Questions on DLink DSM-520

Look like a very promising device.

I just ordered one this week. Although they are backordered, it look about as close as it comes to an easy plug and play solution to streaming music, rhapsody, napster, and pictures in HD as is out there.

We'll see - i'll let you know when (if it ever gets off backorder) i get it.

I really like the look of D-Link DSM-520. I hope it works like advertised. If it does, I will buy one.

Will this play vob files over the network? I am looking for a sleek device with HDMI to cleanly hook up to my LCD display. I can't find anything on the spec sheet.

I had just bought a DSM-320 which works great but I was interested in the 520 because of the HD. I emailed D-Link and they told me that it would NOT support HD photos, only video. This was very disappointing. They did say there was no technical reason why it could not. So hopefully a firmware upgrade in the future will allow this. Since I only use the 320 for pictures and music, I see no reason to upgrade at this time. And I would advise holding off until it can be verified that HD photos will work. I am actually shocked that D-Link would omit this feature.

now that has to be the most retarded thing ever. you would think the first thing they would do is see what the competition has and at least equal the features. he roku has been doing hd photos for what a year now?

Like the DSM-320, this DSM-520 supports VOB under the Mpeg2 file type of the Server software. Look in the manual under server installation and you'll see VOB file type listed. Also supports WMV9 (not WMV8 or earlier) (720p only), AVI (MPEG4 layer only, 1080i), and MPEG2 (1080i). All this thing is missing is an ATSC tuner and 802.11n, then it would be close to perfect!

This looks like a cool device. My only issue is since it doesnt have an internal hard drive would a USB 2.0 Hard Drive be able to keep up with the speed of a 8GB VOB? My problem is I need to go wireless and Wireless G just isnt going to be fast enough most likely.

I have an MG-35 on order, but this device looks pretty sweet.

Yeah, I was thinking of buying a USB 2.0 spec external HDD. According to the USB2.0 specs, it's faster than standard firewire, 480Mbps vs 400Mbps. That's roughly 60 MB / second!! Firewire standard improvements has increased to 800Mbps, but that's just a side note.

As a point of reference, Ethernet (wired) 10/100 LAN transfer rate is 100Mbps or 12.5MB / second, Blu-Ray transfer rate is 36 Mbps and HD-DVD transfer rate is 36.55 Mbps. DVD only requires 1,350 KB/s or 1.35 MB/s. I doubt the HDMI is the bottle neck since it can transfer uncompressed HD signals. In a way, I'm glad it doesn't have an internal HDD, it keeps the price down initially, and when you feel like upgrading, you could hook up an external USB2.0 HDD for your media storage.

Does it play .IFO files for dvds? IOW..does it support menu and chapter navigation for ripped DVDS like the mg-35??

Thanks
Sharon

Okay so the Extermal USB HD shouldnt be an issue. How does this unit compare with the MG-35? I have an MG-35 but I would be tempted to return it for this. The only thing I dont like the USB port is in the front of the unit.

AFAIK the Dlink DSM-520 doesn't support IFO files, but they may implement that feature in a future firmware update or perhaps next years model. Since it already supports VOB files, there are ways around that issue.

As for a comparison, I like the DSM-520 more due to the HDMI connection, WMV9 support, MPEG Playlist file (m3u, pls), SRT subtitles, more photo file types (JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNG), fits into any audio cabinet due to it's slim design, optical/coax audio pass-through not limited to only DTS, no issues with < 6GB HDD (AFAIK), support for 802.11b/g, USB port is standard size in front for easy access to USB thumb drives (for photos I would imagine, and optional wireless network configuration), nicer remote, packaged with S-Video cable, CAT5 network cable, and wireless antennae, and it's priced quite similiar.

So yeah, it doesn't support IFO files, but based on the other things it does support, I'm willing to give that up. So it depends on how important IFO support is for you guys.

I'm ordering mine later this week. I'll try to answer more questions in detail when it arrives.

Any idea when there may be an internal dvd version of this device available? I really like the device, but I want to be able to replace my DVD player with it and not have an additional device.

will this support divx 5/avi ?

