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analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

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analog andy

Member

Good fast media player

I'm sure this has been asked before but I need a media player for playing video files from a usb drive/hd and on line services.

ATM I had 3 WD TV Live and all thee are slow as molasses to operate and navigate, doesn't matter which firmware. Drives me up the wall, on top of that using an usb hd above 500GB with lots of shows and movies take for ever to get a file index.

There's got to be something nice with a fast UI besides spending $500+ to build a HTPC x3 for each room.

ZZZZZZZ
Premium Member
join:2001-05-27
PARADISE

ZZZZZZZ

Premium Member

I use Videolan and Pot player........both work well.

Anav
Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic
Premium Member
join:2001-07-16
Dartmouth, NS

Anav

Premium Member

VLC get it from the home page though (just updated too).

Thane_Bitter
Inquire within
Premium Member
join:2005-01-20

Thane_Bitter to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
I have a Xios DS running Kodi Hydra Mark 2 (aka XBMC - the name has been change to Kodi) and its not bad. It does have indexing issues but its not anywhere near as useless as WD Live's system.

Be warned its older hardware, perhaps under-powered for some of the larger files (7gb+) and the company no longer is making firmware for it (others have taken on that torch). If you are anal about how you file your shows the index scraper will work shockingly well, its not as good with music but my collection is large, and has a somewhat complex hierarchical format. For TV and movies its not bad but its just as simple to enter the drive or defined network folder and dig through your own folders to find the files.

If you don't load it up with add-ons and programs it remains a useful little media player but it is not perfect. As its an older system I would not pay full price for one, a few online retailers still have it available.

PS don't plan on using it as a wireless device, puts too much of a load on the CPU, it will work just not very well. The Ethernet connection is not gigabit, just 10/100.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy

Member

Sorry not looking for software players but something to replace my WD TV Live Molasses Editions.

koira
Hey Siri Walk Me
Premium Member
join:2004-02-16

koira to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
I use the same hardware but don't bother with indexing. It takes a while to boot and after that navigation is reasonable snappy. Access my media through the files icon and hunt through the list. I have my media filed in folders named TV, movies, music,etc at top level and then drill down through those. I find it works well for Netflix, right now I have netflix as default from startup. Would also be interested in alternatives.

twizlar
I dont think so.
Premium Member
join:2003-12-24
Brantford, ON

twizlar

Premium Member

Roku3 hands down. I replaced my wdtv lives with them and couldn't be happier. They are fast and work very well. I use it with plex, netflix and various local media.

FaxCap
join:2002-05-25
Surrey, BC

FaxCap to Anav

Member

to Anav
said by Anav:

VLC get it from the home page though (just updated too).

I 2nd this....VLC all the way!

FaxCap
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy to koira

Member

to koira
said by koira:

I use the same hardware but don't bother with indexing. It takes a while to boot and after that navigation is reasonable snappy. Access my media through the files icon and hunt through the list. I have my media filed in folders named TV, movies, music,etc at top level and then drill down through those. I find it works well for Netflix, right now I have netflix as default from startup. Would also be interested in alternatives.

Hmm I think i have indexing turned off but will check tonight and I always use the file browser and go through the folders but when I used 1tb and 2tb drives the player just sat there for ever before I could browse files. At first I though it was a broken device and same thing for two other ones bought some different places.

As for Roku sorry but any company that wants me to activate a device first before I can use it can eat it.
Doonz (banned)
join:2010-11-27
Beaumont, AB

Doonz (banned)

Member

said by analog andy:

said by koira:

I use the same hardware but don't bother with indexing. It takes a while to boot and after that navigation is reasonable snappy. Access my media through the files icon and hunt through the list. I have my media filed in folders named TV, movies, music,etc at top level and then drill down through those. I find it works well for Netflix, right now I have netflix as default from startup. Would also be interested in alternatives.

Hmm I think i have indexing turned off but will check tonight and I always use the file browser and go through the folders but when I used 1tb and 2tb drives the player just sat there for ever before I could browse files. At first I though it was a broken device and same thing for two other ones bought some different places.

As for Roku sorry but any company that wants me to activate a device first before I can use it can eat it.

Well if you dont how do you download all the channels to it?

Maxx2006
join:2013-02-02
Guelph, ON

Maxx2006 to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
Have a Roku 3 works great. Place playon on a computer on the same network makes a great setup.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy to Doonz

Member

to Doonz
Why would I need to register the hardware and then download channels and have to use a CC other wise call customer service? The basics should be built in the rest is just fluff that others might need.
Doonz (banned)
join:2010-11-27
Beaumont, AB

Doonz (banned)

Member

said by analog andy:

Why would I need to register the hardware and then download channels and have to use a CC other wise call customer service? The basics should be built in the rest is just fluff that others might need.

You register your roku to your account.

This allows you the rename it to something normal
Sync your purchased channels and free channels across all rokus by only adding it through the account manager

Load channels that are not in the channel directory
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy

Member

said by Doonz:

said by analog andy:

Why would I need to register the hardware and then download channels and have to use a CC other wise call customer service? The basics should be built in the rest is just fluff that others might need.

