Simple and low cost media streaming to TV/tablets

HWNDarkside

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Evening all,

So I'm going around in the usual circles trying to decide what to do here and would appreciate some advice please :)

I have 3 smarts TVs and a selection of tablets (android and 1 Apple) that'd I'd like to access all our DVD rips.

My initial thought was something like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bqeel-Chipset-Quad-Loaded-Support-Ultra-Fast-Streaming/dp/B01L72ZBDK/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1475088631&sr=1-4&keywords=android+tv
with a 2 or 3tb hard drive plugged in the back.

If I used Kodi or Plex would I be correct in thinking the tablets could download the apps and connect to the Bqeel/hard drives?

In terms of files they are all .avi at the moment - doesn't Plex have a problem with these?

How could I connect the other TVs wireless? Both are Samsung Smart TVs so standard USB connections available.

I'd like to keep 4k as an option all TVs will be upgraded very shortly and future rips will be at much higher quality. I may want to connect an Xbox One S at some point too.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you :)
 
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My personal opinion is these type of boxes are fine, although I would get one with 2GB RAM 16GB storage.
Gearbest do lots of these boxes, that's ok if you trust gearbest.
Kodi, is just a media player. the loaded boxes have preinstalled addons which are not legal. There is another post on this forum about a legal case being taken out against a person selling preloaded boxes.
I await with interest what would be done about Amazon selling these boxes.
You can install SPMC (Kodi) for the android devices.
You can play direct via usb, but if sharing the same content a NAS is an idea, although depending on the network & the number of devices, streaming at the same time might not work very well.
Wifi might cope with small avi files, but HD movies would struggle.
 
Thanks for the reply.

On further investigation I will be avoiding the "fully loaded" option.

So I set up a 2Gb box as suggested, Kodi on the box and tablets. How do I connect the TVs wirelessly?

Thanks
 
The tablets can run Kodi, SPMC get from play store.

There is no Kodi for Smart TV's unless they are Android TV's

So, you want to use one box with a usb plugged into it, & share the movies over the network?
 
Yes, the box and harddrives will connect to one smart TV via hdmi in one room.

There are 2 other TVs to connect wirelessly

Happy to use Plex or another app if thats easier.
 
Yes, the box and harddrives will connect to one smart TV via hdmi in one room.

There are 2 other TVs to connect wirelessly

Happy to use Plex or another app if thats easier.
First. I suppose if sharing is setup correctly it would work.
Easier still. If your router has a usb port sometimes they can share media
you can get a loaded box. You can easily reinstall spmc.or you could get plex app.
Streaming to a couple of devices at same time mightcause stuttering.
Other 2 tvs might see files on network but might not be able to play back.
 
Thanks again.

Router is virgin superhub so not sure i can just plug a hdd into it.

I guess an android box for each tv is the way to go
 
A cheap box would be easier, if you got the same boxes, you could set one up & restore to the other two.

If you want to share the same drive, a NAS would be to go, but that can be expensive. But as I said streaming to a couple of devices at the same time might struggle, separate usb would be ok.
 
Do your TV's have the ability to install PLEX on them?

If so then you don't need the Kodi boxes, just install PLEX server on your PC and stream from it.
 

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