Re: GoVideo Network DVD Player

["mark_harrison_uk2" <mph@xxxxxxx>]

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Derek Erb" <erb@e...> wrote:
> --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Andy Bone" <andy@a...> wrote:
>
> I then read a large comparison of the validity of WiFi for this
>  type of product which I had never asked for.  I obviously
> should have been more detailed in my request.  I'm learning...

Derek,

I think that the stunning silence from this group on the GoVideo
product is that no-one in the UK has laid their hands on one. It is,
after all, a US-only product at the moment.

My immediate concern with that product would be one of Region-coding.
Is it fixed to Region 1?

You will find that topics do tend to waver on this group,
particularly if no-one actually has a specific answer to the original
question. However, the "opinions are like arseholes" comment was
perhaps a less than perfect welcome to the world of UKHA_D :-)

> What product would you recommend which allows us in Europe to
> stream
> digital music, digital images and DVDs through the wired Ethernet
> network and directly to the stereo and television without another
> computer?

I would consider an X-Box with a suitably hacked operating system. A
search through the archives here will turn up some links to the
product that people seem to use.

Des Gibbons is, if I remember correctly, the local guru on using X-
Boxes as multi-media stations.

I saw this demoed at UKHA2003, and it seemed remarkably capable.
However, I felt that in sound quality terms, its MP3 playback was not
up there with either the Rio Receiver or the SliMP3 (the two
reference MP3 players.)

It was noticeable, however, that the primary problem with the audio
quality was the analogue output stage - it sounded far better when
using the optical out through a decent processor.

The "MultiMedia PC" approach is also one that has been used. Nick
Shore is the resident expert on the Via range of Mini-ITX systems.

Alternatively, Graham Howe has a lot of experience with high-end
multimedia PCs.

Finally, Ian Lowe is the resident master of the "DVD compression to
hard disk" world. He provided the DiVx'd versions of the Matrix which
we used in a "quality shootout" against the actual DVD (using the
X-
Box as a DVD player and an MMPC as the hard-disk-image player.)

Regards,

Mark