How to connect external hard drive to both TV and computer?

madonnamustache

Hi,

I have recently discovered that my TV will play video files via USB stick, which is great! I would now like to connect an external hard drive to the TV, and at the same time have it connected to the laptop.

What would be the easiest way to do this, and what kind of cables/splitters would I need?

Thanks!

fwor

AFAIK there is no simple way to do this with USB. USB is a master/slave system, and you can't have two "Masters" in one system. So you would need a USB switch box (which cost £7 or so on eBay) and appropriate type A and A-to-B (standard USB printer lead) cables.

Depending on the TV's capabilities, you might also be able to achieve a good solution using a Network Attached Storage device to put the hard disk in, with both the TV and laptop accessing it over the LAN connection on each.

VoucherMan

What other sockets do you have on the laptop / TV?

If they've both got HDMI you could use the TV as an extended desktop. Had to mess about with the settings to get the audio through the TV speakers, & the cable across the floor was a nuisance, but it worked okay.


Or for a simpler solution why not just get a suitable sized memory stick & copy whatever you want to watch onto it every day/week. Probably just as cheap as buying new cables.

dsavvy83

Hi

as stated above there are a few options, I would recommend a NAS drive or a media drive, something which you can log into and store data and then be able to access via the tv. i haven't seen a nas drive without usb so should be ok.

What will you be using it for? because there are also some nifty blu ray players out there which can store videos etc...

or get a PS3 it's really good and connectivity is amazing.