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Gateway Wireless Connected DVD Player Reviewed

Posted by simoniker on from the duh-vuh-duh dept.

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?"

15 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Wish it weren't just the future... by chrisis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The one thing that is holding me back from buying a consumer PVR/DVD recorder is that none of them are network enabled. Sucks to be limited to the internal HDD or disc-swapping -- I want to save recorded stuff to my network storage too!

    And all the talk of being able to edit recorded material on the device itself -- bah humbug I say. I want a device that allows me to use Adobe Premiere to edit stuff, not the OSD!

    --
    pure AI will always Sublime
  2. SMC EZ-Stream Wireless Multimedia Receiver $93 by clinko · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Cut/Pasted: near bottom
    SMC EZ-Stream Wireless Multimedia Receiver $93

    Same thing, Cheaper.

  3. Server software by sploo22 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Gateway's server software, called the "Gateway D5 Streaming Media Server," will only work on Windows operating systems (98SE and later) so Mac or Linux users need not apply.

    Gentlemen, start your packet sniffers...

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  4. X-Box Media Ceter by Em+Ellel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I am sure I'm one of the MANY who would say - just gex a modded xbox with XBMC software - it can do all of the same stuff, plus play xbox games, and being that XBMC is software (Open Source, too), it will be ever extending with new formats. All of this for same price or cheaper. ... and yeah, it can run linux too...

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    RelevantElephants: A Somatic WebComic...
    1. Re:X-Box Media Ceter by cslarson · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I know how you feel. Whenever this topic gets brought up someone always mentions the xbox and it seems to get dismissed. You can get these on ebay for somewhere around $85 new. Mod it for free and fun, and it will be able to do this dvd player can and more. XBMC has become one of the most amazing open source projects as far as I'm concerned. Another project called X-Link has now been integrated into xbmc meaning it can function similarly to xbox-live, only for free. I use xbmc as my dashboard, so i turn on my xbox and it's all there, music, games, weather, movies, x-link, emulators... all with a really fantastic looking interface. I don't know why i feel the need to evangelize this, but I guess I still can't really believe it myself and I've had it for years.

  5. Yes, I own one. by Hatta · · Score: 1, Interesting

    With linux, mplayer, and a geforce4mx with svideo out I can play all those things from my freebsd samba server. With a WinTV card, I can even capture video. I can also play thousands of arcade games, console games, and even many windows games, browse slashdot, write a paper, etc.

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    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  6. Re:But does it play ogg? by sploo22 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The article does mention that the firmware is upgradable. Hopefully once Theora hits 1.0 and (fingers crossed) becomes more widely used, Gateway'll take the hint.

    <sarcasm>The player can handle "AVI" files, though... obviously that means every codec, past or future, real or imaginary must be supported.</sarcasm>

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  7. Too simple by Fiz+Ocelot · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Seems nice for a simple solution for your average person. But lets face it, something we can easily modify and play around with is more fun. I'd do a HTPC in one of those small form factor boxes. You could do something like mythTV in Linux, as well as other options in Windows.

    I believe myth tv works as a client/server design, so you can have one mythtv server box streaming to other clients.

    Then proceed going overboard with other fun things :)

  8. Re:80's Styling by bundaegi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Talking of the 80s, looks like you can even play your old NES cartridges on it... I think.

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    bundaegi is good for you
  9. Re:Yeah! by phillymacmike · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I use Slim Devices' free SlimServer as my streaming server, and the freeware java SoftSqueeze as the player(s). Works a treat, I can control the various players around the house from my laptop's browser, and each player can do its own thing or synch with any other player.

    Download SlimServer

    Get SoftSqueeze

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  10. Why oh why by Hido · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It seems like every player that has come out so far has one problem or another. I mean I read the review and thought "This is it" till it hit the part *Windows only*.

    Why do they have to go ahead and re-invent the wheel when they could have just taken a hint and used SMB/CIFS? I mean if the open source world could do it I am sure a these guys could have too.(does samba ring a bell?).

    Also what is with the Region 1 only? Would it not have been better if they just made it region-free which would have let a hell of a lot more people go for the product? I am in Japan and I can tell you right now that the product is pretty much ruled out because of limitations like that.

    Just my 2 cents on a sleepy Thursday morning :)

    --
    Havin' it large, livin' the life, Welcome to the land of the rising sun.
  11. Re:Yeah! by Nishal · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I have a modded xbox that can do all that stuff..i bet a modded ps2 can do it as well..

  12. MediaMVP by GamesOver · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I picked up Hauppage's MediaMVP and it allows me to play my media (DIVX, MPEG, JPG, MP3, etc) over ethernet to their small client that connects directly to my TV via SVideo cable. I prefer watching videos on my TV with surround sound... and the couch is much more comfortable than my home office chair. It also has the ability to stream online radio stations. It can support up to 12 remote clients. (This would be great in an educational setting as you wouldn't have to allow the original media to go from room to room and be checked out only to get stolen or damaged.)

    I picked it up at Circuit City for about $100. There's an open source project to emulate the BeyondTV interface (like Tivo). The only downside is that the server software needs to run one a Microsoft platform.
    http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products /data_media mvp.html

  13. Progressive scan? by CamTarn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What, exactly, *is* a progressive scan DVD player?

    Also, as someone in the UK, reading an article that talks about the back of a DVD player having 'all the usual ports' and not seeing a SCART socket on there is really weird =P

    SCART is great ... no idea why it's not in use over there. The only downside is the bulkiness and fragile pins in the sockets, but that's offset by the fact that it will transfer basically anything over a single cable.

  14. How about Kiss Technologies products? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Seems to be quite attractive to most /.:ers as they appear to release firmware as GPL'd source. uCLinux-based plus Sigma Design DVD-player.

    http://www.kiss-technology.com/?p=dvd&v=users

    A bit pricey, perhaps, compared to Gateway.