Dune or alternative?

batespcm

Standard Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2012
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
42
Total Noob question as this is the thing I am most unsure on

Basically I want to be able to download training videos for work on my laptop but to choose to store them on a media player with build in drives 2TB+ preferred

I basically do not want to store anything on my laptop but choose where to store them when online from it.

I have a good setup, a Yamaha home theatre a good TV and already have a Sumvision Cyclone 2 that goes into the amp however I want something more substantial and this is where the dune comes in

Will this machine do what I want? Are there any other decent alternatives? I have no need for a built in disc player etc so another model may be better

Thanks for your help
 
Last edited:
Well there are two ways of going about that
1) The media player has a samba server built in, the player must be connected to the local network and shows up as a another PC in windows network browser.
2) Get a player which acts as an external hard drive when plugged into the PC.

Dune's come with a Samba server , the Smart H1 is what you'd be looking at for a 3.5" HDD bay. There is the DuneTV301 but that only takes 2.5" HDD's.
 
The H1 is a good choice, it sits there and keeps working. There are others but I don't have experience of other current models.
 
Thanks for the guidance guys will definitely go for the H1 looks like a good piece of kit, you have saved me a few quid not getting the max also!
 
The H1 is a good player but maybe not the best looking due to the HDD bay on the front of it. If the HDD does not need to get swapped often then you may prefer the look of the Smart D1 which can take an internal HDD - but it is a little more expensive. Or if you want space for 2 HDD's then the HD Duo is worth a look. All of these Dune players (as well as the Max) can use the new 3Tb (or 4Tb if you can afford them) HDD's.

Mark.
 
The H1 is a good player but maybe not the best looking due to the HDD bay on the front of it. If the HDD does not need to get swapped often then you may prefer the look of the Smart D1 which can take an internal HDD - but it is a little more expensive. Or if you want space for 2 HDD's then the HD Duo is worth a look. All of these Dune players (as well as the Max) can use the new 3Tb (or 4Tb if you can afford them) HDD's.

Mark.


Thanks for the info Mark, money is not really an issue I just wanted the most functional device with longest shelf life really.

If I can wirelessly send to the drives the greater the capacity the better as they will not be removed at all.

I was considering a linux box to do this but these sound a much better option

Great insight from you, it's appreciated.

Many Thanks
 
None of the Dune players are wireless out of the box except for the WiFi versions of the TV101/TV301. But there is a WiFi dongle available to make them wireless - but really not recommended for media streaming, especially HD video.

Mark.
 
None of the Dune players are wireless out of the box except for the WiFi versions of the TV101/TV301. But there is a WiFi dongle available to make them wireless - but really not recommended for media streaming, especially HD video.

Mark.


I want to store the content locally on HDD but have this wirelessly sent via a samba server facility as somebody mentioned above.

I am guessing wireless dongle + dune XXXX + samba = job done?
 
It wont stream to another device. Samba is just a file share technology, so whatever connects to the Dune will need to be able to play the content.
 
It wont stream to another device. Samba is just a file share technology, so whatever connects to the Dune will need to be able to play the content.
Hi Graham I have been reading about you on other threads and have been to your website, I will be ordering whatever I go for from your store for sure, so I am pleased you have popped up in this thread also

I may have understood this wrong tho

I want to achieve this is it possible

Laptop, choose torrent file, instead of download location set to C: set it to whatever drive letter in Dune HDD via wireless and samba server?

Seed file from Dune HDD and store nothing on lappie

Is this even possible?
 
If you treat the Dune as a NAS (which it sounds like you want to do) then it should be OK. It wont be a fast nas but it should be ok for what you intend.

So if you map a drive on your laptop pointing to the Dune. On that share is an MKV, or AVI or whatever, if you intend the laptop to play that file, then thats fine.

Of course the Dune (H1, D1, Duo or Max) can also play those files on a connect display too. I wouldnt recommend both tasks at the same time, it'll just stutter - its either/or not both.
 
If you treat the Dune as a NAS (which it sounds like you want to do) then it should be OK. It wont be a fast nas but it should be ok for what you intend.

So if you map a drive on your laptop pointing to the Dune. On that share is an MKV, or AVI or whatever, if you intend the laptop to play that file, then thats fine.

Of course the Dune (H1, D1, Duo or Max) can also play those files on a connect display too. I wouldnt recommend both tasks at the same time, it'll just stutter - its either/or not both.

Unless you can recommend another option setup as I already have a Sumvision Cyclone 2?
 
If you want to play the media on multiple devices at the same time then a dedicated NAS box would be a better option IMO. You can then power down unused devices to save on the leccy bill and to keep the noise down - I wouldn't want a noisy device under my TV and any HDD is going to make 'some' noise, but a NAS can be put anywhere you have a network cable run to.
I would advise against trying to stream media over WiFi as it is very unlikely to work without stuttering of the playing media, especially if HD. It is possible in theory, but very few manage to get a good result so end up using Homeplugs or running a CAT5 cable to get it working.

Mark.
 
you should get a streamer that has built-in NFS server so you can mount streamer's storage to your computer and treat it as local storage. some of realtek 1185 or 1186 media players has built-in NFS server and it only costs around $60.
 
you should get a streamer that has built-in NFS server so you can mount streamer's storage to your computer and treat it as local storage.
NFS is not natively supported by Windows so IMO going for SMB is going to be easier for most users. Enabling the SMB server on a Dune will allow you to map an internal drive in the player to Windows without needing to install additional software on the PC.

Mark.
 
NFS is not natively supported by Windows so IMO going for SMB is going to be easier for most users. Enabling the SMB server on a Dune will allow you to map an internal drive in the player to Windows without needing to install additional software on the PC.

Mark.

sorry for double posts
 
Last edited:
NFS is not natively supported by Windows so IMO going for SMB is going to be easier for most users. Enabling the SMB server on a Dune will allow you to map an internal drive in the player to Windows without needing to install additional software on the PC.

Mark.

actually windows 7 has a built-in NFS client and you just need to turn it on!
 
Well to be pedantic here - NFS is not installed by default and so you need to manually install it for it to work in Windows 7. But yes it is part of Win7, just not installed automatically.
So as I said you do need to install additional software to use NFS, and therefore it is probably easier for most users to just use SMB.

Mark.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom