help choosing decent media player

BIG-HOL

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been looking at 1 of these guys, what do you think of them, could i do better for my money

WESTERN DIGITAL Elements Play Multimedia Hard Drive - 2TB, Black at cheap prices | PC World

not really bothered about being able to network it, just want something that plays all files, and plays them well, with plenty storage for films, iv seen the newer edition to this 1 also here, WESTERN DIGITAL TV Live Hub Media Player - 1TB, Black at cheap prices | PC World

is it worth the extra for less memory, but the newer model, need help as i aint the foggiest in relation to these, 1st 1 is the 1 im thinking i like best, but is there other options out there that do just as good a job if not better, for less. must have a hdmi port as with my setup hdmi is the only way at present to connect it to my projector.

all opinions welcomed

thanks!
 
For a similar price also concider:
 
Cheers ill have a decent look at them when i get to my computer mate!
 
thanks for listing them pob, but iv decided to go with my 1st choice, purely as it has plenty storage and i youtubed some vids on it and the user interface looks nice and easy to use, which is all i wanted really, thanks for the other options though!
 
I'm looking for something to replace my xbox running XBMC. Looked at the WD series and AC Ryan Playon!DVRHD 2TB but dithering on which way to go.

I would like:-

XBMC style interface(Playing HD movies as well as the normal avi's etc & downloading movie covers automatically is a must)
Watching live streams
Custom firmware would be nice
Prefer not to have a computer as it's going in the front room
Freeview PVR would be a bonus


Budget up to £300

Anyone point me in the right direction


Thanks
 
Many of the Xtreamer products do the first and third requests. They also claim the Sidewinder model can do the first 2 on the list. However, I've not got one nor have any interest in 'live streaming' so cannot confirm (Jaffa probably could have, but I've not seen him on DW for a while). The Ultra is just a nettop without an internal harddrive. Also worth noting that Xtreamer ship from Hong Kong, so you'll likely pay import VAT and customs duty.

As far as I can makeout, you won't get an all-in-one, XBMC capable media player + Freeview PVR without at least an itx/nettop setup. Is your aversion to a computer in your front room due to the size of the case or the noise?
 
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Thanks m8

The more I think about it I probably should get one of those REVO boxes. Can you recommend a model?
 
I'm looking for something to replace my xbox running XBMC. Looked at the WD series and AC Ryan Playon!DVRHD 2TB but dithering on which way to go.

I would like:-

XBMC style interface(Playing HD movies as well as the normal avi's etc & downloading movie covers automatically is a must)
Watching live streams
Custom firmware would be nice
Prefer not to have a computer as it's going in the front room
Freeview PVR would be a bonus


Budget up to £300

Anyone point me in the right direction


Thanks

Don't know why you don't get revo + USB tuner. The thing is not bigger then network streamers with HDD support plus you keep XBMC
 
Thanks m8

The more I think about it I probably should get one of those REVO boxes. Can you recommend a model?
I've got the RL100, it came with Win 7 HP plus has built in blu-ray and DVB-T tuner. Price on Amazon fluctuates between £340 and £420. A version with 4GB of RAM is available from eBuyer for £399 delivered.

The R3700 looks to be the latest Revo nettop. At £299.99 inc del it's at the top of your budget. However, all you will have to buy in addition is the USB tuner as it comes with wifi built-in plus a keyboard and mouse.
 
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You can get a freeview tuner for a tenner off fleabay. Just make sure its W7 compatible. You can get freeview HD for around £75.

Also consider disk space as the revo comes with 500GB, if you need more you can either use a NAS or USB hdd.
 
I've got the RL100, it came with Win 7 HP plus has built in blu-ray and DVB-T tuner. Price on Amazon fluctuates between £340 and £420. A version with 4GB of RAM is available from eBuyer for £399 delivered.

The R3700 looks to be the latest Revo nettop. At £299.99 inc del it's at the top of your budget. However, all you will have to buy in addition is the USB tuner as it comes with wifi built-in plus a keyboard and mouse.

The RL100 looks good to me. I've changed my budget;)

I'll order it tomorrow via EBuyer.

Thanks for the replies!
 
Just one more thing, I will be able to connect to a DVD Recorder to copy stuff onto disc?
 
Would like to edit stuff i.e take out breaks etc so it look like I'm probably not going to get everything in 1 box unfortunately

I assume therefore I'm stuffed so I'll have another look around.
 
