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This is something I need to look into.
A 500gb, battery powered, portable hdd with built in wifi. Plus it can also stream media.
Naturally I could choose to use my pc at home as a remote server, but it would have to remain powered on, takes time to setup ports, access rights & streaming can really lag.
Drawback for now at least, you can't reverse transfer files back to the hard drive via its built in wifi. Not a deal breaker if you ask me.
The GoFlex Satellite Wi-Fi connection can be protected with a password & WPA-level security.
It is capable of streaming in HD, up to 10Megabits per second data rate, but some devices may not support High Definition formatted videos.
And in case you're wondering:
Can I play files from my GoFlex Satellite to my Android phone or tablet?
Yes, files can be played back via the Wi-Fi capability. Videos in the formats that are compatible with the Android device can be played back using the default browser (Webkit). Unsupported video formats can be played back using third-party media players. If all your videos just download rather than play, try installing a more robust media player app. The Seagate app can be found on the Android Market.
A 500gb drive can be had on Amazon for about $173.
Any opinions or experiences with this device?
http://www.viddler.com/explore/GetConnectedTV/videos/297/
I have two that I mainly use with my iPad. The Seagate software isn't the best but they are working on it. I am a beta tester and they're starting to focus more on Android so that's good but if you're looking to stream video, there are a few DLNA players out there that are better at it. You can also hack the drives with custom firmware too.
Agreed about Seagate, and good to know that they are working on it.
If this is something you're interested in and you're ready to buy today there's a promo code available at Newegg that reduces this to $129.99 (code expires 1/8/12).
Newegg price: $173.99
promo code: -$44.00
Net price: $129.99
Promo code is STX44US and the direct link to Newegg is here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148755
$129.99 is a good deal, I got mine at Best Buy for $180. They stream to anything that can access wifi. I used one of them to stream to my friends TV to watch a marathon of the old Twilight Zone episodes on New Years day. The drive lasted just under 6 hours before needing to be charged.
Magicspell said:
If this is something you're interested in and you're ready to buy today there's a promo code available at Newegg that reduces this to $129.99 (code expires 1/8/12).
Newegg price: $173.99
promo code: -$44.00
Net price: $129.99
Promo code is STX44US and the direct link to Newegg is here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148755
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank-you much. Just ordered one. I've been browsing several forums & by far the biggest complaint is the front end user UI. As long as I can get it to play vids out the box with no problems then I'll be okay.
A site you might want to check out when you get your drive:
http://www.hackseagatesatellite.com
It's not for everyone but it can be useful and the people there are pretty responsive.
I have tried the seagatein the past not the battery powered one but the regular NAS device. I found it to be very slow to upload or download form. I switched over to the WD mybook live. And I am not trying to flame or start some crap just giving my experience it did work but was slow. I also ran into issues with my Blueray not being able to read some content. This may have been the blue rays problem but I havn't seen as many issues with the WD. However all that having been said WD not have a bettery or wfi enabled device I am aware of it has an ethernet port that you connect straight to your router.
arsmithsr said:
I have tried the seagatein the past not the battery powered one but the regular NAS device. I found it to be very slow to upload or download form. I switched over to the WD mybook live. And I am not trying to flame or start some crap just giving my experience it did work but was slow. I also ran into issues with my Blueray not being able to read some content. This may have been the blue rays problem but I havn't seen as many issues with the WD. However all that having been said WD not have a bettery or wfi enabled device I am aware of it has an ethernet port that you connect straight to your router.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the input. The only other portable wifi drive out there that I know of is the Kingston Wi-Drive. From the plus side this device has an SSD & the UI is much better. The downside is that it only comes in 16gb & 32gb capacities.
I'll keep y'all (I'm from Texas ) posted on how it turns out.
Crap! Any chance of a new coupon? I would have bought it for that price !
OK, I just paid the premium and bought one at Best Buy when I was in the city today. I also paid for the hack posted above. It's charging tonight and I'm going to start messing with it tomorrow. I'll post updates as I go along.
Perfect: The Wi-Fi HDD + Seagate Media app. + MX Player works as expected on my E4GT.
However on my Win 7 tablet (ExoPc) I can only play videos within a browser (Opera) as no such Seagate Media UI app exists for Windows. The problem with watching a video within a web browser is lack of media controls (vol +/-, play, pause, stop etc. etc.)
If anyone with this device knows how to get it to open up within a 3rd party media player on Win 7 after selecting the video within the web UI can you please share how it's done.
subcypher said:
OK, I just paid the premium and bought one at Best Buy when I was in the city today. I also paid for the hack posted above. It's charging tonight and I'm going to start messing with it tomorrow. I'll post updates as I go along.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about purchasing the hack myself, but wanted to test the device out first to see if I actually want to hold onto it or return it.
I can say that while watching a movie, its dropped its connection 3x & restarted the video accordingly from the beginning.
I had to fst fwd>> to the previous spot I left off at. No big deal as of yet, but if it keeps doing it then returning it will be more likely.
I'll stay updated with your replies & see if the hack omits some of the inherent problems I'm having. If so then I'll invest in the hack.
EL TEJANO said:
Perfect: The Wi-Fi HDD + Seagate Media app. + MX Player works as expected on my E4GT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the same experience though I wish the Seagate app would allow you to choose which media player to use to play the media. I've actually found I prefer the media player used when using the phone's browser over the player invoked with the Seagate app...
