Best all around network players - Top contenders

[jgombos]

It seems these players listed above are the better of the network players on the market.

I plan to buy a networkable player for someone who does not do their own encoding/burning. Because this person has little control over the format of the movies he'll be watching, he will need a player that will work with as many of the mainstream formats as possible. It's essential that he can play as many variations of mpeg-4 discs as possible. An upgradable firmware is also important here, because this thing needs to keep up with the very liquid / rapidly changing MPEG-4 standards.

The display device he uses is a 1080i HDTV w/ DVI connector. Should I rule out the LinkPlayer because it uses a Japanese D4 Connector, or is this easily adaptable?

Is the Zensonic Z500 available in the US, or do I need to rule it out? I'm actually favoring this unit, because the manufacturer was good enough to ensure that the server could be Linux, OS/X, or Windows, which I find to be impressive.

If anyone votes "None of these," please suggest a better alternative. BTW- I'm in a hurry for getting answers.. this is for fathers day!

Thank you!

[jgombos]

I've confirmed that the Network DVD Player "AVeL LinkPlayer2"
AVLP2/DVDLA is useless in the US. The D4 connector cannot be adapted to DVI. The Buffalo PC-P3LWG/DVD has the same issue.

The Zensonic Z500 actually has an HDMI output, which is easily adaptable to DVI. So it's the only device of it's class that works in the US. Sadly, this unit will just miss fathers day.

[Krispy Kritter]

The AVeL LinkPlayer2 comes with a cable for the D4 port to convert it to component input. Guess it took less space in this format than 3 seperate connectors. It isn't any different than most other DVD players on market. None of the 4 in my house have HDMI out.