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Gateway Wireless Connected DVD Player Reviewed
Anonymous Howard writes "Designtechnica has a review of a Gateway ADC-320, a home theater device that will play not only DVDs, but media clips off the network. Supported types include DivX, Xvid, Mpeg1 & 2, MP3 and WMA. The thought of a networked media device is not new, but I'm curious as to how many people actually own one? How well do they work? What are the best ones? Is UP&P support worth the extra money? Is this the future of all DVD players for the home theater?"
My own experience with various devices (at least two) is that there will typically exist a vendor recommendation to disable UP&P for reasons of bugs.
So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that no, UP&P isn't worth a dime.
However, I do take exception regarding the consistency of the unit's operation. For no apparent reason the picture will sometimes freeze or the audio will go out of sync. I am quite experienced with home audio setup and have ruled out all the obvious causes. I've come to the conclusion that the components and/or firmware of the device aren't exactly top notch.
I always save my last mod point to mod up a good troll. You people are too serious.
Gateway has promised Divx support but it has not happened. The nasty secret is in the Windows only software one must use to share files with the player. It does not provide the option to import DivX, hence it cannot be shared, hence even if the firmware supports it, you cannot stream it.
Trust me, I update to the latest version of the Media Server (2.1 B07.08).
While bitching about things, some dual layer disks are too much for the player to handle and black scroll wanders by the screen.
Analog 5.1. Yuck.
That said, it is likely as close as one can get to the out of the box solution right now.
s2 tivo with usb to ethernet and then mfs_ftp to extract and reinsert shows.
a moded xbox with xbmp/xbmc is one of the best if now the best network attacked media players and for under $200 one of the cheapest
It doesn't seem to be the same thing at all. At NewEgg.com, it claims the device can only stream MP3, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, JPG, and BMP files. No DivX, XviD, or WMA.
I picked up the Go Video D2730 Network DVD player when it was Buy.com's deal of the day a few weeks ago for $99. It was a great deal. I pulled it out of the box and hooked it up to my router and suddenly I could watch any Simpsons episode I wanted at any time, or stream any mp3 on my home network through my entertainment center's sound system.
.avi files unless it detects a CPU over 1.2 ghz. That can be bypassed by editing an .ini file, but it's a good recommendation if you don't want your shows to skip.
The interface is clunky, but I'm holding out hope that it's being redesigned. The only other downside I've seen is from those who've tried swapping out the bundled wired ethernet card for a wireless option. While Go Video claims they support wireless, apparently performance takes a major hit.
Also, the 'server' software restricts streaming of
-R
I've hacked my Xbox and installed Linux on it and use that as a media server type-thing. It's already attached to the TV, so nothing needed to be done there. It's also running Freevo, so it's very user-friendly. I transfer media to it, be it audio or video, over my ethernet network using an SSL connection. It has a 9gb HDD and works very well and is a cheap video decoder/media server. Best of all, I use the Xbox controller to do everything! Kinda a slap in M$ (Microsoft)'s face.
If you're insterested in hacking the Xbox and doing something like I did, then visit the Xbox-Linux Project @ http://www.xbox-linux.org
I would go with the Roku HD1000. The Roku seems to have a lot more features and a better design.
emerge icecast
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
This thing had usb and ethernet options for networking, and some windows software you had to load, and frankly, it sucked HARD, and I mean HARD, $300 for what amounted to crap. It crashed regularly, playing more than a handful of mp3's was just about impossible, only about half or less of my videos even played on the damned thing, a TOTAL waste of money.
I got pissed and built a new PC and put my old PC by the TV and that was the absolute best way to do this, no stupid media center crap required, just switch my tv to input 2 and I'm THERE, I even pulled my DVD player out of my entertainment cabinet I like them better played off the computer, better image quality and remove one device from my overtaxed entertainment center.
For my basement theater I built a Shuttle XPC system and I have been happy as a clam with that little PC, added a WinTV PVR250 to it and it ROCKS I cannot sing the praises of that setup enough.
--- www.f-theocean.com
Mod an Xbox!
Get Xbox Media Center!
???
Profit!
I was going build my own HTPC, which would've been able to play dvd but also other media files over the network. Instead I bought a Xbox, which acctually made things alot cheaper. The price on a xbox is very low here in sweden and even lower in the US. Modding it isn't that difficult as long as you have some soldering experience(this is also possible without even opening the xbox using some software exploits in a few games). Getting the required software was even easier than modding. I also replaced the 10GB hdd with a 120GB, voila a perfect dvd-player that also can play all the media files mplayer can play. Stream them over the network, download via ftp(additinal software), show me weather forecasts and show my holday pictures on the TV. I suppose I don't even need to add links to these stuff but anyway here they are:
Xbox media center
Modding etc.
