Best media player that can play a variety of video formats?
 

Hi,

I plan to play my home videos as well as my DVD collection through a media player. I have a DV Camera from which I captured most of my MiniDV videos (from tapes) and converted them to DVD format. I have also stored the DV files on hard disk as back-up, but I am sure no media player plays DV-AVI. I am planning to purchase a HD Camcorder that captures in AVCHD format as well.

For this, I have decided to purchase a media player that can play a variety of formats of video & audio directly on TV without the need of a DVD/BD Player. Please help me with the decision of brand, model & a few other questions.

The features I need:

1. Be able to play most video & audio formats, including DVD, AVCHD

2. Be able to let me browse internet on TV wirelessly or wired (especially Youtube...etc. But being able to browse 'any' site just like a computer can do would be very good)

3. Ideally a device that has storage capacity (1 TB or 2 TB). (please tell me if it is not a good idea to go for a hard drive based media players)

4. Be able to 'store' other types of files (besides video, audio & photo files) so that I can use it as a back-up mechanism for my other important files as well

5. Be able to be connected to any type of external hard drive or memory stick. I know some media players prefer only certain brands of hard drives

When my uncle asked me to buy a media player for him, I recommended WD Live TV Hub (1 TB). He is happy with it. since he is not tech savvy, I loaded all DVD movies onto the device for him, and he just plays the moves on his TV. He doesn't bother about other features of it such as internet browsing. But the 'problems' I saw with it WD TV Live Hub were...

a. It wouldn't connect to a PC via USB. So if I have to copy movie files to the device, I have to do it only through the LAN connection

b. It didn't recognize some other brands of external hard drives. It 'saw' another Western Digital hard drive fine.

I see iOmega Screenplay DX Media Player has all the features I mentioned in my requirements, but the reviews for it on various internet sites are not favourable.

Can you please guide me in making the right purchase decision? Thanks for all help.

Regards

Is a Blu-ray player entirely out of the question?
I ask this because I use a Samsung Blu-ray player through the network. The only requirement is that the computer run a DLNA media server.
Plex works well for AVI files, though I've had issues with MP4 files.

Nothing appears to be a perfect solution, amongst dedicated media players.

The only "perfect" solution is to directly connect a computer to the TV. For example, a Mac Mini for about $600.
I've done that too, and liked it quite a bit.

Blu-ray player and Computer are not in equation as far as my needs are concerned.

I would like a stand-alone media player with storage capacity & internet features.

Thanks.