An older non tech savvy mate of mine is trying to find a SIMPLE media player with simple menu system to watch movies videos saved on a USB or hard drive to for his mum
Just a way to play videos from local storage, no need for apps must have a simple menu system and simple remote for her. The player should boot up to the file listing so she can select the desired video and play. Movies up to 4k will be the go.
Google shows the Micca Speck G2: but does 1080 only :(
Thoughts?
Not sure how easy it is to find any good ones anymore since android boxes are so cheap now.
Apple TV?
Apple TV UI, and their remote, is so stupidly designed
I am not an apple fan, but I quite like the TV box thing and it's ui and remote…. Hence I suggested it
Good luck…
You'd need the device to support every format without a hitch, which has always been a problem as newer codecs come around.
A Plex server would be the ideal, maybe even hosted by your mate. That way his mum will get pretty tiles with movie names sorted properly, and no issues with playback
II did have one for my dad several years ago.. exactly what Im shoppign for too… remote control only had 5 buttons, and it opened up to a "folder" type structure - same as windows, with a listing of movies as file names…double click and it played. Just have no idea what it was called or where I got it…
Was thinking something Rasberry Pi - surely someone has done this somewhere, if not I reckon there'd be a reasonable market for it for visually impared/old non-tecch savvy farts… :)
WDTV was pretty basic, can't quite remember the GUI tho tbh
Yea that style of thing… small box with drive in it from memory cant even remember if it was HDMI or what… hate gettin old and forgetting stuff
Maybe a 2nd hand laptop with HDMI.
An Android TV Box like the Xioami Mi TV? A more expensive option is the Nvidia Shield TV. One option is to get a used Xbox One S, or PS4 Slim for cheap, and use that as a media player. They have remotes dedicated to it as well.
Or try plugging the Hard-drive to the TV via the USB and see if that will play it natively. I wouldn't recommend using a Laptop as that's too complicated UI-wise for a senior.
Most tv can play movies from usd or hard drive anyway !