new media tank --- WD, and others

[ericlp]

So a friend of mine kinda old and not really technical...

Wants to view some movies on a 32GB usb drive... I'm out of the loop on media viewers. I recently walked into walmart and saw about 6 different companies selling various verity's of these things.

What's the best to get now? I'd lean for WD normally. But I doubt she even wants to hook this thing up the internet. The goal would be to play pretty much any types of files and have HDMI.

At wall mart they all ranged from 100 - 150 bucks. Thanks!

is WD still the best?

 

[smitbret]

OK, not sure what you are really asking for since you were drawing comparisons to a 32GB flash drive and then talking about media players.... I think.

The majority of devices out there are simply playback devices and don't have any storage space of their own (Roku, AppleTV, WDTV Live, Boxee, etc.). Most of them have a USB port that you could use to connect a flash drive or external HDD, though and will playback as long as the files on the right format.

However, if you are looking for something that does both, there's really only on standalone option and that's the WDTV Live Hub (Hub being the important part). It will playback more file formats than any other streaming box and has a built-in 1TB HDD for around $150. I have one and it's excellent. If she decides to hook up to the internet it'll have things like Vudu, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc. Won't be quite as extensive as the Roku for online services but definitely superior for local playback.

 

[boomhower]

I've been happy with my bare bones WD Live. Plays darn near anything and is cheap. Will play from networked or local drives.

 

[dclive]

http://www.amazon.com/Streaming-Medi...live+streaming

$90 and worth it; just plug in the USB stick and she's done; no internet required. Plays any format you throw at it with no conversion / DLNA / transcoding / etc. required.

 

[Gintaras]

Maybe Micca EP350 G2 1080p Network Digital Media Player with 7.1 HD-Audio, Fast LAN, 3.5" SATA Bay (Realtek 1185)

I dunno about WD but I'm very happy with my Argosy Media Player.

 

[dclive]

Does it autodownload album art / show artwork / movie artwork, descriptions of the movie / tv episode, etc. and display all of that on the UI?