Tablet for Anime Watching?

[fusedpro]

I'm in the market for a tablet to watch anime on. My main source is usually .mkv files, though I do occasionally encounter .avi files for older series. As for streaming services like Netflix/Crunchyroll/etc..., I do not use them very often (for anime), though I imagine Netflix will get much more use in the future.

So, what are my options? I'm not necessarily looking to buy right now, so if anything is coming out in the future, I have no qualms waiting. The Nexus 7 is tempting, though I think I would prefer a 10". That said, Android is definitely preferred. Storage is probably moot with USB OTG, though onboard SD capability couldn't hurt.

 

[Anubis]

The nexus 7 will play 10 bit high profile mkvs without issue, as well as pretty much any file ive tossed at it reguardless of format. using MX Player, seems to work well with subtitles also, have not tried one with more then one subtitle track

if you wanted larger id recomend either of the 2 asus tablets, the transformer prime and infinity, both should be able to play files without transcoding but i do not have any exp with them

 

[Aikouka]

I could give the MX Player a try on my TF300 and see how it works. I tried some network file playback, and had a lot of trouble with it. I don't remember what software I tried though.

 

[SilthDraeth]

I use emit for streaming mkv, avi, mp4, etc from my PC to my tablet on my wifi. It works great. Emit also supposedly supports web streaming. I haven't tried that.

I suppose for web streaming, it might be possible to set my pc up as a web server and stream movies somehow.

All this on a Nexus 7 btw.

 

[PowerYoga]

anything you download most likely will have to be converted to a tablet friendly format unless its a windows tablet, at that point you can play on your favorite droid device (I do this for my s3)

If I'm wrong please let me know, I'd love to be able to watch the movies without having to spend hours converting stuff to work on ICS or JB.

 

[Anubis]

anything you download most likely will have to be converted to a tablet friendly format unless its a windows tablet, at that point you can play on your favorite droid device (I do this for my s3)

If I'm wrong please let me know, I'd love to be able to watch the movies without having to spend hours converting stuff to work on ICS or JB.

it depends on your tablet, if its new and powerful enough there is no conversion needed, most Anime is 720p high prifile MKVs 8 or 10 bit depending on the sub group, the nexus 7 plays these fine using MX player, no conversion needed,

i can test some BR rips but i dont think it will be any different, I dont stream however.

 

[Bateluer]

If I'm wrong please let me know, I'd love to be able to watch the movies without having to spend hours converting stuff to work on ICS or JB.

What format are your videos in that they don't play natively or through one of the many video players?

 

[zerogear]

If you don't like transferring, you can get Qloud Media or Plex to do the transcoding on your PC and stream directly. (What I do for most videos)

anything you download most likely will have to be converted to a tablet friendly format unless its a windows tablet, at that point you can play on your favorite droid device (I do this for my s3)

If I'm wrong please let me know, I'd love to be able to watch the movies without having to spend hours converting stuff to work on ICS or JB.

If it doesn't work on stock, download a different player. (DICE Player or MX Player) which plays most formats out there. The benefits of Android is you can use different apps as defaults to handle things that otherwise can't be read through stock.

 

[SilthDraeth]

anything you download most likely will have to be converted to a tablet friendly format unless its a windows tablet, at that point you can play on your favorite droid device (I do this for my s3)

If I'm wrong please let me know, I'd love to be able to watch the movies without having to spend hours converting stuff to work on ICS or JB.

Emit plays avi, mkv, etc

 

[s44]

Three options:

SD card
home server (I suggest Serviio)
Splashtop (included with Transformer series)

If you have 1080p content the Infinity is the obvious choice.

 

[PowerYoga]

Emit plays avi, mkv, etc

oooh. >_>

 

[vshah]

oooh. >_>

also mxplayer and diceplayer. both will play anything you throw at them.

not to mention vlc for android, but that doesn't support hardware acceleration yet.

 

[Bryf50]

The nexus 7 will play 10 bit high profile mkvs without issue, as well as pretty much any file ive tossed at it reguardless of format. using MX Player, seems to work well with subtitles also, have not tried one with more then one subtitle track

if you wanted larger id recomend either of the 2 asus tablets, the transformer prime and infinity, both should be able to play files without transcoding but i do not have any exp with them

Has performance gotten better? I had a TF Prime and it struggled with Hi10p@720p. I tried every video player on the market. Sometimes the fansub community is just a little too quick to adopt the latest and greatest.

I recently started a Crunchyroll subscription and am pretty happy with it. Its fairly cheap and most of the currently airing anime I want to watch is on it. The video quality is also damn good for a streaming service.

 

[Anubis]

Has performance gotten better? I had a TF Prime and it struggled with Hi10p@720p. I tried every video player on the market. Sometimes the fansub community is just a little too quick to adopt the latest and greatest.

I recently started a Crunchyroll subscription and am pretty happy with it. Its fairly cheap and most of the currently airing anime I want to watch is on it. The video quality is also damn good for a streaming service.

i don't know if the TF prime can do it im just guessing TBH i assumed it wasn't that old

 

[psych2]

Using dice player and BS player for my anime watching on the infinity, just make sure you load the custom FFmpeg plugin for Dice (which has gone donationware so no ads)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=29692575&postcount=171

If you like manga as well I suggest Manga Watcher, it downloads new chapters automatically for you and is very polished https://play.google.com/store/apps/...DEsIm9yZy52YWRlbC5tYW5nYXdhdGNobWFuLmZ1bGwiXQ..

 

[Chocu1a]

I use emit for streaming mkv, avi, mp4, etc from my PC to my tablet on my wifi. It works great. Emit also supposedly supports web streaming. I haven't tried that.

I suppose for web streaming, it might be possible to set my pc up as a web server and stream movies somehow.

All this on a Nexus 7 btw.

Thank you so much for mentioning Emit. I was looking for a great streaming app.
I just downloaded it & it works flawlessly. I even set it up for web streaming & it works perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

[SilthDraeth]

Thank you so much for mentioning Emit. I was looking for a great streaming app.
I just downloaded it & it works flawlessly. I even set it up for web streaming & it works perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thanks. I might have to try the web streaming someday. It is so simple to set up too.

Install program on pc, run it, choose directories you want to share with device. Configure password if you want.

Install app on device and go go go.

 

[kache]

Try MX Player.

 

[AnMig]

Nexus 7 + MXPLAYER

Plays everything I throw at including 720p mkv's.

Sometimes sound does not play with HW decoder but quick button to change to software decoder always fixes the problem.

Love Android and its multi format support.

Also using ES FILE explorer you can view your networked shared folders and play videos using wifi, just tried able to play 720p x264