Hi, I'm planning to get media player to play downloaded movie on TV. There're so much type/brand/price. Reading their review 1-by-1 from different resources make it difficult to compare apple-to-apple. I'm totally new to this. So please brief me what the different between expensive/cheap model.

So far SEAGATE --> RM300, ASUS --> RM400, XTREAMER --> RM600

This info might be useful (which I'm not sure how much they are related to media player). I'm using:
- Streamyx 4mbps
- I'm using wireless for internet usage
- Will buy LCD TV (somewhere 32" somewhere rm3k) but hopefully the media player can connect to old tv as well.
- My main idea for media player is to watch downloaded movie from USB drive since its very hard to find cable to connect my laptop to TV (found 1 but got too much noice)
- The media player should be able to increase/decrease subtitle delay (SRT)
- Can manually browser into USB folder for the movie instead of auto fetch all my USB content and auto fetch all my mp3/mp4/etc because i believe it's very slow.

So, i'm not sure whether the expensive media player has features that i may not need or use at all. Or it's just about stability?

The two main points that you need to check are 1. the type of files that you'll be using and if they are supportred by the player and 2. the connectivity i.e. the output ports provided if your gears can be connected. Then comes the features that you need. Sometimes you pay more unnecessarily for the brand name for exactly the same functionality.

generally the chipset in the player will determine its features and price

thx for the feedback. i learn much from ronaldkwok's blog

the firmware update also quite important i think

I have bought a Xtreamer Pro... I fitted a 2TB HDD inside and why I choose this long term investment bro... it has 2 HDD tray if I need more I can add another 2TB and if need more more... I buy another eTray and I can have 8TB...

Just to share this if you plan to d/l 720p RMVB

some media players can't support RMVB that is 1280*720 or higher resolution. And this format is getting common in d/l sites (mostly TVB series).

Is it A.C.Ryan PlayOn Media player having this problem, cause i try to download the 720P (TVB series)~~~~~

PlayOn seems has a poor firmware support....

I choose Xtreamer cause It uses Realtek chipset which can play almost every format you can throw on... (RMVB has no issue at all)

Here is my conclusion that I shared on other thread..


Xtreamer Pro using Realtek 1283DD-X chipset...

It depends actually what you want...

1. A player that plays all media file (From RMVB to m2ts AVCHD file)
or
2. A player that only plays most HD contect (No RMVB support)

I choose Xtreamer Pro why... here is my conclusion

1. XT-Pro plays all File (my old RMVB to AVCHD file)
2. XT-Pro now support DTS-MA and Dolby True HD Passthrough
3. XT-Pro has Optical Audio out which support 5.1 DTS/Dolby
4. 2HDD 3.5 Bay (now I use 1 2TB HDD but always reserve 1 for future)
-Ps- MKV and AVCHD blueray file can be Huge and HDD space is always an issue
5. It support future upgrade... I can plug in
- etray for additional 4TB in future
- it support NAS if I have a NAS storage
- it support wireless and wired network playback/file sharing etc...
- you can plug in a external Bluray drive / DVD drive to play media direct from disc

6. Firmware is updated and support from xtreamer is OK not great but OK
7. Build quality is good and compact!!!
8. it cost around RM600+-
9. so far I have tried Avatar Bluray direct RIP 50GB++ and can play smooooothly!!!!!

un-pros (cons lah)
1. Fan a little loud (I can hear fan noise) but you can throttle down the fan speed
2. some say Sigma chipset play better quality but I can't see on my 32" LCD TV
3. no BD menu (hope future FW update have)

I dont know bout you guys but I prefer a player which support more than 1 HDD

So far I have NOT come across 720p RMVB TVB series files. The ones in 720p are MKV. PM me for the site for 720p RMVB, can?

What a eTray? NAS or HDD enclosure?

Etrayz is a NAS....2 bay NAS support 2x2TB HDD.

TS,

You may choose Xtreamer Sidewinder which you can get below RM450. Since you are using USD HDD, then you may opt for this model.

It is very good and reliable player.


Darknite,

I have been watching RMVB720p for quite a long time....TVB dramas. size ranging from 600MB to 1GB per episode.

Xtreamer's processor if not mistaken is 50hz more powerful than competing realtek-based brands. That's why I bought it for my dad to play his mkv files. So far so good with many streaming channels. Firmware support is good too.

You might wanna see more for comparisons...
iboum