Samsung TV Question, Help Please?

[ryanSTi]

Hi, not sure if this is the correct and best place to ask this, if not feel free to move it.

I have a Samsung LN46A550 1080P TV with Wiselink USB input. For the past couple days I have been using my Apple iBookG4 hooked up to the PC input to watch some older CSI:Miami from iTunes. My problem is that the iBook won't play the HD version of the CSIs or any movies without skipping. I looked around and found that unless I had the dual core, there's no chance of getting it to not skip .

One thing I want to know is if anyone knows if I can some how save movies & TV shows from iTunes to my external hard, and if I can hook it up to the wiseink input. If it is, can you tell me how to do it? I'm pretty good with tech stuff, but I can't figure this out for whatever reason.

The other is if that's possible, is it the best way? I have a newer desktop in the office, running Vista 4GB ram and all that, is there any way to stream to either the xBox 360 or PS3 over the network? I know Apple wants me to go out and buy an iTV to be the middle man between the desktop and the TV, but I reallly can't afford it, nor would I want to spend it on that if there's another way. I'd imagine that the 360 and PS3 can do it, but other than playing Modern Warfare on the PS3, and Halo on the 360, they really don't get used much.

I reallly want this to work I'm tired of watching standard def on my awesome TV (it may not be the best or biggest, but ut dang sure makes me happy ) If anyone could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

ryan

 

[NCC]

Pardon me if this is useless information, since I'm not intimately familiar with most of the equipment you're using. But, for playing media on any kind of USB storage (HDD, Thumbdrive, whatever) this thing works great.
YouTube - Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player
It's an old review, but the device is still on the shelves. A hundred bucks, even less if you do some searching. Sorry if this isn't IT for you.

 

[5cardstud]

Ok if you get vlc media player online download it plays anything I've put on it and I got about 200 movies on my external harddrive. VLC media player is free and it beats windows media player. Oh and I got all three of my pcs hooked to my hdtv lcd 1080 P.

 

[ryanSTi]

Pardon me if this is useless information, since I'm not intimately familiar with most of the equipment you're using. But, for playing media on any kind of USB storage (HDD, Thumbdrive, whatever) this thing works great.
YouTube - Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player
It's an old review, but the device is still on the shelves. A hundred bucks, even less if you do some searching. Sorry if this isn't IT for you.

At first I thought it was a hard drive with HDMI outputs! Boy that would be suhWEEET! But it basically looks like a "hub" for different storage devices and controls them through it. Is that right? Almost like using a Windows Media Player to access a thumb drive or hard drive?

Ok if you get vlc media player online download it plays anything I've put on it and I got about 200 movies on my external harddrive. VLC media player is free and it beats windows media player. Oh and I got all three of my pcs hooked to my hdtv lcd 1080 P.

How do you have your pcs hooked to the tv? Are you running the normal pc video cable to it with some sort of switch hub to differentiate between the 3? My desktop is at the other end of the house. Not only would I need about 75 feet of cable to go through the basement and back upstairs, but I would also need a remote that isn't IR to reach it.

Can the PS3 or 360 act like Windows Media or something similar to access the movies on an external hard drive? I'm begining to think that's my best bet...

Ugh, I have to get up for work in 5 hours... I'm probably gonna try to catch some sleep now. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[crashtestjeep]

been wondering this myself.....

 

[tribalmasters]

Hehe I haven't even got that far, my HDMI port only supports 1024x768!!! Cheap 32 inch LCD TV, built well but stuck in the standard definition world!

 

[Drozd]

Hey CTJ....point 420 to this thread...I'm pretty sure he knows the answer to this...or at least I think he does..I remember seeing something on a thread about his movie collection and whatnot..

EDIT: Please.. (forgot that)

 

[Fire N Ice]

Hehe I haven't even got that far, my HDMI port only supports 1024x768!!! Cheap 32 inch LCD TV, built well but stuck in the standard definition world!

That resolution is actually considered HD, as long as you use either component or HDMI connectors. 720p is pretty standard for 32" TV's.

Just for reference on the connectors:

Composite (red, white, yellow): Good for 480i (standard def) only
S-video: Good for up to 480i, 480p, and 720i (I think)
Component (Blue, Green, Orange for video, Red and White for Audio): Good for up to 720p
HDMI: Good for any resolution that's used today PLUS audio all in one connector.

 

[NCC]

At first I thought it was a hard drive with HDMI outputs! Boy that would be suhWEEET! But it basically looks like a "hub" for different storage devices and controls them through it. Is that right? Almost like using a Windows Media Player to access a thumb drive or hard drive?

It is an interface for whatever USB storage device you want to use. And, can read multiple formats, feeding the outpt to your HD TV or monitor via HDMI up to 1080p. Videos, music, stills, whatever. I use a TV tuner on my PC with external USB HDDs to capture TV programs, and also to digitize old analog tapes (camcorder stuff and 'historic' recordings which will never be released on DVD or BRay). To me, it is MUCH more convenient to plug that Ext HDD into the WD device and view directly from the drive, than it is to burn an optical disk first. For this purpose, a great solution.

 

[Houdini]

As for the iBook skipping do you mean it stops every few seconds when your watching? If so try going into system preferences, energy saver, options and make sure Processor Performance is set to Highest.

 

[tribalmasters]

That resolution is actually considered HD, as long as you use either component or HDMI connectors. 720p is pretty standard for 32" TV's.

Just for reference on the connectors:

Composite (red, white, yellow): Good for 480i (standard def) only
S-video: Good for up to 480i, 480p, and 720i (I think)
Component (Blue, Green, Orange for video, Red and White for Audio): Good for up to 720p
HDMI: Good for any resolution that's used today PLUS audio all in one connector.

The funny thing is because it can do 1024x768 and only 1024x768 my upscaling DVD player won't display hehe!!! The only way it can use close to its native resolution is with the VGA port hehe!! I tried the component but it was ghosty, tried SCART and that was ghosty too! I would have thought SCART would offer the best picture, not on my TV grr! The tube TV looks pin sharp on SCART but the LCD shows its problems!!!!

Scart and VGA are both RGB so it should show a nice picture albeit in low resolution that looks almost as good as VGA Maybe the circuitry is of poor quality in the set!

 

[justsomeguy]

At first I thought it was a hard drive with HDMI outputs! Boy that would be suhWEEET!

If that's what you're looking for...here you go:
LaCie | 500GB LaCinema Rugged HD Multimedia Hard | 301493KUA