Media player help? 4od on TV

[guydewdney]

Hi

normally I consider myself quite tech savvy, however I am stumped by this, seemingly simple, request from swmbo.

I want a 'box' that is wife friendly, that will display 4OD (not bbc iPlayer) on a modern, but not smart, telly. It should also be able to play the DVDs / blu rays stored in our NAS - (wired network). As a nice-to-have it should also be able to rip said blu rays and store them on said NAS.

Am I missing something?


Guy

 

[WillDeBeest]

Sony Playstation 3 will do all but the ripping part. 4OD is a bit crude compared to the BBC iPlayer - you have to work it with the wiggly-stick game controller rather than the slicker DVD buttons - but it's much more watchable these days in terms of streaming performance, if not ultimate quality; when the iPlayer behaves, it's brilliant.

Your TV will need an HDMI input, though. Is is smart enough for that?

 

[guydewdney]

Ah - yes - its a new sharp thing - hdmi inputs component and all that. Proper HD definition.

We hardly ever watch anything on iplayer - its mostly tivo (old skool tivo) recorded from freesat, and ch4 stuff - theres no freeview here and certainly no cable - oh the joys of exmoor.

swmbo has also decreed that there shall be no games consoles as our barely speaking 22 month old will use it

or is there a different controller for the ps3 that negates any gameplay I wonder?

edit - such as

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Remote-Co...ssories_RL&hash=item53ed08ec47#ht_4924wt_1039

 

[WillDeBeest]

You can buy a 'DVD controller' as an accessory. Looks like a regular DVD remote but works on Bluetooth not IR. Doesn't really suit 4OD, though, because it can't reach the big Play arrow that launches the programme; no choice for now but to use the wiggler.

If it's any encouragement, we've had ours three years and still haven't bought more games than the one that came free with the box - and that despite having two under-12s in the house.

 

[LTD]

An all-in-one solution might prove difficult but something like the WD TV Live or Boxee unit should do the streaming part of it well.

I have an LG Smart TV with Plex Medialink built-in and it is phenomenal for streaming and gives online apps for iPlayer etc. too. I stream movies and music from my iMac via Plex Server software.

I know that LG make a box too - maybe that's worth considering ?

Consider ripping the blu-rays locally on your PC and then porting over to the NAS.

 

[BTB 500]

theres no freeview here and certainly no cable - oh the joys of exmoor.

Is your internet connection fast enough for on-demand TV then?

We also have a PS3, it's probably used 90% of the time for DVD/bluray/iPlayer etc. and 10% for gaming. Also handy for showing video and pictures stored on the PC when family are round.

The remote is good but as mentioned it depends on the application a bit. I've never managed to stop Mrs BTB pointing it carefully towards the TV though

We have 3 kids under 12 - they aren't allowed to use it for gaming and that's never caused a problem. Only issue was when BTB junior was at the crawling stage ... he figured out how to turn it on and off Easily sorted with a piece of black tape over the (touch operated) on/off switch - you would normally turn it on and off from a remote anyway.