im really liking the popcorn hour unit it does all what i need it do and more! Trying to source others like it/or the best price for it as its got great reviews.

GhostMjr · June 27, 2009, 12:39:55 PM

This is slightly off topic i suppose but why get a popcorn unit if you have an old laptop or pc lying around you could use and then have a vga/ dvi lead running from that to a tv screen.

I mean Ã,Â£200 extra for a unit that does pretty much what a media pc does seems fruitless or am i missing something?

DarkAngel · June 27, 2009, 01:27:07 PM

Quote from: GhostMjr;280674This is slightly off topic i suppose but why get a popcorn unit if you have an old laptop or pc lying around you could use and then have a vga/ dvi lead running from that to a tv screen.

I mean Ã,Â£200 extra for a unit that does pretty much what a media pc does seems fruitless or am i missing something?

Its smaller, looks a hell of a lot better and has hdmi HD quality.

DannagE · June 27, 2009, 01:32:30 PM

Quote from: GhostMjr;280674This is slightly off topic i suppose but why get a popcorn unit if you have an old laptop or pc lying around you could use and then have a vga/ dvi lead running from that to a tv screen.

I mean Ã,Â£200 extra for a unit that does pretty much what a media pc does seems fruitless or am i missing something?

I used to use a mac mini with xbox media centre on it before, but it just isn't in the same league as a networked media tank. Nice to control it all from 1 remote also.

If you're plugging directly into a TV then a laptop would be ok I suppose, its when you start using a reciever that you want something better.

This is the one I have now. HDX-1000

T-Bag · June 27, 2009, 04:17:09 PM

A hauppage tv card comes with a remote that you can setup to control your whole computer. I have enough stuff to set one up so I might make that my project this summer. I think come October I'm going to try and make a touch screen interface with a projector too. Can't do that with one of these media centers.

DannagE · June 27, 2009, 08:29:39 PM

Yeah you could always get one of these for your lounge pc project and have a nice little setup. Still a little expensive though - Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe

And you can't beat a logitech harmony remote for a cinema setup

DarkAngel · June 27, 2009, 08:47:49 PM

I have the following motherboard and it has a HDMI output although im trying to think how to process the signal through that. I have a HDMI cable connected to a HD screen but nothing is showing up. May need another piece of software

T-Bag · June 27, 2009, 08:57:25 PM

Quote from: DarkAngel;280704I have the following motherboard and it has a HDMI output although im trying to think how to process the signal through that. I have a HDMI cable connected to a HD screen but nothing is showing up. May need another piece of software

A DVI cable will connect up to an HDMI cable with an adapter. It will show up in windows as an extra monitor which you can extend onto. I do it with my TV, no software required. I've got an HDMI cable to DVI and they're about Ã,Â£20. If you're using that socket on the motherboard though I guess you'll need all your motherboard drivers installed before it will work. I also imagine that the socket will pipe the sound into the cable from your computer which won't happen using a typical DVI port. I use an audio in on my tv, and have a surround sound setup too.

DannagE · June 27, 2009, 08:57:38 PM

Well it says its HDMI with audo and its HDCP compliant so you should be ok. Just need to get hold of the right drivers and codecs. I assume latest nvidia drivers and the cyberlink HD audio codecs. You'll have to have a google or look on AVforums for those though as I'm not too sure on those as it was a while back I looked a might of changed a little since then.

If you're not even getting a picture over your HDMI then you need to sort that out before you even look at anything else

DannagE · June 27, 2009, 09:03:02 PM

Quote from: T-Bag;280705A DVI cable will connect up to an HDMI cable with an adapter. It will show up in windows as an extra monitor which you can extend onto. I do it with my TV, no software required. I've got an HDMI cable to DVI and they're about Ã,Â£20. If you're using that socket on the motherboard though I guess you'll need all your motherboard drivers installed before it will work. I also imagine that the socket will pipe the sound into the cable from your computer which won't happen using a typical DVI port. I use an audio in on my tv, and have a surround sound setup too.

Yeah I used to use a DVI->HDMI cable from my main PC to the telly to watch my movies via the bluray on the pc. But the audio from the PC was going down an optical toslink, but the highest quality you can get down that is Dolby Digital.

With the NMT its easy

Use the NAS to download and unpack all my stuff and it auto sorts it into the right folders, press the NMT button on the remote and its all there ready to watch over the network.

Maybe Im just lazy and was taking the fastest route

DarkAngel · June 27, 2009, 10:06:10 PM

Found out the HDMI on the mobo is only audio. Will look into the cable idea.

DannagE · June 27, 2009, 11:10:05 PM

Quote from: DarkAngel;280712Found out the HDMI on the mobo is only audio. Will look into the cable idea.

How wrong you are!

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2009/03/18/zotac-geforce-9300-itx-wifi-review/7

And they have a nice link to setting things up also for home theatres with Media Player Classic Home Cinema which is what I've used before.