At the risk of being modded redundant:
I have built a great media pc out of a mini-itx box running Freevo. It runs Slackware and and I use it for any media file mplayer will play. I also use it for a game console using emulators under freevo. Anyway, I'm positive it beats the pants off this Gateway box.
I've also gone this route. Plays nearly everything you throw at it, it's got a fairly well polished interface, works with the Xbox remote (and works fairly well with just the controller, too; with the long cables you may not need the remote), has a hard drive for local storage, works with SMB as well as its own streaming formats... and did I mention it'll run Linux and play Xbox games as well?
I'm surprised that Mythtv hasn't been mentioned here as an alternative to the DRM'd crap more than once.
What more can you ask for? linux/wireless/radio/dvd/mediaplayer-dvd-mp3 -ogg-lame-wma/weather/news/web/mysql/ripping dvd/photoalbum/DVR -pause-rewind-record/PIP/Schdeduled recording/front-end/back-end/all-in-one/
What's not to drool over?? Beats the pants off any commercial product, plus you get to build it yourself!
Many, many sites to help you get started , !
All without someone watching over what you're doing with what you've purchased......
Wait, What?
When I was looking into these DVD players that could handle DivX/etc. earlier this year, I noticed these networked Gateway models and looked into them.
Aparrently, they cannot actually play DivX/XviD/etc. The way they actually work is to require "streaming server software" on a Windows machine. What this "server" actually does is convert any AVI types the computer can play into mediocre-quality MPEG-1/2 streams to send to the DVD player (which is why there is a particular OS and minimum processor speed required). This will often result in lower resolutions than the original video clip, and always lower quality (due to recompression).
If you're looking for a real solution for a DivX / XviD / etc. set-top player, I suggest you look into a modded XBox (with XBMC or similar), a Lite-On LVD-2010, or the inexpensive Philips DVP642 (if you don't need networking).
--The Rizz
"Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch??!" --W. C. Fields
I picked this up on clearance when the Gateway stores closed for 100 bucks. It was worth every penny. The streaming quality is excellent on my 802.11b network, audio/video sync was an issue with some formats but an update to the latest firmware on gateway's website fixed all of the problems. Not only does it stream video but does picture slide shows and plays all my mp3's. The streaming software only works on windows (IMHO) but all-in-all its a great buy.
By following some simple mods over at xbox-scene.com, I was able to mod a power switch onto mine and I can turn the damn thing on and off from the driveway.
Crashing doesn't have anything to do with the software, because it runs your beloved linux kernel. It has to do with the hacker who modded it. So if it crashes, it's because he did a piss poor job of modding it.
My modded Xbox is the best 300 bucks I have ever spent and I have the console, 3 wired controllers, 250 gb of space, and about 40 games that plays almost any format of music or video you can load on a cd-rw or dvd. Try doing that with a PC for that cheap.
http://jayceecorder.blogspot.com
I bought one of these for $250 with the 802.11b wireless PCMCIA card then returned it a week later and bought a Philips DVP-642 for $65 instead, and not a single regret.
The player itself is very well engineered, gorgeous case, and very attractive lighted front. I had no problem playing DVD discs, though I hadn't any success with some DVD+RW burns and gave up. The remote control is cluttered NOT ergonomic, and if you like to be able to operate your remote by feel, you will hate it.
DIVX support is, of course, not built into the DVD player but handled by the media streaming server you install on your PC. Since video content is transcoded from DIVX to MPEG2, you need at least a 2ghz machine for smooth playback. Also, for wireless LANs, you may have to set the quality level down quite a bit to keep video from skipping.
The streaming software appears to use standard media streaming protocols, there is no streaming server equivalent for Linux or Mac yet. It does NOT let you add files that are located on a remotely shared partition (such as SAMBA shares on a Linux box), and mapping the shares as drive letters won't help. Perhaps they've fixed limitation already, but it was present in the latest versions of both the Gateway and the original AMOI software about three weeks ago.
Menus are very attractive and setting up networking is a breeze. It handles DHCP right off the bat. You can browse multiple media streaming servers on your network, then browse files on each server. Since most of my media files are located on a large SAMBA share from my Linux box, this networked DVD feature was mostly useless to me.
So, fed up, I brought it back to the store and shopped around a little more, and then stumbled on the Philips DVP-642 player which does not have networked support, but it have the built-in DIVX5 playback support missing from the Gateway/AMOI NetDVD player. And it cost me $65!
