Techno Whizz/Geek help needed.

**Gubb** · 24th March 2008, 08:08

Need a bit of help with trying to set something up at home, as i'm not particularly talented when it comes to this stuff. I download a fair few videos off the net, and get sick of watching them on the PC, I want some way of watching them on the TV we have in the next room, without resorting to burning DVD's.

I found one of these that seemed like it would do the job perfectly, but no-one ships them to NZ, I even tried Shipbuktu but the service is down indefinitely. AppleTV seems like a brilliant idea, but at $500 is way too pricey.

So as I don't want to run AV cables through the hallway, is there some sort of cheap alternative that I can set up, maybe a Hard drive that has AV outputs? Any help or ideas much appreciated.

**YellowDog** · 24th March 2008, 08:25

Long AV cables don't work.

A new fancy IPOD will do it.

http://www.buyusa.co.nz will give you a local USA address for buying from any USA based seller and ship to NZ for you.

**Filterer** · 24th March 2008, 08:44

Equally so an old laptop will do the job.....

**HornetBoy** · 24th March 2008, 08:54

Have you thought of getting a tv card for your computer ? (wont go into detail but i know exactly what you need)
a tv card would allow you to run cables from your comp to your tv

or this

eg this http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.sto...8624?id=stechp

this would do what your asking - plug it in ,connect it to your tv,then start a movie on your computer and it will come up on your tv

**Teflon** · 24th March 2008, 09:04

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.sto...uct/View/L5963

A little bit of fucking around.. but it should work

**Kiwifire72** · 24th March 2008, 09:04

Try this thing I saw at Dick Smith
Not to sure if they still sell them
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=3217

**MTW** · 24th March 2008, 09:05

Originally Posted by Hubba Gubba

So as I don't want to run AV cables through the hallway, is there some sort of cheap alternative that I can set up, maybe a Hard drive that has AV outputs? Any help or ideas much appreciated.

Depending on your budget you could throw a computer in the TV room, just a m/board & CPU, a video card to plug to TV and really small Hard Drive for your OS then a big hard drive for your movies and tv.

This looks like what you might be after.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics...-144328758.htm

Looks like you can just plug it into the TV and watch...might pay to check it out some more to be sure, and see if you can find some reviews online, they are always useful to find out if it's actually any good or not.

Good luck.

**CookMySock** · 24th March 2008, 09:25

Originally Posted by Hubba Gubba

I download a fair few videos off the net, and get sick of watching them on the PC, I want some way of watching them on the TV we have in the next room, without resorting to burning DVD's.

Low-Tech answer: Get a video card with TV out and plug a video sender into it. Tune your TV into the video sender.

Ultra-Tech answer: Build a MediaPC to work as your "TV". Put a digital freeview card or six in it and run MythTV or other similar media center program. Add a wireless AP and broadcast it all around the neighbourhood.

DB

**Gubb** · 24th March 2008, 09:47

Cheers guys, sounds like a trip to Dickies is on the cards today.

Was trying to spend under $250 if possible, but there are definitely a few alternatives that I had no idea about. Cheers.

As MTW pointed out, This seems like the perfect solution for $230.

**MTW** · 24th March 2008, 10:16

Originally Posted by Hubba Gubba

As MTW pointed out, This seems like the perfect solution for $230.

I think the thing I like about this one is you can take it around to your mates place and upload thier movies/tv or use it there as well or you can take it on holiday with you.

I like the other suggestions as a cheaper solution. Amazing what great feedback and ideas you get from a bunch of motorcyclists when thier not riding bikes.

**Monorail** · 24th March 2008, 10:32

what about burning to dvd. sounds a hell of a lot simpler. and once its on dvd u can free it up off your harddrive

**RantyDave** · 24th March 2008, 10:51

Some of the cheaper DVD players - think "The Warehouse" here - have USB sockets on the front that will take a FAT32 formatted drive and can play media off that. YMMV on the formats they'll play but my bet is Mpeg4 variants (DivX etc) are fine but H.264 and other 'next gen' variants (h.264, wmv9) are probably not.

The good news is they're about $100.

Dave

**Dave-** · 24th March 2008, 11:22

playstation 3....

**Gubb** · 24th March 2008, 14:04

Originally Posted by Monorail

what about burning to dvd. sounds a hell of a lot simpler. and once its on dvd u can free it up off your harddrive

To convert the files to DVD format takes hours, I want something fairly simple, Plug and Play like...

Originally Posted by RantyDave

Some of the cheaper DVD players - think "The Warehouse" here - have USB sockets on the front that will take a FAT32 formatted drive and can play media off that. YMMV on the formats they'll play but my bet is Mpeg4 variants (DivX etc) are fine but H.264 and other 'next gen' variants (h.264, wmv9) are probably not.

The good news is they're about $100.

Dave

Most of the files are Xvid format. Will have to investigate that too. Ta.

Originally Posted by Dave-

playstation 3....

I wish I had the funds, but then i'd also need a new TV.