Xtreamer SIDEWINDER Media Player- Passively Cooled & 7.1 HD Audio (New Model) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have owned this unit for well over 6 months. I wanted to wait and be patient before I reviewed it, hoping that promises and the long awaited 3.0 firmware upgrade would finally happen, well my patience is now exhausted. I didn't just invest in one Xtreamer, myself and friends bought three units as it supported the TV Live feature, streaming all the British TV and news networks, which was a major selling point to us. Within a few weeks of ownership these features disappeared, along with most of the channels featured in the 'live TV' feed.
I also was keen on their video jukebox which I waited months for, again to be disappointed. It took hours for me to add fan art to each title (I have a vast library). Only for it all to disappear a few weeks later and regardless of whether I set this up on the Computer interface or the machine itself, it would not successfully scrape my media files.
As there is no actual 'support' site, just the forum and chat room, it is virtually impossible to get answers. I have raised the above topics and more, along with many others in their forum, but no credible answers to date.
I should point out that just about everything on the Xtreamer interface has been created by third parties, ie dedicated owners who spend hours of their time, trying to do, what Xtreamer themselves should have done when they launched this thing. What makes it worse is that the actual Xtreamer website uses the various applications that it's users have created to sell their machine!! This creates an unfair 'sellable' image of a machine that is actually continually in beta testing.
To close, my biggest annoyance is the remote, unless you are standing three feet or less from the Xtreamer, it won't work. I was told this was a known problem and to use a Logitech or some other type of knowing remote. I have a Logitech and yes, it solved it. But if they know there's an issue, they should fix it. I noticed they are even selling Logitech remotes from their website now....so they themselves are basically admitting their remote doesn't work.
One reason I am finally writing this is that I am reading many unjustified negative reviews on Amazon, for example, the Logitech Google TV, while this unresponsive bit of plastic, receives generally good notices. To me this proves that many reviewers here on Amazon are actually affiliated with the actual items they are reviewing. Regardless of which I still value Amazon reviews in general and hope my honest few words will help someone wasting their dollars on empty promises.

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Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)BUYER BEWARE!!! I bought the C-200 back in December 2009, it worked well for a while but died in August 2010, I had to send it back to popconhour for a new motherboard :( The device does play everything you throw at it and is faily versatile in that it can take an optional bluray drive and more internal store etc. Unfortunately it is an ugly addition to a home theatre setup. There is no offical support that I can see, most of the problems people have with playback seem to be addressed with firmware updates. It is NOT worth the price, there are many alternactive devices available now which do just as good a job, WDTV, PlayOn, ASROCK ION 330 etc. Trust me, it is a hassle to keep this thing working well. The forums over on networkedmediatank shows many uswers having problems which are NEVER resolved. Best steer clear of this box and all other popcornhour devices folks.

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It's Time to Unleash Your TV The Popcorn Hour C-200 is the most powerful and versatile Networked Media Tank yet. It's blazing-fast processor, Blu-ray capability and storage options make the C-200 an ideal addition to your home theater or high-definition entertainment system. All Your Media in One Box With Popcorn Hour you can stream or playback digital media content from a variety of sources, such as your PC, network-attached storage, digital camera or USB storage (flash drive, hard disk, and DVD drive). Popcorn Hour also makes it easy to download and stream content directly from popular Internet sites like SHOUTcast Radio, Blip.tv, Revision 3 and dozens of others. Popcorn Hour even has a built-in download utility, eliminating the need to rely on your PC to download files from the Internet. Expand Your Possibilities. The C-200 includes the most expansion options with a total of 5 USB ports and 2 SATA ports for all your storage needs. You can add a Blu-ray drive to turn your Popcorn Hour C-200 into a full-featured Blu-ray player. You can add a hard drive to create a central library of all your digital media files, ready to play on your HDTV at any time. Requires at least 1GB storage space (USB or Hard Disk) for full playback.

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Netgear EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD Review

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(More customer reviews)I really like this device, it's got great potential. However I should note that this unit is for techical users - not-technical users will probably be better off with iTV.
This box plays a lot more formats and has a lot more features - but it compromises on ease of use. If you are the kind of person that likes to tinker - this is definitely a good fit for you. Make sure that 1st thing you do after plugging it in (which was really quick and painless) is register on NetGear forums and request access to beta firmware.
Beta firmware addresses a lot of stability issues of original firmware and adds many good useful features. And access to beta firmware is free, also you can roll back to original one if you'd like at any time.
So far it played anything I tried (about 5-6 different formats). Firmware is being actively worked on, developers are active on the forums and actually listen to feature requests.
Overall I'm very happy with my EVA8000, it does everything I need at a fraction of a cost of Media Center PC.

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The NETGEAR EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD connects your TV and home entertainment system to your computer network, letting you enjoy the HD videos, music, and photos from your PC on your HDTV and high-quality speakers.
Easy Setup and Strong Security The EVA8000 plugs into your home theater system with a variety of outputs including RCA, S-Video, Digital Coaxial/SPDIF audio, HD component video, and HDMI for resolution up to 1080p. The Digital Entertainer HD supports both 802.11g wireless for up to 54 Mbps speeds, as well as wired connections via an 10/100 Mbps RJ-45 jack. Note that in order to connect the device to your home network with sufficient bandwidth to stream your HD videos, you will need to use the wired connection. Dual 2 dBi antennas are built-in for better wireless reception.
In addition to the hard drive of your PC, the EVA8000 also works seamlessly with the NETGEAR SC101 storage device (sold separately). There is also a USB 2.0 port, letting you play files saved on an iPod, USB thumb drive, USB disk, or digital camera.
The Digital Entertainer boasts hardware-based WEP 40/64-bit and 128-bit encryption and WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK for enhanced security.
Support for Digital Media File Formats The Digital Entertainer can handle a large variety of digital media file formats. Compatible audio formats include: MP3 (up to 320 Kbps or VBR), WAV, WMA (up to 192 Kbps or VBR), M3U, and AAC. Compatible video formats include: MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, WMV (up to 1080p), and Xvid. Compatible photo formats include: JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, and GIF.
If you have a TV tuner card (not included) installed on your PC, the EVA8000 will let you schedule recordings and pause and rewind live TV, providing an easy interface to your DVR. If you purchase two or more Digital Entertainer HDs and have them in different rooms, you can synchronize music throughout the house for parties, and you can keep watching a video moving from one room to another by pausing it in one room and unpausing it in another.
An included remote control lets you control all the media files on your home network, as well as from popular internet sites, from the comfort of your couch. You can also access your desktop and some applications such as email. The NETGEAR EVA8000 Digital Entertainer is backed by a 1-year warranty.
What's in the Box EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD, infrared remote control (2 AA batteries included), power cable, Ethernet cable, component video cable, installation guide, resource CD, and warranty/support information card.

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LG BD530 1080p Network Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)This Black Friday, Blu-ray player was on my agenda, I have a 46" Samsung LCD HDTV with internet options. I did not want to go for internet enabled Blu-ray player to play netflix or Picasa or Youtube as I already have it in my TV. I wanted a best to the price and awesome quality Blu-ray player which has a brilliant blu-ray as well as DVD upscale conversion for HDTV resolution.
I bought this LG BD530 and Sony BDP-530 at the same time because Sony had the highest ranking in terms on voting on many sites including bestbuy,com. After connecting both players to my TV i used Bly-ray and it played very well on both player, I tried same Bluray disc on both player couple of times alternatively and could not see the difference. Bluray played brilliantly
When i came to DVD playing, after couple of runs with same DVD on same TV (with same settings) I found that LG has a excellent DVD upconversion as compared to Sony, Sony pics were a little more blurr as compared to LG BD530. I tested 2 different DVD movies (lord of the rings and American beauty) to check the DVD quality and I have to admit, LG was awesome. Also somehow I felt the LG remote is much user friendly than Sony remote, but that's a matter of individuals preference.
After carefully reading Sony's review I figured out that it;s sony blu-ray players internet abilities which took it;s rating so high and not the DVD upscale conversion qualities. If you have an old TV with no internet on it and want internet connectibility to watch netflix online, then probably Sony is your candidate. But if you have a new internet enabled TV and have a huge collection of DVD which you wanna keep it for a while and wanna enjoy over and over again, then LG is your best candidate.
I am returning back my Sony BDP-370 player tomorrow to Bestbuy. I hope this review helps to reader.
Santosh Gaikwad

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Experience Full HD 1080p with the BD530 Network Blu-ray Disc Player. Get superior picture quality and sound of Blu-ray technology along with direct access to internet services like YouTube, Picasa and Accuweather.

