[ryan1]

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

[logiciel]

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.

[ryan1]

thanks, ill give it a try.

[NX3]

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

[scrapbook]

Many blu ray players have a USB connection these days to allow just that if your TV doesn't have one

[hawkeye48]

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

[NX3]

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.

[Curly99]

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

[WalkInMyShoes]

Get your self a WDTV or WDTV live, does the job perfectly imo

[nbat58]

Originally Posted by WalkInMyShoes

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.

[NormanD]

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.

[MrOpinionated]

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