EL TEJANO said:
However on my Win 7 tablet (ExoPc) I can only play videos within a browser (Opera) as no such Seagate Media UI app exists for Windows. The problem with watching a video within a web browser is lack of media controls (vol +/-, play, pause, stop etc. etc.)
If anyone with this device knows how to get it to open up within a 3rd party media player on Win 7 after selecting the video within the web UI can you please share how it's done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried with my tablet yet, but I did try with my Win 7 laptop. The experience was a bit more frustrating to start. When I accessed the Seagate Go Flex (via IE or Firefox) it appeared to only directly play certain media files (for example it played .mp4 files but wouldn't directly play .m2ts files). I tried associating .m2ts files with WMP as well as VLC but in either case when I selected that file rather than it starting to play it would start to download the file to my laptop.
I then simply renamed the .m2ts extension to .mp4 (didn't recode the contents) and then when I selected the file it played directly in WMP. If I tried to change the player associated with .mp4 files (to VLC, for example) then the file would not directly play but again began to download. Changing the .mp4 association back to WMP did allow the media to play directly when selected through the browser interface.
Overall, I think I can live with these limitations though maybe the hack noted earlier will allow me more flexibility. I'll have to research that part.
Well at first the MX Player was working fine on my phone, then I noticed that the streaming videos would stop & then start from the beginning in a continous loop. WTH!!!
I figured okay let me reinstall the latest firmware, defrag & do a system file check to see if that works. When I tried to play my streaming content once more within MX Player the same thing happened. I figured okay it must be the app then.
So I downloaded Buzz Player & to my surprise this app has the option to connect to Network Media; when selecting that option my stored audio & video files show up within the player. Which is nice because now I don't have to use the Seagate Media app. What's even better is no freezing or restarting.
All in all the Seagate Satellite is a nice device but Seagate really (& I mean really) needs to work on their UI as well as open up some features & options.
In regards to my Win 7 tablet: Are there any windows based media players that can detect the wifi signal off my Seagate Satellite & display the directory much like Buzz Player does in Android?
I purchased this drive and the hack. I actually did the work the other day to hack it. It's fairly simple.
First, they have you download an ISO. I'm not sure why they do that, as they use it as a ZIP or RAR file. It's an archive you open and load the two files inside onto the drive. I was able to do this in Linux very easily.
Second, you use your wireless connection to talk to the drive and then use Telnet to see the files in a command line. Then you use the command line to run a file. I did all this from my phone using Better Terminal Emulator Pro, but I'm guessing the regular Terminal Emulator will work.
After the script ran, the thing rebooted. I used their videos to clean up the drive (remove the Seagate stuff and clean up the directory structure), then set up the authentication, web service and Samba. Again, all this was done through the browser on my phone because I was watching the videos on my laptop.
I was able to connect to the drive from my phone and browse the file system. I was also able to stream a few songs (no movies on my drive yet) without issue. I also used ES Flie Explorer to browse the drive through Samba and that worked very well. I was also able to stream music through that file system using whatever program I wanted to use that was on my phone.
The only problem I have is that I can't see the file system and have a data connection to the world at the same time. Perhaps this drive might be better if the connection were Bluetooth, but I really don't see why I'd need both at the same time to be honest. It's more like a "could be better" kind of thing. That being said, with the hack you can have the drive connect to a wireless network and then connect to that wireless network yourself. Once that's done you can see both, I believe. I just have not tried it myself yet.
I would highly recommend this product. I'm kind of sad I didn't get it at the $130 price mentioned before, but even at the $240 I have in it, I'm very happy with my purchase.
So yeah after thinking about it & realizing how I'll be utilizing this device, I think I'll forego the hack. But only because I really don't see myself utilizing the features. As convenient as it is to watch movies on my phone, the experience of watching movies on such a small screen, is to say the least, not really much of an experience. Though occasionally when lying in bed I'll grab my phone to watch a flick as I have the Seagate drive on standby mode.
In regards to using this with my Win 7 ExoPc tablet: Windows Media Player was able to detect and display the files on this HDD via wifi, I just had to download the proper codecs to get it to recognize .flv, .avi & .mkv video extensions. The screen on this tablet is 11.6 inches so it makes the experience somewhat more enjoyable.
Having to switch wifi clients back & forth, though cumbersome, is not really much of a deal breaker either. Hopefully in the future Seagate will address such issues with whatever firmware update they push-out (if they push it out).
Just bought a 2010 gti.. which I'm loving.. I am excited to have a car with Bluetooth..
I got it paired to the Bluetooth system OK, it plays music as tho I had a headphone jack plugged in..
It will play call audio over the speakers and evidently the microphone, where ever it is, is working because people can hear me..
BUT.. I still need to use my phone to make or answer a call.. I've seen in videos people are using the car to browse their contact list and make a call.. I do not appear to have this functionality.. just curious if I could hit the jackpot here with someone who has had this problem
I'm running a custom ICS touchwiz ROM
Tia if anyone has any info on this
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
bump
Hi! I have a 2012 GTI and just switched 2 days ago from iPhone 4s to GS3. The way I did it I made sure to be in neutral (manual transmission), paired the phone and let it sync address book and everything worked. I suggest you remove the phone from the car and car from phone and try everything again. Im running Blazer ROM[9/23/12][Sup?][LG8][v1.9]
Nice! I knew someone on xda would have one.. do your settings look like this?
