Be Excellent To Each Other

Kov is trying to get into the digital age.....

Thanks to the Doc I have a NAS box,which I have backed all my music on to...
I also have a few TV programs that I have BT. Now to watch them currently I have to copy them to a mem stick and watch them through my DVD player (USB input).

I have a few questions....
Can you recommend a media player (inexpensive good VFM) that I can connect to my TV, that can be either wireless or wired, USB inputs etc, maybe with internal storage.. for TV and music..

Next question if I wanted to backup some DVD films to the NAS box, what software is recommended.

Last question, if I wanted to convert these rips or .avi files to a DVD format (to watch on normal DVD players), what can software can you folks recommend.

anything else needed, Gbit switches, home plugs for mains networking, etc

Thanks

This is something that I've tinkered with for years, trying to cobble something together with varied results. The 360 works as a good media player and the PS3 works very well (although I believe it can be a bit picky about some of the formats it plays, I only got mine this week and haven't run into any problems yet)



If you're only after a means of playing stand definition stuff I still think that the best solution is an original Xbox with an install of XBMC. I haven't kept up to date with any recent releases but it worked for me for years streaming divx from my desktop PC through a basic wired network and into the telly. Perfect and I don't think that an Xbox would set you back too much (although some versions couldn't be software modded to run XBMC, this may have changed). However, it's no good at all for any high def stuff so be warned, it may only be a short term solution.

I must admit so far my cheap PS3 is ticking all of the boxes. It found my laptop on the wireless network, treated it as a media server (Windows 7 Home Premium with Media Centre) and streams standard def stuff perfectly. I would imagine Hi-Def streaming will need a cabled network in lieu of Wi-Fi




I've used Handbrake with reasonably good results. Comes with a number of pre-set modes to rip to for various devices (including iPhone, PSP, PS3 and Xbox 360). Feed it the files and away it goes. I think DVD Decrypter or AutoGK may be required to pull the info from some DVDs (I'm a bit rusty, it's been so long since I've ripped anything)



This one I have no idea about I'm afraid!



Patience and perseverance. They're the only other things you need! There are loads of different options available some better than others but once you've got the basics sorted it's great to have all of your stuff available to watch/listen to from the comfort of your sofa armed with a cold beer and a remote control.

The 360 doesn't do everything but everything it does do, it does very well. You can get a media remote with a month or so free Sky Player too now.

Use your 360 - I assume the NAS has a streaming server built in?

I don't have a 360 or a PS3 hence I am asking for options

*Clears throat*




*Strikes pose*






Get a 360.

I haven't got one myself, but this seems to be a fairly cheap and cheerful way of streaming videos and music over a network:

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=22557

Potential drawbacks are the fact that it doesn't support subtitles at all, and it doesn't support DVDs (so you can't, for example, just copy the VIDEO_TS folder of a DVD onto your NAS and stream it like that). If those are things that you would definitely want to do then I'd second the recommendation for a second-hand Xbox (although bear in mind that unless you can borrow the stuff off someone you'll need to spend an extra £10 - £15 or so on a memory card and a copy of Splinter Cell in order to softmod it, and unless you're happy trailing a controller cable across the living room floor then you'll want to buy either a wireless controller or an infra-red remote)



ConvertXToDVD works really well for this.



Basic media streaming doesn't require anything particularly fancy; I can stream files across my network using just yer regular bog-standard 85mbps Homeplugs (I can even stream 720p MKVs from my NAS to my PC without any problems).

What is an .mkv, I take it, it needs converting to .avi to play?

What is a good converter ?(free)

MKV and AVI are both "containers"; ways of combining an audio stream and a video stream into one file. When you're ILLEGALLY DOWNLOADING TV AND FILMS you'll find that AVIs tend to be in standard definition (with the video encoded using the Divx or Xvid codec and the audio encoded as an MP3) and MKVs are in high-def (using the H.264 codec for video and usually AC3, or sometimes dts, for audio). This isn't always the case though; as H.264 is a more efficient way of compressing video (ie. better quality in a smaller filesize than Divx/Xvid) you do sometimes find standard-def MKVs. So first of all, if you DO want to download a high-def MKV, make sure there's some mention of it being "720p" somewhere (which indicates that the resolution will be 1280x720 or thereabouts, whereas standard-def files are usually somewhere around 640x352).

But how do you watch them? Well, it depends HOW you're going to watch them. On a PS3 it's actually pretty straightforward; while it doesn't support the MKV container, it DOES support the H.264 codec (and AC3 for audio), so you can use MKV2VOB to strip the audio and video streams and put them into a VOB container (which the PS3 supports). Because it isn't actually doing any processing, this is really quick; about a minute or less for a TV programme (it may take longer if the audio is in dts; you've either got to convert it to AC3, which is done automatically by MKV2VOB but takes longer, or use the dts file which I believe only works if you've got a surround sound amp that supports dts, but if you have then happy days). Then you can drop it onto a USB stick or whatever and play it on the PS3.

If you want to play it on a 360 then you'll have to convert it into a different format altogether (eg. WMV-HD), and I haven't done that before so can't help you there.

(Another way of doing it on the 360/PS3 is to use something like TVersity, which gets your PC to do the grunt work of converting it on the fly and serving up the audio/video stream to your console over the network. I've never used it myself though so can't vouch for it but I'm sure someone round here will.)

If you want to play them on an Xbox running XBMC then you're stuffed, really; it doesn't have the power required to handle high-def video so you'll have to convert it to a regular standard-def AVI and really, you might as well just download the SD AVI in the first place. If your heart's set on watching high-def files with XBMC then you'll need a cheap PC, like this, and install XBMC on it.)

If you want the simplest plug-and-play solution then this would do the trick (or even this, which is the same thing but it plays files over a network and not just via USB).

Thanks for the info...

I watch them currently by copying .avi files on a usb stick and plugging it in to my Samsung DVD/surround system.
Infortunatly it only supposts .avi not .mkd.

I will stick with .avi for the time being then... as I don't have to buy anything else..

I don't have one myself, but I have heard good things about the (lamely named) Popcorn Hour media devices..

Might be worth having a look at, but... I don't know how problematic it is getting one shipped to the UK and getting it working over here is and also I'm certain there must be cheaper options.

my mate has lent me a Netgear EVA9150 which is an ideal solution for now.