Samsung DVD/Home Theater Systems: USB Input for Any Device!

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the features and capabilities of Samsung's new DVD/Home Theater systems that include a USB input for various devices. Participants explore the implications of this feature, including its compatibility with different media formats and alternative solutions for media playback.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses excitement about the Samsung system's USB input, noting its compatibility with devices that comply with the USB mass storage standard, but questions the compatibility with iPods and similar devices due to proprietary software.
  • Another participant suggests that similar functionality can be achieved using Windows Media Center or other media center solutions.
  • A different viewpoint is presented regarding the advantages of streaming media centers, which can connect to a network for media streaming and allow internet browsing, although usability may be limited without a keyboard.
  • One participant argues for the benefit of having a receiver that can directly access media without needing an additional media center device, emphasizing the potential for maintaining digital quality in audio and video processing.
  • A later reply reveals disappointment that the Samsung system only supports audio and photo playback via USB, not video, while noting that video playback is still possible through CDs.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing opinions on the utility of the Samsung system compared to other media solutions, with some favoring the direct USB input while others advocate for streaming media centers. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the best approach for media playback.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations regarding the specific capabilities of the Samsung system, particularly concerning its support for video playback via USB, which remains a point of contention among participants.

russ_watters
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Samsung is starting to sell DVD/Home Theater systems with a USB input for pretty much any device that complies with the USB mass storage standard: flash disks, external hard drives, cameras, Ipods, etc. I'm actually not convinced about the Ipod/mp3 player thing though - they usually have proprietary software on top of the USB mass storage standard. I'll need to double-check that. Still, it is extremely cool. It plays most popular media formats: mpg, divx, wmv, mp3, jpg, etc.

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HomeTheater/HomeTheaterSystem/HT_P38THXAA.asp
Samsung has raised the convergence bar again with a host of new five-disc DVD-receiver systems, some of which are the world's first to feature a USB Plug and Play port so users can listen to music from their MP3/WMA devices.
It's cheap, too - I'm so excited, I'm going to buy one right now even though I don't move into my new townhouse for another 2 weeks!
 
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Thats cool... you could do that anyway if you were using Windows Media center.. or something like this
 
Cool and all, but think carefully, there are other options out there if you want this sort of functionality. Have you considered a streaming media center ? This basically uses a network connection to your PC to stream media (video/audio/photos) to your TV/AV setup. It also allows you to surf the Net from the TV as a bonus (though without a keyboard, this is crappy). Both wireless and wired setups can be used and USB is often supported (it has a port behind for direct connection).

This is the one I'm using : http://www.neuston.com/en/mc500.php Designed and made in Singapore. Works on Win/Mac/linux (I've tested Windows and Linux personally).

There are other units of the sort available.
 
The thing is, one way or another, I need the receiver, so that piece of equipment may as well have as many features as possible. Ie, instead of plugging a media center pc or network device into the receiver, now I plug the media itself directly into the receiver.

Plus, unless you have a really high-end receiver, you're getting analog sound and video from the streaming media device to the receiver. With mine, it stays digital a while longer, since the mp3/avi/etc decoding is done inside the receiver.

Still, it might be nice to have my media accessable from the network and directly by the receiver at the same time. I wonder if network hard drives can do simultaneous usb access...
 
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Weak - I just found out that it only reads audio and photos off the USB interface - not videos. I don't see why they would do that, but damn, that sucks. I can still play divx on cd's though.
 

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