You register your roku to your account.

This allows you the rename it to something normal
Sync your purchased channels and free channels across all rokus by only adding it through the account manager

Load channels that are not in the channel directory

I just need to play Netflix and video files no need for anything else.

koira
Hey Siri Walk Me
Premium Member
join:2004-02-16

koira

Premium Member

I use a 1Tb WD Mybook drive and it works great
Also have a 2Tb WD Mybook for same purpose and for some reason its very slow for access

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
When you say your WDTV is "slow" what do you mean?

Mine works like a charm and I play everything over the house network

eweazel
join:2008-12-09
Etobicoke, ON

eweazel to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
I am still using a boxes box for streaming, but am slowly getting used to plex and chromecast
DSA
join:2013-04-27
Brantford, ON

DSA to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
I use openelec, light and fast.

»openelec.tv/

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
If you can get a Fire TV from the US and load Kodi on it, that's probably your best and cheapest bet right now. In lieu of that, there are plenty of Android boxes out there that will run Kodi, and simply blow away anything else on the market right now for extensibility. I got one of these to replace a WDTV and I do not regret it one bit.

Thane_Bitter
Inquire within
Premium Member
join:2005-01-20

Thane_Bitter to DSA

Premium Member

to DSA
On what sort of hardware?

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

I've thought of getting one of those small Zotac systems and installing OpenELEC or a barebone install of Windows with Kodi on it. The Android box works well, but a Celeron or any other non-tablet Atom x86 CPU is still going to be faster.

LazMan
Premium Member
join:2003-03-26
Beverly Hills, CA

LazMan to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
I know it's not exactly what you're looking for... But I've replaced 2 WDTV's with Apple TV boxes.

Quick, slick, and integrates nicely into my LAN... But I'm heavily invested into iDevices already (iPhones, iPads, iPods) so the ATV was a natural extension to where we were already at. I load all my content (Video, audio, etc) into my NAS, anyways.

ATV ver 2, Jailbroken, are supposedly the Caddilac - which is why ATV2's sell for decently large cash online. I haven't jail-broken either of my ATV2's - so I have no first hand knowledge, though.

It doesn't have the USB/local HDD connections that you're looking at - but it does work very well; and may be worth considering.

huh_wha
@start.ca

huh_wha to analog andy

Anon

to analog andy
said by analog andy:

Sorry not looking for software players but something to replace my WD TV Live Molasses Editions.

I wouldn't trade my WD TV Live unit for anything.
Snappy and works great.
No attached storage, everything from a NAS. Zoom zoom.

My Patriot BO gives me way more grief.
DSA
join:2013-04-27
Brantford, ON

DSA to Thane_Bitter

Member

to Thane_Bitter
said by Thane_Bitter:

On what sort of hardware?

I run it on 2 older desktops with Intel processors, really changes the experience as far as XBMC goes.
Doonz (banned)
join:2010-11-27
Beaumont, AB

Doonz (banned) to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
Intel NUC's are nice machines

cwl
join:2015-02-27
Canada

cwl to analog andy

Member

to analog andy
I know you're looking for a media player, and I apologize if this goes too far off topic. I just wanted to add my thoughts about my experience with this.

I find that generally nothing replaces the versatility of a computer for this. I've tried a number of different media players but they are all that good at responding to wider changes in media packaging, online service streaming changes and other general things that limit the range of options for playing media.

What I've always come back to is a laptop/netbook with HDMI connected to a TV running VLC and a browser. Adding a NAS for your media files is also a good upgrade.

Just my two cents. I've been trying out Chromecast recently and that does seem to have promise.. but still seems quite limited.

EUS
Kill cancer
Premium Member
join:2002-09-10
canada

EUS to analog andy

Premium Member

to analog andy
At my house I have an old wdtv in one room, and rasp pi with xbmc in another, and both are slow. The pi is slow when browsing media folders, youtube, etc, but is more stable than the wdtv, and less expensive than any other alternative I've discovered to date.
I'll be picking up a pi v2 soon, to see if the upgraded cpu runs the s-ware better.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

XBMC/Kodi on a Pi is always going to be slow. It runs a hell of a lot better on quad core ARM hardware with 2GB of RAM, and those can be had for less than $100 if you know where to look.
analog andy
join:2005-01-03
Surrey, BC

analog andy to elwoodblues

Member

to elwoodblues
said by elwoodblues:

When you say your WDTV is "slow" what do you mean?

Mine works like a charm and I play everything over the house network

Well using the remote and moving from menu item to menu item, lots of slow down when going back to home menu This is on all three which I bought from 3 different locations. Ncix, London Drugs and Best Buy I think. I don't know off hand which version/gen they are.
jobr
join:2004-10-21
Halifax, NS

jobr to Gone

Member

to Gone
Kodi runs very well on the Odroid C1 (US$ 35): »www.hardkernel.com/main/ ··· 78608433