Supporting But perhaps Buffalo chose Although wireless use is a major feature of this unit, for my initial checkout I hooked it up with Ethernet. When you can use it, Ethernet is always preferred for moving large video files around. In this mode, the device booted up and automatically acquired an address via DHCP. I wanted to check out the HD capabilities of the device, but the initial setup has to be accomplished via the analog standard-def output.
Once the device is booted up, the configuration screen can be used to change the default output to the HD port Figure 2. When running, the product drew about 7 watts of power, and when idle it drew about 6, so it is an efficient little unit. The LinkTheater can get media in several ways. For my initial test, I turned to the included Windows-only CD for software installation. Figure 3 shows the first menu from the installation. It's harder than you think for that expensive router of yours to deliver all the throughput the big number on its box promises.
We show you why. Trying to decide between a router and a Wi-Fi System? Pros: Setup is easy and fast. Streams fast, even with large divx files full movies. I have it set up on a wireless network, and feel zero drag when playing media. The interface could be a little better, but overall, it is very good and easy to navigate.
And the picture of this product is misleading. Review the specs for the size. It is tiny, about the size of an average router.
I was impressed, and a little relieved it wasn't as large as the picture would lead you to believe. Oh, and of course newegg. Cons: This is the reason for the non-perfect score. This device, as with all cheap electronics, is still solid, but little time was put into the design of the software. It works very well and fast, but you can tell it was designed by some engineers. When you play a single audio track, once the track is finished, the player does not go to the next track in the album.
It's not a big deal, but coming from other media players, it's a little weird. You can still play the entire CD though, which plays one after another. The network antenna are a little longer than I'd expect. What these devices allow you to do is sit back and relax in your favourite armchair or sofa and watch on the TV all those videos and photos stored on your home computers, while also listening to your mp3 collection on your TV or hi-fi. The practice started with people running Linux on homemade PCs which were built into custom cases.
Now we have dedicated devices that can do it all and, with the help of AppleTV to spread the word, these little boxes are likely to start appearing on TV cabinets all around the world. The big question is whether the right compromises have been made. So, on the surface the LinkTheater looks like it beats AppleTV hands down as it has far better audio and video format support and can playback content from any source — not just iTunes.
However, even though it supports high definition content, it only has Scart, S-Video, and composite connections, all of which cannot transport HD signals. All this is made more peculiar when you consider the previous version of the LinkTheater , that Riyad looked at nearly two years ago, did have component output as well as a progressive scan DVD player.
This meant that the original Link Theater could output high definition resolutions, which would be more useful now than it was then, what with the massive increase of HDTV adoption. Quite why Buffalo has decided that these features are no longer needed is utterly perplexing.
Quite frankly downgrading a product from high definition to standard definition just when HDTVs are becoming the norm seems like lunacy to us! It is made from thin sheet steel with a bland plastic fascia and the whole lot is finished in generic silver paint.
The clear black plastic section on the front looks like it should contain an alphanumeric display but actually just houses two LEDs that indicate power and network activity. In fairness the case is nice and small x 47 x mm so it can be tucked out of the way easily.
Physically setting up the device is very straight forward, just plug it into your TV and turn it on. However, once you start trying to use the device, things quickly go down hill.
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