Suggestions for BD/DVD player with all the streaming apps, and mkv via usb

SwinBob72

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I was looking at getting a streaming box for my parents for xmas, so they can have their netflix/prime video etc. in the bedroom. But their DVD player in there has just expired, so now I'm looking at a box to do it all.

So I'm looking for a BD/DVD player, with USB and Wifi, that has support for the major streaming apps (at least netflix, prime video & iPlayer) and can play MKV files from USB. It also only needs to do 1080p, as it's only going into their old plasma screen, so don't need anything exotic like 4K/HDR etc. but DTS playback, inside the MKV's would be a bonus, and save me re-encoding a whole bunch of files

Tried some heavy googling, but my google-fu must be getting out of date, as I just can't seem to find a player that fits the bill.

So, have you guys got any suggestions?
 
I was looking at getting a streaming box for my parents for xmas, so they can have their netflix/prime video etc. in the bedroom. But their DVD player in there has just expired, so now I'm looking at a box to do it all.

So I'm looking for a BD/DVD player, with USB and Wifi, that has support for the major streaming apps (at least netflix, prime video & iPlayer) and can play MKV files from USB. It also only needs to do 1080p, as it's only going into their old plasma screen, so don't need anything exotic like 4K/HDR etc. but DTS playback, inside the MKV's would be a bonus, and save me re-encoding a whole bunch of files

Tried some heavy googling, but my google-fu must be getting out of date, as I just can't seem to find a player that fits the bill.

So, have you guys got any suggestions?
Budget?
 
The problem with a box to do it all is the apps will probably get out of date eventually.

This is why things like Amazon Firesticks are a good compromise as they receive updates for far longer and are much cheaper to change if/when required.
A lot of BD players are quite crippled when it comes to video and particularly audio codes as well.
 
Thanks for quick feedback guys.

Not sure, don't want to spend a massive amount, especially if it's only going to need replacing in a year or two. I kinda assumed that non-4k BR players are ten-a-penny these days.

The problem with a box to do it all is the apps will probably get out of date eventually.

This is why things like Amazon Firesticks are a good compromise as they receive updates for far longer and are much cheaper to change if/when required.
A lot of BD players are quite crippled when it comes to video and particularly audio codes as well.
Yeah that seems to be a common consensus about these things. The original plan was to get something like an nvidia shield, or similar android tv box. They already have android tv on their living room smarttv so at least I won't have to teach them to use something new. I did look at firetv stick, but they need the USB playback, and Kodi, both of which I believe are a pain on firetv. Then when their DVD player died, I thought an all-in-one solution would be easier for them to handle.
 
I was looking at getting a streaming box for my parents for xmas, so they can have their netflix/prime video etc. in the bedroom. But their DVD player in there has just expired, so now I'm looking at a box to do it all.

So I'm looking for a BD/DVD player, with USB and Wifi, that has support for the major streaming apps (at least netflix, prime video & iPlayer) and can play MKV files from USB. It also only needs to do 1080p, as it's only going into their old plasma screen, so don't need anything exotic like 4K/HDR etc. but DTS playback, inside the MKV's would be a bonus, and save me re-encoding a whole bunch of files

Tried some heavy googling, but my google-fu must be getting out of date, as I just can't seem to find a player that fits the bill.

So, have you guys got any suggestions?
The Panasonic UB820 will do the job admirably. I have all the above working fine i.e. from Bluray disc, from attached USB, from Media Server (DLNA/UPnP). In my case I am serving media from both a Synology NAS (DS412+) and from JRiver Media Centre (Windows app). Ed.
 
Thanks for the info. Before I managed to get them anything they had already gone out and got themselves a new bluray player, so I just ended up getting them a Xoami mi box at xmas, for everything else. Seems to do the job, no iPlayer (I can't be bothered with side loading and keeping it up to date for them), but you can't have everything. Most importantly it does NF, APV and Kodi which were the big 3 as far as they are concerned
 

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