The phone audio troubles Me... I feel like it should reference contacts in some way..
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Don't have gs3 any more. Click those 2 check boxes and see what happens
eurominican said:
Don't have gs3 any more. Click those 2 check boxes and see what happens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In 2010, VW had multiple BT systems. Unfortunately, it sounds like you have the lesser of the 3 (as do I).
I forget the model #'s, but basically there's a top end version that's part of the NAV system which uses the navscreen nicely. Then there is a version used in all the marketing materials that has steering wheel controls and uses the cluster info display for your address book / caller ID. THEN -- there's the real low end, crummy one that just interfaces as an audio cut in with no other integration. This is what I have. You still need your phone for all features except picking up a call (the button on the ceiling can begin / end a call). Lame.
I think your build date determined which BT system is in your car. The good (middle) system was only for very early units. IIRC, there was a class action lawsuit against VW about this - I opted in, still waiting for my check...
DrKaotica said:
Nice! I knew someone on xda would have one.. do your settings look like this?
The phone audio troubles Me... I feel like it should reference contacts in some way..
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is generally covered by media. For example, my 2009 Ford focus has a similar system (SYNC) which will download contacts into a small address book and save them for me but doesn't reference contacts in the bluetooth settings area.
monkeymania said:
In 2010, VW had multiple BT systems. Unfortunately, it sounds like you have the lesser of the 3 (as do I).
I forget the model #'s, but basically there's a top end version that's part of the NAV system which uses the navscreen nicely. Then there is a version used in all the marketing materials that has steering wheel controls and uses the cluster info display for your address book / caller ID. THEN -- there's the real low end, crummy one that just interfaces as an audio cut in with no other integration. This is what I have. You still need your phone for all features except picking up a call (the button on the ceiling can begin / end a call). Lame.
I think your build date determined which BT system is in your car. The good (middle) system was only for very early units. IIRC, there was a class action lawsuit against VW about this - I opted in, still waiting for my check...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the steering wheel phone button.. but yeah it doesn't do anything. When I push it
I appreciate the info.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
I have the base version which is... Basic lol
i am bumping my crazy old thread with another VW GS3 question if anyone has any info:
Based on the reply i got, i definately have the crappy bluetooth.. its just audio output, and it sucks, i still have to use the phone to navigate through music.
the car came with a iOS adaptor.. which does me no good..
i've done some research and have found this: http://www.amazon.com/Newest-interface-Adapter-Volkswagen-Touareg/dp/B004I9CXHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370563911&sr=8-1&keywords=vw+micro+usb
coupled with this: http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Inch-Micro-USB-Cable/dp/B003YKX6WM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1370564040&sr=8-6&keywords=usb+micro+usb
i would have a micro USB adaptor that would plug into the propietary mmi port..
our phones don't use USB mass storage however.. has anyone tried this? looking for experiences before i pull the trigger if anyone can help.
DrKaotica said:
i am bumping my crazy old thread with another VW GS3 question if anyone has any info:
Based on the reply i got, i definately have the crappy bluetooth.. its just audio output, and it sucks, i still have to use the phone to navigate through music.
the car came with a iOS adaptor.. which does me no good..
i've done some research and have found this: http://www.amazon.com/Newest-interface-Adapter-Volkswagen-Touareg/dp/B004I9CXHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370563911&sr=8-1&keywords=vw+micro+usb
coupled with this: http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Inch-Micro-USB-Cable/dp/B003YKX6WM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1370564040&sr=8-6&keywords=usb+micro+usb
i would have a micro USB adaptor that would plug into the propietary mmi port..
our phones don't use USB mass storage however.. has anyone tried this? looking for experiences before i pull the trigger if anyone can help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the bluetooth sounds horrible
Here's what I did, and it works beautifully..
I picked up the MDI USB adapter, fed a 6ft USB>micro USB through the center console to the dash where I fashioned a phone 'mount' from my Otterbox belt clip.
I noticed it was kind of clunky, and very slow (would take up to a minute for the Premium 8 to even recognize the S3) using the stupid MMS mode. It did work however. I did some research on enabling USB mass storage and found this app: SG USB Mass Storage Enablerhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mohammadag.samsungusbmassstorageenabler&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5tb2hhbW1hZGFnLnNhbXN1bmd1c2JtYXNzc3RvcmFnZWVuYWJsZXIiXQ.. It does require root, with Busy Box installed. Now the P8 recognizes the phone in seconds, and is very fast. The app is also nice for syncing content (more on that later). If your phone reboots, you will need to re-enable UMS. I handled that thru Tasker so each time the phone reboots it executes the shortcut that enables UMS. Works seamlessly.. Please note that UMS ONLY works on the S3's external micro sd card. It works great on my S3 but YMMV..
Now as far as syncing content I wanted something as close to iTunes as possible. Part of my mission was to divorce myself from all things "i"- iTunes, iPod, and of course iPhone. But iTunes has always worked well for me in terms of syncing content. Did some more research and found a nice music manager called 'MusicBee'- http://getmusicbee.com/ With UMS enabled it syncs my content very fast.. MMS not so much. On a side note, why they got rid of UMS is beyond me..
Now to handle playlists, and since I primarily use playlists in the car, I use MusicBee to sync those to a standard SD card and plug that into the slot on the P8. Don't use anything larger than 32gig as the P8 only 'sees' 500 folders. There is no limitation when using the MDI port so this limitation doesn't apply the the phone's storage.
