Netgear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000

[chappy16775]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/07/n...ntertainer-hd/

Netgear threw down today with the Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000, a new digital media adapter specifically designed to stream HD content (not that it doesn't do lower res video as well as music and pictures) from multiple PCs across a home network and to your TV. This thing rocks the draft 802.11n WiFi, and has an HDMI port which outputs 1080p, composite and component video out, RCA, coaxial and optical digtal audio out, a USB port for streaming content off of an iPod or any USB mass storage drive, and support for playback of MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, M4A, AAC, AC3 audio files (including stuff purchased from the iTunes Music Store, but only if you're a Windows user) and MPEG1/2/4, WMV, XviD, H.264 video files. The Digital Entertainer HD will also stream internet radio, read RSS feeds, let you schedule programs to record and pause and rewind live TV if your PC has a TV tuner, and even has a "Follow Me" mode that allows you to pause content in one room and resume it in another (if you own more than one Digital Entertainer HD). Should be out in the first quarter of this year with a retail price of $349.


Thoughts anyone????

[saintalan]

Anyone in Las Vegas ?

[eurotrance]

I see no mention of H264 on their website...

Also, their website says that the EVA8000 can access SMB shares, but then on the requirements page, it says at least one pc is needed... I hope that doesn't mean you need to have a PC on or a DLNA compliant NAS, that would be a deal breaker for me.

[lsarver]

Originally Posted by eurotrance

Also, their website says that the EVA8000 can access SMB shares, but then on the requirements page, it says at least one pc is needed... I hope that doesn't mean you need to have a PC on or a DLNA compliant NAS, that would be a deal breaker for me.

Where were you planning to host your share?


Right: no mention of H.264. I bet whatever's under the hood--anybody know?--can't handle it.

More restrictively, it claims to require XP. But its standards compliance includes DLNA, UPnp AV, WMC (required for WMDRM10) and "SMB Networking (includes Macintosh)."

I'd still like to know what "WMV up to 1080p (down-converted)" means. (See spec sheet.)

At least it has digital video out, unlike the inexplicable EVA700. This may be what that one should have been in the first place.

They also mention YouTube and B**T****** by name. Shazzam!

1Q07: same schedule as the iTV.

[sansp00]

Originally Posted by lsarver

Right: no mention of H.264. I bet whatever's under the hood--anybody know?--can't handle it.

Did you properly read the press release of the netgear site ???

The Digital Entertainer HD includes one HDMI port for digital AV connection, RCA connectors for composite and component video outputs, stereo RCA audio ports, coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, an S-video port, and a SCART connector for regions requiring it. The digital media receiver decodes many leading audio formats (MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, M4A, AAC, AC3), purchased music from iTunes on Windows (M4P), video formats (MPEG1/2/4, WMV, XviD, H.264) and image formats (JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF). It integrates a 10/100Base-T Ethernet controller, support for 802.11g wireless networking, and two USB 2.0 ports (front and rear) for additional connectivity with flash memory, iPods or other portable music and video players. It also supports multiple interoperability standards, including Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP AV), Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and emerging digital rights management technologies such as Microsoft® Windows Media DRM 10 for Network Devices. It also supports several security standards including WEP, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK.

This thing has way more features than the EVA700 ... I just hope that the specs get in line with the press release to clear this up !?!
Patrick S.

[saintalan]

From Netgear site

[mlknez]

Hi Chappy et al

I am at the show and spent some time with the netgear folks and the eva8000 today. It was very crisp and did h264. It did a lot better job of streaming video, and pics. The folks in the booth did not have the technical specs that we all desire. I did see it do youtube video, rss feeds, internet radio, mpeg2 files (no iso!). does not require a client for video streaming. It did also broadcast a "live" tv stream from a tuner on a pc with a small client app. It will also remote control a pc, but must use the remote as a mouse and no attached keyboard support yet. It does support coverart browsing. They said it would ship in a couple of weeks as all was final.

[bfdtv]

Any idea whether this will also feature the Sigma EM8622L?

[lsarver]

Originally Posted by sansp00

Did you properly read the press release of the netgear site ???