To say this DVD player turned out much better than I expected is an understatement. It's not only capable of playing JPEG, MP3, WMA, AVI, DIVX, MPEG1, MPEG2 files burned right onto a normal DVD, it also can read VOB, AC3 (demux'd Dolby AC-3 files), DVD-Audio, multiple VIDEO_TS dirs, any non-standard bitrate MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, most DIVX files (everything from very low 56kbps video files to DVD-quality 1500kbps).
I've had no incompatibility issues with playing files off of DVD+R/DVD+RW/CDR/CDRW. The player uses a two-column interface for browsing directories, and the display of filenames is limited to 12 characters, but it's usable. (it would have been nicer to have a single column, collapsing tree view) Since the player scans the header of files to determine filetypes (rather than go merely by filename) it isn't very snappy, but not bad. I've heard it mentioned that his player supports .SRT subtitle files, but I have not been able to verify this myself.
The remote on the Philips is small, reasonably ergonomic, streamlined, and easy to use by feel. The player is smaller than the Gateway/AMOI, not as solid but still not flimsy. Menus aren't flashy, but functional. No complaints about video quality though a few people say it's slightly subpar for DVD playback.
If you want a DVD player to play all your DIVX files, you might consider burning them onto DVD+RW instead and buy a Philips DVP-642 player for 1/4th at price.
Also, the latest firmware now supports playing purchased movies downloaded off the net from DIVX.com. Hmmm, wasn't DIVX a trademarked name for a format that locked itself to playback on a single DVD player once before...?
Thats the problem, while these highly manufactured junk boxes (not feeling them) are being announced to use DivX, everyone else has moved to XviD
This shouldn't be a problem for a properly constructed box. Both DivX and XviD are implementations of the MPEG-4 standard, and as such, it shouldn't matter to the player which was actually used for encoding. AFAIK, the latest version of DivXPlayer supports XviD and as far as I can work out, mplayer uses the same codec for both.
A device which may be of interest is KISS's DP-1500 player, which, in addition to playing any media file format (except Quicktime) is networkable and can stream media from a remote server. Oh, and by the way - the streaming app is written in Java (gentlemen, choose not only your platform, but also your architecture - this will run on damn near anything!)
Not all that you type is true.
... that'd be relatively painless. In any event, a number of free/cheaper solutions to this.
First, you don't need a modchip at all. You can use software exploits to put xbmc on an unmodded xbox. You can also flash the onboard TSOP (if you don't have a v1.6 xbox).
Also, as far as the power button on the dvdremote is concerned that's not entirely true, either. The remote does not have a power button, however there is a no soldering mod called XIR that adds a power on/off button to the remote and only takes a few minutes to install.
I'll grant you that XBMC does crash sometimes, and it does still have a few bugs, but I would not agree it crashes all the time. Actually, I'm running and early June build and have yet to have it crash at all. Besides that it'll just get better as more work is done on it.
On the needing to buy the 802.11, sure you need to buy an adapter IF you want wifi, but it comes with built in ethernet so unless for some reason that's not a viable option I'd say just go with that, or set up the harddrive in a removable rack
I guess for the non-enthusiest or the non-gamer I could see how XBMC wouldn't necc. be the right path, but then nothing will ever work right for everybody.
heres one that looks interesting.It can record dvd's too. But the best part is that you can connect external USB HD's so its very expandable.
I purchased one of these back when the Gateway stores were closing for $85. It's OK at best - I certainly don't think the unit deserved an 8/10; I have an Xbox with XBMC and if the Gateway unit got 8/10, XBMC would deserve about 20/10. The Gateway unit: Only actually plays MPEG 1 & 2 (ie the computer software transcodes Divx and others to MPEG2 upon playback. You can't play Divx from CD's in the player itself) Doesn't support directories If you are debating between this and a Mod'd Xbox, the Mod'd Xbox TOTALLY DESTROYS this. If you don't know which end of a soldering iron is hot, well then maybe consider this only if you can't find a friend to mod an Xbox, but honestly, it took about 2 days for this product to bore me and wind up on eBay - XBMC is that much superior to it. I would even say that once it is installed, XBMC is easier to use and has a nicer user interface, so there is virtually no reason to purchase this product - sorry Gateway, but it sucks IMHO.
It's a resolution thing: 480i(interlaced) = 640x480(regular tv) 720P(progressive) = 1024x720 1080i = 1920x1080 (HDTV) Also: progressive draws all scanlines in order, it draws line 2 after it draws line 1 and so on. Interlaced draws all odd scan lines then all even ones.
