Mom friendly Media Player

Tom · December 22, 2012, 12:52:31 AM

I'm thinking about getting my Mom a nice little media player box, maybe a WD Live or something like it. She is computer literate, but might have problems with fancier setups.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Mr. Analog · December 22, 2012, 05:23:36 AM

I've heard good things about both the Roku and the Nexus Q.

The thing to remember is a lot of newer Blu-Ray players come with support for various media types, NETFLIX, YouTube and so on. A lot of times you can just put your video on a thumb drive or a network share and use the video player to do the job.

If it has DLNA support you also have the option to use Plex or the like.

Tom · December 22, 2012, 05:57:19 AM

What she'll use it most for is probably music. Her access to internet out there is horrible (she's on dialup, no joke), so there's very little chance of her finding a bunch of video to stream. I'm thinking of maybe getting her on Roger's wireless internet, but its only going to be like ISDN speeds. (GPRS/EDGE only out where she lives) so not much better than her dial up.

So a unit thats meant for audio streaming/playing may be a better bet, but maybe she'll want to play video too? so I dunno.

Mr. Analog · December 22, 2012, 07:24:49 AM

Ah, in that case then I would say just about any network capable DVD player will do the job, and probably cheaper.

Darren Dirt · December 22, 2012, 09:55:47 AM

ROKU FTW!

srsly, Dionne got it and I was skeptical at the idea.

LOVE IT.

Simplest gadget to do the job, perfect remote, and it is small and portable and essentially zero config. Decent wifi reception too, even over long distance (we have a very rectangular apartment layout, it works in far bedroom while router is in living room corner)

Edit: oops, noticed dial-up not nw; but the ROKU has a ton of non-netflix channels too including music/radio stations, so there's that.

Tom · December 22, 2012, 11:44:24 AM

I'm going to try and upgrade her internet, but we'll see. The best I might be able to find is satellite. Not the cheapest option...

Lazybones · December 22, 2012, 01:14:52 PM

The Roku is setup for streaming online content with some exceptions such as Plex.

Not sure what would work well for your mom othe than something self contained.

Tom · December 22, 2012, 01:18:33 PM

Thats why I was thinking a WD or even a dedicated music streamer. She apparently has a bunch of music on her computer, and nothing to make CDs with at the moment. I figured it was better to hook that up, than muck with her computer.

Tom · December 24, 2012, 02:12:22 AM

I was wrong about her having a bunch of music on her computer. She wants to rip a bunch of LPs first, then play them on her stereo or any other place.

So I've ordered a usb turntable, and a roku for her. Went roku because it has plex integration, and a bunch of apps that may interest her out there. It was also cheaper than the WD Live. So there's that. And if it doesn't work for her, meh. Not a huge loss.

She will be getting faster internet "soon", so she may be able to watch some online stuff, maybe. But 1.5mbps (max) really doesn't get you very far these days. But that's all you can get out in the middle of nowhere NS. And even then, its a government project, if it wasn't for that, no isp would have ever bothered. Also, its wireless. So who knows how stable the signal will be.

Mr. Analog · December 24, 2012, 09:17:03 AM

Ahh good choice, I have a Numark USB turntable, it works pretty well.

I was thinking about upgrading to a laser turntable for some of the really old stuff I have.

It works pretty good, if you are using Audacity you can follow these steps to reduce noise: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/basic_recording_editing_and_exporting.html

On the other hand it's getting easier to find music online, it has to be something really esoteric to not be found.

Tom · December 24, 2012, 10:54:09 AM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on December 24, 2012, 09:17:03 AM
Ahh good choice, I have a Numark USB turntable, it works pretty well.

I was thinking about upgrading to a laser turntable for some of the really old stuff I have.

It works pretty good, if you are using Audacity you can follow these steps to reduce noise: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/basic_recording_editing_and_exporting.html

On the other hand it's getting easier to find music online, it has to be something really esoteric to not be found.

Yeah, though this is my mom we're talking about. I was going to suggest to her that she could do that, but she probably does have some pretty esoteric stuff, then there's her dialup (though hopefully that wont be an issue much longer), and I'm not sure how well she'd do with p2p... I know she very much doesn't want to buy it all again

Mr. Analog · December 24, 2012, 11:40:19 AM

A slow connection isn't necessarily a problem for music as most albums aren't that big. When I go about making a digital backup of music I already have I check online first to see if someone else has done the editing/naming/cleanup for me.

Most P2P sites will carry contemporary/popular stuff, for everything else I usually check archive.org

I also try to find already digitized versions for really old stuff as I don't want to add any more wear to the tracks if I can avoid it.

Tom · December 24, 2012, 11:46:55 AM

When I'm over there this winter/spring, I'll try and show her the p2p and and some pay sites.

Lazybones · December 24, 2012, 01:46:23 PM

The Roku needs an online connection for initial setup.

Again it is designed for online streaming but once the Plex app is installed is should work completely local.

Don't forget a router or a switch, you mom probably has only the one pc and no other network gear.

Tom · December 24, 2012, 03:01:22 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on December 24, 2012, 01:46:23 PM
The Roku needs an online connection for initial setup.

Again it is designed for online streaming but once the Plex app is installed is should work completely local.

Don't forget a router or a switch, you mom probably has only the one pc and no other network gear.

I believe she has a router. If not, thats easily remedied.