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Digital Multimedia Receiver – ZyXEL DMA1000 HD Digital Media Theater With HDMI Port

ZyXEL DMA1000 HD Digital Media Theater With HDMI Port

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Product Description
The ZyXEL DMA moves high-definition media directly from your PC to your TV, so you are no longer bound to your computer to enjoy your digital files. The Digital Media Theater streams the digital media files via Ethernet to your entertainment system.The DMA 1000W supports popular media formats such as WMV 9 and MPEG-4. With a HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) connection, you can watch HD movies up to 1080i on your HDTV. Providing excellent resolution, the DMA 1000W not only supports the latest HDMI equipped TV but also provide S-video and composite audio jacks.Play MP3 music, show digital slide shows and WMV 9 without a computer. The built in USB 2.0 port on the DMA 1000W allows MP3 files, digital photos and digital video to be played directly from a thumb drive or external hard drive. There is no need to turn on the computer to enjoy music or photos!The DMA 1000 comes equipped with a remote control which aides in the set-up process. You can set up the network and browse your video, music and photo libraries all through the remote. The DMA 1000W is DLNA certified to ensure compatibility with the Digital Living Room. Also compatible with Windows Connect Now, the ZyXEL Digital Media Theater will be a great addition to your Home Entertainment System.

Technical Details

  • Stream Video, Music, Photo to Your Home Entertainment System
  • Support DLNA, UPnP
  • Support HDMI
  • Plays MP3 Music, Digital Photo Slide Show Directly USB Thumb Drive
  • Directly Plays MP3 Music, Digital Photo Slide Show, WMV 9 Video on TV Without Computer

June 26th, 2009 Posted by GirlieGeek | Cool Gadgets | no comments

Digital Multimedia Receiver – Linksys Media Center Extender

Linksys Media Center Extender

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From the Manufacturer
Access movies, your music library, family photos and HDTV programming from your Media Center PC and stream it all to your living room TV or home theater. New Linksys Media Center Extenders give you access to the entertainment content on your Microsoft Windows Vista Premium or Ultimate PC to enjoy in the comfort of your living room. Pause or rewind live TV, record sporting events or episodes of your favorite TV shows and save them for later viewing. Quickly navigate through elegant menus and programming guides. Access online movie, music and other Internet services to expand your entertainment options.

The Linksys DMA2100 streams your digital music, movies and photos to any TV in your home without running wires. With elegant and easy-to-navigate menu screens, you can play DVDs, view family slide shows, browse your music collection by cover art, listen to entire playlists or choose from a vast selection of Internet Radio stations from all over the world.  The Linksys Media Center Extender and your Windows Vista Media Center PC give you a complete PVR solution–allowing you to watch, pause, rewind and record live TV (PC-embedded or optional TV tuner required). In addition to traditional TV, you also have access to a broad set of popular Internet video services that enable you to download the latest movie releases or stream the latest releases from Showtime, Fox Sports, Nickelodeon, and more. Leveraging the robust bandwidth capacity of dual-band Wireless-N, the DMA2100 has been engineered to quickly stream rich, high-definition content directly from your Media Center PC to your HDTV and surround-sound system. Let the Linksys DMA2100 bring your digital media collection out into the living room for the whole family to enjoy.

Product Description
Sharing your photos, music and movies on your computer with friends and family has been made easy by the DMA 2100 Media Center Extender from Linksys. The device allows you to view digital photos, movies and high definition programs on your TV, and listen to downloaded music on your home theater sound system. It even enables accessing digital content and Internet services from your Microsoft Windows Vista Premium or Ultimate Media Center PC and wirelessly stream it to your home entertainment system. Its single learning remote helps you to easily navigate menus. The media extender uses existing high-speed Wireless-N home network.

June 25th, 2009 Posted by GirlieGeek | Cool Gadgets | no comments

Digital Media Receiver – Netgear EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD

Netgear EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD

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Amazon.com Product Description

The NETGEAR EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD offers:
  • An easy way to connect your home theater with your home network.
  • Playback of video and music stored on your computer on your home theater.
  • Support for 1080p HD video resolution.
  • A built-in USB port for connecting iPods, digital cameras, and other devices.
  • Support for 802.11g wireless networks.

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.

The EVA8000 supports HD video up to 1080p. View larger. View Rear.

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.