One thing I want to mention is that if you want to be able to shuffle across all your folders you need to make sure to put a random MP3 in the root of your devices SD card. Start playing that song first, hit mix and you can shuffle across your entire library.
All browsing is done via the headunit just as you would an iPod. All tag info is displayed on the headunit as well, with the only exception being you can only browse the content of the phone's micro SD- so folder structure is important. The nice thing about this is that you can run other apps (I run Torque) since the MDI is only sees the S3 as a storage device, so hands free calling still works.
It also keeps the phone charged
Here's a few pics of my setup:
Any questions, don't hesitate to ask..
ddiehl said:
Yes the bluetooth sounds horrible
Here's what I did, and it works beautifully..
I picked up the MDI USB adapter, fed a 6ft USB>micro USB through the center console to the dash where I fashioned a phone 'mount' from my Otterbox belt clip.
I noticed it was kind of clunky, and very slow (would take up to a minute for the Premium 8 to even recognize the S3) using the stupid MMS mode. It did work however. I did some research on enabling USB mass storage and found this app: SG USB Mass Storage Enablerhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mohammadag.samsungusbmassstorageenabler&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5tb2hhbW1hZGFnLnNhbXN1bmd1c2JtYXNzc3RvcmFnZWVuYWJsZXIiXQ.. It does require root, with Busy Box installed. Now the P8 recognizes the phone in seconds, and is very fast. The app is also nice for syncing content (more on that later). If your phone reboots, you will need to re-enable UMS. I handled that thru Tasker so each time the phone reboots it executes the shortcut that enables UMS. Works seamlessly.. Please note that UMS ONLY works on the S3's external micro sd card. It works great on my S3 but YMMV..
Now as far as syncing content I wanted something as close to iTunes as possible. Part of my mission was to divorce myself from all things "i"- iTunes, iPod, and of course iPhone. But iTunes has always worked well for me in terms of syncing content. Did some more research and found a nice music manager called 'MusicBee'- http://getmusicbee.com/ With UMS enabled it syncs my content very fast.. MMS not so much. On a side note, why they got rid of UMS is beyond me..
Now to handle playlists, and since I primarily use playlists in the car, I use MusicBee to sync those to a standard SD card and plug that into the slot on the P8. Don't use anything larger than 32gig as the P8 only 'sees' 500 folders. There is no limitation when using the MDI port so this limitation doesn't apply the the phone's storage.
One thing I want to mention is that if you want to be able to shuffle across all your folders you need to make sure to put a random MP3 in the root of your devices SD card. Start playing that song first, hit mix and you can shuffle across your entire library.
All browsing is done via the headunit just as you would an iPod. All tag info is displayed on the headunit as well, with the only exception being you can only browse the content of the phone's micro SD- so folder structure is important. The nice thing about this is that you can run other apps (I run Torque) since the MDI is only sees the S3 as a storage device, so hands free calling still works.
It also keeps the phone charged
Here's a few pics of my setup:
Any questions, don't hesitate to ask..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first of all, thanks a TON for the detailed reply..
based on your advice i went ahead and grabbed http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004I9CXHW/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and a USB http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QE03GK/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
i run a rooted rom so grabbed busybox and USB MS enabler.. we'll see how it goes! if not, im out 20 bucks.. whatever haha.. either way its very nice to here from someone with the same set up
Grabbed this too as insurance, at least it will sound better than before
i did also find a 16gb sd i had laying around so i threw that in the car yesterday, but my main device for music is my phone so it would be nice to have everything in one place. Even that is very nice to be able to navigate on the head unit as opposed to scrolling through my phone whilst bluetoothing.
if i may be so bold, are you using something like an OBD2 bluetooth adaptor for that torque app? do you have any recomendations for picking 1 vs the other? would be great to hear from a mk6 owner. there are a ton to choose from http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_11?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=bluetooth+obd2&sprefix=bluetooth+o%2Celectronics%2C253
DrKaotica said:
first of all, thanks a TON for the detailed reply..
based on your advice i went ahead and grabbed http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004I9CXHW/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and a USB http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QE03GK/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
i run a rooted rom so grabbed busybox and USB MS enabler.. we'll see how it goes! if not, im out 20 bucks.. whatever haha.. either way its very nice to here from someone with the same set up
Grabbed this too as insurance, at least it will sound better than before
i did also find a 16gb sd i had laying around so i threw that in the car yesterday, but my main device for music is my phone so it would be nice to have everything in one place. Even that is very nice to be able to navigate on the head unit as opposed to scrolling through my phone whilst bluetoothing.
if i may be so bold, are you using something like an OBD2 bluetooth adaptor for that torque app? do you have any recomendations for picking 1 vs the other? would be great to hear from a mk6 owner. there are a ton to choose from http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_11?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=bluetooth+obd2&sprefix=bluetooth+o%2Celectronics%2C253
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me know how it goes, and don't hesitate to ask any questions..
