I have a summer home without internet and want to keep a large collection of movies and TV shows available to play directly on the television. I'm considering a microSD card, USB flash drive, or external hard drive, and I need at least 1TB of capacity. Which option offers the best combination of low cost, large storage, and compatibility with a TV?
4 Answers
A large flash drive is simpler and has no moving parts. A 512GB drive can hold a couple hundred movies depending on compression, but flash storage becomes expensive at 1TB and above. Using several smaller drives is another option if you don’t need the entire library connected at once.
You could keep the full collection on a large external hard drive or computer and copy only the movies you want to watch onto a smaller USB drive. That makes it easier to organize and avoids leaving a bulky hard drive connected behind the TV. If the TV has only one inconvenient USB port, a powered USB hub may help, assuming the TV supports it.
Check your TV’s supported video formats before buying a large drive. Older televisions can be picky about files, even if they’re MP4s, and may only handle certain H.264 settings, resolutions, or audio codecs. Test a few sample videos first and buy from somewhere with a good return policy.
For the most storage per dollar, a USB external hard drive is usually the best choice. A reputable 1TB model should work well, although prices vary. Make sure the drive uses a format your TV supports and that the TV can provide enough power through its USB port.
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