so many - hd nas media players?? - Which one??

[jonned]

I wuld appreciate some help in deciding what to buy. I have done a little research and have relaised i could spend the next month researching as well, but I don't have that long! I would like to start downloading hd movies and be able to keep them on a nice big hard drive and play them very easily.

My current equipment is:

sony 40" w2000 LCD (full HD) hdmi
Denon 2807 receiver hdmi
q acoustics speakers
sky+

My list of requirements in order of necessity are:

1. NAS hard drive (500mb will do)
2. my first hd source for the telly, (videos, mp3's and pics from my computer)
3. connectability to youtube + otehr sites maybe?
4. bit torrent perhaps?
5. picasa maybe?
6. Nice looking interface
7. easy to set up (fool proof)
8. price < £350 if poss.

My list of possibles is:

Pixel Magic HD Mediabox - is it old now?
Popcornhour - seems good
HDX 900 - new
TVIX - dunno which one, pricey?
- are there more?!

Please help as I'm losing my mind with all the possibilities - All i need is your opinion then ur reason why i need that particular model.

Thanks in advance!
JH

[chris57]

Apart from the first model they all have the latest chipset EM8634. This chipset is still very much in developement. Therefore so are the media players to some extent. Tvix is the more mature company and has its own firmware. The others use NMT from Syabas. They were first into the 8634 market and are coping well with the fact that Tvix were more established overall.

The Tvix is double the price of the PCH. You can see where money has been spent over the PCH but do you need the extra it offers? Both are not easy to set up and you will fumble around for a bit. No doubt you will find yourself an active user of eachs forums at first. The PCH has the edge in terms of internet access for picasa,youtube etc.

If you want a polished nice looking easy to use unit and money is not a major factor then perhaps the Tvix. If you want a cheap player for primarily video playback then the PCH/NMT players are the better bet.

There are reviews of each and the Istar at MPC:-
http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=Reviews

[jonned]

Thanks thats exactly the reply i needed.

After reading some of the reviews on the MPC site you suggested, if it came down to the Istar and the popcornhour - which would you choose? They are similar?

Is there anything on the horizon that I should wait for which would fit all requirements perfectly - and more?
And.. am I right in thinking none of the interfaces on theses machines are animated?

Thanks
JH