Netgear EVA9150 Digital Entertainer Elite user reviews

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 Here”. 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.