external harddrive movie question

[King_corral 10+ year member]

ok so i got movies on my new wd 2TB hdd and my tv has a usb output so i kind of figured id be able to hook it up through there and watch my movies through my tv but of course its not that easy... my brother has a divx player? that he said he used someone elses hdd and it played is there anything else or some links to some **** i can use a divx player also works kind of like tivo correct? like i can record hbo movies and what not?

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[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

 

[sacsking916 5,000+ posts]

I run mine through my blu ray player. Pulls up just fine.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

I go through HDMI on my laptop. I just transfer what I want to watch to the HD.

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

I'll be creating a media server for this purpose soon. will be connecting via wireless to all the computers and to the big screen via hdmi.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Your TV probably only reads FAT32 formatted drives. Your external HDD is probably NTFS. You could reformat the HDD to FAT32 and see if that helps, but FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4 GB. Depending on the quality of the movies you have stored on it, some of them may be larger than 4 GB. If that's the case, you won't be able to store those on there. Give that a try and see if it helps.

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

I'll be creating a media server for this purpose soon. will be connecting via wireless to all the computers and to the big screen via hdmi.

What program do you use? I've tried several in the past (Tversity and WMP) but I've always found it to be unreliable. It doesn't help that even though my DirecTV receivers can access the files on the media server but they can only play and pause them, you can't fast forward or rewind and sometimes if the stream gets too data heavy it overloads and just dumps you out...at which point you have to start the video over because you can't fast forward. I had better results using my PS3 as the receiver but in the end I just ran a 15ft DVI to HDMI cable from my desktop to my Onkyo receiver along with a digital audio cable and viola, now I can just extend my desktop to my TV and drag videos over there...works flawlessly all the time

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

I just plan on getting a nice Video card with HDMI output and connect the pc directly to the monitor in on the tv. then just run whatever movie i want from the pc. The other option would be to use windows media center

 

[Spc4Mafia 10+ year member]

Good set up mike, I hang out at a party house where every computer on every floor is wired together and hooked up to about 2 tv's and one projector. It's pretty nice

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

I just plan on getting a nice Video card with HDMI output and connect the pc directly to the monitor in on the tv. then just run whatever movie i want from the pc. The other option would be to use windows media center

Ah, so the same thing I have, lol.

 

[BlactimusCrime 10+ year member]

i hook up my external thru my 360 via usb, and to the flatscreen via hdmi, works great.

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

i hook up my external thru my 360 via usb, and to the flatscreen via hdmi, works great.

I used to do that too, the only downside is you have to disconnect it then hook it up to a computer to add new files to it...If you have your computer hooked directly to the TV, there's no transferring required...

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

I used to do that too, the only downside is you have to disconnect it then hook it up to a computer to add new files to it...If you have your computer hooked directly to the TV, there's no transferring required...

I also plan on just setting the media pc up with team viewer and remotely connect via the laptop when i want to play something so i dont have to have the keyboard and mouse hooked up. Just do everything remotely then close out.

 

[BlactimusCrime 10+ year member]

I used to do that too, the only downside is you have to disconnect it then hook it up to a computer to add new files to it...If you have your computer hooked directly to the TV, there's no transferring required...

i understand this, but if youre too lazy to unhook a usb drive and connect it to a computer before you download a movie, please, get a life and some exercise.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

My PS3 will sinc with my computer and stream any media I have stored on it. It'll also give up all my personal info...