Best local content media player?

[KabuTheFox]

Have a WD TV (2014  model I think)  that I grabbed on sale a couple years back, but it has trouble playing a lot of videos I throw at it. Is there any dedicated local media player that will support media type? 

[Daniel644]

Kodi on a Shield TV, haven't found anything it couldn't play.

[KabuTheFox]

39 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

Kodi on a Shield TV, haven't found anything it couldn't play.

Nvidia shield TV?  Just to clarify 

[Daniel644]

Just now, KabuTheFox said:

Nvidia shield TV?  Just to clarify 

YES

[Daniel644]

2 hours ago, acheahead said:

Depending on what you mean by local, perhaps a Chromecast is a viable/cheaper option?
I'm using Plex (free version) and it's handling movies, tv shows and subtitles like a charmer.
Downside being you'll need a computer to store/transcode the movies you'll want to watch, as you can't just plug'n'play a USB dongle like on the WD.
You can check out which formats are supported on Plexs homepage

Chromecast is only playing stuff sent to it from another device, Plex transcodes to crap quality (if dealing with higher bitrate stuff) not to mention misidentifies like half your crap, always best to play via a connected drive which Plex doesn't really do (from what I've seen) and Kodi kicks but at.

[Daniel644]

1 minute ago, acheahead said:

Hence the word "depending"
I don't know if he's currently using his WD to stream +20gig files, or using it for the PnP aspect.
And I've had no issues with 1080p at around 5-6K bitrate, nor with it misidentifying my stuff.

I wouldn't consider investing in a Nvidia Shield, just for streaming movies.
I'd much rather consider a HTPC, especially since I already have some spare parts lying around

And just FYI, and since you made me look into it:
https://shield.nvidia.com/blog/plex-media-server

 

I tried getting Plex to see stuff on a USB drive after the most recent updates and couldn't figure it out despite that it's supposed to do it, Kodi on the other hand I can simply navigate through the folders and find my stuff.

 

You might could get away with a cheaper Mi Box, it's supposed to do 4k HDR and all and run Android TV, I just don't have any experience with them.

[Daniel644]

26 minutes ago, acheahead said:

I'll take your word for it, since I don't own (or have interest in them) one myself. Sucks to hear you're having issues with it, especially since Nvidia is using it as a "flagship" selling point
Might just be issues on your end though

Maybe @KabuTheFox doesn't have/care for 4K? We have 3 monitors and 2 TVs in this house all 1080p.
Thumbs up for recommending something different though, as he might not be as cheap of a duck as me, and own a newer TV

Well really a large part of pointing toward 4k capable devices is because they are new enough to support like ALL the video formats you might come across, unlike the older WD TV devices.

[KabuTheFox]

1 hour ago, acheahead said:

I'll take your word for it, since I don't own (or have interest in them) one myself. Sucks to hear you're having issues with it, especially since Nvidia is using it as a "flagship" selling point
Might just be issues on your end though

Maybe @KabuTheFox doesn't have/care for 4K? We have 3 monitors and 2 TVs in this house all 1080p.
Thumbs up for recommending something different though, as he might not be as cheap of a duck as me, and own a newer TV

 

47 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

Well really a large part of pointing toward 4k capable devices is because they are new enough to support like ALL the video formats you might come across, unlike the older WD TV devices.

to clarify i would want to connect a usb external harddrive to it to watch media that way, my wd tv (2014) accepts most of it but sometimes the files do not work, i would want something similar that will take anything i throw at it. 4k is not important to me, as i do not have a 4k tv.

[Daniel644]

20 minutes ago, KabuTheFox said:

 

to clarify i would want to connect a usb external harddrive to it to watch media that way, my wd tv (2014) accepts most of it but sometimes the files do not work, i would want something similar that will take anything i throw at it. 4k is not important to me, as i do not have a 4k tv.

then the Mi Box would probably be enough, you can find them at Walmarts for about 70 bucks, supports all the codecs so even 1080p videos encoded in H.265 HEVC (for file size savings) should play without issue. in this review he said the Mi Box gets some frames drops at 4k, so if 4k isn't important then it should probably be good enough.

 

 

[KabuTheFox]

35 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

then the Mi Box would probably be enough, you can find them at Walmarts for about 70 bucks, supports all the codecs so even 1080p videos encoded in H.265 HEVC (for file size savings) should play without issue. in this review he said the Mi Box gets some frames drops at 4k, so if 4k isn't important then it should probably be good enough.

 

 

i will keep my eyes open, appearantly the new one is coming soon

[KabuTheFox]

45 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

mi box

 

also you would think with all these file formats supported that the wd tv would have no issues at all with local usb media
 

[Daniel644]

2 minutes ago, KabuTheFox said:

i will keep my eyes open, appearantly the new one is coming soon

My Walmart just got the MiBox like in the review I posted above a few days ago, I was talking to the guy working electronics tonight and he showed them to me, Also I hear most of the Roku lineup is fixing to get refreshed with a new generation before years end and A new Fire Stick is coming in a few weeks (but that lacks a USB so it's useless to you) Also there is a rumored new Chromecast set to be unveiled at a Google event occurring on Tuesday.

 

[KabuTheFox]

1 minute ago, Daniel644 said:

My Walmart just got the MiBox like in the review I posted above a few days ago, I was talking to the guy working electronics tonight and he showed them to me, Also I hear most of the Roku lineup is fixing to get refreshed with a new generation before years end and A new Fire Stick is coming in a few weeks (but that lacks a USB so it's useless to you) Also there is a rumored new Chromecast set to be unveiled at a Google event occurring on Tuesday.