Product Description
Now you can access and enjoy your digital entertainment easily on your TV and HDTV with NETGEAR’s Digital Entertainer HD(model number EVA8000) streams HD videos, music, Internet radio and digital photos from your home PC and storage devices to your HDTV, wirelessly. The EVA8000 automatically finds all the digital media files on your home network and organizes them into an easily accessible library. Setup is easy using an on screen TV wizard and the EVA8000 delivers HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) for HD video resolution up to 1080i.

June 24th, 2009 Posted by GirlieGeek | Cool Gadgets | no comments

Digital Media Receiver – Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player

Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player

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From the Manufacturer
Combined with a My Passport portable drive (sold separately), this player is the most convenient way to play HD movies or user-generated videos, listen to high-quality digital music and show high-resolution slideshows of your family photos on your TV. Also works with popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices.

Features at a glance

  • Full HD 1080p
  • High-def menus
  • Access two USB drives simultaneously
  • HDMI and composite video connection (HDMI cable not included)
  • Includes free media conversion software
  • 1-year limited warranty
WD TV
Simple and compact. Designed to easily fit on or in your media cabinet. (My Passport™ portable drive sold separately)
Browse through your media with beautiful high-definition menus.

Designed for My Passport, works with many other USB storage devices – Play content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices.

Full HD video playback and navigation – Up to 1080p – Experience the spectacular picture quality of HD video and crystal clear sound clarity of digital audio. Use the included remote control to navigate through your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated HD menus.

Collect without limits – There’s no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more USB drives for more space.

Advanced navigation

Thumbnail and list views – Browse your content by filename or by thumbnails of photos, album covers and movie cover art.

Media Library – This unique feature lets you view all your media by media type in one menu regardless of its location in folders or drives. You can view your content by categories such as genre, album, artist, date.

Search – Search by genre, title, artist, filename, partial filename and most recently viewed.

Photo viewing

–Create custom slide shows with a variety of transitions and background music
–Zoom and pan

Movie viewing

–Fast forward, rewind, pause, zoom, and pan
–View subtitles

Music playback

–Fast forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat

Access two USB drives simultaneously - Two USB ports on the player let you connect two USB storage devices and access them simultaneously. Our Media Library feature aggregates the content on both drives into one list sorted by media type.

HDMI and composite video connections – The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port lets you connect to the highest quality HDTV or home theater. Additional composite (RCA) outputs ensure compatibility with virtually all television sets.

Includes free media conversion software – ArcSoft MediaConverter™ 2.5 — a fast, easy-to-use application that converts photo, video, and music files into formats optimized for use on the WD TV HD Media Player.

File Formats Supported
Music – MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIF/AIFF, MKA
Graphics – JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG Video -MPEG1/2/4, WMV9, AVI (MPEG4, Xvid, AVC), H.264, MKV, MOV (MPEG4, H.264)
Playlist – PLS, M3U, WPL Subtitle -SRT (UTF-8)

Note:
- MPEG2/4, H.264, and WMV9 supports up to 1920×1080p 24fps, 1920×1080i 30fps, 1280×720p 60fps resolution.
- An audio receiver is required for surround sound output.
- AAC/Dolby Digital decodes in 2 channel output only.
- JPEG does not support CMYK or lossless.
- BMP supports uncompressed format only.
- TIF/TIFF supports single layer only.

Formats not supported — Does not support protected premium content such as movies or music from the iTunes® Store, Cinema Now, Movielink®, Amazon Unbox™, and Vongo®

System Requirements: My Passport portable hard drive or other USB storage device with supported video or audio content stored on it. Standard or high definition television with HDMI or composite video connections.

Package Contents: HD Media Player, compact remote with batteries, CD with Media converter software (Windows only), composite AV cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide

Product Description
Combined with a My Passport portable drive (sold separately), this player is the most convenient way to play HD movies or user-generated videos, listen to high-quality digital music and show high-resolution slideshows of your family photos on your TV. Also works with popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices. Designed for My Passport, works with many other USB storage devices – Play content from most popular USB drives,and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices. Full HD video playback and navigation – up to 1080p – Experience the spectacular picture quality of HD video and crystal clear sound clarity of digital audio. Use the included remote control to navigate through your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated HD menus. Collect without limits – There’s no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more USB drives for more space. Access two USB drives simultaneously – Two USB ports on the player let you connect two USB storage devices and access them simultaneously. Media Library feature aggregates the content on both drives into one list sorted by media type. HDMI and composite video connections – The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port lets you connect to the highest quality HDTV or home theater. Additional composite (RCA) outputs ensure compatibility with virtually all television sets. Hassle-free playback of HD movies, home videos, digital music, and photos on your TV

June 23rd, 2009 Posted by GirlieGeek | Cool Gadgets | no comments

Digital Multimedia Receivers – Store, Watch and Share

What is a Digital Multimedia Receiver?  It is an adapter for home entertainment that allows you to connect to a home network to retrieve digital media files such as music, pictures, and video from a personal comuter or other media server and play them back on a home theater system or TV.