No. Never. Press releases are toilet paper.
If they want us to know something, they should include it in the spec sheet. (But then they might have to deliver....)
Just hope reality gets in line!

Originally Posted by mlknez

I am at the show and spent some time with the netgear folks and the eva8000 today. It was very crisp and did h264.

Now that fact is worth a ream of specs and at least a case of press releases.

[lsarver]

Originally Posted by mlknez

does not require a client for video streaming.

Not clear. It's a client. You mean server-side software? (The specs did mention SMB.)

Originally Posted by mlknez

It did also broadcast a "live" tv stream from a tuner on a pc

I meant to ask about this feature and forgot. It sounds like a trick a Pinnacle Showcenter (?) did. I wonder if they're related. (That was a Sigma box IIRC.)

[doucheface321]

Originally Posted by mlknez

I did see it do youtube video, rss feeds, internet radio, mpeg2 files (no iso!).

Originally Posted by bfdtv

Any idea whether this will also feature the Sigma EM8622L?

if it doesnt support DVD .iso files, it doesnt use a sigma chip and consequently i wont be buying one.

[bfdtv]

If anyone is at CES, please ask Netgear if they are using Sigma.

[sansp00]

Originally Posted by doucheface321

if it doesnt support DVD .iso files, it doesnt use a sigma chip and consequently i wont be buying one.

Wow, I never thought I would be reading something like this ... Your overestimating the sigma chip. Sure its good, but the ATI chip used in other device dates back almost 6 years and offers similar capabilities than most of the sigma line. I would not buy a sigma device in its current state, all the players using the chip have almost the same issues/lacks. They are getting better, but far from perfect and I surely would not base my selection on that single chip.

Patrick S.

[qz3fwd]

How does the B*tT*rrent capabilities work?
What if any server side software is required?
Will it playback HD transport streams over a wired network sitting on Infrant ReadyNAS's using NFS or SMB without the help of a PC? Mpeg2 and h264 ts's @ 1920x1080

[Tybio]

Originally Posted by qz3fwd

How does the B*tT*rrent capabilities work?
What if any server side software is required?
Will it playback HD transport streams over a wired network sitting on Infrant ReadyNAS's using NFS or SMB without the help of a PC? Mpeg2 and h264 ts's @ 1920x1080

All good questions, but the only information out there right now is the netgear site and the very few reports from CES (Oh, and the press release, which is really not that helpful).

As to the 1080p question, with only the information on the site to go on...so remember, could very well be poorly worded or flat wrong...it looks like it does 1080p for WMV. The rest are a question mark right now, the reason I say that is they list it for that format under the Digital Media Formats and not the others. This is more a cautionary tale then any real belief that they don't do 1080p on the others...but until they make it clear, don't assume .


For those who don't like links....

----------------------
Standards Compliance
- 802.11g standard compliant (connects to 802.11b or 802.11g networks)
- DLNA
- UPnP AV
- WMC
- SMB Networking (includes Macintosh)

• Digital Media File Formats
- MP3 up to 320 Kbps or variable bit rate (VBR)
- WMA8 and WMA9 files up to 192Kbps or variable bit rate(VBR)
- WMV up to 1080p
- Internet Radio (streaming MP3, WMA)
- Video Formats: MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, WMV, Xvid
- Audio Formats: MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, FLAC
- Photo Formats: JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF
- Playlist Formats: WPL, ASX, WAX, WVX, PLS, M3U, RMP

Input/Output
- HDMI for A/V output
- RCA connector for composite video output
- RCA connectors for component video output (High Definition support)
- Digital Audio Output S/PDIF (coaxial/optical)
- Stereo RCA audio ports
- USB 2.0 Mass Storage interface
- 2x USB 2.0 port
- Ethernet port
- S-Video port
- SCART connector for regions that require it
-------------------------

[Scarpad]

Originally Posted by mlknez

Hi Chappy et al

I am at the show and spent some time with the netgear folks and the eva8000 today. It was very crisp and did h264. It did a lot better job of streaming video, and pics. The folks in the booth did not have the technical specs that we all desire. I did see it do youtube video, rss feeds, internet radio, mpeg2 files (no iso!). does not require a client for video streaming. It did also broadcast a "live" tv stream from a tuner on a pc with a small client app. It will also remote control a pc, but must use the remote as a mouse and no attached keyboard support yet. It does support coverart browsing. They said it would ship in a couple of weeks as all was final.