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New Arrival brite-View BV-5005HD Mini "CinemaGo" 3-in-1 1080p Full HD Networking Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader, WiFi Package , Black (USB WiFi dongle and HDMI cable INCLUDED) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have previously tried WD TV (1st generation) and CinemaTube and compared them since these were the media players having similar features at similar prices. Despite WD TV was the most popular media player, I had shown that CinemaTube was the winner.
Read my review here:
http://www.amazon.com/Brite-View-BV-5005HD-CinemaTube-Multimedia-Downloader/dp/B002CNOYRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1280036605&sr=8-1
Now that both WD TV Live Plus and CinemaGo are out to fight, I can see CinemaGo is still going to be the winner for similar reasons. Although this time I did not try WD TV Live Plus (I didn't feel to), but after comparing their available features, from my previous experience with WD TV and CinemaTube and current experience with CinemaGo, I must say it will be hard to get a better product in the market at this price point.
This time I have tried CinemaGo by hooking it up with different external hard disk drives (HDD), namely, 1.5 TB Seagate (7200 rpm inside, the notorious 7200.11 batch, still surviving though), 880 GB Seagate portable (5400 rpm), 320 GB SimpleTech portable (5400 rpm Hitachi inside) via USB and then connecting the player to my 720p 37" plasma HDTV via HDMI.
Like any other media player in the market, this device is very simple to use, for its main job (as a player), you DON'T need to a "PC to keep open".
Idea is like this:
External USB/eSATA HDD .....> CinemaGo .....> HDTV (through HDMI)
And, you are good to go. All you need is to put movies, music, photos in HDD! Of course, you need a PC to put the digital files in that external HDD (portable preferred, you know why I am saying that).
For torrent downloading, you still don't need to keep PC open!!! Once you copy the .torrent file in HDD, and configure with CinemaGo after attaching this device with network router through ethernet cable (wireless also possible, not recommended as it's slower), it will download the file w/o any PC!
For streaming things like Hulu, you need to keep PC open as PC will run the software (PlayOn) to communicate.

What CAN CinemaGo do? Well, all that CinemaTube can and MORE!!! It may sound like I am repeating my previous review but you will find interesting new and/or improved features time to time. Have fun reading...
# Plays virtually any file you are aware of. I have many different files in my HDD, namely, x264 coded MKV, DivX/XviD coded AVI, WMV, RM, MP4, MOV and so on. None of them failed. It even played .MTS files (from my HD camcorder) flawlessly. Unless the file specs are unusual and/or not supported by CinemaGo, it should play well. Other than WD TV Mini, none of the WD players still play RM files. This is because WD TVs (other than Mini version) are based on Sigma chipset while CinemaGo is based on Realtek chipset. I mainly use x264 coded MKV (with AC3 or DTS audio) video files now-a-days, no glitches so far. Some FLV files failed, but Brite-View let me know that they are working on it.
# Can play upto 1080p although I could be able to test upto 720p as my TV does not support 1080p. However, I have ripped a blu-ray movie disk (BD) into my HDD and kept it untouched (~40 GB BDMV folder). CinemaGo played the movie without any hitch and although I did fast forward/ rewind a few times even at highest speed (32x), playback could not be interrupted. Amazing! It also supports playback of blu-ray ISO file. BD menu is not supported yet (and, not by similar media players either), we will see how Brite-View handles that in future.
# DTS + Dolby digital ready. I could not still test it as I do not have a dedicated surround system.
# Video preview. Was not available in WD players before. I don't see it available in WD TV Live Plus in their official website.
# Resumes playback. WD players do this too, CinemaGo does only in a nicer way. For example, once I detached my HDD after watching a movie half the way and turning off the player. The next time I wanted to play the rest of the movie; and on hooking up that HDD and selecting that movie, the player wanted to play the movie from the point where I stopped!
# Edits playlist.
# Plays DVD menu with dedicated button. This means if normal DVD disk is copied into the HDD as VIDEO_TS folder or ISO file, CinemaGo plays it as if you were playing a DVD in normal standalone DVD player (for example, if I want to turn on/off English subtitles or go to a specific scene (scene selection), or extra features). None of the WD TV had this great feature until WDTV Live Plus came up. It appears that CinemaGo is pretty fast for menu navigation.
# Downloads torrents (simultaneously 3). I could be able to do it by setting up a static IP address for the player. No WD players can do it yet.
# UPnP streaming through 3rd party apps. CinemaGo is a networkable media player, so it can connect to your home network. With included and dedicated wireless N USB 2.0 adapter, you can also do it wirelessly. Built-in wireless could be there (like bulkier Asus O!Play Air), however, built-in wireless does not always perform as good as external USB wireless. For WD TV Live Plus, you have to buy the adapter separately.
NOTE: I am not very wireless fan. It is slow (and only good upto 720p, in some cases still stuttering). Playing computer content (or online Hulu, etc through 3rd party software) wirelessly by this device is possible and may be useful if you have a desktop.
# Turns HDTV into a supersized digital photo frame.
# Plays a plethora of formats for music, photo and subtitle files.
# Compatible with Mac file system (HFS+ supportive). Not available in WD players.
# Remote control is bigger but much better than WD's (and many others'). This is another good reason why I have liked CinemaGo so much. The remote is easy to understand, feels good in your hand like a TV remote and is very responsive.
# Really light and portable. CinemaGo is comparable with WD TV Live Plus in terms of size and way smaller than CinemaTube.
# Universal voltage (100-240 V). Consumes little power.
# Spin down the HDD when the player is turned off. The portable HDDs actually get turned off when the player is off.
# Two USB ports, one eSATA port; one HDMI, one composite video; one L/R S/P DIF optical audio; one Ethernet port. USB ports are in the front for easy access. Someone might complain that USB ports are so close that it will be hard to use two bulky USB flash drives at the same time; however, the portable design of the gadget may not allow the USB ports to be far apart from each other (try to use slim flash drives). eSATA port is a new feature (for speed aficionados) which was not there in CinemaTube. Again, to keep it portable (possibly), the company has decided to exclude component video, therefore, if it is mandatory for you to use component video feature, CinemaGo is not for you (go for CinemaTube instead). I have also noticed that CinemaGo has a power button in the front. CinemaGo can send signals via HDMI and composite at the same time and show the same video (with audio) on both displays.
# Can show files directly from any plugged USB storage devices like digital camera or camcorder like Flip Video.
# Comes with HDMI cable. WD does not offer it.
# Does firmware update (online/USB update) frequently to get you more and improved features. This is where WD disappointed me (& many others, I guess). They have been in the market for so long time, but do little update.
# CinemaGo seems to be faster and more responsive than its previous model CinemaTube. Keep in mind that loading time of a HDD may vary depending on its capacity, rpm, how much space you are using, etc.
# CinemaGo's user interface (UI), to me, is way better than CinemaTube's UI. A new look of the UI in the near future.
# Flickr support (searchable) is nice.
# Muzee music service. Many free channels are available. I normally play two channels of my choice wirelessly; and, they sound very nice and never stuttered. You can add channels to your favorites.
# File copy/move is possible.
# File search. Very desirable feature specially, when you have hundreds of files in your HDD.
# Support for file sharing (Simple NAS).
# Music "Previous", "Next" features are supported when playing back music.
# RSS reader is supported.
# When I received CinemaTube, it used to change drive letter of HDD to a different one. Keeping the drive letter the same is important especially if you have OS files in your USB drive. It was disappointing that I had to reassign the drive letter if I wanted to hook it up back again with my computer. Not any more after they fixed through a firmware update and not in CinemaGo either.
# Many more features you will come to know only when you play with it.
What CinemaGo CANNOT do:
# No torrent uploads. Torrent communities typically want members to maintain a typical upload/download ratio, therefore, you eventually have to use a computer to "upload" something. In addition to that, computer can offer better control in torrent client like configuration, speed, details, etc.
# Already mentioned that BD menu is not supported yet.
# WD has better online community "so far".
# Occasionally, it fails to respond, but that happens to every standalone media player including WD players.
# No direct Netflix option (subscription required though) unlike WD TV Live Plus. You can still stream Netflix in CinemaGo using 3rd party software in your computer.
# No internal bay for a portable HDD like Patriot Box Office. Frankly, I am happy that CinemaGo doesn't have it. In order to add/change/delete media files, taking out a HDD and putting it back is painful. And, there is a...Read more›

