Media players?
I see people referring to media players. What are they exactly? We have 2 cabinets of DVDs & CDs and would like to be able to take them on the road without using up all of our space. We will have a...
Forum Discussion
FXSTOHIO wrote:
The first thing you need to do is convert all your dvd’s to digital mp4 or other video format, for that you need a DVD copy program that will copy any DVD, then you need a portable hard drive to store your movies on then you need a media player that converts your digital movies to play on your TV. I have over 400 movies and TV shows stored on a hard drive that we take with us when we go camping.
No, there is no "need" to "convert" a DVD or any other already digital file to MP4.
Simply put, a standalone "media" player is a completely self contained mini PC running a highly customized version of Linux in the background as the OS.
These players in most cases can and will play NEARLY EVERY FILE FORMAT known to man including audio, video and even photo files. If you get one which a HD version it will play the newer HD files which use the H264 "codec".
Media players can be bought with internal HDs or real simple ones that you use USB HDs, or flash drives.
No keyboard or mouse needed, just navigate using the remote control.
Can be had for as low as $40.
Here is one example with no internal HD..
HERE
Some can do streaming also..
The only problem you are going to run into is MANY COMMERCIAL DVDs and nearly ALL BluRays are copy protected.
This often causes failed "rips" unless you have software which can bypass the protection, these software companies as recent times have been actively been hunted down by the MPAA. Not long ago DVDFAB website was blocked to stop it from being reachable in the US.
One should note, that it HAS been ruled that "Fair Use" rules DO NOT APPLY to DVDs or BluRay movies and therefore the common person is not allowed to make a backup..
