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Ive always been a big fan of media players. When I say media player, I’m talking about a device that will allow you to play video files you have obtained on your PC on your own on your television. Usually media you have stored on your PC, ripped DVD’s, web videos, home videos etc. Music is also included in my description. Ive tried out a few of these types of players and some I have only read about but here are a few of my favorites.

5. Media gate Media share (monoprice 2.5 inch HDD media player enclosure)

The first on my list is a player Ive talked about and owned before. Its the monoprice.com 2.5 inch USB harddrive based media player (enclosure). This player is a good idea for someone that want good functionality, and portability. Its basically a Hard drive enclosure for a 2.5 inch drive (laptop drive). On the enclosure, there is the typical USB port and a couple video outputs. It also comes with a remote. You have to provide your own HDD but once you get it set up, you can transfer all of your videos, Music, and pictures to the drive and then connect it to your TV for viewing or listening.

What I like about the player is the format support, It will play everything from Mpeg to Xvid. It also outputs in several HD resolutions (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i). The interface is pretty basic, but functional. I have owned this device for over a year and absolutely love it.

Like I said, I have talked about this device before and the full review can be found here.

You can pick up this device for just under $75 bucks at monoprice.com

Read the rest after the Jump

4. The Original Xbox

Why would anyone buy an Xbox right now? Microsoft has pretty much abandoned the system, they are hard to find now, and theres the Xbox 360 out there that makes better sense to buy. There is a really good reason. The original Xbox is a pretty good media player. I know what your thinking "The Xbox didn’t play anything but DVD movies". True, out of the box the Xbox didn’t do much, but if you mod it, and install Xbox media center, you have a full fledge media player for your television.

The good thing about using your Xbox as a media player is that it is capable of streaming media from any PC on your network to your television. You can stream media, and you can transfer media to the Harddrive on the Xbox. If you digg a little deeper, you can even find ways to stream content from various online sources to the Xbox for television viewing.

As far as format support, you can play just about anything on a modded Xbox with Xbox media center installed. There are 2 downfalls, It takes a bit of technical knowhow (or experimentation) to get it up and running, and you are forced to use the wired Xbox controller as the remote.

This is something I actually talked about before also on another blog, check here for some info on where to get started.

3. Netgear EVA700

Next on my list is a player that I hadn’t actually tried, but have had interest in for a while. The Netgear EVA 700 media player is a little different than the ones I mentioned so far. This player doesn’t have its own harddrive so everything has to be streamed from another source to the player to your television. That is made easy with the built in WiFi connection (can also be connected with wires). Like the ones above, it plays a lot of video formats. The one most people care about when it comes to media downloaded from the web is Divx and Xvid which this player supports.

As far as functionality and features, the 2 I mentioned above are a bit better, but I put the Netgear EVA700 above them due to the ease of use Wifi capability.

You can find the Netgear EVA700 at Amazon.com for about $180 bucks.

2. Mvix 780HD

Here is where the big boys are going to appear. The Mvix 780HD is a full featured Media player that has a built in HDD and Wifi connection. It sortof looks like a router. But inside is has support or Mpg, AVI, WMV, Divx, Xvid, you name it. It is also capable of HD resolutions up to 1080i. Also this is the first player on the list with HDMI outputs. I had been eyeing this player for a while but the price is what kept me from pulling the plug.

Costing over $300 bucks makes this player a little too expensive for my taste. but if you want a full featured media player that will play just about everything you have from the player or streamed in HD, this product is for you.

Can also be found at Amazon.com

1. The Popcorn Hour Media player

Number one on my list is not the Apple TV.

The Popcorn hour media player is the complete package, theres tons of functionality, media support, and the price is just right. Out of the box it plays all the media formats the others will play and more. MKV files (I actually hate those files but they are becoming more popular) can even be played with this bad boy. It has component, Svidio, Hdmi, VGA and network capability (no wifi though).

One cool thing about this player is the built in BitTorrent client and RSS fetcher. You don’t have to keep your computer running when your bittorrenting, and it will automatically retrieve your favorite Diggnation episodes every time a new one is available. All done from the player itself.

The size of the player is pretty small, its not quite portable, but it doesnt take up too much space on your entertainment rack.

The player cost $179 and it is currently pretty hard to get, as they are sending them out in batches as they are ordered. It doesn’t come with a harddrive, but supports any size 3.5 inch drive you want to put in it. Harddrive is not needed for streaming video. If your harddrive isnt big enough, dont worry, there are 2 additional USB slots that can be used to connect more storage.

Head to the popcorn hour website to preorder yours (or you can always just check ebay).