We are dealers for a number of media server products, (vidabox,escient, Crestron, Zatabit) and while I know about each one of those products relative strengths and weaknesses I'm a newbie as far as building myself. I think its safe to say that mostly what you pay for with an off the shelf engineered solution is automated control and convience. But they are very expensive. Most of them offer some sort of automated disc drop and rip function and then viola the media is there on your GUI. Some require you to rip the media yourself and send over the network citing legal entanglements they would rather not be a part of.

Recently I purchased a Ready NAS NV+ with about 2.2 TB of storage for backup reasons solely, but looking at its feature list got me thinking and browsing to this forum. I'm haven't been ready to offer a solution like this to my clients because as far as I know there are just too many possible problems they might encounter however for myself I've been thinking about jumping in and playing around with it.

Which leads me to my poll/questions for those of you who are using a NAS and a Popcorn hour, PS3, Tivx box, Tivo, or whatever other client out there.

1. Which client do you think is best and why? (I'm going to purchase one and play around with it)

2. How close is a NAS/cheap client system to say and Escient/Vidabox type system in terms of quality of playback and also I'm interested in anything anyone has to say about the UI of these products. How close or far is it from using an off the shelf solution in terms of populating and organizing a UI? Do you have to build it all on computer first and organize your files first or does the client have it fairly automated once pointed to the share in the NAS? Any information about that process would be helpful as I try this out (or maybe I won't if it's too time consuming) I personally have an Escient DVD changer system now and am thinking about moving into this realm of HD based system for my own use and maybe in the future customers of ours.

Thanks for any input you may have.

I'm running a ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer with a PS3 for media playback (both recent purchases). So far I haven't had any major problems.

As for the ReadyNAS, the main reasons I chose it over the competition (QNAP,
Synology, Thecus, etc) were the 6 bays, the reviews (it's generally considered best in class), the user forums (very active), and the ease of use (simple, web-based GUI). The upnp service was a snap to set up as well - just a few clicks on the GUI.

I went with the PS3 over Tvix, PCH, etc, because it was a mainstream, well established product that I could go into a bricks & mortar store and buy. It has the Blu-Ray player as well, and I think it even plays games. :) The GUI isn't as slick as some of the dedicated media players, but it can be customized if you have the time and motivation. Some people complain that PS3 won't play back many file types, but it does just fine with everything I have (AVIs, MPGs, MP4s, VOBs). I just wish it was compatible with Harmony remote.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. Hope this helps.

I like the Sage HD extender (http://www.sagetv.com/hd_theater.html) thing, but it needs a server running for the PVR functions...

can play just about anything, the GUI is whatever you want it to be, has a PVR with accurate EPG data... and is externally controllable with an automation controller... I know it works with CQC (http://www.charmedquark.com/), I know someone was trying to get it to work with crestron, not sure if they were successful or not...

my only major complaint is that it doesn't support WoL or some other easy way to turn it on from a controller... you can telnet in and do a reboot command, but I forgot how to do telnet scripting, WoL would have been so much better...

Just my advice...Keep it simple...http://z09a0222gshv273.imageshacknow.info/img/3044************************

All I am saying with storage, is make it redundant, and make it meet your needs.

This coming from a gal that lost 1TB...

Just my advice...Keep it simple...http://z09a0222gshv273.imageshacknow.info/img/3044************************

All I am saying with storage, is make it redundant, and make it meet your needs.

This coming from a gal that lost 1TB...

Wii, Very good advice.

Just my advice...Keep it simple...http://z09a0222gshv273.imageshacknow.info/img/3044************************

All I am saying with storage, is make it redundant, and make it meet your needs.

This coming from a gal that lost 1TB...

The ReadyNAS is fault tolerant.

But as you say, as anyone who has lost data might say, redundancy is the name of the game.

ReadyNAS meets my needs. I back up the non-replaceable
stuff to off-site storage (work). Then again to on-site storage.

To the OP, FWIW. Another vote for the SageTV media extender HD-200. If your clients are looking for merely a stand alone player to stream all there ill gotten gains...it delivers.

If you wanna pitch full blown HDTV PVR functionality that leaves all others in the dust. And no DRM. Then you can talk about a SageTV server for them.

Hi, I'm in the same boat here as the original post'r. However, I'm not very technical, so the simplicity angle of the Drobo has me (almost) sold (any size drive, no manual intervention like partitioning drives, etc.).

However, the software solution-set is fairly weak compared to Synology and others. Anyone have any experience using a UPnP AV server & drobo?

As for the client side, I've been studying up on NMTs for the bedrooms. I see SageTV was recommended twice on this thread. It seems to be an older solution (last press release was 2 yrs ago). Not a bad thing, as one could argue that the system has worked out the kinks, so to speak. If I want to take my SageTV with me on a trip, I'm guessing I need an external usb-based HDD to store the content? NMTs allow you to store on the device via internal HDD, which is nice. The NMT software does not seem simple tho (remember, i'm not very technical).

I'm only looking to stream my DVD collection...don't need dvr, etc. Any advice and counsel is greatly appreciated.

the sage HD200 extender was just released last December, not sure how you get 2 years from that... sageTV the software side has been around forever...

as for taking sage on a trip, if you are going someplace with a fast internet connection, they have their 'Placeshifter' option thing... basically as long as you have a connection, you have access to all your media at home...

just curious, why don't you want DVR? do you already have something that fits the bill, or is it that you like watching commercials?

as for the drobo doohicky... I was never quite sure what it gets you over a regular NAS? most NAS's are pretty simple just due to their very nature of being pretty simple... just plug in the drives, tell it to do its thing, no partitioning needed, unless you really want too...

Just my advice...Keep it simple...http://z09a0222gshv273.imageshacknow.info/img/3044************************

All I am saying with storage, is make it redundant, and make it meet your needs.

This coming from a gal that lost 1TB...

It wasnt a Seagate drive was it?

There are so many people around with failing Seagate drives (.11 series) recently.

Dont use them if you have a choice!

Somewhatlost, I couldn't tell when the Sage unit was released....typically a company releases a press release. The last one posted in the News section is dated 2007 (?). Anyhow...

I LOVE watching commercials....great use of my time. No, actually I've got an HD DVR in my HT, so no need for a second DVR in the bedroom. My goal here is to stream our DVD library to the master and guest bedroom.

Travel solution: I don't want to stream via the internet, but rather bring a portion of our DVD library with us. I'm thinking an NMT is a better fit for my needs as I can rip/store 150+ movies on a 1TB HDD stored in a NMT like Popcorn Hour (not sure I want PCH, as I've read a few folks complain about the plastic case & heat dissipation).

NAS vs DROBO - I'm just looking for the simplist solution. I like the flexibility of using any size drive at any time (drobo).

for travel, have you looked at the IO mega screenplay pro? (http://go.iomega.com/section?SID=d59282041e9357e3a064636974a4d8f3a46:4760&secid=40419)
its simple, it works, comes with a 1Tb drive built in...

just curious, does your HD-DVR support recording everything (PPV, etc), automatic commercial skip? does it aggregate all your TV media (OTH, Cable, Sat) into one guide? support burning saved shows to DVD, or backing them up to another HDD somewhere? start watching a show in room A, then go to room B and finish (or move on to room C if you just cant stay in one place for too long...):)