USB TV & portable hard drive - playing & recording?

longtimelurker54

Hi,

I've been looking to buy a portable hard drive basically to use for backups of music, docs etc.

But the idea is I could also use it:

(1) to plug into Android phone (to watch & download music, movies/docs on the go)
(2) to plug into a TV to watch downloaded movies.

Pls can anyone guide me on best drive that would suit all these things?

I really like the Western Digital My Passport 1tb as very small/lightweight BUT I read on some site that my Android phone would not be powerful enough to power this drive via USB and that I should be looking for a drive that uses an external mains power source, which My Passport does not. Would this also be a problem if using with TV?

The only powered external drives I've seen are huge monsters and I'd much prefer something which is the My Passport kind of size.

I've seen you can buy a "USB powered hub" which is mains powered and has USB ports but am not sure if this would work for all my needs - e.g. would I plug the phone to the hub and then the drive to the hub also and would the phone be able to recognise the drive in that way?

Am fairly clueless so any general advice would be much appreciated.

Many thx in advance.

almillar

You can't plug hard drives into phones, they plug into computers. End of story.
Your Android phone should have a Micro USB slot, put a nice big card in there and put films onto it to watch them on your phone, or plug your phone into your PC and copy the films over as if your phone is a USB drive.
TV - be VERY careful. Just because a TV has a USB port, doesn't mean it can play or record to or from a USB drive. It also doesn't mean it can play the file format that the particular film you want to watch is in. Research this carefully before you buy a TV that doesn't suit your needs. Have a look at the Panasonic G20 or G30 (newer) plasma range for starters.

hanwellmike

I have a 1Tb WD Passport and it's a good drive so you could do worse.
However I don't think there are many TV's that will play downloaded movies straight from the USB. For example I am fairly sure that the Panasonic tv's will not play anything via USB that has not been recorded from the Panasonic tv itself.
You may find it easier to splash out on a media player for about £80 (eg WD TV live or Asus O Play or AC Ryan Play On) which will allow you to watch downloaded movies on your tv. I have a couple of these devices and they work great.

ylink08uk

I've got a fairly old Samsung LE32C530 which plays movies straight from USB pen or portable drive. Coupled with a 2TB WD Elements (mains powered) USB portable drive for £56 or cheaper it's my preferred method of watching downloaded stuff.