Media streamers have seen something of a resurgence recently. They may have the plethora of pirated video or maybe even personal media collections to thank.
Regardless of your media, the Netgear EVA9150 Digital Entertainer Elite promises a great deal, including YouTube streaming, a built-in BitTorrent client and the ability to stream virtually any kind of video either wirelessly or via Ethernet networking. It's currently available for around £350.
Design
The EVA9150 has a much more traditional look and feel to it than many of the media streamers we've seen recently. It looks like a traditional cable or Freeview set-top box. For people who like standard-size equipment, it's fine, but it's not much fun for the rest of us.
Overall, its sleek look does win points. At the front, there is a central flap, under which is the removable 500GB hard drive. It's stored in a easily removed caddy -- and pushing a button will allow you to remove the drive. Bear in mind that these drives aren't hot-swappable, so if you're pulling one out, make sure the machine is off first.
At the rear of the machine are the usual outputs. There are component and composite outputs as well as a Scart connection, and you'll also find HDMI for 1080p video. Happily, there are both wired and wireless network options. Wired operates at 100Mbps, whereas wireless uses the new 802.11n system, which claims speeds up to 300Mbps.
The remote control included is chunky, reasonably heavy and has a baffling number of buttons. We didn't think the layout or labelling of the keys was especially logical, and that's going to affect the machine's usability.
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fairwinds 11 September 2010
Good: Build quality, versatlility
Bad: Not streaming youtube, very poor customer support
Comment: My EVA9150 has never streamed Youtube, even though it is one of the first claims in the literature. It is also very hit and miss as to which AV formats it will play. Unfortunately for me, it does not play the VOB files created by my Panasonic DVD recorders, which means I have to convert them all, which is a big job. It has played other VOB files from other media, so it’s not all bad. To be honest, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this piece of kit. Being positive, it is a well-made solid metal lump that stacks with standard AV and hi-fi components. It has dual band wireless connectivity and a useful 500GB drive. Setting it up on the network could not have been easier. You will need to install software on at least one PC to complete the setup. The unit will then be able to stream media from that PC as well as any DLNA enabled device. It will also enable you to remotely access and control any PC on which the client software is installed. Clever! The Netgear Digital Entertainer works very well with my Netgear ReadyNAS Duo on which all my media is stored, so I do not need a PC running to stream media to the TV.
Various RSS podcasts are built in but not all of them worked for me. However, I hunted around and found some more which I could add. These feeds enable streaming of various media such as international newscasts; if that’s the sort of thing you are interested in. I also found one from Comedy Central if the news gets too depressing.
The Netgear Digital Entertainer (NDE) comes with a better than average multi-function remote control which can be configured to control three other devices. You can also add additional NDE’s around the house and they will all work in harmony. Given the learning curve required to get these things optimised, it does make sense to get another to make use of all the time you will spend tearing your hair out. I did! So now I can watch movies, listen to my music collection, look at all my photographs, watch NBC news podcasts (and many others) on my two plasma screens. It also comes with pre-coded messages you can send to other NDEs around the house, such as “Dinner!†and “Come Hereâ€. You can make up your own messages too. Handy if you want to annoy your partner.
Having spent a lot of time in the support forums I do feel (personal opinion) that Netgear abandons it’s customers to their fate when it should be taking action to resolve their problems.
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