I used this bluetooth adapter, and have had no issues.. http://www.amazon.com/Version-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Interface-Scanner/dp/B008UR7J6I/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1370656911&sr=1-3&keywords=bluetooth+obd2
Greetings,
I've been planning on buying an external dvd drive for my laptop. I found an interesting feature in samsung slim drives. For example, the samsung SE-208AB has an AV-Connectivity mode that turns the drive into a sort of external HDD! We know that android and the note 8 can already read flash drives via OTG. If this external DVD drive has this external HDD funcitonality, can we in theory connect it to the note 8 and get external DVD rom functionality? here's a you tube video connecting a samsung drive to the nexus 7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvoyab75QgQ
As an external HDD, the drive is read with files in it so you can't really play the disc as a DVD rom (so no DVD menus I guess) but the VOB and other data files if present can be read. I know that samsung already released a dvd drive (Samsung 218bb) which android devices can detect but the problem there was that there was no app that could recognize DVD, iso formats.
but I recently tried XBMC! and XBMC can read ISO and even NRG images! Tried reading one off of the NAS via WLAN. with this app, is it possible to connect these samsung drives and read them as native roms using XBMC? has anyone tried it?
This is a real deal breaker for me. I don't think that the ASUS or Lite-on external drives have this kind of functionality. If a can get a drive that is read/write for my laptop and potentially "read" (in the least) for the note 8 then this is a no brainer purchase.
So has anyone tried this? Thanks.
UPDATE: after doing some more reading on XDA I found these threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2171111
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1086842
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2009186.
There are mixed bits. some say that the note 8 does not support external drives but here there is clearly evidence of external drives being read by android. So is it simply the MHL not supplying enough power in the case of the note 8? in another thread, an external drive with an external power source was suggested while another thread noted that this fried the drive and his note 10? These are all for different devices however. Just want to know if anyone has experience with the note 8 in particular. So far the only video showing this actually works is the you tube video with the nexus 7 shown above.
I own a Samsung Mobile SmartHub <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tsst.app.opticalsmarthub>. It works but in my experience the audio quality SUCKS. Much better to just rip the DVD and stream over standard DLNA.
---------- Post added at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 PM ----------
Also, I've never had a USB external DVD drive work with any of my devices (as they would a laptop). Not sure if I've tried on my GN8 though.
Spidey01 said:
I own a Samsung Mobile SmartHub <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tsst.app.opticalsmarthub>. It works but in my experience the audio quality SUCKS. Much better to just rip the DVD and stream over standard DLNA.
---------- Post added at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 PM ----------
Also, I've never had a USB external DVD drive work with any of my devices (as they would a laptop). Not sure if I've tried on my GN8 though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh? Thanks for the reply so iI guess video/audio/media playback has better alternatives. but what about reading and copying files off of the dvd while using the AV-connectivity (External HDD) Drive mode? Sometimes at meetings people still have discs instead of flashdrives, the note 8 is already slowly replacing my laptop but lacks this last functionality: reading/copying files off of a local disk. if it could do this than the laptop stays at home completely as the note 8 almost completely replaces it now for presentations, media serving/control and the like. I'll just bring the external disc drive. It's better than still lugging a laptop. Thanks again.
ProjectER said:
the note 8 is already slowly replacing my laptop but lacks this last functionality: reading/copying files off of a local disk. if it could do this than the laptop stays at home completely as the note 8 almost completely replaces it now for presentations, media serving/control and the like. I'll just bring the external disc drive. It's better than still lugging a laptop. Thanks again.
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Click to collapse
Can't say that I've tried it in that mode. Picked up the unit dirt cheap and almost never use it because of the streaming quality. Was so disappointed I basically gave up on it lol.
Using a USB OTG cable it's possible to access FAT and NTFS volumes on USB Mass Storage devices, like flash drives and external HDDs. I'm using the one from my moms Acer A700 but they're quite cheap off Amazon. Sometimes useful. Anything that is exposed like that (class 08h / UMS) should work. Hubs, most HID devices like keyboards and mice also work via the same means. I haven't tried the drive that way, just a little ASUS unit, which doesn't function as a USB mass storage device.
USB OTG works a hell of lot better on my GN8 than my nexuses, and if memory serves tthe optical hub bridges the disc to a FAT based UMS.
At home, rather than use an external hard drive or optical discs, I use DLNA for movies and things like Dropbox/Google Drive for files. I rip my movies with MakeMKV, store them on my server machine (bigger HDDs then my gaming PC), run a DLNA server on that and point an app from my tablet at it. Least pain I've had, give or take Chromecast and video apps. I can get Chromecast to play the content via DLNA as well but where as the Galaxy Note can handle 30 Mbit/s full HD video (Wi-Fi permitting) the Chromecast really should be kept under 3 or 4 Mbit/s.
thanks for the reply
Spidey01 said:
Can't say that I've tried it in that mode. Picked up the unit dirt cheap and almost never use it because of the streaming quality. Was so disappointed I basically gave up on it lol.
Using a USB OTG cable it's possible to access FAT and NTFS volumes on USB Mass Storage devices, like flash drives and external HDDs. I'm using the one from my moms Acer A700 but they're quite cheap off Amazon. Sometimes useful. Anything that is exposed like that (class 08h / UMS) should work. Hubs, most HID devices like keyboards and mice also work via the same means. I haven't tried the drive that way, just a little ASUS unit, which doesn't function as a USB mass storage device.
USB OTG works a hell of lot better on my GN8 than my nexuses, and if memory serves tthe optical hub bridges the disc to a FAT based UMS.
