Viewing films in the van... (1 Viewer)

[Dazzlin]

We need to upgrade the laptop, I think.
Acer 13"screen only used rarely and now no longer getting updates on windows XP. Does this mean it will self destruct in the near future?

It galls me having to upgrade when there's nowt wrong with it except being slow and it's run well for the last 10 or so years.

It mainly gets used for watching films from the external hard drive so we wouldn't mind a bigger screen. Don't have or want a tv, so what would be best?

New laptop with 15 or 17" screen?
Monitor 17/19" - what else would I need to get the film from hard drive to screen?
Would a tv be cheaper to just use as a monitor?

What would you do?

Oh yeah, remember someone mentioning a projector! That would work onto the kitchen window blind. Anyone got one?

Got sound sorted through the Klipsch speaker.

Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

 

[Flamenca]

It is still possible to get Windows XP updates. A Funster has posted a couple of times the method of continuing to get updates. The Acer running XP should be fast enough to run films. I would just buy a 19" monitor

 

[EX51SSS]

We need to upgrade the laptop, I think.
Acer 13"screen only used rarely and now no longer getting updates on windows XP. Does this mean it will self destruct in the near future?

It galls me having to upgrade when there's nowt wrong with it except being slow and it's run well for the last 10 or so years.

It mainly gets used for watching films from the external hard drive so we wouldn't mind a bigger screen. Don't have or want a tv, so what would be best?

New laptop with 15 or 17" screen?
Monitor 17/19" - what else would I need to get the film from hard drive to screen?
Would a tv be cheaper to just use as a monitor?

What would you do?

Oh yeah, remember someone mentioning a projector! That would work onto the kitchen window blind. Anyone got one?

Got sound sorted through the Klipsch speaker.

Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

Exactly the same with my pc. I'd have been very happy running it but the occasional items needed a newer system. I think my main one was Garmin updates but there were others and I wanted my laser printer to work too. I nearly resorted to Windows 97 but not sure it'd cope.

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[Graham and Jane]

You could buy a tv with usb connection at the size you want for a lot less than a new laptop.

 

[hilldweller]

As someone has said, a modern TV will have a USB to plug in a hard drive or memory stick. They usually have PC connector too. So like it or not a TV may be your answer and £100 should do it. Maybe plus a wall bracket.

 

[Gromett]

TV's with USB connectors don't always play all types of encoded films/TV.
I wanted to be able to let my mum watch programs on her tv. So I bought her a Chromecast which plugs into an HDMI connector then I screencast from my Android tablet and play the movie/TV show using VLC. A bit long winded but ultimately better than the USB port which either played the audio with no video or refused to play most files full stop.

When away in the van, I use the same tablet and just use VLC to watch them. When on hookup I have a 19" monitor connected to my main computer on which I also use VLC.

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[mjltigger]

TV with HDMI and a 10" tablet with HDMI output will cover most things. For about the same money an amazon fire stick would do the media things but not the useful incidentals that a tablet can also do such as motorhomefun

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Hi Daz,
It depends whether you want to connect to the internet, with XP there possibly lies danger. But, if you only want to watch films and XP works ok for you then it will carry on working for the next 100 years or perhaps 100 minutes depending on your luck. There are millions of Point of Sale computers running all around the world on XP some actually on Win2000 and my old shop is still on the system I set up on DOS 20 years ago.
However.... I have successfully installed Win10 on my tiny Asus EeePC so as to run Autoroute on my dash. it is very stable and runs Autoroute a treat. Win10 is very good at sleep mode so it wakes up very fast because full booting is a bit slow.
To get Win10 though you will have to be quick, before end of July. There are some legitimate German sites selling OEM copies of Win7 for not a lot of money I think I paid 18 euros for my last copy as a download with proper licence accepted by MS, you can then install that then legitimately upgrade to Win10.
But it is best to do a completely clean custom install of Win10 to say no to all the privacy intrusions. You have to click the semi-hidden button for that.
Hope this helps.
Steve