I've had a Prismiq for about a year now. I'm mostly pretty happy with it - I'd like a better UI, a remote that doesn't think it's a mouse, and server side (the Prismiq is an embedded Linux device that cooperates with Windows server software on a PC) software that could be run as a service (at the moment it requires a user logged on to run - therefore sucks on a dedicated server). Occassionally I have to re-encode stuff because the Prismiq chokes (for no apparent reason) on some files but across a 100Mb cable it streams video with little problem. It has a PCMIA slot for Wifi but reports are that it's hard to configure and jerky to use.
I can't tell if the Gateway has the same limitation from reading this review.
With the GoVideo, their PC server software is transcoding the video to MPEG2 on the fly, since the player only has an MPEG2 chip inside. Result: dropped frames, and messed up aspect ratios if you play any video that's not 4:3. Their playlist support is weak too.
Anyway, when they say "streaming" support -- don't get too excited until you actually try it.
Yeah, the codec support of XBMC is much more extensive than any manufacturer will ever provide in the short term, thanks entirely to the installation of MPlayer which is built-in.
What gets me thinking about this whole Mplayer GUI business is that you could build a little embedded Linux system with a swish GUI, Mplayer, Samba and whatever else pre-installed, and effectively get the same kind of functionality you can get with XBMC. Then you could sell this hardware package to the public, as the default configuration. The adverts would all say "plays more formats than everything else on the market", and they would be right.
Yet, nobody has done this yet as far as I know (I mean, surely Slashdot would be all over that kind of press release like maggots on a shit sandwich.)
Maybe it's that MPlayer's status as GPL is scaring off companies from developing a pretty GUI around it, since redistributing MPlayer would mean having to redistribute the code for their entire GUI. I don't know... what I do know is that if I was sitting on enough money to begin a scheme like this, I would be planning it already. :-(
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
http://www.smc-asia.com/downloads/datasheets/SMCWM R_AG_DS.pdf
pretty shitty low bit rates on the Mpeg2... that's only just better than SVCD. and look at the resolutions ???? - what a waste of money!!!.
can I add that it's wireless only?
File Formats
Audio support: MP3 (16-320 Kbps)
Internet Radio: MP3
Video support:
MPEG-1 (352x288, max 2 Mbps)
MPEG-2 (352x480, max 4 Mbps),
Still Image support: JPEG, BMP
Something I haven't seen mentioned so far in the thread - why limit yourself to using a modded xbox for xbox games? It's let me tidy away my 'oldskool' consoles so I've got an Xbox/Snes/Genesis/Media Center all in one :-)
A rare occasion where an XBox has *saved* space.
Bravo to you! I'm about to build a Myth TV box. It will definitely cost a bit more, but it will do so much more, it'll be worth it.
I'm getting a cool micro-ATX case that's the perfect size for a media computer. (From Athena Tech).
I'm getting a 2.4 celeron (more power than I'll need, given the Hauppauge), a 200GB hard drive, and a Hauppauge PVR 350 (does hardware encoding and decoding, so the CPU doesn't work at all). The whole thing will cost about $550 when I'm done. A bargain considering all the additional functionality MythTV provides.
And since it will be on my home network, I can watch anything I have in my collection. And there's still room for another 2 hard drives in the machine (not using the floppy) for later expansion.
It will still have 2 free PCI slots, so I can add a Hauppauge PVR 250 so that I can record channels I'm not watching as well.
And since MythTV is designed to be expandable, I can add whatever additional functionality I want. (of course there are already quite a few additional modules that do just about everything I could want.)
Intel has an open source (GPL I think) version of the server side software available for download if you want to do a version for Linux. That's what UPnP support in the Gateway device means - you CAN do a Linux server for it, you're not locked into Microsoft's platform.
And Microsoft's going to be including the server software in it's Windows Media Connect add-on for windows (google for it).
So you won't need any special software to run it.
Smarter money for me is on taking my old laptop with built in ethernet, TV-out and TOS link and hooking it up to a wireless keyboard
One reason that comes to mind is that no one (IOW not enough to matter) really cares about "plays more formats." How many people do you know that play anything other than CD, DVD and MP3?
Another reason is marketing and distribution. Consumer electronics typically has extremely low margins so you need to be selling huge numbers of these things for it to be worth your time. Now factor in that the popular (Sony, Kenwood, etc) manufacturers aren't stupid (just slow) and they are probably already working on products like this and they already have better access to the distribution chain than you have and you may understand why it's only being done by a few.
Slim Devices (Squeezebox) looks like they have a great product. Good enough that I'm considering buying one for my basement reading room, but unless they have great marketing, I don't think it'll be in Best Buy anytime soon.
Now, if you could identify a niche that would allow you to price the product high enough to make money off a small number of customers (and I have been toying with this idea!), you're on to something, but I think the main reason is that it's very difficult to compete in consumer electronics.