At home, rather than use an external hard drive or optical discs, I use DLNA for movies and things like Dropbox/Google Drive for files. I rip my movies with MakeMKV, store them on my server machine (bigger HDDs then my gaming PC), run a DLNA server on that and point an app from my tablet at it. Least pain I've had, give or take Chromecast and video apps. I can get Chromecast to play the content via DLNA as well but where as the Galaxy Note can handle 30 Mbit/s full HD video (Wi-Fi permitting) the Chromecast really should be kept under 3 or 4 Mbit/s.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
so there is hope that it can access data files on the disk. Plan to use it mainly for raw data transfer at work but only for those still not keen on a flashdrive. It's rare but some still use discs...(i guess it's more resistent to viruses and malware...).
Don't plan to use the external drive really for playing media. As you already enumerated, there are a ton of options for that already, The review for that samsung wifi optical disc media hub is that its a great idea introduced way too late and executed too poorly for it to compete with our NAS's and WLAN's. I personally use XBMC for android, it runs on all devices now, android, windows, linux and even iOS i think. Then I have yatze or bubble upnp as well. I realized that with XBMC, don't really need chromecast anymore, although I use "cheap cast" with my android minipc I realized it's simply easier to send the you tube link to xbmc. Instead of having a you tube play list(for chrome cast), I can send the vid to xbmc and play it there and still play another you tube video on the note 8. XBMC now also reads Iso's and NRG's so all those dvd's ripped into images just run on it even via the wlan/upnp/network. Just my take on the whole video streaming option.
But I haven't tried this MakeMKV app you suggested. I hope to compress my stored DVD collection. Is it like handbreak? Can it compress a 4 gig dvd into a smaller MKV file? My NAS is slowly getting filled up. Anyway thanks! More power to XDA!
BTW: Since we're on the topic of streeaming, I'm thinking of starting a thread on the note 8's miracast/ALLSHARE CAST/screen mirroring. I realized that Samsung's screen mirroring is not really miracast compliant (just like the S4) in the sense that it doesn't work with all screen mirroring devices (something with HDCP and samsung proprietary software which i think is just there to "encourage" you to buy they're all sharecast dongle).
Here's the link: http://android-minipc.azurewebsites...ast-fails-to-mirror-samsung-galaxy-s4-screen/
Do you know of a fix for this? or should I start a Q/A thread for it? Thanks...
With regard to MakeMKV, it seems to decrypt the disc and remux the content streams into Matroska (.mkv) files, or at least about as lossless as you can get off the disc. You'll get the same MPEG-2/AC3 stream off a DVD as what's on it. No compression.
I do conversions either via Handbrake on my gaming box or by directly running ffmpeg on my server with about the same options as handbrake uses. My server's faster at it, hehe.For DVD, I normally use H.264 with x264's constant quality set to 22 or 23, and convert the audios; normally stereo with Dolby Pro Logic II downmix and another stream that's AC-3 pass through. Good enough that I don't usually notice quality loss vs the original DVD. DVD's usually end up under 2GB and especially for things like episodes of The Simpsons, can be really small. Sometimes a movie is still like 3~4GB though.
Some of Samsung's devices are certified, never tried them with another dongle. Miracast's latency is high enough that it's more limited then the MHL cable, and my old GS3 tended to soft reboot when using any video output until the 4.1 update lol. One of the CM developers had posted about issues between Samsung, Google, and perhaps a few other implementations. I think they support different HDCP versions but I'm not sure of the details.
I finally baught the samsung external dvd drive se-208. I tried AV connectivity mode so it get's recognized as a fat 32 flash drive. Well my laptop recognizes it (but my laptop recognizes it as a disc as well so that really isn't the point). Tried AV connectivity mode and connected it to my note 8. The drive just keeps spinning but my note 8 never recognizes it. Really sad. I then connected it to my samsung TV which allegedly can play media files off of a USB thumb drive. The drive still isn't recognized. Weird cuz on you tube, they connected it to a samsung TV and it worked. I tried media files and data/doc/pic files, the drive never gets recognized. Only my laptop recognizes it as a "flashdrive." Any suggestions? (I know switching to AV connectivity means pressing the eject butto for 1.5-3 seconds so I'm sure it's in AV connectivity and not in ODD or optical drive mode). Could it be power? but the drive lights up and spins when connected to the note 8 and the TV. Thanks for any suggestions.
BTW, i'm not interested in streaming as i already have a NAS for all my videos. Just want the functionality of an optical drive reader without having to bring a laptop around. The note 8 is already amazingly functional...this would just max it out even more. Thanks.
The bottom line is the device (whether it's the tablet, computer, TV or whatever) needs to have the drivers built in not just to access the optical drive, but also to read the file system on the optical disc (which I think is UDF, but don't quote me on that). You could try to find a custom kernel that has that support, see if there's a program on the Play Store or elsewhere that has that support built-in, or compile your own kernel with that support built in. But usually, when it comes to hardware support, it almost always comes down to driver support (I'm assume there DVD drive plugs into the wall so it's not an issue with lack of power).
Spidey01 said:
Can't say that I've tried it in that mode. Picked up the unit dirt cheap and almost never use it because of the streaming quality. Was so disappointed I basically gave up on it lol.
Using a USB OTG cable it's possible to access FAT and NTFS volumes on USB Mass Storage devices, like flash drives and external HDDs. I'm using the one from my moms Acer A700 but they're quite cheap off Amazon. Sometimes useful. Anything that is exposed like that (class 08h / UMS) should work. Hubs, most HID devices like keyboards and mice also work via the same means. I haven't tried the drive that way, just a little ASUS unit, which doesn't function as a USB mass storage device.
USB OTG works a hell of lot better on my GN8 than my nexuses, and if memory serves tthe optical hub bridges the disc to a FAT based UMS.
