Wireless Media Set Top Device

[Jolard]

I know this has been asked before (I did search ) but there haven't seemed to be any suitable solutions. I was wondering if there was anything new in the world that might meet my needs:

I am looking for some suggestions for a purchase. I really want to buy a Wireless Networked media player that will hook into my TV and Stereo, and will access my media files on my PC, all accessed over my Wifi a or g network.

Some I have seen online seem pretty good (PRISMIQ) until I find out that in order to play DVIX and XVID you have to re-encode in MPEG to get any consistent playback. Others I have seen have no AVI support at all, or limited support at best. It seems it shouldn't be that hard. My PC has enough power and bandwidth to do any encoding necessary on the fly, and then the software should be able to send the re-encoded stream to the box (whatever it is) without too much hassle. But from what I have seen this is a pipe dream still.

I really would rather spend less than $200, but if there are only more expensive options I will consider them. I need:

801.11a or 802.11g wireless network at 54 or better 108 mps.
DVIX and XVID support
JPEG Support for picture viewing
MP3 support for music playback over stereo.
Reasonable interface.

Any suggestions? It just doesn't seem like anyone has got this right yet. They could make a killing if they got their act together.

[Baldrick]

Maybe

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Digital+Media+Adap...Specifications

Music: MP3, MPEG-1 layer 2 (MPA), PCM WAV, WMA.
Incompatible audio files (such as WMA lossless, WMA Pro) will be converted to MP3 at 192 kbit/s

Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-2 VOB, MPEG-4 AVI, Xvid, WMV9

HD Video; WM9 HD up to 1080i, WM9 HD up to 1080i with DRM, MPEG-2 HD up to 720p, MPEG-4 HD AVI up to 720p
Incompatible video files (such as DV) will be converted to a ShowCenter compatible format as set by the user.

[Sifaga]

theres this in October http://www.z500series.com/

[slacker]

I am already watching TV wirelessly on my laptop at home, and at the local dog park for that matter. What EXACTLY are you trying to accomplish? Your initial post is vague given the state of the industry. Anything is possible but I'm not EXACTLY sure what you're asking?

[Jolard]

What I am exactly trying to accomplish is this:

I have DIVX and XVID files on my computer.
I want to watch them on my tv without having to run wires from my PC to my TV, without having to burn DVD's, and without any major hassle. I would like to be able to contorol those video files with a remote control.

I would also like to be able to listen to music files on my home stereo, also controlled by a remote.

That is it pretty much. I don't care about the other direction (i.e. TV to computer) since I have a DVR for that.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, but more would be wonderful.

[Jolard]

The Z500 looks promising. According to the specs it will do everything I want, the question is how well . I have seen a lot of other products (including the PRISMIQ) that say they will play DIVX and XVID files, but then in practice fail dismally. Hopefully they will be better.

The panasonic also looks good, have to do some more research on that.

[Baldrick]

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDname=&Search=Search&chipset=Sigma+EM8620L&c...Submit2=Search
all based on the new sigmatek chipset such as the z500

[Topher5000]

I'd recommend a modded xbox running XBox Media Center (XBMC).
It can be a little tricky setting up the shares on your computer, but there's plenty of help at Xbox-Scene.com. I was able to set it up fairly easily & I know nothing about networking.
You'll need a modded xbox & software to transfer the files over to it, dashboard software (I use Evox) & XBMC (you get this from irc, but I'm sure whoever mods your xbox can put all the software on.) All the software's free & XBMC rocks! You can pick different skins, it plays everything you throw at it, it has gapless music playback, & if you have the component video pack, it can be set to upconvert your avi's to 720p or 1080i. It will download cover art & album or movie info for your media & also get the weather for your city.
Can you tell I like it?

[ps2daddy]

Yep a $120 refurbished xbox and a $39 wireless ethernet bridge from computergeeks.com and krazies uxe or ndure softmod package would do the job quite properly

[pchan]

Here is another option for you to consider.
http://www.snazio.com/