Maybe you can use an external DVD player w/ the USB port...

This device (and all related ones) always list "WMA" audio compatibility.

I was wondering if this automatically included WMA lossless? Can't find any info on lossless playback of these machines, for me this is very important.

Thanks for the info!

We won't know til we see one -- all of the other Sigmabased players don't playe WMA lossless so I expect we won't see it here either.

Woot!

I got this from the D-Link product info ppl:

Hello,
Yes, according to D-Link`s Multimedia Department this application can
be implemented. Please contact me if you have any additional
questions or product inquiries.

ADMIN NOTE: Conctact information removed

Gigabit Ethernet would be cool to have in a future product, too.

I have concern about this unit playing HD video.

Manual says it plays MPEG-2 HD 1080i up to 8Mbps.

As far as I know HD broadcast (1080i or 720p) and JVC HDV (720p) is @ 19Mbps, and Sony HDV (1080i) is @25Mbps.

There is no MPEG-2 HD video with 8Mbps.

What's up with that?

correct 19.2Mb is what they send OTA but the actual video is not that high, they pad it out with Null packets. My local PBS stations send as low as 10Mb HD content, never seen as low as 8Mb though. There are programs out there that you can use to strip out NULL packets, here is one

http://www.hometheatersoftware.com/

But you are right, kind of dumb you cannot send the normal streams you get OTA .

Yves Smolders : The manual specifically says it doesn't support WMA Lossless or WMA Pro. Not sure what the reasons are, other than copy right issues.

Well, I tried to order this thing, and it's "back ordered" everywhere. Even D-Link themselves don't have any in stock. Most online retailers will say "In Stock" until you order the unit. Any one know when there will be more stock available?

Souki, did you try buy.com yet?

No, but I doubt they have it either. Several large sites states that this item is back ordered. I purchased this unit off one site that claims to have it in stock at the time of order placement, but next day they notified me that it's in fact back ordered. And since the D-Link site is out of stock as well, I think I'll wait til stock is replenished before purchasing. It could be months before stock level is up again. Hopefully not, as this unit fits perfectly for my needs. I wrote to D-Link about the back order status, haven't gotten back to me yet. I'll update this thread once the stock is available for those interested.

I've got one as well as a JVC SRDVD-100U.

The JVC is great for HD streaming, including OTA TP files....unfortunately the
DVD player has many problems (as do Linkplayer2 from IOData, which it is based
upon....hope they fix that soon).

As for the DSM-520, I have been unable to get it to work with any media server except the DLink one.....the JVC sees and uses the IOData advanced server, the DLink media server, the Buffalo Tech server (on a networked linkstation drive)
and WIZD. It is not a firewall problem but for some reason the DLink can't see
the other servers at all. Tech support says it is UPNP capable but they don't
guarantee compatability with any specific software, which is just nonsense to me.

Any ideas on why the DLINK can't see the other servers? The DLINK server says
it supports playback of MPG HD files but not in TP format, which is what my BTV4 recordings are in.

cat6man

1. so, you couldn't play any Hi-Def video file, could you?

2. Did you try to connect external hard drive to USB port?

Pinnacle and Kiss used to both lock their players to only see specific server software. It wouldn't surprise me to see Dlink try that also. All it will do in the end is cost them customers if the out of the box software isn't able to make people happy.

How did Dlink do with audio files -- did they make the UI any friendlier than the other Sigma/Syabas players.

I've read through the posts and manuals I have to know if anyone has been able to play TS files (or files pulled from OTA HD Broadcasts). If you have this unit please reply back. I know the manual doesn't list TS files, but i was wondering if you rename the file to a .mpg if the media server will pick it up and if the player will play it then. thanks any info will help, i'm about to purchase this unit.

abricko : you're gonna to have to convert the hi-def TS file to MPEG2 format before this player will play the file at 1080i. It does not support TS files natively. Just assume that if it ain't in the manual, it won't do it.

Could you explain or point me to some of the ways around this issue?

TIA