Networked Media Players - Play External HDD Content on TV

ajaydelhi · 9th September 2009, 20:31

Dear Rehaan,

I have not tested online things as yet, in fact so far I have not even connected the USB WiFi.

Please see this link if you plan to watch more of youtube and other online videos.

Xtreamer media player test | Hardware.Info United States

Ketan · 9th September 2009, 21:12

Ajay,

were you able to check with Xtreamer India whether they are going to bring us the offer for eTrayz if we buy from them locally?

I read on forum that its going to be avialable only with peopel bying online - asked the same question to Xtreamer India and he said that he shall try to bring the offer for India consumers but did not committ anything!

kaushik_s · 10th September 2009, 18:57

Congrats man on your purchase. Have been planning for one but I missed the first lot it seems.
BTW, I think it's time for you to get a universal remote ;-)

Ketan · 10th September 2009, 19:15

what universal remote are we talking about!!
Which is the best universal remote available here that has got xtreamer programmed!! I read that xtreamer is now added to logitech harmony database and should be able to recognize xtreamer. has any one trie that yet?

Ketan · 11th September 2009, 01:00

I got mine delivered today. real quick service they are providing. I paid them online at the end of day-1, day-2 they got the credit and dispatched the device, day-3 afternoon i got the delivery.

I'm yet to connect it to my AVR and try some serious testing. I could only switch it on to see what firmware it has and wanted to see the UI, going to finish connecting and some testing tomorrow, lets see how it goies.

1> getting a 2.5" ~500GB internal HDD (not in hurry)
2> getting a decent quality optical cable to feed the sound to my AV (for now, I'm going to use HDMI, let me konw what diff I'm going to see after I connect it using optical cable for sound o/p) - also, where in bangalore I can get a decent optical cable (SPRoad!)
3> Need to test some video streaming off internet - I tried some of them today and it was performing okay
4> Once the device is setup, need to arrange my libraries on my notebook so I can stream picture/music/videos from notebook (frequently moving media) - less frequently moving media need to be shifted to internal or USB drive for now (i dont have much really, should start building my library now if i continue to enjoy this device)
5> It says it does support HDMI1.3, Need to verify if the port on my AVR (onkyo 5105B) and one on my TV (Sony Brivia KF-55E200A) can support this standard (not going to make big diff it seems)
6> Not going to download the lots of stuff from internet for streaming for now, only some titles depending on availability and interest, in the mean time, I would like to subcribe to some movie rental who is providing good quality movies (at least original DVDs or HD quality), as this is the only device I have that can give me close to 1080i/p resolution (dont think my Philips DVP5996 can do that, it should just be doing some upscaling - need to check though) so that I can watch some good quality movies and start collecting some oldies which will be part of my library for longer duration
7> Need to find out if I can get a good universal remote (need inputs from you guys), I head that logitech harmony has already added xtreamer in their db, not sure how to confirm that and what model to buy, but otherwise, it can be learnt anyways - now its going to be very difficult to manage one remote for each of these 5 devices

I shall update with my first hand experience soon (if I can put it to some testing this weekend).

kaushik_s · 11th September 2009, 01:44

About the universal remote, I recently got OneForAll(5in1) remote. No fancy stuff here but it works. It can store 5 devices and this is more than enough in most cases. All you need to do is to key in the code for that device (bit tedious process but only for the first time) and start using the remote for that device. If the code doesn't work then you can use the remote to learn it from the other remote. And all this for only 1290Rs, VFM considering the prices of Logitech Harmony.

ajaydelhi · 11th September 2009, 20:34

@kaushik,

Can you please tell us the model you bought? And from where you bought.

Can it handle my Onkyo HT, Samsung LCD, LG DVD Player and Tata Sky STB?

Thanks.

vnabhi · 11th September 2009, 21:45

Guys,
My pal is going to the US in Oct 1st week,and we badly need inputs on whether we should go for WD Media player or Xtreamer.
Any inputs will be greatly appreciated. I plan to watch HD movies from a hard disk, and I don't fancy watching youtube etc on my plasma---broadband is not all that fast with BSNL to put that feature to good use.
Thanks,

Samurai · 12th September 2009, 11:16

My project to transfer all my original DVDs to Harddisk ran into couple of glitches, after which I am waiting for some better DVD conversion tool. I have using the free MakeMKV tool which is very good in most way, it is very easy to use, almost an idiot-proof DVD conversion software.

But...

1) It rejects 25% of the DVDs for having too complex structure. Which means I can't store away 25% of my DVD collection, some of them are my favourite movies, I want them at the tip of my finger on WDTV.
2) The MKV files it creates are too big. Bigger than the High definition version of the same movie. When the SD MKV file is bigger than HD MKV of the same movie, I know something is wrong. The MakeMKV is obvious not making any serious attempt at compression.

I am open to purchasing a paid software which can deal with the most complex DVD and does the best compression. I don't think I can get this from free tools. What would be that paid software?

kaushik_s · 12th September 2009, 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajaydelhi

@kaushik,

Can you please tell us the model you bought? And from where you bought.

Can it handle my Onkyo HT, Samsung LCD, LG DVD Player and Tata Sky STB?

