DVD player that takes USB input and play all PC formats?

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

Hi there,

Looking for the mother of all DCD players. My plasma is in the living room and my computer with all the movies is in the bedroom!

Rather than stream stuff across, I thought I would be better to get a dvd player that supports everything my PC can play through media players (mpeg, avis, asf, divx, xvid...the lot!).

I would burn a cd or use a 4gh pen drive.

This DVD player would need:

(1) USB drive
(2) all the codecs!

I thought I saw one some time ago but cant find it again!!

Thanks all.

[Plotloss]

I'd look at a Media Box personally and transport (but not stream) the remote content to the downstairs room. Then you have access to your PC content and you arent compromising pure DVD functionality by adding in electronics to the box for stuff outside of its core competency.

Something like the Pinnacle ShowCenter [sic] or the Kiss Media Player devices.

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

Xbox 360 do the trick maybe? Does it have a USB drive?

I really wouldn't mind one of them....

[Plotloss]

The 360 will do the job if you have a PC running Media Centre Edition.

You could plug the pen drive into the MCE box and get the content that way.

>> Edited by Plotloss on Wednesday 3rd May 14:56

[catretriever]

360 has USB ports...but won't play divX, only MPG and WMV

[Plotloss]

catretriever said:

360 has USB ports...but won't play divX, only MPG and WMV

There is a divx hack/utility for the 360's media centre extender functionality.

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

Plotloss said:

The 360 will do the job if you have a PC running Media Centre Edition. You could plug the pen drive into the MCE box and get the content that way. >> Edited by Plotloss on Wednesday 3rd May 14:56

on't intend to use it wireless as i don r have media centre. I will be using the pen drive and cd drive. Doable?

How easy is it to install the necessary hacks?

[Plotloss]

You cant use 360 media centre functionality unless you have XP MCE.

The Kiss and Pinnacle boxes can work wired or wireless, obviously better performance from wire.

They have server programs that work on the PC they are reading content from which sorts what you can get to.

[robbieduncan]

Something like this: www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=56464

Not USB that I can see but it is networkable.

[aldi]

Sainsbury's were selling one with a USB connector not so long back, might still be? They cunningly started selling it about a week after I bought the one they were selling with a card reader on it DAMN YOO SAINSBURYS

[dave_s13]

I got a Pinnacle Show Center from Ebay for about 75 quid and it does everything you want without the hassle of burning a CD/DVD and transporting it across yourself.
Plugs into my AV reciver and you get DVD quality picture and surround sound (DD/DTS etc). It's great!

Only drawback is it needs to be wired for video to playback to work perfectly.

There's a few on Ebay

Here's one

[mcflurry]

Lidl and Sainsburys both sold one.

£22 from chavshop, £25 from sainsburys (IIRC same deck, different badge)
However would a divx encoded film not have its shortcomings shown up on a large plaz-mah screen?

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

dave_s13 said:

I got a Pinnacle Show Center from Ebay for about 75 quid and it does everything you want without the hassle of burning a CD/DVD and transporting it across yourself. Plugs into my AV reciver and you get DVD quality picture and surround sound (DD/DTS etc). It's great! Only drawback is it needs to be wired for video to playback to work perfectly. There's a few on Ebay Here's one

Is it unwatchable without the wire? What wire will it need?

Stupid question, but do all tv's come with av receivers?

[_dobbo_]

mcflurry said:

However would a divx encoded film not have its shortcomings shown up on a large plaz-mah screen?

I have watched lots of Hi-Def stuff encoded in DivX on my DVD player 45mins equates to about 370MB, so you can fit 12 episodes (of oh i don't know, say, Lost Season 2) on a disk. Quality wise, it's better than Sky, but worse than a "proper" DVD.

My DVD upscales to 720p, via a DVI output to the DVI input on my plars-mar screen.

[dave_s13]

AdvocatusDiaboli said:

dave_s13 said: I got a Pinnacle Show Center from Ebay for about 75 quid and it does everything you want without the hassle of burning a CD/DVD and transporting it across yourself. Plugs into my AV reciver and you get DVD quality picture and surround sound (DD/DTS etc). It's great! Only drawback is it needs to be wired for video to playback to work perfectly. There's a few on Ebay Here's one Is it unwatchable without the wire? What wire will it need? Stupid question, but do all tv's come with av receivers?

Never tried it wirelessly as I read on another forum that video playback is jumpy (sound is fine though). And the wire is a cat5 network cable.

AV receiver is the box of tricks that you get surround sound out of (basically). Nothing to do with TV's. You don't need one for the show center though just plug it into your telly same as a DVD player via scart lead.