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Whats the best multi-media device?

M

Mugy

Member
Mostly for watching movies, music and videos, and netflix.

I'm a person who was a lot of HDTV in is house (3 in the living room, and 3 per-bedroom), but for some reason we lack enough devices to watch movies or watch clips or music while drinking in the living room.

I have a samsung 3D from 2014 that we use with the 3D-Blu Ray player to watch movies. We also have a laptop with a HDMI-port to listen to music and watch youtube while there's party at the house.

...But for some reason that's doesn't feel enough. We lack Netflix in the SMART TV device, and everytime somebody wants to watch a movie, they had to go outside, or use the laptop. And that can't be boring if for example i want to watch a movie but they are listening to music outside, for example.

What are my options there? I rarely watch tv anyway, so i'm really looking foward to a device that can provide me as much as possible multimedia, and also being easy to transport. If is has his own data holder (like an intern flash memory or something), would be better. Streaming, outside of netflix, can be optional
 
G

Guess Who

Banned
Want something cheap and simple? Get a Fire TV Stick or a Chromecast.

Want something fancier? Get a Roku or a Fire TV.

Have a lot of Apple products? Get an Apple TV, but not until a new model comes out or if you can get one for sub-$100.

Rather than expecting the box you plug into your TV to hold a bunch of media for you, set up a Plex server on a desktop computer. It can stream pretty much any video you put on it to any of the devices I mentioned above as well as mobile devices. If you have downloaded or ripped movies or TV shows it will even automatically know what the video is, sort TV shows by season, provide info like summaries and casts, etc.
 
S

shockdude

Member
Why do they need the laptop for music? You might be able to set up a media server on the laptop and stream all the music to phones outside.
Heck combine the media server with a chromecast and you can stream local music/movies to the TV from the laptop wirelessly. And of course the Chromecast can do Netflix without needing the laptop.
 
M

Mugy

Member
But streaming devices required considerable internet connection, right?

I feel like i'm asking an stupid question here.
 
M

Mugy

Member
shockdude said:
Why do they need the laptop for music? You might be able to set up a media server on the laptop and stream all the music to phones outside.
Heck combine the media server with a chromecast and you can stream music to the TV from the laptop wirelessly.
Click to expand...

Why do they need the laptop for music? You might be able to set up a media server on the laptop and stream all the music to phones outside.
Heck combine the media server with a chromecast and you can stream music to the TV from the laptop wirelessly.
Click to expand...
My father before he died put a LONG hdmi cable next to the HDTV and set-up two old bugles to play music on a hook-up. We usually use the laptop with a 3,5 jack cable and just use the HDTV to reproduce youtube while the sound came from the bugles

EDIT: Sorry doble post
 
G

Guess Who

Banned
Mugy said:
But streaming devices required considerable internet connection, right?

I feel like i'm asking an stupid question here.
Click to expand...

Streaming from Netflix, Hulu, etc. doesn't require *that* beefy of a network connection. Netflix recommends only a 5mbps connection for 1080p and 25mbps for 4K. Plex, which I mentioned above, just goes over your local network and doesn't use your internet at all (unless you want to stream from outside your home).
 
S

shockdude

Member
Mugy said:
But streaming devices required considerable internet connection, right?

I feel like i'm asking an stupid question here.
Click to expand...
Streaming Netflix uses as much internet as...streaming Netflix.
Streaming media from a media server uses zero internet, but is dependent on a quality home network (fast uncongested WiFi, preferably wired network connection to the server).
 
M

Mugy

Member
Hazmat said:
I figure you wrote it wrong, but you have 3 tvs in your living room and 3 in each bedroom?
Click to expand...

One HDTV per bedroom :p. And yeah, 3 HDTV in the living room. My house its small, and the kitchen its close to the living room. So there's one HDTV in front of the couch, one backside the kitchen (to watch TV while cooking) and another one near the the door...which i don't know why.
 
