External HD vs. Thumb Drive vs. Casting

[dochielomn]

So there are times when I want to watch a random movie and no streaming service has it for free (typically can find it if I want to pay for it, but I'm not interested in paying for it). So i knew my Samsung smart tv has some USB ports so I decided to test what would happen if I connect a thumb drive to it and to my surprise, it opened without any issue and I was able to browse the files/folders and select what I wanted. Now, with older files that were AVI, the TV said that the format was not supported or there was an issue so it wouldn't play. So then I tried a file that was MP4 and voilà the file played on the TV. So I found an online converter that I was able to upload an AVI file and it converted to an MP4 file and once again, voilà, that newly converted file also worked. So that got me thinking that perhaps I should permanently connect some sort of USB device to the TV to act as extra storage space where I can upload all of my old tv show files (sometimes stuff that I previously downloaded has original music/songs on it vs. if you watch the show on a streaming platform, the original music is gone because of the cost of paying for it) and movies that I have on computer/laptops.

So, saying all that, my intent was to discuss whether or not it makes sense to buy a large thumb drive device, something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HN37XC1/?c ... _lig_dp_it

Or should I consider buying or using an external hard drive that can has larger space capacity so I'll have spare capacity/room to grow as needed. Or should I just suck it up and just cast from my laptop to the TV as needed.

Pros of the thumb drive, it's clean and easy and will be blocked by the tv so it's not showing/sticking out and the kids won't be able to mess with it or accidentally knock it it or disconnect it. Cons, obviously somewhat limited and can be a little pain taking out and plugging back in if I need to add files to it.

Pros of the external hard drive, larger capacity, maybe a little more reliable/stable. Cons, not as "clean" of an install. In order to make it cleaner, would need to route wire to the tv through existing hole where other wires are. Would also need a separate power wire. More accessible to kids touching it.

Pros of casting, no wires, no install. Once file is downloaded or converted, it's easy enough to cast. Cons, kids can still mess with laptop (thankfully they have not touched it thus far). Annoying if I want to change what to cast as would have to get up and use the laptop as oppose to using a remote to navigate.

So, just curious if anyone has any thoughts. Chances are I'll probably buy the amazon sandik product and use that as I do have a birthday coming up so it's easy enough to just ask someone to buy it for me so i'm not the one actually buying it, .

[Adam]

I solved my "play old digital files" problem by installing a server, a RAID enclosure and Plex Media Server. Now my Roku can steam stuff to the living room TV, any Android device with the Plex app or any computer with a web browser. That's hardly a practical solution, thought.

You can get some.pretty large "thumb" drives now. Before picking a capacity, check the TV manual and see if there are any size restrictions for attached USB devices and the supported filesystems.

For example, my Sony supports:

Code: Select all

File System. Max File Size. Max Storage Capacity
FAT16.          2GB.              2GB
FAT32.          4GB.              2TB
exFAT.         256GB.             16TB
NTFS.          256GB.             16TB

[kevm14]

NIce. I still have my HTPC built in 2009 running Win 7 that has all of my "backed up" Netflix DVD rips. That's the extent of my media collection. Well, I have MP3s somewhere but I don't play them on anything.