My house, case and point.  I am a geek, I married a geek, we are a geek fam.  We have a Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.  We also have an external harddrive where we store all of our movies.  So my clever hubby has our home theatre system hooked up so that the external harddrive upstairs transmits to the Xbox and the Playstation 3.  To watch a movie, we don’t need no stinking DVD, we just start either of the gaming devices, find the movie folder on the networked external harddrive and click!  The movies starts to play.

My father in law was impressed and wants a similar setup but perhaps without using a gaming console.  My mission this week, is to find all of the best Digital multimedia receivers and rate them!  Here is the first.

Hauppauge MediaMVP Digital Media Receiver (Model 1000)

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From the Manufacturer
Navigate through your PC media on your TV set, selecting individual music titles to listen to or digital pictures to watch. You can simultaneously play a digital picture slideshow while listening to a complete music program. Or play a music playlist (MusicMatch, Winamp and Windows Media playlists supported).

Create MPEG videos on your PC with any Hauppauge WinTV, and play them on your TV set. For the best system performance, use a WinTV-PVR with hardware MPEG recorders built-in. You can also use our SoftPVR to record videos with any WinTV or WinTV-usb! MediaMVP also supports most MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standard videos.

MediaMVPs remote control allows you to pause, fast forward and rewind through videos, plus pause music and picture shows. You can adjust the audio volume from MediaMVPs remote control, so you won’t need to use your TV sets remote at all!

Connect MediaMVP to your home theater system, for the ultimate home media network. Just connect the S-Video and stereo audio outputs to your home theater switch, and you’ll be able to watch your digital videos and pictures on your TV set while listening to the digital audio on your home theater speakers!

MediaMVP is great when traveling with laptop computers. It’s small enough to carry on vacations and business trips, so you can watch videos, digital pictures and listen to music on your hotel room TV set. All you need is an Ethernet cross over cable (not supplied) to directly connect MediaMVP with your laptop.

MediaMVP connects to your TV set, and allows you to watch and listen to PC based media via an Ethernet network.

MediaMVP is really simple to install: Install the MediaMVP server application on your PC, connect MediaMVP to your PC through any 10/100 RJ-45 Ethernet port on routers, hubs or switches. Plug in MediaMVP and you’ll have instant access to digital music, videos and pictures stored on your PC!

MediaMVP is a Linux based digital media receiver. MediaMVP includes a hardware MPEG decoder. Music and digital pictures are software decoded by MediaMVP’s processor. It receives the digital media from the PC via the Ethernet LAN, decodes the media and outputs video through composite and S-Video connections, and audio through stereo audio output connectors. MediaMVP provides an on-TV-screen display of media directory listings. It receives commands from the supplied remote control, and sends these commands to the PC server. The TV menus are created on the PC server, sent over the LAN and displayed by MediaMVPs browser.

MediaMVP Features

  • Access digital music, videos or pictures from your TV set, over your home network.
  • Uses 10Mbit or 100Mbit Ethernet, for the best network performance with any type of digital media. Plays DVD quality videos on your TV set over an Ethernet LAN!
  • Composite and S-Video outputs for the best video quality on TV sets, plus stereo audio output to TV sets or home theater systems.
  • Watch digital camera pictures (JPEG or GIF) on your TV set. Play slide shows with music, too!
  • Plays MP3 music, either individual titles, all the music titles in a directory or M3U, B4S, PLS and ASX playlists.
  • Plays MEPG-1 and MPEG-2 recordings made with the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR’s. Will also play most other MPEG-1/2 standard video files. With MediaMVP’s remote control, you can pause, rewind and fast forward through your recorded videos.
  • Remote control for easy access to your PC media from your TV set. MediaMVPs remote control allows you to navigate through your PCs disk drives, and displays media names, directories and other information on the TV set. MediaMVPs remote also can control the audio volume and mute of videos and music being played.

June 22nd, 2009 Posted by GirlieGeek | Cool Gadgets | no comments