What's the right network media player for me?

After reaching a compromise solution on a need to stream content to my A/V setup around 6 months ago......

Laptop with s-video out, RF modulated via old s-video VCR, pushed through redundant RG-6 cable from old A/B analog cable TV installation, brought back to composite via RF input on DVD recorder

......I'm going to try and find the right solution in a network media player again.


Needs:

Wirelessly transmit streamed content from a subscription service that (definitely) uses WM DRM 9 and possibly (by now) WM DRM 10. Streams are .asx format and encoded with a VBR at under 350k per.

Do the same with content recorded from these streams into .asf format on the PC using Appilan's Windows Media Recorder.

Highly desireable:

That the technology be ready for prime time - reasonable picture and sound, few technical gremlins.

Somewhat desireable:

Built in DVD player which can be made region free (and possibly Macrovision free too).

Leanings so far:

Zensonic Z500.

Comments? Other possibilities?

Thanks,
MJW

Well you guys were no help!

Just took delivery of a Z500. I like the unit quite a bit, but it doesn't do DRM protected content at all, and some of my other video was hit or miss as to wether it would play as well.

I can get around DRM by stripping it out using Tunebite, but that's an awful lot of extra real time processing on top of making the recordings in the first place.

I really don't care wether or not my recordings have DRM, I usually watch them one time and delete them. But I DO care about being able to easily watch them on whatever device I want!

So I'm probably going to send the Z back and instead try a Helios X3000.

I don't dislike the unit at all. In fact it's been super easy to set up and it seems to work quite well with the one exception (my DRM issue aside) - video files are hit or miss as to wether they will play or not.

So, since this thing is going to be primarily a video player for most people, I think that's the biggest sticking point I have with it. I personally beleive that any device with this feature should be able to playback anything Windows Media Player can.

Going back to DRM, a lot of people have chided me for seeking support for it. Well, I don't normally buy or rent DRM protected content, but when I found a website offering live feeds of the major TV stations from my home country, DRM or not I just had to subscribe.