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Roku SD Player Review

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(More customer reviews)A few months back when my husband had started talking about the Roku box, I admittedly thought it would be a big waste of money. We aren't TV watchers and thus have lived on basic cable for years, but we do have our dedicated "movie nights" where we routinely enjoy watching movies together. We've had Netflix for about 6 years now and we've never gone back to traditional rentals. I thought our unlimited DVD rentals from Netflix was all we needed. It can't get any easier than picking a movie and having it show up at your door two days later, right?
I was wrong. ;)
Since we have jumped on the Roku bandwagon, I've gotten a lot of questions from others around me who are now considering the purchase. I find there is a lot of confusion about what exactly the Roku does, so here we go. The Roku box streams media (movies, TV series, podcasts, music, etc) to your TV in real time. You don't need a Netflix subscription for it to work, but it hugely enhances the enjoyment of the Roku box as it is undoubtedly the most popular feature of the device. With your basic unlimited Netflix subscription (beginning at $8.99/mo or $7.99/mo if you only want the Starz Play streaming media with no DVD option) you have unlimited access to watching streaming videos on your TV at any time of day or night. All you need is a TV (of any kind, new or old) and an internet connection. Cable or DSL is required for good performance of the streaming media. I wouldn't try this on dial-up. You can set it up via traditional ethernet cables or set it up on your wireless network in minutes.
One thing I've noticed in talking with people is that a lot of people may already have a compatible streaming device in their home and not realize it. If you own a PS3, Xbox 360 or Tivo, you can stream Netflix to your TV and you do not need to buy the Roku. Rumors of it coming to the Wii are on the horizon but are not confirmed, to my knowledge. Also, some select Blu-ray players and internet connected HD TVs are compatible as well. Check with Netflix for more information. Again, you do not need to buy the Roku if you already have one of these devices in your home!
The other main feature of the Roku is the ability to stream Amazon on-demand. If you have ever purchased a movie on Pay-per-view, Amazon on-demand will seem instantly familiar. You can rent movies digitally and stream them to your Roku (or other compatible device) any time for a fraction of the cost of your typical Pay-per-view movie. Amazon's digital rentals range in price from $0.99 to $3.99 for newer releases. Each rental has a specific rental time. Some you can enjoy and watch as many times as you like for a full 7 days and others for 24 hours. You also have the option to purchase media this way which is usually the same price or less than what you would pay for the DVD. This allows you to stream it any time and as many times as you like until the end of time. Without taking up shelf space! Pretty nice. You are also able to download it to your PC and/or portable media device for enjoyment on the go. You can download it as many times as you like. As long as you have your Amazon account, Amazon will remember what titles you have purchased and you will have access to it forever. It works just like Amazon's MP3 downloads.
The lesser known features of the Roku include instant access to 12 additional channels which include (in addition to Netflix and Amazon on-demand), MLB.com, MotionBox, MediaFly, Blip.TV, Twit.TV, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Frame Channel, Flickr, Mobile Tribe, and my absolute favorite, Pandora. If you have an account at Pandora.com, it takes seconds to link it to your Roku and start enjoying your music channels instantly. The Roku also supports different Pandora accounts if you have the need. Being able to listen to Pandora on our beautiful surround sound setup any time of the day or night is blissful. My 4-year-old's favorite feature, aside from the plethora of children's titles available on Netflix instant play, is the MediaFly channel which streams 5,000+ audio and video podcasts. Among them, two of my son's favorite video podcasts, Ultra Kawaii and Sesame Street. You have the ability to add your favorites to a list that you can quickly access at any time. My husband is in love with the Twit.TV channel which streams all of their internet shows, including This Week in Tech. The Flickr channel also has a really neat feature that showcases random artistic photos and is actually quite interesting to watch and is never the same. There is really something for everyone in this growing library of channels and it is far more than I expected from the Roku.
Being the new spokesperson for Roku (I kid ;), I also hear a lot of concerns of TVs not being compatible with the Roku. No one should be concerned with this because the Roku ships with all cables needed to hook up to any TV, new or old. If you don't have an HD TV, you might be purchasing the SD version which will connect to any TV with the standard red, white and yellow cables. If you do own an HD TV, you will receive both an HDMI cable and the standard red, white and yellow, just in case. The same goes for the HD-XR version. As far as compatibility goes, there should be no reason that everyone can't have a Roku box, regardless of their type of TV.
In the same vein as the prior concern, there seems to be worry from the less than tech savvy movie lovers out there, fearing setup will be complicated and frustrating. Not so. Roku is able to hook up to your router via a standard ethernet cable or link seamlessly with your existing wireless network in a matter of minutes. Anyone can set this up and avoid frustration completely. It's very straightforward and simple and the onscreen prompts will guide you the entire time.
Now that we know what the Roku can do, I'm sure you want to know, does it actually DO them? Absolutely, YES! Obviously with the SD version, you will be viewing in SD, but the HD and HD-XR Rokus stream HD beautifully. We read some reviews that recommended using the wired ethernet connection to avoid hiccups during viewing, but we have had none whatsoever with our wireless network running on a cable internet connection. I would suggest trying the wireless first as it takes only minutes to do and requires no additional hardware, and if you have problems (which I tend to doubt) you can go the ethernet route. It should not be necessary as long as the Roku is within reasonable range of your router. Keep this in mind when choosing where to set up your Roku.
Navigation of the Roku menus is extremely simple and intuitive. There are your four directional buttons, select, home, and your standard fast forward, rewind and pause/play. I love the simplicity of this remote as our remote collection contains numerous remotes with countless confusing buttons that I have never even used. Don't be fooled by it's looks, however, because this remote is all you need to quickly and effectively access all of the Roku's features. I also wanted to point out that if you lose your remote and you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can download an app that acts as a remote for your Roku. Sweet!!
Last but not least, you need to carefully consider which Roku you purchase. As nice as it would be to have an all-in-one box which includes all features at one price, currently you have to choose from three versions: the SD, HD and HD-XR. To put it plainly, they ALL have the same exact features. The only difference being the SD is limited to streaming only SD content, the HD can stream all HD and SD content, and the HD-XR can stream all HD and SD content and also includes an as of yet unused USB port (maybe for an external hard drive in the future?) and the ability to link with your "N" network. Given that the price difference is marginal, I would probably grab the next best up from what you are currently needing. If you have any intention at all at any point in the near or distant future to buy an HD TV, get the HD version. It's $20 more and you will spend much more than that getting a new box if you ever do get a new TV. Also, if you are at all enticed by the possibility of having an external hard drive to play all your own media, get the HD-XR. It's not been said what they intend to do with this USB port, but I think it seems fairly obvious what their plans are for it. You may not want to invest the money in a feature that is not yet supported, however. I do think it's a bit cheap to charge $30 more for a feature that should have been standard on all versions, but it is what it is.
In the end, if you love movies and like to save money, you will not be disappointed with the Roku. You will never have to visit a rental store or buy a pay-per-view rental ever again! And you may even save a nice chunk of change from canceling some channels that will now become obsolete with your new toy. If you are at all on the fence, rest assured that you will get your money's worth from this device. It's worth every penny.