At home, rather than use an external hard drive or optical discs, I use DLNA for movies and things like Dropbox/Google Drive for files. I rip my movies with MakeMKV, store them on my server machine (bigger HDDs then my gaming PC), run a DLNA server on that and point an app from my tablet at it. Least pain I've had, give or take Chromecast and video apps. I can get Chromecast to play the content via DLNA as well but where as the Galaxy Note can handle 30 Mbit/s full HD video (Wi-Fi permitting) the Chromecast really should be kept under 3 or 4 Mbit/s.
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Click to collapse
Hi, have you tried if screen mirroring works between the Note 8.0 and Chromecast? I'm thinking of buying the dongle, but I'm interested mainly for screen mirroring, so I wish to know if it works well.
Thanks
gabripranzo said:
Hi, have you tried if screen mirroring works between the Note 8.0 and Chromecast? I'm thinking of buying the dongle, but I'm interested mainly for screen mirroring, so I wish to know if it works well.
Thanks
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Performance when mirroring to Chromecast sucks but it does work. I would say latency is around 0.75 seconds to 1.20 seconds from when I scroll left or right in Nova Launcher to when I see it finish on the TV. Encoder quality also sucks at rendering transparency or anti aliasing and it tends to peg the CPU to full clockrate most of the time. I haven't tried video on it. I believe my Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is simularly Crappy. Nexus 5 and Galaxy S5 work better, so it seems like only my Snapdragon 800+ chipsets seem to have decent mirroring performance over Chromecast. I don't think Google has optimized things very well for Exynos & Mali. I can say the GS5 will mirror to it well enough to watch a video not that I'd advise it. Really, Samsung's very crappy AllShare Cast dongle works better in terms of casting performance. Miracast is only useful for videos or stuff like email/websurfing because of the latency (e.g. not gaming) but Chromecast is the worst mirroring I've ever used, and I've even SideSync mirrored my tablets to my PC before. My Amazon Fire TV box works awesome sauce as a Miracast Display to all of my current devices (GN8, GNP12.2, and GS5) in terms of performance but sometimes will not connect; I've yet to determine why, maybe it just hates my monitor/switch more than my TV.
If cash is a primary concern and mostly mirroring: I would suggest a Fire TV Stick (which is Miracast Certified) or some real Miracast adapter like the Netgear PTV3000 ($50) or Belkin Miracast Adapter ($60). Chromecast is great for leaning back and casting video from apps like Netflix, Plex, AllCast, etc but not so awesome at screen mirroring. Perhaps like Chromecast's video decoder it will improve with time but it's just not that awesome for mirroring right now. MHL wired adapters are still better for screen mirroring IMHO.
Well, I wish to use the screen mirroring function mainly to stream videos: sometimes it happens that my Bd player hasn't the right codec for the video, so I wish to stream it directly from tablet to TV.
First off, lets start with how this package arrived. The packaging was actually quite nice, with it arriving in a solid white cardboard box with a lot of information printed on it. The front of the packaging showed the actual device, the fact it can be used as a media centre etc. The sides of the packaging had some more information, with one side showing the fact it had KODI pre-installed, another showing that it has Gigabit internet support and another side showing that it supports 4k, which is pretty impressive.
Inside the actual packaging, you are greeted with some accessories. Alongside the actual box itself, you get a remote which is plastic, but feels solid. You also get a USB-Micro USB adaptor, a HDMI cable and the power cable. The included HDMI cable is really useful!
As for ports, it has a HDMI port, Ethernet Port, Two USB ports, an AV port, an SD card slot and a Micro USB slot/ OTG port as its called on the box.
Next up we have the actual software. Upon booting it says 'Google TV', Not android TV and then comes up with a 'Android' screen. Checking the settings, it has android 5.1.1 lollipop, which is a small bit dated now that Android 6.0.1 is out for Android TV. It does have a pre-installed launcher, which is pretty good and easy to use for a TV launcher. Since it is Android you can go to the play store and install another launcher such as Nova if you so wish!.
The box does come pre-rooted, which is really good. There are a few pre-installed apps as well, such as two games, TV cleaner (which thankfully can be uninstalled) and the main one, Kodi. This bx was my first time ever using Kodi, and I have to say its amazing. I was able to watch a lot of episodes of series that I like watching etc and it was just a really useful feature to have on the box. You, of course, can also download other streaming apps such as Netflix from the playstore and choose to watch series on them. I had to connect my mouse and keyboard to the actual box, as it was just getting very award to move around with the remote, however my mouse and keyboard worked perfectly with the box. What was kind of weird though is there are two settings menu, a stock android settings menu and an android TV type of one.
Performance wise, its smooth. I played a few games such as Asphalt 8, Need for Speed, Real Racing 3 etc on the box and they all played smoothly with little to no lag. I did notice however that the wifi connectivity was pretty iffy, and it would show that I have full bars but when I launched an internet app such as the play store or netflix it would show that I do not have any connectivity, which is pretty strange.
I did have to use the box as my main computing device for awhile as my Macbook's HDD had died, so I used it to type up reviews, communicate with friends etc and it was surprisingly very usable. I didn't really expect it would be able to communicate like that.
