Media PLayer, Roku or Apple Tv?

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123Eish

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Hi Guys

I have a dilemma, I need to purchase a digital media player for my dad.

I either download all my content or watch via Netflix, I have a huge library of movies and series so I wanted to get him a 2Tb HDD(space is less but I cant afford to spend more on a HDD without first finding out the price of the media player) which every few weeks or so I can update with new content when he visits. Netflix is not an option for him as he does not have an uncapped connection nor a dsl connection.

He obviously wants to watch the content on a TV, so I thought of getting him a media player of some sort instead of building him an HTPC like mine. I feel a media player might be simpler to use.

What media player or streaming device(which supports external drives) do you guys recommend, It would be really cool if the media player can give him an XBMC style setup. Such as info about the movie,ratings,covers,etc. Also it should play all the usual video formats

Also a future netflix or hulu option would be nice as well, just to be future proof.

Thanks
 
A mede8er or similar would be better as the others are streaming devices that need a pc or internet connection to work.
You can install a hdd in them too so it sorts everything out. With regards to info like xbmc you need an internet connection for that but I think some of them can do it with that connection.
 
If you want Netflix or Hulu Plus support on a media player then the Western Digital TV Live is probably your simplest option (~R1100). You could also look at one of the Geniatech/Mygica android media players from AVSupply or UnitermDirect. The android players should be much more useful than the WD (full web browser, flash support etc.) but some of them appear to have problems with WiFi etc. You could also consider a cheap tablet with an HDMI port.
http://www.avsupply.co.za/product_info.php/droidtv-with-android-422-and-xbmc-p-437
http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=108&products_id=941
 
Ac Ryan playon (approx 650 ex vat) will do the job perfectly (Esquire)

Add an internal drive or use an external.

Cheap n cheerful

(not 'future proof' but plays everything I throw at it, and with the pace of hardware innovation, it's not worth it to even try 'future proofing')
 
Go with Roku, easy to use, has Netflix and Hulu, and you can stream stuff from either your laptop or PC or via usb
 
Ok we've decided that we don't need the Netflix option cause the play station does that, what is the best media player under R1500, it needs to have a nice interface and must provide the user with info about the movie or series as well as covers, actors, etc similar to the pc version of xbmc
 
Do you need 5.1 channel surround sound? If not maybe you should look at your closest China Mall to see what they sell. The Chinese manufacturers produce very cheap 720p (~R250) and 1080p (~R350) media players which might be suitable. The 1080p players are usually based on the Boxchip F10 SoC. These should be very similar to the Esquire Geeko media player (~R500). This is a very popular seller on DX ...
http://dx.com/p/mini-1080p-full-hd-media-player-with-av-yprpb-hdmi-usb-sd-mmc-55119

If you need the best possible sound and video quality, the Egreat R6A-II is a really good media player for the price if it's still available. It does not support Netflix or Hulu and it's extremely doubtful that it ever will due to Netflix licensing restrictions. It uses the Realtek RTD1185 vs RTD1055 on the A C Ryan PlayOn! Essential. The RTD1185 has ethernet, a simple web browser and WiFi support. The Egreat does not have space for an internal HDD like the A C Ryan PlayOn Essential. Personally I would just purchase a 32GB flash drive and use that for playback instead of a hard drive. You can get a decent 32GB flash drive for ~R100 if you read some of the other threads.
http://www.comx.co.za/EG-R6AII-Egreat-R6AII-Full-HD-Network-Media-Player-Buy-p-54755.php
 
Tremayn said:
Ok we've decided that we don't need the Netflix option cause the play station does that, what is the best media player under R1500, it needs to have a nice interface and must provide the user with info about the movie or series as well as covers, actors, etc similar to the pc version of xbmc
Click to expand...

Going to need some kind of internet connection for those.

If that is essential, then agree with the Roku + Plex option
 
Thanks for all the replies guys, he does have an Internet connection just it's only 10gigs on his data cap.

Thanks for the info I'll have to do a little more research before I decide as there are so many options.
 
I would also suggest an Android TV Box/Stick but since it is for your dad he might not share the same enthusiast mentality to configure/mod it to get the best out of it. Roku might be the best bet here - it is small and the UI is dead simple.
 
Roku is best for Netflix, Hulu and local streaming via Plex. In saying that the PS3 is pretty competent with the same but does not have the richness of the Plex client for local streaming. Mede8er is probably the best as a stand alone media player with an internal HDD and/or via USB. The android counterparts offer endless tinkering but are not as user friendly for the technophobes.
 
I have a Mede8er I had no idea how to use XMBC (couldn't set it up) so what I did instead was download a cover & make a thumbnail & slip it into the folder with the series it works perfectly & shows the cover (if you set it like that) on the folder
 
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