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With built-in Wi-Fi, Roku SD Player is the easiest way to stream instant movies and shows from Netflix and Amazon Instant Video directly to your TV. Now at our most affordable price ever, the SD Player comes with everything you need to access a world of great entertainment on your terms including the FREE Roku Channel Store to access even more shows, music, and more instantly to your TV. No wonder Roku is Netflix members' top rated streaming player.

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Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this device for my father as he is somewhat technically challenged. He kept telling me that he wanted to watch Netflix on his 52" LCD television. He was under the impression that he had to buy a Blue Ray player to achieve a high quality streaming experience. I figured it would be nice to buy a Blue Ray player since he'd have the player for all the DVD's he owns and the Netflix streaming would be gravy. After pricing the BR players I realized that if I wanted WIFI built in, I'd have to buy an off brand unit to be at a comfortable price point. Further research revealed the Roku XDS which is a fantastic piece of tech. It is extremely easy to set up. From the time you open the package to the moment you're watching a movie streaming from Netflix is around 15 minutes. You could probably even do it faster, but I was tinkering with some of the other channels that Roku has to offer.
Since WIFI connectivity was an extremely important feature, I quickly went to that screen in the setup sequence to make sure I had a good signal. Since my router is 10 feet from the Roku box my throughput is very high. I could have ran a cable to the ethernet connection but then we're talking more wires. I hate wires!!! I put in my WEP password and the box promptly started updating the firmware. In order to link your Netflix account the Roku will show you an alphanumeric code. You just go to [...]and input the code that appears on the screen. Within 15 seconds or so the Roku screen will advance and you are now fully integrated with Netflix. There is no need to do this again unless you reset the Roku back to factory settings. The same procedure is used for Pandora and other channels offered on the Roku.
There are dozens of other channels that you can add to Roku. If you have an Amazon VOD account, it integrates just as easily as the Netflix account. Then you have the ability to add Hulu + as well but I don't recommend that. The cost is $7.99/month as of this writing and since you still have to watch ads, I don't see the value. Lastly, if you're on the fence about which Roku to purchase (there are three) you should consider the top of the line model or the second tiered unit. Do not consider the cheapest model because it lacks WIFI and will not transmit in HD.
I happen to own the new generation of Apple TV (nearly same size as Roku). The reason I have the Apple unit is because of how it tightly integrates with iTunes and the iPhone 4 which I have. I can easily recommend the Roku player to anyone who wants to add a nice piece of tech to their multi-media systems. Best of luck and thanks for reading my review.

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Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and more. Listen to music on Pandora, or listen to your own iTunes playlists. Even watch major sports, news, or original Internet programming. It's all available whenever you want it. The all-new, top-of-the-line Roku XDS sets a new standard with 1080p streaming video, the latest wireless technology, and Instant Replay. All for under $100. No wonder Roku is the best selling streaming player ever.

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Zinwell ZIN-5005HD "ZinTV" 3-in-1 Networking-Ready 1080p Full HD Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader, Free Internet TV/Radio, Black Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have the Zinwell and a pair of Western Digital TV Live so I'll compare and contrast.
Setup is super easy with both. Connect to your TV or receiver via HDMI cable, attach an external hard drive (not included) and go into the menus to configure your audio and video option. You can also connect these to a wired network and Western Digial has certified a number of USB wireless adapters that require a bit more knowledge to setup. The documentation from both companies could be a lot better so I'll call this one a tie.
The WDTV Live is a bit slower to start up but directory changes are much-much faster than the Zinwell. I suspect because the WD indexes and caches directories of any external drives while the Zinwell has to reread it each time. The difference in speed is absolutely huge. Basically performance wise the Zinwell feels really-really doggy to me. Advantage WDTV Live.
The WD has a much cleaner and better looking interface compared to the Zinwell's ugly menus over a /Linux/like/file/system/. I can live with ugly as long as it works but in 2011 I shouldn't have to. Advantage WDTV Live.
The WDTV Live outputs 5.1 audio in DTS format over HDMI, toslink or coax; the Zinwell outputs raw bits or stereo over HDMI. If your Receiver supports DTS then advantage WDTV.
The Zinwell's remote is a tad better but much larger. Both media players work seamlessly with Harmony remotes. Advantage Zinwell.
Both play nearly every popular audio and video format either from your own external hard drive or across a wired network. However both struggle trying to play hi-def video across a network connection. I find that hi-def vidio from an external hard drive works pretty well with the WDTV Live but never could get the Zinwell to output anything but stereo without the sound breaking up. Advantage WDTV Live.
The Zinwell promises access to the full DVD/BD menus but I never could get menus to work and found the separate audio selection button to be stubborn. With the Western Digital you do have to get used to using the "options" button to access audio and subtitle choices but they work. Slight advantage WDTV Live.
Bottom line the network media player market is still immature with many newer products coming down the pike but for now I consider the Zinwell a no-go for my needs.

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ZinTV (ZIN-5005HD) is an advanced "Networking" multimedia player that brings full high-definition movies with fidelity audio to 1080p Full HD display. It can play media files stored on any USB storage devices (NTFS/FAT-16/32/EXT-3/HFS+ format) and can enjoy Free & best Internet TV/Radio stations from 210 countries

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New Arrival brite-View "CinemaTube Mini (BV-5005HD Mini CT)" 3-in-1 1080p Full HD Networking Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader, Black (HDMI cable INCLUDED) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have previously tried WD TV (1st generation) and CinemaTube and compared them since these were the media players having similar features at similar prices. Despite WD TV was the most popular media player, I had shown that CinemaTube was the winner.
Read my review for CinemaTube here:
http://www.amazon.com/Brite-View-BV-5005HD-CinemaTube-Multimedia-Downloader/dp/B002CNOYRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1280036605&sr=8-1
Now that both WD TV Live Plus and CinemaGo are out to fight, I can see CinemaGo is still going to be the winner for similar reasons. Although this time I did not try WD TV Live Plus (I didn't feel to), but after comparing their available features, from my previous experience with WD TV and CinemaTube and current experience with CinemaGo, I must say it will be hard to get a better product in the market at this price point.
Don't care about wireless? Save money then! You can get CinemaTube Mini now for less, which is nothing but CinemaGo sans wireless. You can still buy a wireless USB adapter in future to make it wireless (Brite-View recommended adapter desirable).
Read my review for CinemaGo here:
http://www.amazon.com/brite-View-BV-5005HD-Mini-Networking-Multimedia/product-reviews/B003TUB2VE/ref=cm_cr_pr_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
CinemaTube Mini can do "everything" that CinemaGo can do!!!
NOTE: Muzee now offers some TV channels for free! I liked some of the channels and added to my favorites. Quality is standard internet quality. Parenteral control can be done by using a password.
Some bugs need to be fixed through firmware updates:
As someone else also reported,
# ISO's DVD menu is still kinda buggy. For example, the movement of the DVD menu's pointer doesn't match the graphic sometimes.
# IDX+SUB subtitle doesn't work sometimes. As soon as a video is loaded with IDX+SUB subtitle, the screen turns black, and the device restarts automatically.
# If you come across a radio/TV station where you cannot get a signal (nothing plays), the whole player freezes up. You cannot power it off via the remote; you have to yank out the power cable. I came across several of these stations that froze my player among the handful that I tried out. For now, best option is to add the working channels to favorites. That works perfectly for me.
# Sometimes even after I power off the unit (red light), sometimes it comes back on even though I wasn't doing anything.
# Some folks reported slow torrent download. I don't see that much problem. Remember, speed of download depends on the number of seeds/peers at a particular time and their upload speeds. Nevertheless, torrent may be slow because of BitTorrent client Brite-View is using. The advantage is CinemaTube Mini can be left on overnight to finish downloading as this device uses very low power.
And guess what? You will see ALL folders, even system/hidden ones!!! It doesn't affect your unit, but you may not want someone see these folders.
Built quality could be better, but that might make the product price higher.
Bottomline: If you are looking for a compact computer-free media file playback, torrent download and streaming, you are going to fall in love with this inexpensive but powerful gadget. For your peace of mind, frequent firmware update and excellent customer service from Brite-View are also right there. For the price, I could not find anything better.

