Other Hardware Looking for replacement home BD player

[coolecho]

I need assistance in purchasing a new BluRay player to play my backed up movies. Unfortunately I bought a Toshiba DBK21 and it broke, however it played everything great when it worked. Got a refund and am looking for a new one. My 2.5yr old Sony home BD player won't play copies so I have to rip the movie to a hard drive and play it on a computer to the flat screen for the time being.

I need to purchase a stand alone BluRay player that would play my backed up movies. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

[GregiBoy]

Yeah, don't!!!

Buy a media player instead!!!

[Z_Ghost]

I just got a media player, I love it and it's way better the a BluRay player

[Jonatan]

Bd player

Go bestbuy get Dynex their cheap and no cinavia infection but I agree with the others get a media player about same price but way better

[Hooded]

Just install a DLNA server on your comp and stream to your TV/Blu-Ray

Thats what I do. No disc's to mess with. My one blu-Ray won't play any disc's any more but it plays all the DLNA content so no need to scrap it.

I'm able to stream all my movies to my TV's and Blu-Rays wether they are ciniva protected or not.

It's easy to extend my HD space. Just be sure to have your data on a raid setup for protection from loss.

I found most TV's and Blu-Rays will support the m2ts video format with out any need for the DLNA server to do any transcoding, so the server doesn't need much horse power to stream to multiple DLNA enabled devices.

I looked at media players but they seemed very limited. What happpens once the disc is full? And I didn't want another remote control kicking around.

[coolecho]

Can someone explain a little about the DLNA server? I searched on Google and found some pretty confusing info. How is it different from what I'm doing now, which is storing backup media to a 2TB drive on my network and playing it with Media player classic MPCHC?

Thanks

[Hooded]

DLNA - Server.
Requires you have a DLNA enabled device(TV,Blueray,DVD,HomeTheater, X-Box,PS3 etc...)

The server runs on your computer and streams media(music,video,pictures) to your DLNA enable devices. So long as they are all plugged in to the same network your DLNA device should list the server on it's on screen optoin list.

I use a free server called Serviio thats works rather well.

The main difference between a media player and a DLNA server is your media player needs to be plugged into your computer and your computer needs to be hooked up to your TV. This is a good solution for older TV's pre 2008 when the DLNA spec was released. The DLNA server only needs a wireless or hardwired network connection to the device you wish to stream to. You then use that devices remote to surf your streaming media.

Hopefully this is of so help.

Oh yeah if your running Windows 7, you can just turn on the media streaming service of the WMP and it will stream to all your DLNA enavbled devices. Only issue I've had using the media services is that windows wants everything in there formats. eg video in wmv which will require transcoding to be played natively by most DLNA devices. However it's very handy for putting your digital pictures on the big screen to share with friends.

[Hooded]

I got a fairly advanced network setup for the house. Yours doesn't need to be this fancy. I'm just posting this to show how it can be done.

[8855A]

other hardware

@ HOODED

You can use just the media player to your HDTV or regular TV(cable conection) without using your PC!

I use my PC to put Movies, Music, Photos on my Media Player and then I connect the Media Player to my 2 HDTV's one 3D TV!

You can also use the Browser in the Media Player to connect to the internet with Wifi, and never leave your couch! The possibilties you have are endless, can do just about anything!

You can hook up an external Blu-ray player through USB to the Media Player and watch your back-ups on it! No standalone Blu-ray player, and everything is "CIVINIA" free!

My Media Player is AIOS Media Player and is only $89.99 on amazon.com

You just can't beat that! Just easy and simple! You can also hook up a docking station and add more HDDs, like the Media Sonic docking station, will hold 4 2TB HDDs and a 3TB HDD in the Media Player thats 11TBs and you can keep going from on and on! With MKV Format it will take a long, long time to fill up all those HDDs!

[Hooded]

How expandable is the media player?
To how many different devices can play movies from your media player at the same time?

All you need for DLNA is a piece of free software maybe an extra network cable.
If your here you already have the PC and the network connection.
Most people have a router with more than 1 port, so that leaves you needing to plug in the network cable or setup the wireless connection, to your DLNA device.

If you purchased a TV or Blu-Ray player in the last 3-4 years it's almost a given that it has DLNA abilities. Or a Game console, you prob already have one of these plugged into your home network.

IMHO a media player is more about portability. No body out there is making one with enough capacity to hold my media. 6TB and growing

The DLNA solution is more of a home setup. You can stream to many DLNA devices at the same time on a hardwired network. I can do an easy 3 movies being streamed while a couple people are playing online games.

The DLNA server can use both online and local sources for media content making it very extentable. Unlimited.

Thanks for the detailed info on how a media player hooks up.

[GregiBoy]

I use both Media Players and DLNA...Have used Twonky for years.

Most good networked media players will use DLNA and are an option if your display device is non-networked for around $100. A lot cheaper than having to pay a thousand bux for a new TV.

I actually prefer playing the files via network shares on my Media Players as I have found that the player modules on the new smart TV's are less than ordinary with very few upgrades and little support. In fact I sold my 60" Samsung just because of that and bought an el cheapo replacement without all the B/S at a quarter the price.

On the other habd, I can actually modify the firmware on my players myself and all run a full graphic movie jukebox with onscreen display of cover, details, etc of each title and selectable by genre, year etc, etc.

I have about 12Tb of content on a variety of PC's, NAS's and Media Players that also act as NAS's. All this content is availab;e to all of my players.

I have been doing this for over ten years now and I actually regard DLNA as a thing of the past. Although it is running on my network, it is lucky to get used once a month and I am considering ditching it.

[coolecho]

Wow! I've got alot of stuff to consider. Thanks for all of the great info.
I need to look into DLNA, because I have a feeling my equipment doesn't do DLNA. I assume that the DLNA devices have to have a ethernet port. My bigscreen does not.
It sounds like I would need to go the media player route.

My bigscreen and the windows 7 computer that connects to it are connected thru HDMI. The PC is connected to the router thru a cat 6 cable, and are ~60ft from my computer room.

If I got the media player would I need another ethernet cable run to it from the router?

Thanks!

[GregiBoy]

Quick easy option would be to grab a little 4 port ethernet switch ($20) and put it where your PC & TV are. Plug cable from computer room into switch and also PC and Media Player.

[8855A]

other hardware looking for replacement

Hey, GREGIBOY

Now thats what I'm talking about! Trying to do something just like that!

Glad you tuned in, you gave me a better insight of what I was wanting to do!

Thanks GREGIBOY!

[coolecho]

Awesome i should have thought of a switch!
I've got some work to do.
You all are serious about your media!