Clueless...I need a BluRay DVD player for Christmas

[Citizen Rules]

I want to get me a new DVD player on Black Friday, most likely a Blu-Ray....I'm clueless as to what I need. I want a DVD player that can play movies that I download unto my computer, (from legal to download sites).

I don't want to stream....I want to download the movies unto a USB thumb flash drive and then play the movies on my TV. But I've never done this so I don't know if it's possible. I need help and advice! TIA

[Daniel M]

If the Blu-ray player has a USB port that should mean it can play films that are stored on it, at least my old one did. I've got a multi-region one now that I got off eBay anyway, not sure if you can get them in shops, so it depends how important that would be to you.

[Tacitus]

I'd say that the most complete Blu Ray player for coping with various types of movie files is still the good old PS3, which is likely to be heavily discounted this holiday season what with the PS4 now launched.

It's a solid media player - Blu Ray, DVD, CD, Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, BBC iPlayer etc - but from a MoFo perspective it's a damn fine BD player. Criterion use PS3s for their reference work so that should tell you all you need to know about its quality. ;)

It plays almost every movie file I've thrown at it but not MKV because that's the container that dirty pirates use. You'll need to check and see if it can play the types of files you download - I've not had much experience of that other than YouTube conversions and podcasts.

The XboxOne has had MKV support patched in ... not that they're looking for sales or anything....

[Citizen Rules]

Thanks guys for your help:)

I've talked to Santa and I think I will be getting what I need to watch downloaded movies on the TV.....I hope.

[nirvana94]

can't you plug your usb right into the TV? most TV's today can do this, might be cheaper in the long run to look for a new tv. certainly this time of year (check for MKV/MP4/H264/DIVX) playability. 3D/4K optional :)

Otherwise PS3/4, even refurbished PS3 will do

[Chardee MacDennis]

A lot of Sony products don't play MKV. Which is what a lot of the high res stuff seems to be these days. Samsung or Panasonic are the way to go if you plan on watching stuff you've obtained through not so legal sources.

[Citizen Rules]

Thanks for the tip. I did indeed get a Sony Blu Ray player.... it is suppose to play a bunch of different files, it has .mkv listed. I haven't got it yet as it's a Christmas present. I'm not really too knowledgeable about file format. I'll probably be back on this thread saying..HELP;)

[gbgoodies]

A lot of Sony products don't play MKV. Which is what a lot of the high res stuff seems to be these days. Samsung or Panasonic are the way to go if you plan on watching stuff you've obtained through not so legal sources.


I have a Sony Blu-Ray DVD player, and it plays MKV, as well as most other video formats.

[Citizen Rules]

I already knew that, wink;)

[Chardee MacDennis]

I got a Sony one sent over from the US earlier this year and that plays .mkv's so maybe it's a recent thing.

I know PS3's, some dvd/BR players and my Bravia don't though.

Good to hear you got it sorted.

[Citizen Rules]

I got a screaming deal too on Black Thursday. Now I see the price has went back up by $30