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Nixeus Fusion HD NX-1000 Full HD 1080p Wireless 802.11n Network Media Player, Supports up to 2TB SATA HDD Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was looking for a device that can store all my movies so I could bring it around with me whenever I have gatherings with friends and family. Most of my friends and family are movie buffs so we like having many options to choose from. This device allows you to install an internal hard drive so it is a perfect for me. I like being able to plug and play without many hassles and I had no problem doing it with this. I just installed my hard drive inside it and boom I had access to all the movies in it.
Sometimes I'm not in the mood to watch the whole movie and just like watching my favorite scenes so the percentage skipper or time skipper really helps with that. Most files are done in a way so you can't do chapter select so this makes it way more convenient. The quality of the picture and sound is top notch and utilizes my 65 inch plasma TV and surround sound to its fullest capabilities.
The ease of use is the best part of the Fusion HD. My parents who aren't very tech savvy have no problem using this and they have a hard time with a computer!!! Other features include the file sharing capabilities which can be very useful if you got other people in the house that have movie files. Me and my sister can share the movies we got on our computers through the wireless network flawlessly.
Anyways, I would recommend the Fusion to anyone who is a hardcore movie fan. The ease of use and the features it has make worth the investment.


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ASUS OPlay - TV HD Media Player (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It's not much to look at coming out of the box, but boy, does the O!Play pack a wallop! It's an outstanding first effort from Taiwan-based Asus, a company known more for Eee Netbook and notebook computers than home entertainment devices. With Asus being a newcomer to the media player field and my having tested so many bad players, I was a bit hesitant to order the O!Play, but now I'm a believer. With its exhaustive list of supported video codecs and network connectivity, it is nearly the perfect player, capable of playing everything from VCD to DVD to Blu-ray/HD DVD rips. Most notably, it supports RMVB, an important feature to fans of Asian shows and one that most of the major-brand players lack, including the otherwise superb WD TV HD Media Player and WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player. ASUS seems to be very actively developing firmwares and I'm impressed by their diligence.
SETUP:
Setup is easy and literally takes 30 seconds. On the side is 1 USB port and 1 eSATA port to connect local hard drives should you need them. HDMI and optical cable (S/PDIF) are not included, so you'll need your own. I really appreciate Asus using a 2-prong power cord instead of a wall-wart that blocks neighboring outlets. True to Asus's PC pedigree, the AC adapter looks like a PC laptop's AC adapter. It's very small (about the size of a Hostess Twinkie) and has a pleasant (and VERY BRIGHT) blue LED. Upon boot-up, the device asks you to configure it with TV settings, network settings, time and date, etc. After plugging in the LAN cable, it found my NAS units (D-Link DNS321 Gigabit Network Storage Enclosure and D-Link DNS323) right away. The O!Play did have a problem interpreting non-Roman characters on my NAS, so folder names and files got garbled. Some files did not show up on the O!Play until I removed the offending non-Western characters (Chinese and Japanese).
With the new firmware, UPnP has been added, along with some slightly improved icons. With UPnP, the O!Play sees Chinese and Japanese filenames properly, but none of my MKV's showed up, a problem I had on all networked players I've tested. Only a fraction of my total library was listed. If you want to see your entire list, don't use UPnP.
INTERFACE AND USABILITY:
From a total off and unplugged state, the O!Play takes 10 seconds to boot to the home screen, compared to as many as 40 seconds for the Iomega ScreenPlay Plus HD Multimedia Player 1 TB. The home screen is bright and attractive, but the folder navigation scheme leaves a bit to be desired. It's spartan, white text on black, and not nearly as attractive as the WDTV or WDTV Live, but it gets the job done. The remote control is big and solid, though the buttons seem to be bizarrely grouped and scattered about, forcing me to look down each time to make sure I'm pushing the right button. The bottom group of buttons is arranged in a circle around the music button for example, mixing different functionality into one area: volume controls (+/-) with subtitle (Aa), audio track (head icon), repeat mode (circular arrows), picture zoom (magnifying glass), file display mode (Mode), and device setup options (Setup). "Mode" is a file listing filter, toggling between Movies, Music, and Pictures. With it, you never need to go back to the home screen. Unfortunately, there's no "Show All" mode which lists every file together at the same time. To PageUp or PageDown long directories, use the |< and >| buttons.During video or image playback, the picture can be zoomed up to 8x. During video playback, the fast-forward/rewind can go up to 32x. The inclusion of volume control buttons is very thoughtful and useful. You can turn video preview on or off. Pausing over a file for a second will play it in a smaller window on the right (with audio). There is a slight delay of a second or two when reading the file's metadata off a drive or the network, during which time you can't push the play button. This can be a potential problem for people and gets annoying. For music, pausing over the file displays the ID3 info (song name, artist, album name, year, etc).
One cool feature is the ability to adjust the device options while playing back a movie. The menu overlays on top of the movie and you can adjust your settings (Brightness, Contrast, Aspect Ratio, etc) and resume. There's also a Noise Reduction option, but I suggest turning this OFF. It caused strange and distracting frame shimmering in some movies. Lastly, O!Play also remembers where you left off on each movie and can resume the next time you play the file.FORMAT SUPPORT:
This is where the O!Play really shines. It played all of the 100+ random files I threw at it, except for a few stray (and poor quality) .WMV files I got from the internet. MKV, AVI, MPG, DIVX, RM, TS all played flawlessly, both standard def and hi-def 720p/1080i/p content. It even plays Flash Video (FLV), a feature rarely encountered. DTS and Dolby multi-channel audio is downsampled to stereo, so there's no need for an audio receiver if you just want to output through the TV for convenience.
The Asus also plays .IFO/VOB files with DVD chapters, menus, and all disc features as if it were the original DVD. That's great news for users looking to make a centralized DVD collection on a server or a big hard drive. The only problem is there doesn't seem to be a button to get back to the menu. You have to stop the movie and start it again.
For photos, the ASUS has a problem displaying progressive JPEGs. Images will fit to screen and can zoom up to 8x, but there's no 1x view to see it at the original size.
EXTERNAL SUBTITLES:
I tested external .SRTs and internally embedded subtitles in .MKV's in a number of languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Russian, English, French, and others. All worked when saved as UTF-8. For multilingual families and fans of foreign film, this is great news. You can also set the interface to one of 10 major world languages. Subtitle files can be downloaded from sites like DivxStation.
With firmware 1.11, external and internal subs are both recognized if both types co-exist for a movie. Previously, only embedded subs were seen when a movie had both types. Now, pushing the subtitle button pops up a submenu where you can select the subtitle, change its encoding, font size, position, color, and importantly, syncing (many downloaded subtitles are off by a few seconds). This is very useful! No more re-saving. Just cycle through the available encodings or adjust the timing until the sub looks right (but you should still re-save to avoid doing this every time). Where multiple external subs existed, the O!Play did not recognize their names, showing only a number (like "Subtitle: 2 (SRT)", even when named according to the movie's filename (e.g. "Batman.mkv" -> "Batman - English.srt"). Pushing the info button a second time shows extended info like codec, resolution, and bitrate. It is better to mux the subtitle into the file using something like mkvmerge GUI and metatag the language name onto it. Subtitle line-spacing is a bit of an issue (too much). You can change the font size and color, but not the gap. Lastly, I wish for a thick black outline around the text like the WDTV Live. Sometimes the subtitle blends into the movie, no matter what color you set it to.
10/100 NETWORK INTERFACE:
This is a weak point for the device. With no gigabit Ethernet, it is less future-proof against monster 8GB+ .MKV files and other bandwidth intensive HD content. Also lack of wireless connectivity means I do not have freedom to locate this device wherever I want.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The O!Play is truly a multimedia beast. It plays nearly everything under the sun and as a WDTV and WDTV live owner, I can safely say that Western Digital has some serious competition here. At $99, it is a very capable device at a fantastic value, and its homely interface is forgivable. It is, however, rather boxy and brick-like, taking up as much space as a 3.5" external hard drive or an average Bible. It's 2x the size of the WDTV. Lastly, WDTV Live has Flickr, YouTube, and Pandora streaming. O!Play has no internet playback capabilities as of the current firmware release, though that can quickly change. ASUS has already added substantial improvements like the subtitle fixes and UPnP.
If wireless connectivity could be added with a firmware update, then this player will be all things to all people. (WDTV Live supports third party WiFi dongles). This is THE player to get if you want MKV, RMVB, and DVD .IFO support and don't care about wireless. Great value coupled with a great firmware support attitude makes this a highly recommended buy, and I hope ASUS surprises us with more software features down the road.UPDATE #1: Dec 10/09: Firmware 1.17 is now available, which adds BD .iso support and lets you jump forward by 5/10/15/30 mins.
UPDATE #2: Feb 15/10: Firmware 1.21 has just been released. It adds MAJOR internet content connectivity as well as the option to wirelessly connect your R1! This is something users have been clamoring for since this product's release and a giant leap forward. With a compatible USB dongle, this thing does everything the Air does, except the media...Read more›

