Home Media Player

sansnom · 2 Mar 2011 at 05:55

Hi

I did a search to see if there were any threads about this but I couldn't find much or maybe I just don't know what im looking for exactly.

Basically I want a media player for the house and I am a complete noob when it comes to media players.

googling for "best media player" didnt work out too well, and online retailers have about 100 each which is impossible to tell the difference in when you don't know anything about these.

To me it seems simple:

I want a media player that can store movies in any format including .mkv as most of my movies are downloaded in that format, that has HDMI out, a remote control, removable hard drive so I can swap it out when the first one gets full, and maybe network capabilities just for some icing on the cake but not necessary.

I also have a brother who lives in New York and will be visiting in 2 weeks so he could bring one with him from the states where I suppose it will be cheaper.

I'm willing to spend up to $250 / 150GBP

Can anyone please recommend an ideal solution?

Thanks!

sansnom · 2 Mar 2011 at 10:30

double post!

stopper · 2 Mar 2011 at 10:46

For that kind of money, get a PS3
The only thing you would have to do is to learn how to remux or transcode those mkvs to ts/m2ts as the PS3 doesn't support them.
But it literaly is the best standalone media player there is.

sansnom · 2 Mar 2011 at 17:49

stopper said:
For that kind of money, get a PS3
The only thing you would have to do is to learn how to remux or transcode those mkvs to ts/m2ts as the PS3 doesn't support them.
But it literaly is the best standalone media player there is.

not interested in a PS3...literally just want a small, out of the way device with the above capabilities...

DIABLO · 2 Mar 2011 at 18:53

You would probably get a better response in the Home Entertainment section.

Surveyor · 2 Mar 2011 at 21:06

Bought my parents a Sumvision Cyclone MKV 2 Enclosure.

Cost about £70 and then you put in whatever 3.5" SATA HDD you want.

Plays any format I can think of and you can add a wireless dongle for networking.

Google "Sumvision".

shadow_boxer · 2 Mar 2011 at 22:31

Also worth looking at AC Ryan PlayOn media players. There are a number of variations but for around £100-150 you can get the larger "full" version rather than the "mini"

They come with various sized hard drives, 500GB-2TB. Some also have network ablilty too and they have a good user interface.

Don't think they have quick swap hard drives however.

sansnom · 3 Mar 2011 at 19:40

Surveyor said:
Bought my parents a Sumvision Cyclone MKV 2 Enclosure.

Cost about £70 and then you put in whatever 3.5" SATA HDD you want.

Plays any format I can think of and you can add a wireless dongle for networking.

Google "Sumvision".

I assume you mean any USB HDD ? there doesnt appear to be any mention of internal storage capability