External Hard Disk to TV

npsays · 08-29-2009, 07:45 AM

Hi
I have bought a seagate external drive 250 gb, which I intend to connect to my TV ( supports, svideo,& video ports) to watch 200 movies stored in various formats (divx, rmvb,mp4,avi, flv etc). How can i make it happen?
i had thought of installing portable windows xp which could help me use the external drive as a computer and TV as a screen, but the drive does not have a 'power on' mode. so not sure how it will work out. any ideas? do i need to connect some sort of hub which can recognise hard drive & tv ?

thanks

**raptor_pa** · 08-29-2009, 11:59 AM

A drive can't run an OS, it has no processor, you will need either a PC with appropriate output, or a digital recorder box that will support the external. A drive is simply a storage space, it has no intelligence. You will also need a device that can understand all the various video formats you have - a PC or media center type box would be the most flexible in this case.

npsays · 08-29-2009, 11:25 PM

yes .. it is making a lot of sense . thanks. any cheap media center should do ? or an expensive one ?

**raptor_pa** · 08-30-2009, 06:19 AM

Media center box will need to be able to handle an external drive that is formatted to whatever yours is, and also be able to decode whatever video formats you have movies saved as. Each format needs support for different codecs.

08-29-2009, 07:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
npsays Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 21 OS: winXP	External Hard Disk to TV Hi I have bought a seagate external drive 250 gb, which I intend to connect to my TV ( supports, svideo,& video ports) to watch 200 movies stored in various formats (divx, rmvb,mp4,avi, flv etc). How can i make it happen? i had thought of installing portable windows xp which could help me use the external drive as a computer and TV as a screen, but the drive does not have a 'power on' mode. so not sure how it will work out. any ideas? do i need to connect some sort of hub which can recognise hard drive & tv ? thanks

08-29-2009, 11:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,821 OS: XP	Re: External Hard Disk to TV A drive can't run an OS, it has no processor, you will need either a PC with appropriate output, or a digital recorder box that will support the external. A drive is simply a storage space, it has no intelligence. You will also need a device that can understand all the various video formats you have - a PC or media center type box would be the most flexible in this case. __________________

08-29-2009, 11:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
npsays Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 21 OS: winXP	Re: External Hard Disk to TV yes .. it is making a lot of sense . thanks. any cheap media center should do ? or an expensive one ?

08-30-2009, 06:19 AM	#4 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,821 OS: XP	Re: External Hard Disk to TV Media center box will need to be able to handle an external drive that is formatted to whatever yours is, and also be able to decode whatever video formats you have movies saved as. Each format needs support for different codecs. __________________