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ASUS O!Play is the most convenient way access your media files on your TV. This device is easy to use and highly compatible with many video and audio formats. Equipped with an eSATA, USB, and LAN port, you can access your files from an external hard drive, PC, or NAS. The O!Play even supports HDMI so you can display your content in 1080p.

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Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is my 3rd media device, and by far the most capable. I bought it solely based on the HDMI output and MKV playback abilities, and am pleased with the performance so far. Given the price to features ratio, this is the best such device on the market, in my opinion, and one of very few devices I know that can play the robust (and relatively obscure) MKV format as well as being able to output to HDMI. My other 2 devices play AVI's and so does my PS3, so AVI playback was not important to me.Major pluses:
1) HDMI output at 1080p
2) Unicode support is flawless (for subtitles and filename displays). for subtitles, simply name them the same as your movie file and put in the same directory. e.g. Batman.mkv; Batman_ENG.srt; Batman_ESP.srt, etc.
3) remembers where you left off in a movie so you don't have to start from beginning
4) BEAUTIFUL and easy to use interface that is similar to PS3's cross-media bar
5) solidly constructed remote control and overall superior build quality
6) wide selection of languages for the interface, not just the usual French, Spanish, and English.
Major problems:
1) inability to decode DTS audio
2) external hard drive does not power down when device is off
3) higher bitrate 1080p MKV files are unwatchable due to screen artifacting and other visual problems. i think it has a problem with 29fps @1080p.
Not so major problems, but still bothersome issues:
1) excessive spacing btwn lines of text in subtitles
2) inability to read muxed subtitles in files
3) no ability to go to a specific time code if you want to skip ahead
4) thumbnails don't work on any of my videos
5) shiny surface is nice, but fingerprints are easy to see on it
Overall, this is a great value if you're in the market for a versatile multi-format device. It even plays FLAC and OGG audio. If you're a movies guy though, the inability to decode DTS audio may be the deciding factor in your purchasing decision. Hopefully, WD can fix this via a firmware update.
If they release a Gen-2 version of this device that fixes the DTS problem and also has an Ethernet port and/or internal storage, I will gladly repurchase it at a higher price.
4.5/5 stars
UPDATE 12/26/08
WD released a firmware update a few days ago that addressed several of my complaints, including embedded subtitle playback, fast-forwarding and reversing by 10 minute increments, fixed subtitle spacing, subtitle font size select, and a long list of other improvements.
My 3 major problems mentioned above seems to remain. Hopefully, a future firmware release will address these, with the biggest priority for me being DTS decoding.
New Rating: 4.75/5. Highly recommended product.
---------------
UPDATE #3: May 21, 2009: I continue to be highly pleased with this product, after 6 months of ownership. WD has periodic updates that greatly improve the device and fixes small issuse, or introduces new features. The latest firmware shows the subtitle's language name (English, Spanish, etc), instead of just "Subtitle 1/3".
---------------
UPDATE #4: Nov 22, 2009: WD has quietly released a hardware update to the WD TV a few days ago, calling it the WD TV Gen 2 (not to be confused with the WD TV Live, a totally different model). This hardware revision adds DTS downmix and HDMI 1.3, making it very similar to the WD TV Live, except without networking. This is great news for users who don't need networking and want a cheaper second unit for the spare entertainment room because DTS downmix was one of the major features missing from the original product. I am not sure about other features, but make sure the SKU is Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player WDBABF0000NBK-NESN instead of WD00AVN.

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The WDTV HD Media Player is full HD 1080p video playback and is an ultra-compact, USB 2.0 device that attaches to an entertainment unit through a variety of audio/video interfaces and supports playback of major audio, video, and image file formats. It supports high-definition video playback of up to 1080p through an HDMI connection or standard definition for TVs with lower capabilities. It includes remote control, composit AV cable, AC adapter and quick install guide. (Brown Box, Product is Recertified)

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2009 Xtreamer Media Player & Network Streamer (OLD MODEL) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Xtreamer and the NMT are the 2 best hardware media players out there based on frequent firmware upgrades and manufacturer's participation in the support forums. NMT (Networked Media Tanked) is the technology from Syabas that many many OEM'ers license to make their players. Popcorn Hour, EGreat, Jasmine, QNAP, Istar, Elektron, Suno, Kaifa, SnaZio, Eminent, CMI, etc. all license NMT firmware and hardware to make their players. Popcorn Hour (PCH) is subsidiary company of Syabas so it gets the firmware releases quicker than others. PCH for this reason and its broad user base may be the best NMT device to go for. The other camp is really the Xtreamer. Functionally it's almost the same as the NMT devices except it doesn't have BitTorrent download capability built-in. It has NAS, FTP, HTTP, UPnP, SAMBA. It can stream content from your PC or Mac like any other streaming device including PS3, XBox, etc. It has Internet streams and Internet Radios.
As far as playing all kinds of media types, me-too doesn't cut it. 1080p materials all differ. Wait till you actually try high sample-rated stuff. The true test is something like lossless blu-ray rips. I used to own a Mediagate M2TV. That thing chokes all over the place on full sample-rated 1080p. The Xtreamer used to too. But with the latest firmware 2.0.2, not a problem anymore. That goes to show frequent firmware and manufacturers' dev team support are so important. In 2-3 months I have owned the Xtreamer, there've been 2 major releases. I'm just waiting for their full TrueHD and DTS-HD MA support. The Xtreamer is safe to get.