FYI my xbox links to my dvd recorder and I use that to edit out what I don't want which works pretty well bar the xbox not being able to play HD stuff.
 
Would like to edit stuff i.e take out breaks etc so it look like I'm probably not going to get everything in 1 box unfortunately

I assume therefore I'm stuffed so I'll have another look around.
It runs Win 7, so you could install .wtv editing software and do it on the box?

Alternatively, if you are just going to watch them on which ever media player you could try: How To Skip Commercials in Windows 7 Media Center - How-To Geek

Granted the AMD Neo CPU isn't going to do either quickly (nor would an Intel Atom for that matter), but I think you'll struggle to find another system in your price range and requirements (i.e. doesn't look like a computer) that could. However, I'll try to spec a self-build out for you later.
 
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pob mate, maybe you can help me here, i bought the western digital elements play, now it works lovely as a media player, but it states in the ad for these boxes you can use cover art for your films as thumbnails, but iv googled about and people are saying it cant be done, why would they advertise this then it not work, bad advertisement from western digital if this is infact true!
 
...I'll try to spec a self-build out for you later.
Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz Socket 1155 3MB L3 Cache.. | Ebuyer.com
Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 H67 Socket 1155 7.1 Channel.. | Ebuyer.com*
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz i5 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V | Ebuyer.com
Plus DVB-T/DVB-T2 TV Tuner (I'm not up to date on these)

Hard drive and optical drive may be dictated by the case you go for. Also an ITX mobo is only needed for the smallest of cases. If you go for an mATX or ATX case you could save £20 by going for this instead: Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Motherboard mATX Revision 3.0.. | Ebuyer.com

pob mate, maybe you can help me here, i bought the western digital elements play, now it works lovely as a media player, but it states in the ad for these boxes you can use cover art for your films as thumbnails, but iv googled about and people are saying it cant be done, why would they advertise this then it not work, bad advertisement from western digital if this is infact true!
Looks like it's just a feature for photos on the current firmware. Not sure if a future firmware or 3rd party firmware will give you the feature. If the lack of thumbnails for video folders is a deal breaker, you've got 7 days from receipt to return it assuming you bought over the internet. If you bought it in store you can try returning it under Sale of Goods Act as they're technically not as discribed.
 
Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz Socket 1155 3MB L3 Cache.. | Ebuyer.com
Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 H67 Socket 1155 7.1 Channel.. | Ebuyer.com*
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz i5 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V | Ebuyer.com
Plus DVB-T/DVB-T2 TV Tuner (I'm not up to date on these)

Hard drive and optical drive may be dictated by the case you go for. Also an ITX mobo is only needed for the smallest of cases. If you go for an mATX or ATX case you could save £20 by going for this instead: Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Motherboard mATX Revision 3.0.. | Ebuyer.com

Looks like it's just a feature for photos on the current firmware. Not sure if a future firmware or 3rd party firmware will give you the feature. If the lack of thumbnails for video folders is a deal breaker, you've got 7 days from receipt to return it assuming you bought over the internet. If you bought it in store you can try returning it under Sale of Goods Act as they're technically not as discribed.
yeah i bought it from ebuyer, iv just opened an enote describing this and opened a return item for a refund, so lets see what they say, as iv used it where do i stand if they try and hassle me and say because its been used we wont be refunding, is there anything i can do!
 
Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz Socket 1155 3MB L3 Cache.. | Ebuyer.com
Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 H67 Socket 1155 7.1 Channel.. | Ebuyer.com*
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz i5 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V | Ebuyer.com
Plus DVB-T/DVB-T2 TV Tuner (I'm not up to date on these)

Hard drive and optical drive may be dictated by the case you go for. Also an ITX mobo is only needed for the smallest of cases. If you go for an mATX or ATX case you could save £20 by going for this instead: Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Motherboard mATX Revision 3.0.. | Ebuyer.com

Looks like it's just a feature for photos on the current firmware. Not sure if a future firmware or 3rd party firmware will give you the feature. If the lack of thumbnails for video folders is a deal breaker, you've got 7 days from receipt to return it assuming you bought over the internet. If you bought it in store you can try returning it under Sale of Goods Act as they're technically not as discribed.
yeah i bought it from ebuyer, iv just opened an enote describing this and opened a return item for a refund, so lets see what they say, as iv used it where do i stand if they try and hassle me and say because its been used we wont be refunding, is there anything i can do!
 
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