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Teufel RearStation 4 review
Ed Selley  |  Jul 07, 2011  |  0 comments
No-strings audio from a box Martin Pipe tries out a nifty package aimed at cable-phobes

This solid pair of black boxes, from speaker manufacturer Teufel, will let you send two channels of audio wirelessly. This is a handy concept if you can’t run wires to rear speakers, or simply want hassle-free, multi-room music. The cigarette box-sized transmitter sports a couple of phono sockets, which are fed with the relevant outputs of your AVR or audio system. Rather larger is the receiver, the internal amp of which can drive speakers directly. A nifty circuit automatically switches the RearStation 4 into standby in the absence of audio. Additional receivers can be bought for £180 and any number can be partnered with a single transmitter ‘within range’.

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TVonics DTR-Z500HD review
Ed Selley  |  Jul 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Looping the loopthrough Adrian Justins reviews a 'bot that remembers viewing habits

How do you stand out in the crowded Freeview HD PVR market? Excluding media streaming and DLNA networking is hardly in keeping with the Freeview zeitgeist, but the DTR-Z500HD boasts a couple of handy features that look compelling. One is a built-in HDMI switcher and two, it can make basic, TiVo-style recommendations based on your recording history so long as metadata is provided by each broadcaster for the shows you choose to record.

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AC Ryan PlayOn!HD Essential review
Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
As thick as a brick, but smarter Adrian Justins organises and manages his media collection via USB

Out of the box, this is a non-networked version of AC Ryan’s PlayOn!HD media streamer, but you can add an optional £20 wi-fi dongle to change that. My sample came with a pre-installed 1TB HDD and there are 500GB and 2TB versions.

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Acer Revo 100 review
Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
When I’m streaming Windows Replace your media player with a PC, says Chris Jenkins

The popularity of video downloading means that media players are becoming increasingly essential, even if your PC media source is in another room. But what if the PC is small enough to tuck under your TV? Enter Acer’s super-compact Revo 100.

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Buffalo Mediastation review
Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
Faster than a speeding bullet... Chris Jenkins tests out the zippiest external Blu-ray burner on the market

While a Blu-ray/HDD recorder can cost you around £400, if you have a laptop, it may make more sense to add an external Blu-ray burner to it at half the cost. Buffalo’s 12X external drive is ideal.

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Iomega ScreenPlay MX review
Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
Multimedia megastore Adrian Justins gets acquainted with a 1TB media player

The ScreenPlay is a no-thrills, hard drive-based storage device for easy multimedia file playback. With no networking functions, it’s down to you to stream your media via a USB drive or laptop after installation.

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Boxee Box review
Ed Selley  |  May 28, 2011  |  0 comments
Wacky streamer can confuse Adrian Justins ponders the promise of a flawed fancy

Boxee Box acts as a conduit between your TV and an unrestricted universe of online entertainment including movies, TV shows, music and photos. It also lets you share your favourite content via Facebook and Twitter.

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Devolo DLAN 200AV review
Ed Selley  |  May 28, 2011  |  0 comments
Mains-lining to the video vein Martin Pipe tries a networking solution that bridges wi-fi and powerline

Powerline networking, which uses your home’s mains wiring to transport data, has become quite popular. But there can be messy cables to deal with, and when you discover that one of your items is ‘wi-fi only’, and there’s not enough signal from your existing router, this product comes to the rescue. This kit consists of 200Mbps HomePlug AV network adaptors, incorporating a Wireless 802.11n extender.

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Nanostick T2 290E review
Ed Selley  |  May 28, 2011  |  0 comments
Terrestrial Terminator Martin Pipe tries the world’s first PC tuner to support DVB-T2

Until now all of the digital terrestrial tuners sold for use with PCs complied to the old DVB-T standard. But all HDTV transmissions employ the newer and more efficient DVB-T2. The T2 290e, a tiny and stylish USB 2.0 dongle, is the first to be compatible with both. It can be used with notebooks or installed on desktop machines.

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Sony SMP-N100 review
Ed Selley  |  May 28, 2011  |  0 comments
Player courts the net Martin Pipe likes Sony’s first standalone networkable multimedia player

There must be plenty of readers who have spent the best part of a grand on a cutting-edge full HD TV, only to discover that its replacement model is ‘network-enabled’. Increasingly popular, this feature enables you to stream video from various websites, install widgets and play video content, music or photos stored on devices connected to your home network.

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Synology USB Station 2 review
Ed Selley  |  May 28, 2011  |  0 comments
Well served for little outlay Martin Pipe builds a media server and has change from £100

Networked-attached storage (NAS) is damn useful. In addition to providing a convenient means of backing up important data stored on your computers, today’s consumer-orientated models typically incorporate a DLNA media server.

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Buffalo Linkstation Pro LS-VL review
Ed Selley  |  Apr 02, 2011  |  0 comments
Fast mover takes it all in Chris Jenkins warms to this plug’n’go storage

NAS (Network Attached Storage) drives are becoming the solution of choice for storing a wide range of digital media, including downloaded movies and TV, music, images and CD/DVD/Blu-ray rips. Speed, capacity and reliability are essential, and Buffalo’s Linkstation Pro LS-VL has all three.

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Eminent EM7080 review
Ed Selley  |  Mar 07, 2011  |  0 comments
One-stop media shop fits the bill Martin Pipe finds plenty of reasons to recommend this multimedia player

Take the optical disk drive out of a recent Blu-ray player and replace it with an HDD compartment. Squeeze the result into a glossy black box with roughly the same dimensions as a Mac Mini (complete with the external power supply) and you have the Eminent EM7080. The Realtek-based device is a flexible multimedia workhorse that sports two front-panel USB ports for Flash drives or HDDs, plus an eSATA terminal.

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Solwise Net PL-1000M review
Ed Selley  |  Mar 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Dream streaming all the way Martin Pipe rates a powerline adaptor with near 1Gbps claims

We’ve come a long way since the late 1980s, when British company Curran, sold pairs of innovative adaptors interconnecting RS232 serial devices via the mains. The speed? A whopping 9,600 bits per second! Today we have speedier (and cheaper) devices like this product from Solwise, which - if your mains wiring and connected electrical-appliances are up to scratch - boasts speeds of up to 882Mbps. ’.

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TVonics DTR-HD500 review
Ed Selley  |  Mar 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Freeview+ HD scrubs up well This PVR marries style with substance says Grant Rennell

There’s no shortage of little black boxes on the market these days, Freeview+ HD PVRs included. Kudos to TVonics then for being bold with the HD500. But has it gone far enough with its features?

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