Thanks.

This is the one I got One-for-All | Universal Electronics
I bought it from Giria's at Jayanagar Bangalore. I've seen the list and it seems it can handle all the above. An even if it doesn't you can make the remote learn your remote (That's what I did for my Hathway remote). And according to the people at Giria's you need to cal their helpline and ask for the code if it is not listed in the user manual(didn't try it though).

Samurai · 14th September 2009, 19:50

I finally bought Aimersoft DVD Ripper. The output is really small, just 1.5BG for a 2 hour movie with 6ch sound and 720x480 resolution. It can read any complex DVD and even create seperate files for each song or chapter, very useful.

Aimersoft DVD Ripper - Best DVD Ripper, Rip DVD, DVD ripping software

However, few things bother me.

There is no select all button. If I want 20 chapters recorded as seperate files, I have to select each chapter one by one.
By default no subtitle is selected. I have to select the subtitle on each chapter, and I can pick only per file. MakeMKV used to let me select every subtitle available.
The chosen subtitle is permanently superimposed on the movie. I can't de-select the subtitle while watching the movie. This one is really irritating.
MakeMKV can rip a full movie in 10-15 minutes, Aimersoft needs about 2 hours, almost as long as the movie itself, probably because of the compression.

Not really happy about this software. I should have spent lot more time evaluating.

donzerus · 14th September 2009, 20:22

@Samurai

Try the DivX PRO converter ($19.99)

With DivX 7, encoding to H.264 (MKV) is fully supported and you should be able to create compressed HD videos from DVDs with their DivX Converter MPEG-2/DVD Plug-in ($9.99)

DivX Pro 7 | DivX.com

Get a trial version and then evaluate. I've not tried this personally.

vnabhi · 15th September 2009, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Guys,
My pal is going to the US in Oct 1st week,and we badly need inputs on whether we should go for WD Media player or Xtreamer.
Any inputs will be greatly appreciated. I plan to watch HD movies from a hard disk, and I don't fancy watching Youtube etc on my plasma---broadband is not all that fast with BSNL to put that feature to good use.
Thanks,

Friends, Romans, BHPians---can anybody please respond to the query above?

Thx

Ajaybiz · 15th September 2009, 11:45

Buy the latest one if its launched in US, the player with wifi and LAN interface as you can broadcast your content directly from HDD with or without cable to TV, VLC media player does i very well if connected via wifi router.

Ketan · 15th September 2009, 11:59

I have seen a few WDTV owner went for Xtreamer. If you are sure that your requirements are not going to grow over the period of time (another year or so), go for WDTV. If you may plan to make use of the other features provided by xtreamer or PCH kind of devices, I would suggest wait for WDTV v2 or go for Xtreamer or PCH now.

9th September 2009, 20:31	#166
ajaydelhi Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 2 Thanked: 0 Times	Dear Rehaan, I have not tested online things as yet, in fact so far I have not even connected the USB WiFi. Please see this link if you plan to watch more of youtube and other online videos. Xtreamer media player test \| Hardware.Info United States
	() Thanks

9th September 2009, 21:12	#167
Ketan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,002 Thanked: 442 Times View My Garage	Ajay, were you able to check with Xtreamer India whether they are going to bring us the offer for eTrayz if we buy from them locally? I read on forum that its going to be avialable only with peopel bying online - asked the same question to Xtreamer India and he said that he shall try to bring the offer for India consumers but did not committ anything!
	() Thanks

10th September 2009, 18:57	#168
kaushik_s Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,088 Thanked: 164 Times View My Garage	Congrats man on your purchase. Have been planning for one but I missed the first lot it seems. BTW, I think it's time for you to get a universal remote ;-)
	() Thanks

10th September 2009, 19:15	#169
Ketan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,002 Thanked: 442 Times View My Garage	what universal remote are we talking about!! Which is the best universal remote available here that has got xtreamer programmed!! I read that xtreamer is now added to logitech harmony database and should be able to recognize xtreamer. has any one trie that yet?
	() Thanks

11th September 2009, 01:00	#170
Ketan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,002 Thanked: 442 Times View My Garage	I got mine delivered today. real quick service they are providing. I paid them online at the end of day-1, day-2 they got the credit and dispatched the device, day-3 afternoon i got the delivery. I'm yet to connect it to my AVR and try some serious testing. I could only switch it on to see what firmware it has and wanted to see the UI, going to finish connecting and some testing tomorrow, lets see how it goies. 1> getting a 2.5" ~500GB internal HDD (not in hurry) 2> getting a decent quality optical cable to feed the sound to my AV (for now, I'm going to use HDMI, let me konw what diff I'm going to see after I connect it using optical cable for sound o/p) - also, where in bangalore I can get a decent optical cable (SPRoad!) 3> Need to test some video streaming off internet - I tried some of them today and it was performing okay 4> Once the device is setup, need to arrange my libraries on my notebook so I can stream picture/music/videos from notebook (frequently moving media) - less frequently moving media need to be shifted to internal or USB drive for now (i dont have much really, should start building my library now if i continue to enjoy this device) 5> It says it does support HDMI1.3, Need to verify if the port on my AVR (onkyo 5105B) and one on my TV (Sony Brivia KF-55E200A) can support this standard (not going to make big diff it seems) 6> Not going to download the lots of stuff from internet for streaming for now, only some titles depending on availability and interest, in the mean time, I would like to subcribe to some movie rental who is providing good quality movies (at least original DVDs or HD quality), as this is the only device I have that can give me close to 1080i/p resolution (dont think my Philips DVP5996 can do that, it should just be doing some upscaling - need to check though) so that I can watch some good quality movies and start collecting some oldies which will be part of my library for longer duration 7> Need to find out if I can get a good universal remote (need inputs from you guys), I head that logitech harmony has already added xtreamer in their db, not sure how to confirm that and what model to buy, but otherwise, it can be learnt anyways - now its going to be very difficult to manage one remote for each of these 5 devices I shall update with my first hand experience soon (if I can put it to some testing this weekend).
	() Thanks