S

shockdude

Member
Mugy said:
My father before he died put a LONG hdmi cable next to the HDTV and set-up two old bugles to play music on a hook-up. We usually use the laptop with a 3,5 jack cable and just use the HDTV to reproduce youtube while the sound came from the bugles

EDIT: Sorry doble post
Click to expand...
I'm having trouble understanding this setup. You might need to draw a picture of all the stuff you currently have and their possible uses/configurations.
 
M

Mugy

Member
I just want to use a device that i can use either if the laptop its being used or i just don't want to go outside to use the bluray player, or as replacement for tv cable. Basically that
 
B

bennywhatever

Member
We have one TV and use a Fire Stick that's pretty sweet and inexpensive. I have a desktop set up in the office that I turned into a Plex server, which streams music & movies to any Plex device, so if one of us is using the TV, the other can do whatever on their laptop or phone.
 
S

shockdude

Member
Mugy said:
I just want to use a device that i can use either if the laptop its being used or i just don't want to go outside to use the bluray player, or as replacement for tv cable. Basically that
Click to expand...
but what do you want to use?

Chromecast is enough for Netflix, Youtube, Spotify. other internet media. Physical blurays still need a player, stuff on the laptop still needs the laptop (unless you set up a media server down the road).
 
F

FutureLarking

Member
If HDR or 4K or plex have any interest to you, the Nvidia Shield TV has been the outright best for nearly two years now - nothing comes close. It is however, not cheap. But for that you get hardware that quite literally blows away everything else and has turned out to be quite future proofed compared to every other option (for example, it launched without 4K Netflix, HDR, Dolby Atmos, integrated Plex Server, etc - but now has all of them). Built in Chromecast of course.

It can also handily stream PC games as a doodle and can actually play 360-gen era titles fairly well natively (Tomb Raider, Resi 5, Metal Gear Rising, etc).

It is I suppose a bit of a luxury device, though having bought one when it first came out it's amazing too see how other boxes that came out at the time have been quickly outclassed and are missing feature, and yet this one is literally still on the top - and probably will be for the next year or so. There's not really much it can;t do, and nothing particularly obvious coming down the line media related that it won't be able to do - other than perhaps hardware accelerated AV1 decoding, though nothing yet can.

Best thing for me is the Plex Server though, it's a very low powered box, you can plug in a HDD and start serving media to all of your devices via it (and remotely over the internet), and still have enough power to actually use the box. Probably the most efficient, competent Plex server hardware out there. Can comfortably serve out 2-3 native streams simultaneously if your network and storage device can handle it.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Mugy said:
I just want to use a device that i can use either if the laptop its being used or i just don't want to go outside to use the bluray player, or as replacement for tv cable. Basically that
Click to expand...

Apple TV is nice. You can even get PS Vue for cable if you want and run it on there.
 
J

jelly

Member
Amazon Fire TV stick for Netflix etc. or Chromecast if you have a smartphone which is good to just fire over a YouTube video or whatever from your phone.

I do like a Bluetooth speaker as well for music, no need for a TV to be on and it's Bluetooth so works really easily.
 
TacosNSalsa

TacosNSalsa

Member
I was going to go with Chromecast but I read that you needed a PC or smart phone for it to work , so I said fuck that . Went with the Amazon Fire stick tv and came home, plugged it in to tv, gave it my router password and logged into my Amazon account (not needed but nice if you have one ) and that was it ..I think Roku is the same .

Edit: and you can connect your Youtube account to the Firestick it will shoot over to the connected TV.
 
Rktk

Rktk

Member
Just keep in mind the Chromecast does not have a dedicated remote OP. It's a negative IMO, although being able to stream any browser tab is great.
 
D

Drensch

Member
Roku. You don't have to worry about not getting this service or that because they aren't trying to sell a service. Their devices have great menus and are speedy. They have a physical remote and you don't have to have your phone to operate it.
 
A

apieceofstrange

Member
FireTV has become my go to streaming device. Love that it powers on within a second and switches my TV to the right input automatically. Apps load instantly and the interface is very speedy overall. Big upgrade over the XB1 I was previously using as my media box. Now that interface feels so slow and unresponsive whenever I go back to it.
 
