Best portable device for DVD/mp4 watching?
 

I've gotten quite used to watching streaming apps on my ipad--like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Syfy, etc. My husband and I don't often agree on what to watch, so a lot of the time he'll have something on the big TV in the living room, and I'll be watching something else on my ipad with headphones in the same room. I also like to be able to take a small portable device like that on trains, in the bath, bedroom, or wherever.

The thing is, my ipad only does streaming movies from online. I have hundreds of films on DVD, Blu Ray, and as mp4s on my Drobo storage unit that, right now, I can't watch unless I watch them on the big TV. I have a laptop computer I use for my everyday work, but it's an Alienware monster, big and heavy, and also tends to run loud. It's not the sort of thing that's easy to port around.

I've seen DVD portable players on Amazon, but they wont' play mp4 files. What I'm looking for is something small and portable, like an ipad, that will at least be able to store and play mp4 movies as well as DVD. If it can also do blu ray great. Then I could just transfer a few mp4 at a time from my Drobo to the device (presumably with USB) and watch those stored movies anywhere. I suppose a DVD portable player that will also take and play mp4s would work grand too.

Suggestions? I suppose what I really need is a small, portable computer, one that is geared for media. I don't want to spend more than a few hundred on it since it's not for work and I don't intend to do email and all that on it. Does anyone have something like that they can recommend?

Thanks in advance.


ETA: I just found a portable DVD player by DBPower on Amazon that will take a USB stick and supposedly playback video files in various formats including mpeg4. I suppose that'll work as long as I also have a USB drive that has enough memory for my files. Still welcome any feedback.