11th September 2009, 01:44	#171
kaushik_s Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,088 Thanked: 164 Times View My Garage	About the universal remote, I recently got OneForAll(5in1) remote. No fancy stuff here but it works. It can store 5 devices and this is more than enough in most cases. All you need to do is to key in the code for that device (bit tedious process but only for the first time) and start using the remote for that device. If the code doesn't work then you can use the remote to learn it from the other remote. And all this for only 1290Rs, VFM considering the prices of Logitech Harmony.
	() Thanks

11th September 2009, 20:34	#172
ajaydelhi Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 2 Thanked: 0 Times	@kaushik, Can you please tell us the model you bought? And from where you bought. Can it handle my Onkyo HT, Samsung LCD, LG DVD Player and Tata Sky STB? Thanks.
	() Thanks

11th September 2009, 21:45	#173
vnabhi Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: DC -> DC Posts: 5,958 Thanked: 2,393 Times View My Garage	Guys, My pal is going to the US in Oct 1st week,and we badly need inputs on whether we should go for WD Media player or Xtreamer. Any inputs will be greatly appreciated. I plan to watch HD movies from a hard disk, and I don't fancy watching youtube etc on my plasma---broadband is not all that fast with BSNL to put that feature to good use. Thanks,
	() Thanks

12th September 2009, 11:16	#174
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,832 Thanked: 45,639 Times View My Garage	My project to transfer all my original DVDs to Harddisk ran into couple of glitches, after which I am waiting for some better DVD conversion tool. I have using the free MakeMKV tool which is very good in most way, it is very easy to use, almost an idiot-proof DVD conversion software. But... 1) It rejects 25% of the DVDs for having too complex structure. Which means I can't store away 25% of my DVD collection, some of them are my favourite movies, I want them at the tip of my finger on WDTV. 2) The MKV files it creates are too big. Bigger than the High definition version of the same movie. When the SD MKV file is bigger than HD MKV of the same movie, I know something is wrong. The MakeMKV is obvious not making any serious attempt at compression. I am open to purchasing a paid software which can deal with the most complex DVD and does the best compression. I don't think I can get this from free tools. What would be that paid software?
	() Thanks

14th September 2009, 19:50	#176
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,832 Thanked: 45,639 Times View My Garage	I finally bought Aimersoft DVD Ripper. The output is really small, just 1.5BG for a 2 hour movie with 6ch sound and 720x480 resolution. It can read any complex DVD and even create seperate files for each song or chapter, very useful. Aimersoft DVD Ripper - Best DVD Ripper, Rip DVD, DVD ripping software However, few things bother me. There is no select all button. If I want 20 chapters recorded as seperate files, I have to select each chapter one by one. By default no subtitle is selected. I have to select the subtitle on each chapter, and I can pick only per file. MakeMKV used to let me select every subtitle available. The chosen subtitle is permanently superimposed on the movie. I can't de-select the subtitle while watching the movie. This one is really irritating. MakeMKV can rip a full movie in 10-15 minutes, Aimersoft needs about 2 hours, almost as long as the movie itself, probably because of the compression. Not really happy about this software. I should have spent lot more time evaluating.
	() Thanks

14th September 2009, 20:22	#177
donzerus BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 62 Thanked: 28 Times	@Samurai Try the DivX PRO converter ($19.99) With DivX 7, encoding to H.264 (MKV) is fully supported and you should be able to create compressed HD videos from DVDs with their DivX Converter MPEG-2/DVD Plug-in ($9.99) DivX Pro 7 \| DivX.com Get a trial version and then evaluate. I've not tried this personally.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 11:45	#179
Ajaybiz BANNED Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,440 Thanked: 320 Times View My Garage	Buy the latest one if its launched in US, the player with wifi and LAN interface as you can broadcast your content directly from HDD with or without cable to TV, VLC media player does i very well if connected via wifi router.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 11:59	#180
Ketan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,002 Thanked: 442 Times View My Garage	I have seen a few WDTV owner went for Xtreamer. If you are sure that your requirements are not going to grow over the period of time (another year or so), go for WDTV. If you may plan to make use of the other features provided by xtreamer or PCH kind of devices, I would suggest wait for WDTV v2 or go for Xtreamer or PCH now.
	() Thanks