 

would seem that wd has discontinued there line of WD media players as well, probably as most people go with chromecast or roku from what i have seen. no mention of them at all on wd's site besides for some manual pdfs that can only be found through google from what i can see. 

no listing for mi box on walmart's website as of yet.

[Daniel644]

2 minutes ago, KabuTheFox said:

would seem that wd has discontinued there line of WD media players as well, probably as most people go with chromecast or roku from what i have seen. no mention of them at all on wd's site besides for some manual pdfs that can only be found through google from what i can see. 

no listing for mi box on walmart's website as of yet.

They've like "pre-released" them in stores, I was always worried about the WD's codec supports which is why I never bought one of them, with the Android based units like the MiBox and Shield TV you can just download a media player that supports whatever codecs you need.

[KabuTheFox]

22 hours ago, Daniel644 said:

They've like "pre-released" them in stores, I was always worried about the WD's codec supports which is why I never bought one of them, with the Android based units like the MiBox and Shield TV you can just download a media player that supports whatever codecs you need.

low and behold the mi box was officially put on the market today

still debating on getting the nvidia shield tv though, not sure which is actually better as a media player. since nvidia shield tv is dual marketed as a micro-console as well. though i keep seeing rumors about a new one coming soon so might hold off for a bit.

[Daniel644]

4 minutes ago, KabuTheFox said:

low and behold the mi box was officially put on the market today

still debating on getting the nvidia shield tv though, not sure which is actually better as a media player. since nvidia shield tv is dual marketed as a micro-console as well.

Well the Shield does include 3 free months of Nvidia Geforce Now which does decent gameplay, somewhere between PS3 and PS4 and if you have a supporting GPU in your desktop you can stream games from your PC to your TV (if your PC is in a different room), it's honestly hard to say if it's worth it now that the MiBox is available, I bought my Shield like a year ago and the only competition was Roku and Fire TV. You could always look at it as it having a longer usable life then the MiBox for when you upgrade your TV down the road.

[KabuTheFox]

30 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

Well the Shield does include 3 free months of Nvidia Geforce Now which does decent gameplay, somewhere between PS3 and PS4 and if you have a supporting GPU in your desktop you can stream games from your PC to your TV (if your PC is in a different room), it's honestly hard to say if it's worth it now that the MiBox is available, I bought my Shield like a year ago and the only competition was Roku and Fire TV. You could always look at it as it having a longer usable life then the MiBox for when you upgrade your TV down the road.

Gaming aspect is kinda pointless for me as I own a ps3, ps4 and pc (980 ti card) 

 

By the time I get a new tv however, there will be better Nvidia shields or something else entirely. Regardless I'll give it some time for reviews on the MI box to pop up. 

 

These tempting buys on eBay though for the Nvidia shield... Like $10. Probably scams though, oddly there's even listings in Canada not just China and Hong Kong where most of them are. 

[Daniel644]

26 minutes ago, KabuTheFox said:

Gaming aspect is kinda pointless for me as I own a ps3, ps4 and pc (980 ti card) 

 

By the time I get a new tv however, there will be better Nvidia shields or something else entirely. Regardless I'll give it some time for reviews on the MI box to pop up. 

 

These tempting buys on eBay though for the Nvidia shield... Like $10. Probably scams though, oddly there's even listings in Canada not just China and Hong Kong where most of them are. 

Hasn't really been any word of a refresh on the Shield TV, infact the rest of the Shield lineup is largely been abandoned so it doesn't look good to be seeing an update there, but there doesn't really need to be one either, it's powerful enough to make it till 8k videos come along, we are at a plateau when it comes to streaming video and we likely won't see another codec for years as all the 4k stuff has been standardized, only thing would be waiting  to see if something comes along cheaper then the Shield that doesn't have the 4k shortcomings of the MiBox. 

 

Scratch part of that, just did a search and it looks like they have filed documents with the FCC for a NEW Shield TV

[KabuTheFox]

16 hours ago, Daniel644 said:

Hasn't really been any word of a refresh on the Shield TV, infact the rest of the Shield lineup is largely been abandoned so it doesn't look good to be seeing an update there, but there doesn't really need to be one either, it's powerful enough to make it till 8k videos come along, we are at a plateau when it comes to streaming video and we likely won't see another codec for years as all the 4k stuff has been standardized, only thing would be waiting  to see if something comes along cheaper then the Shield that doesn't have the 4k shortcomings of the MiBox. 

 

Scratch part of that, just did a search and it looks like they have filed documents with the FCC for a NEW Shield TV

Indeed what I saw when I was searching. 

 

Also I am assuming the app i'd want to use with either the shield or box is kodi

[Daniel644]

2 hours ago, KabuTheFox said:

Indeed what I saw when I was searching. 

 

Also I am assuming the app i'd want to use with either the shield or box is kodi

I personally Prefer Kodi because I can browse based on folder structure instead of some "pretty picture" thumbnails that you get with Plex (that might be wrong). Either way you can try them all and make up your own mind.

[bobhays]

On 10/4/2016 at 3:29 PM, KabuTheFox said:

Indeed what I saw when I was searching. 

 

Also I am assuming the app i'd want to use with either the shield or box is kodi

Did you end up going with either one of them? I'm strongly considering the mi box and was wondering what you thought?