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Movies from hard drive to TV

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Old 17-02-2012, 9:10 PM   #1
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Movies from hard drive to TV

Hey guys,( Hope this is the correct section)

Just a quick one, I want to know if there is a way of watching films i have on my laptop through my TV without having my laptop on. the reason being is my laptop is annoying when whirring away in the background and its getting old and sometimes overheats and switches itself off half way through a film.

I was wondering if connecting some king of external hard drive via USB would work but i am unsure how i would select the movie i wanted from the hard drive.

any help, ideas or suggestions welcome

thanks
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Old 17-02-2012, 11:02 PM   #2
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Hi and welcome to the forum.
Some TVs allow the connection of a hard drive enclosure by USB and provide a menu of its contents.
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Old 18-02-2012, 12:01 AM   #3
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thanks, ill give it a try.
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Old 18-02-2012, 8:54 AM   #4
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Or if your tv doesn't support movie playback via USB, not all do but might have a USB port for i.e service stuff.

You can buy a media player from about £25 up to £200 which connects to the tv via HDMI and can play all formats from USB, network etc
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Old 18-02-2012, 4:05 PM   #5
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Many blu ray players have a USB connection these days to allow just that if your TV doesn't have one
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Old 18-02-2012, 7:47 PM   #6
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films from hard drive

Yes you can definatley connect via a USB as i do this. The one draw back i have come across is that different TV's use disfferent formats, Mpg, Avi, Mkv
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Old 19-02-2012, 4:41 PM   #7
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As above, it depends on your model. Some Samsung sets have USB for servicing only, not media playback. You have to be more careful over file formats the set playback, media players are more flexible / compatible.
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Old 19-02-2012, 5:00 PM   #8
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please post make and model of your TV so this thread can be moved to the correct sub-forum and others can give you specific help for your TV.

Curly
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Old 19-02-2012, 5:02 PM   #9
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Get your self a WDTV or WDTV live, does the job perfectly imo
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Old 19-02-2012, 6:36 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WalkInMyShoes View Post
Get your self a WDTV or WDTV live, does the job perfectly imo
I agree, a streamer is ideal, you need to look at others as well, Popcorn Hour, Dune and Boxee Box.

Good luck.
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Old 20-02-2012, 9:34 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WalkInMyShoes
Get your self a WDTV or WDTV live, does the job perfectly imo
What he said, I unlocked my USB but have the WDTV live for bluray files (MKV), pick up a used one on eBay for next to nothing now.
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Old 22-02-2012, 1:26 PM   #12
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With out knowing which TV you have, you will probably have to rely on a streamer, or indeed a reasonable Blu-Ray Player. All of the current Samsung Blu-Ray Players have a feature called USB movie, any they will play damn near anything. Also most Samsung TV's have this feature as well, but like I said we need to know what you have in order to help you properly
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