Comments 1 to 21 of 21

Quote Spode 13th March 2008, 11:09
What a disappointment.

I saw the price, saw the concept - loved it. But having to be plugged into a machine all the time? No Linux support? No Component out? No HD support I assume too :P
Quote Darv 13th March 2008, 11:19
Disappointing tbh. Could have been really good a few years ago, but just seems a bit lacking now.
Quote:
component/S-video these connections are the bottom of the barrel

I think you mean composite and not component.
Quote Tim S 13th March 2008, 11:24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darv
Disappointing tbh. Could have been really good a few years ago, but just seems a bit lacking now.
Quote:
component/S-video these connections are the bottom of the barrel

I think you mean composite and not component.

Yep, my bad. Fixed now.
Quote Bindibadgi 13th March 2008, 11:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spode
What a disappointment.

I saw the price, saw the concept - loved it. But having to be plugged into a machine all the time? No Linux support? No Component out? No HD support I assume too :P

Yea, that's why we got one in. It wasn't until we used it that we realised it's not so great :(
Quote Idioteque 13th March 2008, 11:33
methinks an xbox with XBMC has far more potential...
Quote sandys 13th March 2008, 12:20
Quote:
Originally Posted by Article
Next there’s the PS3 with its excellent interface – it's also very quiet but it can’t play back everything and again costs more. The Xbox 360 is noisier, but cheaper than the PS3 and while the interface isn’t as good as the former, it does provide the very useful Media Extender function.

PS3 also offers Media Extender via any DLNA server including Windows media player, worth pointing out in case people don't know.

The ICy box is pretty good for the money, for those that don't have HDTVs it would do, lack of a network port is bad news, do you think it would work with an NSLU2?

Of course that adds to the cost just wondered.
Quote Xtrafresh 13th March 2008, 13:17
This thing would get sooooooo much better if instead of a USB cable it operated via a USB-dongle
Quote xion 13th March 2008, 13:38
i've been looking to purchase something like this for some time: now i'm just confused...

networked player = no/limited local storage, limited to wireless, or homeplug where i live
divx player = arse of burning disks
media pc = yet another pc

i'm lost, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know! :p
Quote Idioteque 13th March 2008, 13:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by xion
i've been looking to purchase something like this for some time: now i'm just confused...

networked player = no/limited local storage, limited to wireless, or homeplug where i live
divx player = arse of burning disks
media pc = yet another pc

i'm lost, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know! :p

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000G2Y59E I've got one of these, component, composite and hdmi outputs, can play Divx files from disk or via it's USB port, I've got a 200GB external HDD attached and it works wonders.

upscales DVDs too, damn crisp picture.
Quote Bindibadgi 13th March 2008, 13:56
Quote:
Originally Posted by xion
i've been looking to purchase something like this for some time: now i'm just confused...

networked player = no/limited local storage, limited to wireless, or homeplug where i live
divx player = arse of burning disks
media pc = yet another pc

i'm lost, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know! :p

Depends entirely what you can be arsed with doing - I'd personally go home plug + streamer given the extra features.

The upscaling player is really nice - and it has USB! EDIT: Like you just said
Quote <A88> 13th March 2008, 14:32
360 Arcade with Media Center- why get anything else?
Quote xion 13th March 2008, 15:11
hmmm... a bit of - "yes im working, there's a query running in background" -surfing later and i stumbled upon this LNX-TrustedReviews ... nothing a little modding wont fix...:D

It seems there's more competition in this area than i thought... Raidsonic has a fight on its hands alright
Quote legoman666 13th March 2008, 15:48
just build an htpc. Won't be stuck with certain file formats, can stream media over the network, support for new codecs, can browse the web etc. etc. A device like this is about 4 years too late. Just buy the cheapest sempron you can get your hands on and a AMD 780G chipset motherboard and you'll be good to go.
Quote djDEATH 13th March 2008, 15:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spode
No Linux support?

its just a mass storage device surely? or did i read that wrongly?
Quote Tomm 13th March 2008, 18:55
I agree with the comments about various xbox solutions. I actually LOVE my xbox (1) running xbmc. It's on the same network as my 1Tb NAS. It all works beautifully. It doesn't like HD though, so when HD becomes more of a standard I'll have to change.

It seems like this Icy Box is a great idea, just executed slightly poorly. I think it'd be really useful if you wanted to take your videos round to a mate's house to watch them.
Quote Cthippo 13th March 2008, 18:59
It bugs me that no one can seem to get this concept right. We need a device that is both NAS box and also a standalone player with all the connections and a decent set of firmware and the ability to download new codecs as needed. Why is that so difficult?
Quote Woodstock 13th March 2008, 23:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cthippo
It bugs me that no one can seem to get this concept right. We need a device that is both NAS box and also a standalone player with all the connections and a decent set of firmware and the ability to download new codecs as needed. Why is that so difficult?

because then they cant the money off people when they realize v2 is so much better
Quote Fozzy 14th March 2008, 02:02
I'm planning on using my main system when I upgrade, I have a AMD 64 3200+ right now with 2gb's of memory and a onboard 6600gt of course I use my 7900gtx but the 6600 should play anything I throw at it. I'm still undecided as to whether this system is going in my car or my living room though ; ). But honestly I don't see why someone wouldn't just build a low end system anyways. I'm always going to rip my movies with the fastest PC I own because it takes so damn long. And then I just do a direct HD-HD swap which I have found is the fastest way to do it. Just make your HDD's easily swappable and it's no problem.
Quote Zade 14th March 2008, 16:51
Hi there.
What you are looking for is a Popcorn Hour - A100.
I don´t own one myself due to the lack of the units, still in dev and Sweden gett them in 04-10 or so.
But i have read that runs .MKV (matroska) files flawlessly.
Here are some specs http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/

Both HDMI and Component and as for audio its coax.
The player also have DTS passthroug.
sorry for bad language.
Quote Sark.inc 15th March 2008, 02:08
i am going to order me a Buffalo LinkTheater Media Player :D
Quote Misiowiec 17th March 2008, 15:51
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cthippo
It bugs me that no one can seem to get this concept right. We need a device that is both NAS box and also a standalone player with all the connections and a decent set of firmware and the ability to download new codecs as needed. Why is that so difficult?

Exactly. I've been looking for that combination for a while and it does not exist. Ideally the device would also have FTP and BitTorrent support though those things are just icing - I'd be quite happy with just the basic combination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zade
Hi there.
What you are looking for is a Popcorn Hour - A100.
I don´t own one myself due to the lack of the units, still in dev and Sweden gett them in 04-10 or so.
But i have read that runs .MKV (matroska) files flawlessly.
Here are some specs http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/

Both HDMI and Component and as for audio its coax.
The player also have DTS passthroug.
sorry for bad language.

Yes, the Popcorn Hour is the closest there is, once the fix the buggy firmware a little. What bugs me to death, and what will also prevent me from buying it, is that it only has a 100Mbit network port. WHY WHY WHY?!? That makes it pretty much useless as a NAS; I want to put in a 750Gb - 1Tb drive, but why do I have to be limited to copying files at 10Mbps when with a modern HD and a 1Gbit network port I could have 4x that? I've got 1Gbit at my PC and my router since after all. So for now I'll have to stick to rewritable DVDs when I want to play something on the TV... just a darn shame.
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