I have an HP mv2020 NAS that supports upnp client connections. I'd like to attach a upnp client device to my HDTV set and stream directly from the NAS. I also have various other PCs and Macs and I've successfully streamed to those devices (more so the Nero client on the PC because the Mac seems to want to cache the file locally).

I mentioned the part about Microsoft because I've already attempted to stream video through my Xbox 360 from an XP workstation running the media connect service. The video was choppy and the audio was out of sync before the credits started to roll. So I'm hestitant to invest in a box that might not resolve the issue. The file was in the correct Microsoft format and it was over wired 100 ethernet... not wireless.

Do any of these devices you guys are discussing reliably stream directly from a NAS, or do I have to dedicate a Media Server or Vista box? And why not just connect the HDTV to the PC at that point and skip the extra device? I'm just looking for standard 480p support on the output... I'll address Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD when I replace my current HDTV.

NTAC

I have an Infrant NAS and some Roku PhotoBridges (HD1000's).

The Infrant has a upnp service - the upnp client on the Roku "sees" the content - but to tell u the truth I don't use the upnp service - i just nfs mount the appropriate directories at reboot onto the rokus.

the rokus run Linux and have a ATI video card that accelerates Mpeg2 (fine for VOBs ripped from DVDs)

OTOH, I also stream from a Win2K using Nero to transcode non-Mpeg2 video files, like mpeg4 or divx. Beware, this uses a lot of CPU horsepower to transcode to Mpeg2.

Maybe you can borrow a HD1000 from a friend and try it out see if the upnp implementations are compatible and the content you want to play is Mpeg2.