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2TB Mvix Ultio Pro Media Center (2TB HDD Installed) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this in January, 2010 to archive and organize my entire DVD and Blu-Ray collection. It has trully surpassed all my expectations. Without a doubt, this is one of the best $$ I have spent in a long time. Mvix is a brand known in media centers for a long time, but I had never bought anything from this company ever. Saw this at a friend's house and its sleekness and decided to try it out.
After nearly 2 months of use, I am married to it.
A) Best Bang for Buck: With the innumerable features and options available in this tiny box.. and the low price, makes it the best purchase of this year. These guys sent me a 2TB preinstalled and then I have attached my 6TB NAS over the network. All my DVDs, BDs and MKVs in one place, nicely cataloged in folders and ready to go. I introduce it to my friends as a 1000-DVD changer !.
B) Ease of Set-up and use: One of the simplest interfaces I have seen. Wife loves it. enuf said.
C) Beautiful HD quality: This does 1080p Full-HD. It looks awesome on my 56-in Samsung.
D) Customer Service - Top notch. Was having problems installing the Samba and Torrent modules on the system. Contacted Tech Support. A quick answer in 10-minutes at 11pm in the night. Apparently, I was using a unformatted USB-drive. Best customer service, hands down.
Since then the torrent module has been working flawlessly and my video collection continues to grow by 3-4 movies a day. He he he.
Overall, very satisfied with this compact wonder. No wonder the company advertises it as the swiss army knife of media centers. Will recommend this to anybody in a heartbeat


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Western Digital WD TV Live Hub 1 TB Media Center Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)As in Jack of All Trades :)
I want to begin by saying the 'I like' (but I don't yet fully 'love') WD's TV Live Hub and this earns it 4 (but not 5) stars. And I like it in spite of it lacking a few almost 'must have' features for a device in its class such as some storage redundancy (RAID-1 = disk mirroring) or at least a built-in backup utility or any significant security or, to a lesser extent (I'll explain) built-in Wi-Fi. And I like it even though bugs still exist such as the Hub's occasional failure to maintain/update its 'media library'. And I do like it even though the Hub's supported Web 'services' are few at this time - because the some of the 'major' ones are there.WHY I LIKE IT
Some of the shortcomings duly noted above, I like the Hub because:
The Hub turns out to be a well connected, relatively easy to use and operate, low-power, physically small, versatile video/music/still photos player with the built in ability to store the equivalent of almost 200 DVD-quality movies on its built-in 1TB drive, expandable to many times more than that via an attached USB drive and capable to sync and play content from any accessible media server such as PCs, Xboxes or PS3s, Microsoft Home Servers or NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices.
The Hub can also go out on the Net and report the local weather, play YouTube videos, Netflix, Hulu Plus and Blockbuster movies, Podcasts and Pandora music (I compiled a list of supported Web services below).
I was able to add the TV Live Hub to my Harmony universal remote control setup and I was able to address the lack of built-in backup (running a scheduled Robocopy task off a Home Server) because the Hub's drive can be mapped and managed as any other computer drive through a PC.
The Hub plays content off existing media servers and it acts as a media server for other devices (PCs, PS3s, etc.) on the same network. It can be set to sync with whatever content it can discover on your home network and it supports iTunes (did not test iTunes support myself). And for the hard-core YouTube users, a USB-attached keyboard should allow for easy searching. Also, the Hub makes it easy to post content directly to Facebook and Flickr.
And, finally, the Hub is likely to do more and do it better tomorrow because WD is constantly updating the firmware and hopefully it will address some of the more annoying bugs soon and because there appears to be an active, lively, innovative, helpful and supportive user community. [Note: 2 firmware updates later, several new Web services were added and some bugs were fixed.]
________________________________________________________________
Here are the hub's features in a more organized format.
MEDIA PLAYER
- Plays videos with full support for HD and multi-channel sound.
- Plays music with support for playlists.
- Plays movies/videos with filters for genre, rating and so on.
- Displays photos, has slideshow capabilities.
- Games section (added on 5/17/2011) has 'mind games' such as Sudoku, puzzles, memory games.MEDIA HUB
- Acts as a media server for other devices (PCs, PS3s, Xboxes). My PS3 'saw' the Hub and was able to play content off it as soon as it went online.
- Plays content from other media servers on the local network. It saw 'everything' we were sharing as soon as we turned it on.
- Plays content off NAS (Network Attached Storage).
- Syncs with media found on PCs and has support for iTunes.
ONLINE SERVICES
- Services availability is controlled by WD. As far as I know, you can't add or remove a service but that may change in the future.
- Current selection is limited but 'big names' are supported: Netflix, Blockbuster, YouTube, Pandora, Flickr, Facebook, etc.
- Grabs metadata (title, description, cover graphics) for music and movies.
- Firmware is upgraded by WD remotely.
CUSTOMIZATION
- Users can download or create their own themes and backgrounds.
- Integrates with Harmony remotes.
- Several styles of menus.
- Additional storage can be attached directly through USB port(s).
- Supports USB keyboards.
- Supports certain Wi-Fi USB-connected devices (not tested by me).
SPECS
- I/O ports: Optical, HDMI, Composite, RCA, 2 USB, gigabit Ethernet
- Video (Full HD 1920x1080): AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), M2TS, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), MPG/MPEG, TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), VOB, WMV9
- Audio: (multichannel up to 7.1) AAC, AIF/AIFF, Dolby Digital, DTS, FLAC, MKA, MP3, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA,
- Photo: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIF/TIFF ________________________________________________________________

MY EXPERIENCE: SETUP
It was as easy as plugging in the unit, connecting to a network hub with an Ethernet cable (not supplied) and to a receiver through an HDMI (not supplied either) cable.
HDMI 1.4 is supported but composite (RCA), and component outputs are also available as well as an S/PDIF digital (optical) output. For best results, 'wired' network connectivity should be preferred. It's the only one supported out of the box and, if you expect to play or stream HD content, it's the only one that can support the load reliably.
Once the box is turned on it quickly updates itself and it's ready to use. Literally 5-10 minutes after powerup we were watching YouTube videos. Of course, additional setup is needed to fully customize it but the Hub can make itself useful quickly and there's no need to rush. Some of the Web services such as Pandora or Netflix require that you have an account but the Hub makes it easy to set yourself up if you don't have one. On the local network, as I mentioned already, the Hub became immediately visible and it was able to see and use the other active media servers running. From a PC it's easy to connect the Hub's drive and upload content. It's also the only way you can back it up.MY EXPERIENCE: OPERATION
I've been using the hub to store and play DVD and Netflix movies and occasionally music. I've already uploaded several thousand photos, home videos, backed up lots of DVD movies and TV shows and some 700 songs and there's plenty of room for more. Video play off the local disk or from a Microsoft Home server we keep on our network was flawless. I prefer the Hub to PS3 playback because, the Hub lacking big fans, there is no audible 'hum' during playback. Music playing is okay, both off the disk or off Pandora and so are the photo slideshows. Some of the 'radio' and other content services don't look/sound so good but, since I've experience flawless HD playback on Netflix and music on Pandora, I'm blaming 'them' for the low quality.
As far as the other Web services, I don't have major complaints but it's annoying that YouTube recognizes the Hub as something that's attached to a TV and will NOT let you to see anything that's 'big media' produced. Netflix is okay and the latest firmware upgrade brought in the same great interface (Netflix 3.0?) I have on the PS3.
The Hub can make media watching and organizing as easy or as complicated as you are prepared to allow it. It has the ability to consolidate everything it sees on its local storage and on the network around it into a big pile of 'stuff' and the 'media library' will then show you all sci-fi movies you have (an example) regardless of where they are. Or, if you want things arranged in a certain way, you can create your own folders, name them any way you want and navigate to your favorite movies/shows yourself.
From a PC you can easily stream music off the Hub but, because all the movies I keep on it are at the highest resolution, DVD movies streaming can be a little jittery over Wi-Fi and HD doesn't work at all. The Hub works best when playing off its own disk or accessing/serving content over 'fast' wired connections. My home is not wired for Ethernet but I'm using a Western Digital WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit to pipe Ethernet over the power lines. It works.
I should also mention that the online manual is VERY well written, very well organized and very helpful. It comes with links to other online resources, including the very active Hub community board where you can find a lot of good advice concerning enhancements and bugs.BUGS
On 'day one' after uploading some 5000 photos, a message informed me that the Hub was compiling its media library. It was still compiling on 'day two' and it didn't stop until I told the Hub to drop the library and then rebuild it. Rebuilding the library can take 10-15 minutes but it's annoying and I hope that the next firmware update will take care of it. Meanwhile, I learned to be careful as in "don't try to do something else while the media library is being rebuilt" and I only had once similar incident in the past month. I'm not sure whether this was because of the firmware updates or because I'm more 'gentle' when interacting with the Hub.
Another bug seems to be the 'queue'. You have the ability to drop movies or songs into a queue to play them later but it does not always work that way, the Hub reporting that the content couldn't be found. I'm not using the queue feature any longer because it sometimes seems to trigger the never-ending media library recompilation (see above).
I can't think of any other significant bugs other than the Hub rebooting itself a couple of times.
On the WD discussion board I learned that...Read more›

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Store your digital media collection, play home network media, watch movies, and access Internet favorites. Enjoy it all on your big screen TV in brilliant high-definition with the WD TV Live Hub media center, a network media player with a built-in high-capacity hard drive.