S

Sky Chief

Member
I've tried everything and my favorites are Fire TV and Chromecast. Fire TV is the best for having an all in one box and remote setup for streaming. Chromecast is the best if you want to cast from other devices.
 
H

Heel

Member
FutureLarking said:
If HDR or 4K or plex have any interest to you, the Nvidia Shield TV has been the outright best for nearly two years now - nothing comes close. It is however, not cheap. But for that you get hardware that quite literally blows away everything else and has turned out to be quite future proofed compared to every other option (for example, it launched without 4K Netflix, HDR, Dolby Atmos, integrated Plex Server, etc - but now has all of them). Built in Chromecast of course.

It can also handily stream PC games as a doodle and can actually play 360-gen era titles fairly well natively (Tomb Raider, Resi 5, Metal Gear Rising, etc).

It is I suppose a bit of a luxury device, though having bought one when it first came out it's amazing too see how other boxes that came out at the time have been quickly outclassed and are missing feature, and yet this one is literally still on the top - and probably will be for the next year or so. There's not really much it can;t do, and nothing particularly obvious coming down the line media related that it won't be able to do - other than perhaps hardware accelerated AV1 decoding, though nothing yet can.

Best thing for me is the Plex Server though, it's a very low powered box, you can plug in a HDD and start serving media to all of your devices via it (and remotely over the internet), and still have enough power to actually use the box. Probably the most efficient, competent Plex server hardware out there. Can comfortably serve out 2-3 native streams simultaneously if your network and storage device can handle it.
Click to expand...

I've been using my laptop as a Plex server, but definitely been looking at this as a dedicated device.

Do you have any problems accessing an external hard drive plugged into the Shield TV as a network share? I basically just want to plug a USB drive into the Shield and not have to fiddle with it, being able to move files to and from that drive on the network, scan them into Plex, etc.

If so, can you do all of this while keeping the Shield in a low power / sleep mode of some kind?
 
N

NandoGip

Member
Guess Who said:
Want something cheap and simple? Get a Fire TV Stick or a Chromecast.

Want something fancier? Get a Roku or a Fire TV.

Have a lot of Apple products? Get an Apple TV, but not until a new model comes out or if you can get one for sub-$100.

Rather than expecting the box you plug into your TV to hold a bunch of media for you, set up a Plex server on a desktop computer. It can stream pretty much any video you put on it to any of the devices I mentioned above as well as mobile devices. If you have downloaded or ripped movies or TV shows it will even automatically know what the video is, sort TV shows by season, provide info like summaries and casts, etc.
Click to expand...

Yeah shut the thread down, can't imagine theres much more discussion than this
 
F

FutureLarking

Member
Heel said:
I've been using my laptop as a Plex server, but definitely been looking at this as a dedicated device.

Do you have any problems accessing an external hard drive plugged into the Shield TV as a network share? I basically just want to plug a USB drive into the Shield and not have to fiddle with it, being able to move files to and from that drive on the network, scan them into Plex, etc.

If so, can you do all of this while keeping the Shield in a low power / sleep mode of some kind?
Click to expand...

I've never actually tried - I've always just unplugged the HDD and copied them over. By the looks of it you can't without rooting the device, which I've not done. (Unless you mount the external HDD as internal storage and then store your entire library inside the Plex Server application folder which works but is awkward).

For the other part though, you can access the Shield / its storage / play and transcode with Plex whilst it's in sleep mode - which is super nice.
 
A

AppleSeason

Member
While I was covered with a combination of low power computer with Kodi and a console for BD playback, Netflix was always an issue.

I got a Roku Express just for Netflix and Crunchyroll since 1080p was the only thing I could not get after selling the PS4. Worst crap I have ever seen, including not being able to turn it off and hijacking the signal if hdmi control is in. Lots of buffering issues to and being unable to set an us Netflix proxy on it. And forcing me to enter credit card info before using it.

I'd go for a PS3 as a media center. PS4 is great for streaming and BD, but not being able to play audio CDs...

Ps: trying to use a Roku on Europe and a lot of channels won't be available. No way of watching Prime Video.
 
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