Mystik
Novice Member
All I have been reading is very discouraging.
I have been living with my Samsung TV for playback for quite a while (it has quirks that drive me crazy). I went through a number of the old players and solutions, including Divco, etc. in years past. I am really wanting to get going with something new, but I am having trouble deciding what to go with. It seems like every one I research I am turned away from.
I was just about set on getting the WD TV Live, but after reading some of the latest comments on it --- made me think again. Same with Android devices. Here's what is most important to me:
* I want access to my network files front and center. I don't want to have to go through launching different apps to get going as much as possible (see the end for a little bit more on that).
* Wifi capability
* Reasonably fast folder navigation (I have read bad things about this for WD TV Live, but I was hoping it's old news that has been addressed with firmware or the later generation players)
* Layout that is fast and easy to scroll through (listview) but with the option to press a button or some other way to view info on a movie or TV episode. I *think* WD TV Live has this. The main thing is I don't want huge video thumbnails all the time where it is harder to see what you're looking for, especially if you have a folder with a large number of files in it (and have vision issues like myself). Seems like BMC has this, which is used in a lot of products, although I am not very familiar with it from experience.
* My main concern is playing files from a networked PC. I don't really care at all about streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, etc. If I do need one of those, my TV has that. I would prefer to navigate my folders rather than the server trying to categorize them for me because I keep files in a download folder until I have watched them.
* I would like for their to be some indication of the last file I left off on. Sometimes I go on a spree of watching a long series, and it would be good to quickly navigate to the correct episode. Just a * in front of the episodes would be fine to indicate it has been played.
* Media format support - I want it to play whatever I throw at it.
* It should be able to update with new files (downloads) as soon as they come in to the network location.
I'm not stuck on pricing. I would be willing to pay as much as $350 if I can get a really good solution. What do you all think? Is there anything that would meet my needs? I am so frustrated with trying to find something that will go well. I started thinking about HTPC, but then again I would probably be stuck with the giant thumbnails instead of a listview for files, and probably have to deal with running apps on the TV. As long as it's big enough to see from a distance and can be controlled with the remote, that last bit might be okay if there really is a good HTPC setup these days that would meet my needs (I am not up-to-date on that).
I have been living with my Samsung TV for playback for quite a while (it has quirks that drive me crazy). I went through a number of the old players and solutions, including Divco, etc. in years past. I am really wanting to get going with something new, but I am having trouble deciding what to go with. It seems like every one I research I am turned away from.
I was just about set on getting the WD TV Live, but after reading some of the latest comments on it --- made me think again. Same with Android devices. Here's what is most important to me:
* I want access to my network files front and center. I don't want to have to go through launching different apps to get going as much as possible (see the end for a little bit more on that).
* Wifi capability
* Reasonably fast folder navigation (I have read bad things about this for WD TV Live, but I was hoping it's old news that has been addressed with firmware or the later generation players)
* Layout that is fast and easy to scroll through (listview) but with the option to press a button or some other way to view info on a movie or TV episode. I *think* WD TV Live has this. The main thing is I don't want huge video thumbnails all the time where it is harder to see what you're looking for, especially if you have a folder with a large number of files in it (and have vision issues like myself). Seems like BMC has this, which is used in a lot of products, although I am not very familiar with it from experience.
* My main concern is playing files from a networked PC. I don't really care at all about streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, etc. If I do need one of those, my TV has that. I would prefer to navigate my folders rather than the server trying to categorize them for me because I keep files in a download folder until I have watched them.
* I would like for their to be some indication of the last file I left off on. Sometimes I go on a spree of watching a long series, and it would be good to quickly navigate to the correct episode. Just a * in front of the episodes would be fine to indicate it has been played.
* Media format support - I want it to play whatever I throw at it.
* It should be able to update with new files (downloads) as soon as they come in to the network location.
I'm not stuck on pricing. I would be willing to pay as much as $350 if I can get a really good solution. What do you all think? Is there anything that would meet my needs? I am so frustrated with trying to find something that will go well. I started thinking about HTPC, but then again I would probably be stuck with the giant thumbnails instead of a listview for files, and probably have to deal with running apps on the TV. As long as it's big enough to see from a distance and can be controlled with the remote, that last bit might be okay if there really is a good HTPC setup these days that would meet my needs (I am not up-to-date on that).
