What is something I can use to play digital movies on my TV?

blu ray player usb mp4 image

Morgan

I bought an external hard drive. I want to play my digital movies on my TV. I have a Panasonic Vera that won't play MP4 (the format my movies are in). I know i can just convert them but the file browser is also very clunky and unattractive. I also have an Xbox and Samsung Blu-Ray player. My Xbox wants me to format the drive before i can use it, and the blu-ray player works, but it is extremely clunks and unattractive as well, which will work for a while, but i don't play to use it in the long run. Is there something I can buy that i can plug my 1TB hard drive into that plugs into my TV and can browse files and play video other that my laptop? or maybe some device i can buy that i can put my movies onto that is designed exactly for what i described i want to do?
'aight doug. I think i'll try that plugging into the router thing. If that doesn't work, the Roku an WDTV look awesome. but, so if i plug the harddrive into my router, how would i access the files from my TV and stream them? I have relatively new Netgear WNDR3800, along with all those devices i listed above.

Answer
There are a number of ways to do this. One is to use a Media Player (a hardware box, not the Windows Media Player software, although that can be made to work also with many video formats).
The Western Digital TV player already mentioned is one with USB port to accept an external flash drive or HDD. This has features like optical digital audio out, HDMI out, and a remote control:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A5588916&dgc=ST&cid=72662&lid=1838884&acd=123098073120560

Another very popular one is the Roku box - very highly rated with same features looks like this:

http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/product.jsp?modelNo=3100R&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=GoogleBase&CID=Google_PLA&CAWELAID=1492206696&catargetid=1560497233&cagpspn=pla

There are others - just search [streaming media player] to find more (Netgear, Linksys, etc).
I stream movies all over the house using our home Wi-Fi network and our computers to play the files (either from system HDD or external) either with Tversity media streaming software (there is a limited function free version we use, and a more comprehensive paid version), and also using a free program called PMS - Playstation Media Server, using the DLNA capability of the PS3 as a media server to stream wirelessly. It's free to download and use and is very capable and functional. So the options are huge - takes a little learning to pick the best for you... Good luck!

When I connect a usb to watch a movie on my theatre system it doesn't work?

FUNK SOUL

I plugged in both a u cruzer usb (fat32 format) and a WD portable hard drive (mac 0sx extended) and neither were recognised or allowed by the blu ray player (LG blu ray wireless home theatre HB965). On the hard drive is a selection of movies of more than one file type (avi, mp4, m4v)

Answer
Its probably the resolution of the movies you are trying to play USB connections have limited resolution response, you probably need to downgrade the resolution of the movies you are trying to play in order for them to work...

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Title Post: What is something I can use to play digital movies on my TV?
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