Overall, this box is.. different. It is more like a box that just has android on it, rather then a Nexus Player type box which has full Android TV, maybe the Settings menu shows this and the Android TV variant of the settings menu was pre-installed afterwards as an APK. The play store is also like a Normal Android variant and not like the one on my Sony Android TV, and it has a notification shade, something which normal android TV boxes do not. My guess is that they just added 'Google TV' as a boot animation to the box. However, it is a good android box and I really wouldn't say 'Do not buy this'. I would have to recommend it to anybody who is looking for a cheap yet good android box. It is better then other competition out there at this price range!
If you want one, then click here!
Hi there, I was just wondering what you think about dex. This is my first time using it.
I downloaded the app on my macbook pro (latest) and my windows pc (full hd monitor) and I noticed that the resolution of the app in both computers is pretty bad. If I watch a video it looks good, in full hd but the app itself is low resolution. The text looks bad, the apps icons looks bad aswell and is in medium size window, not even full screen.
Just wanted to know if is just me or you guys aswell
yeah connecting my note 10+ to my pc and launching dex using the pc app makes it look absolutely terrible with a lot of input lag it's as if i connected it wirelessly it's even worse
zzcool said:
yeah connecting my note 10+ to my pc and launching dex using the pc app makes it look absolutely terrible with a lot of input lag it's as if i connected it wirelessly it's even worse
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I don't understand why is that. I was looking forward to this feature.
The lag makes it unusable.
That and the fact that almost no apps actually work... Yes, it's not "optimized" for DeX. Run the bloody thing anyway. In an ugly window if you must! The phone handles "ugly" floating windows natively, so why not in DeX?
There's something seriously backwards and wrong with DeX.
daproject said:
Hi there, I was just wondering what you think about dex. This is my first time using it.
I downloaded the app on my macbook pro (latest) and my windows pc (full hd monitor) and I noticed that the resolution of the app in both computers is pretty bad. If I watch a video it looks good, in full hd but the app itself is low resolution. The text looks bad, the apps icons looks bad aswell and is in medium size window, not even full screen.
Just wanted to know if is just me or you guys aswell
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Click to collapse
I agree. This is my first experience with DeX and I am not impressed. I never wanted to buy the docks or cables because I figured I wouldn't use it that much. The only real use I could see for me is watching Netflix at work during lunch but when I plug in the Note10+ Netflix it says "Can't show protected content on your computer." Like WTF I pay for Netflix, what are you talking about? I have also tried to login via the Samsung browser or Chrome and it immediately tells to download the app which doesn't work? Also if you try to open the Hulu app it immediately says it doesn't support DeX....
Hi guys. I had the same issue about not being able to watch streams on Windows DeX. I was trying to use Amazon Prime Video, I was using a USB to USB-C cable. Once I used the Samsung provided USB-C to USB-C cable I was able to watch. It has something to do with HDCP security. If the cable/port can't do it you won't be able to watch.
BlueKalel
BlueKalel said:
Hi guys. I had the same issue about not being able to watch streams on Windows DeX. I was trying to use Amazon Prime Video, I was using a USB to USB-C cable. Once I used the Samsung provided USB-C to USB-C cable I was able to watch. It has something to do with HDCP security. If the cable/port can't do it you won't be able to watch.
BlueKalel
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How would I use the provided Type-C to to Type-C cable with a desktop/tower computer?
this is the quality i have notice how it looks like a bad camstream
Have the same issue. Picture quality looks blurish..like 720p or even 480p. It's not sharp. (Have it connected with USB-C to USB on PC)
I thought the Dex was a very good feature, While in work i could load up Dex and keep personal personal while on my work PC.
But as others have pointed out, the limited support of Apps and the horrible Lag input has made me not want to use it.
Ive actually found more use out of the App Samsung Flow where i can load my full Phone screen onto my desktop. I can open any game or application without any restrictions! Talk about backwards!!!
I think it is an incompatability with Win10... This may be fixed over time but if you use Dex straight from device to TV it looks 10000x bettter... Nil lag with video's and crisper, sharper look...
I run it on my 65" TV with none of the faults I also experienced with Win10...
Guys, I think the issue of low resolution is because of the USB connection, meaning that I guess is the best that can be obtained with that cable connection, if you want a higher resolution I think you will need to use a USB C - HDMI connection.
Honestly I don't have issue with DeX. High res 1080p. Never any lag, doing anything including video. This is on my home PC and work PC. I use it everyday and it's genius. Btw I use 2 different USB a to USB c cables. Windows 10. Minimal spec computers too except for 20gb ram each.
So I noticed that the icons and icon text look ok, but what looks low res is the menu texts and text within any app. If I increase the font size it makes a huge difference, but it also increases the font size on my phone, which I do not want. I am using the smallest font size.
I think what's happening here is that when we connect DEX to the PC, DEX is being streamed over to the PC. The PC client is acting a video player for that stream. Hence the lag. They can certainly increase the resolution of the stream as USB C should support very high resolutions. My guess is that they want to prevent compatibility issues when people will connect the phone from USB C to USB A ports and it will start stuttering if the resolution is too high. That or that higher encoding bitrates will overload the phone.
In any case, for first time users, try the real native experience by connecting the phone directly to a monitor and it will be very crisp with no lag and no app limitations.
I understand the disappointment with Dex in its current form.
This is more of a proof of concept than of a fully functional OS. Think about what something like this will be in 5 - 10 years. By the end of that time the PC will be dead! Everything will be done with the device in our pocket!
Exciting times indeed!
same for the galaxy s10 even with a Thunderbolt 3 cable