Whats the best DEVICE to play Media in a TV (Using an ExternalHD or Pen Drive)?

[Tourage]

my WDTV Live is dying from fatigue. I'm looking for a new "media player" that I can plug on my TV and reproduce the stuff of my ExternalHD or PenDrive.

The main feature I look for is the capability of reproducing most Formats possible.

However all the ones I find are like Roku, AppleTV and stuff like that with lots of channels and stuff I don't use... I don't even use Netflix, I just want to reproduce the stuff I download. The WDTV is great because the remote control has lots of functions like changing audio,subtitles,ff,last watched... everything directly on it.

 

[CircuitDaemon]

I've been struggling with this issue for years. And I mean it, years. I have one WDTV Live too and although they have the best format support, they have some weird issues that make them annoying to use. My honest and true suggestion would be to get something like those Intel computer sticks or just build a very cheap and small computer. There are other mini computers in the market, and all of them should be more than capable of video playback. Even if you don't install windows in them, put any linux distro and they'll work just fine.

But for me, I've had enough with media players as all of them have shifted their focus into streaming services which all use the same video formats and therefore they don't add support for exotic files like mkv's with FLAC audio and subtitles or similar. Nothing beats a pc in that area.

 

[Tourage]

I've been struggling with this issue for years. And I mean it, years. I have one WDTV Live too and although they have the best format support, they have some weird issues that make them annoying to use. My honest and true suggestion would be to get something like those Intel computer sticks or just build a very cheap and small computer. There are other mini computers in the market, and all of them should be more than capable of video playback. Even if you don't install windows in them, put any linux distro and they'll work just fine.

But for me, I've had enough with media players as all of them have shifted their focus into streaming services which all use the same video formats and therefore they don't add support for exotic files like mkv's with FLAC audio and subtitles or similar. Nothing beats a pc in that area.

yeah, the WDTV works ok, but it's showing lots of bugs the more I use and lots of MKV formats are not running well (I guess mostly x265). I'm thinking about getting a Raspberry pi, but what I'm really looking for is something more simple with a remote control.

 

[dontenorio]

Hello,
I would suggest you consider a media box like this one http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/391482765687?lpid=107&chn=ps
You will find it comes loaded with player software and can access a network device to play almost any format. Furthermore you can keep all the software updated so that you are always equipped with the latest available. You will discover a whole new world of entertainment

 

[Pooneil]

I find the roku 3 to work very. It plays the media formats I use off of a drive plugged into its USB port. (MKV MP4 M4V) It does connect over wifi if you want to use the channels, although I use ethernet, and it will play video and music off of a computer running Plex. It has been highly satisfactory for me.