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PrimeDTV PHD-HM5 Advanced Network 1080p HD Media Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I own a PHD set-top box and have been mostly pleased with it. I also do some encoding for server playback, so when i got the announcement for the HM5 media player, it seemed like a good tool for playing promotional videos at client venues. I ordered one and it seems to be quite the tool for the price, but i have one problem that no one seems to have reported yet. On some VOB files, i get video "skips" every few seconds. The video and audio seem to jump down into the clip for no apparent reason. I haven't identified a pattern to the jumps but i suspect that there is one. I thought that it might be related to using drives that are too big for the operating system, and that may still be the case, but going down to a 250 GB drive did not fix the problem. I first noticed it above about 250 GB on a 500 GB NTFS drive, hence the test, but it doesn't seem to have helped. It doesn't seem to be related to file size. I guess i will try going to a FAT32 disk and see if i still see it, but that will limit the file size.
Anyone have any clues?
UPDATE:
After i wrote this note, i went back to the computer and dug a little deeper. What i found was that the problem is not related to file size, disk size or operating system. It was caused by the nature of the DVD production. All of the DVD images that i had were produced by individuals for screening, not commercial discs, and opening them in MPEG Streamclip (on a Mac) showed timecode breaks. When i let Streamclip fix the breaks, then exported the clips as MPEG Program streams, all was well with the PHD-HM5. So i have upgraded my rating to 5 stars. It works like a champ. Sorry for the confusion. BTW, i don't see the problem on BluRay disc images.

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NETGEAR EVA9150 Digital Entertainer Elite Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a pretty cool unit. Setup is a breeze and it even came with a DVI cable to hook up to my TV. It also has RCA cables. I have almost 1TB of movies in various formats(.avi .wmv .mpg) and it plays every one. Sometimes I cannot use the skip function if it doesn't fully support the file but it still always plays it. Transferring the files over was a bit harder. It was going to take 7 days to copy 1TB of files over from my server to the hard drive on the unit that I put in it. I even tried a direct cable and it was just as slow. I don't think it does any conversion but it is very slow. When you add a new hard drive in this unit, it formats it with Linux. When I put the drive from the Digital Entertainer in my Windows server it wanted to format the drive. I had to boot into a Linux OS and then I was able to copy the files over very quickly. The software that comes with the unit is pretty nice also. It lets you tag each movie file with information from the Internet Movie Database. It even displays a box cover. This unit also stores and plays music as well as Youtube videos streaming from the Internet. It will connect to your network by wireless or wired, or it can simply be a standalone unit. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because of the search feature in the unit. When I want to search for example, the movie "Zoolander", I input the letter "Z" from the remote and instead of filtering every movie that starts with "Z", it lists every movie with the letter "Z" in it like this...
American Zombie
Brazil
Crazy People
Dazed and Confused
Hot Fuzz
Zoolander
It's kind of a convoluted search in my opinion. Other than that, the Digital Entertainer is a top notch unit. It has a very user friendly interface with a nice remote control. It also has 2 USB ports and it can play media directly off of those or the media can be transferred to the hard drive. Netgear did a good job on the Digital Entertainer Elite!


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The NETGEAR Digital Entertainer Elite HD EVA9000 series (EVA9150 includes 500GB hard drive) connects your TV and home entertainment system to your computer network, letting you experience your high-definition videos, digital music, and photos on your HDTV and high-quality sound system, directly from your PC. The Digital Entertainer Elite also makes it possible to enjoy streaming media from the Internet--such as YouTube, Internet radio, Flickr photos, RSS feeds, and podcasts -- through your HDTV and home entertainment system.
Watch 1080p Media on Your HDTV from the Integrated Hard Drive or Your PC You've downloaded your favorite shows and movies from the Internet, and you've got hours of home video stored on your computer. Thanks to the Digital Entertainer Elite, you no longer have to restrict your viewing to your computer; you can now watch your digital collection in the comfort of your television room, directly on your HDTV.

The Digital Entertainer Elite can also stream videos and feeds from the Internet to your HDTV, bypassing your computer entirely, for the ultimate viewing experience. And best of all, you can enjoy your videos and photos in full high definition of up to 1080p, thanks to the system's automatic up-converting feature.

Huge Hard Drive for Storage With an integrated 500 GB hard drive, the Digital Entertainer Elite can even store your digital media, making it one of the world's largest video jukeboxes. You no longer have to store your movies and photos on your computer's hard drive--it will do that for you, letting you free up space on your computer.

The hard drive also allows you to watch your videos, even when your computer is off, and buffers streamed videos, so even if your network performance is inconsistent, you still enjoy glitch-free video. You could also choose to install a larger Hard Drive (standard SATA) for even more storage capability in the future (go to www.netgear.com/eva9000drive for Hard Drive compatibility list).

USB Connectivity For added versatility, the Digital Entertainer Elite sports two easily accessible USB ports for instant access to content via USB flash drives, digital cameras, iPods, or any other USB storage device. This means you can upload your digital content directly to the Digital Entertainer Elite.

Push 'N' Connect Wireless Technology NETGEAR's exclusive Push 'N' Connect wireless technology provides an easy way for the user to connect to a WPS-secured wireless network with a simple push of a button. With Push 'N' Connect, you don't need to key in long and complex wireless passwords. And it is dual band wireless-N compatible, so you get the fastest WiFi connection possible at speeds of up to 300 Mbps when coupled with a Wireless-N router.

Plays a Wide Variety of Formats The Digital Entertainer Elite offers compatibility with a wide range of formats, far more than Apple TV, Media Center Extender, Xbox 360, and other competitors offer. It supports video formats--such as AVI, DivX, WMV, MOV, and more--and audio formats--such as MP3, WMA, DTS 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio, AAC, and more. The Digital Entertainer Elite also supports 40 Mbps bit rates, providing you with the best quality audio/video possible.

Energy Efficient Design The Digital Entertainer Elite is a NETGEAR Green product, so you know you're getting an eco-friendly product. Its efficient power supply and automatic power-saving mode consumes as little as 0.01 watts of power.

Need More Storage? If you are a media enthusiast and have more video than one hard disk drive can hold, the Digital Entertainer Elite works seamlessly with NETGEAR's ReadyNAS DUO, NV+, and Pro products. Just dump all of your HD Videos on the ReadyNAS, and stream directly to the Digital Entertainer, it's as simple as that.

Compatible with Windows (including Vista), Macintosh, and Linux computers the Digital Entertainer Elite measures 2.0 x 17 x 10 inches (HxWxD) and weighs 5.56 pounds. It's backed by NETGEAR's one-year warranty.

What's in the Box Digital Entertainer Elite (EVA9150), 4-device Universal Infrared (IR) Remote Control (2 AA batteries included), power cable, localized to the country of sale, Ethernet cable, RCA stereo-audio/composite-video cable, HDMI cable, installation guide, Windows/Macintosh (Intel-based OS-X) resource CD, and warranty/support information card.



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