Wow this is really looking like the Streamer for me, it has much more to offer than the Apple TV device.

[daniel_owen_uk]

Originally Posted by me

Could you confirm that the upcoming media player will support the H264 codec?

Originally Posted by Netgear CS

Regards to your concern about the EVA8000 , I must tell you that the product is still under testingby the Level 3 engineers. So, we don’t have real updates about that right now, however we will be able to tell that soon, that I can promise to you.

That's either a scripted responce or they have let the marketing folks loose on the press release.

[Tybio]

Originally Posted by daniel_owen_uk

That's either a scripted responce or they have let the marketing folks loose on the press release.

Drat...would be nice to know. Was that from an Email or a Forum?

[eurotrance]

If it really does H264 and doesn't need a server software (in other words it can use a NAS with no DLNA, just a Samba share), then I'm all over this one. I couldn't care less what chipset it's using if it does all I need it to do properly.

Only thing lacking is a front display so we wouldn't have to switch on the damn TV just to select the music files.

[mlknez]

It did play h.264 and uses smb. It does not navigate .iso files. I did hear that it was possible in the future, but we all know about betting on futures!

[daniel_owen_uk]

Responce was from an email btw.

[skotak]

Can somebody comment on hi-res JPEG playback? Can it do smooth slideshow, or each image takes seconds to load? Does it have music option in background?

[mlm39]

The EVA700 has decent Jpeg playback concurrent with music. I didn't find that the Jpeg was in HD like advertised.

[eurotrance]

Originally Posted by mlknez

It did play h.264 and uses smb. It does not navigate .iso files. I did hear that it was possible in the future, but we all know about betting on futures!

Cool

I can't wait to try it in my home, been waiting for something like this for over a year now. I hope it's all it is promising to be.

[chrobins]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here:

1. I will be able to playback recorded SD and HD content from my Media Center PC without transcoding first.
2. I will be able to access the tuner cards in my HTPC to watch live tv.
3. If the HDHomeRun network ATSC device ever gets MCE support then I will be able to stream live content from it as well.

If all of these are true then I will seriously consider this device. Right now the XBox360 best fits my needs, but I don't really want to spend $400 when I don't plan to play games. I was really hoping that the AppleTV would fit the bill, but it looks like a glorified iPod.

[johnnybecause]

Hi newbie here.
Went to Las Vegas to check out cool stuff.
Came across this player, ( amongst heaps of awsome CE products! )
Tell you the truth I was pretty disappointed really.
I mean it looked ok and the specs were impressive but the demonstration was pretty woeful. I asked the salesperson to playback h.264 for example and at first all seemed very good and I was being quite impressed but then the player stuttered and it eventually locked up. I thought well this happens to the best of them but not really a good start !and we started again but it locked up again after reboot.
It makes me wonder about how well the h.264 is really going as I know that alot of players are having problems with this format.
I would miss the front display for navigation as mentioned also.
This was a couple of my main gripes about it and really got disinterested after that.
So much more interesting stuff to see at the show.

[chappy16775]

It seems we can put a man on the moon but we can't release a decent media streamer which plays h.264, .iso, music, jpeg, etc. etc.....

[johnnybecause]

There were some other streamers there that were much better and much more stable, (well they were during the demo) but there was a lot of other goodies there too which will catch peoples eye
Just dont think that Netgear lived up to all the hype.
Should keep looking I guess

[Tybio]

Originally Posted by johnnybecause

There were some other streamers there that were much better and much more stable, (well they were during the demo) but there was a lot of other goodies there too which will catch peoples eye
Just dont think that Netgear lived up to all the hype.
Should keep looking I guess

Can you name a vendor or two that were on that list? Just curious if Buffalo or D-Link gave good impressions.

[stephenju]

Is this the only media player that can play live HDTV with a PC tuner card? I have both a Fusion and a HDHomeRun. I've been looking for player that allows me to watch live HDTV. Maybe this is it?