[Warlord1981]

Hello guyz,

The last 2 days I've been into a lot of research for a media player for my home network.

Here are the features i want for sure:
- Gigabit LAN
- Wifi g/n
- 1080 24p support
- Movie artwork and synopsis support
- I dont mind about Blu Ray drive/ Internal HDD/ many USP ports. The media player will be playing ONLY from NAS server.
- Fine playback of heavy bandwidth MKVs and BD iso's
- External SRT subs "on the fly" support
- Customization of Subtitles size and place on screen.
- Big community/ support forums/ custom firmwares/ developing will be appreciated.
- Price Range: about 150 euros

After 2 days of research here are the two media players i am between:
1) Mede8er MD500X2 (with wifi adapter)
2) Dune HD TV 301W

Which one do you recommend? Also, if you have another media player to recommend based on my criteria please do so.

Thank You!

[MarkE19]

As a Dune owner I would recommend the Dune

Why gigabit LAN? For streaming across the network 100mbps is plenty fast enough, even for a high bitrate BluRay ISO with HD audio. Gigabit is only handy if copying large media files to a HDD connected to the player.
If you want to play HD media file then forget WiFi, even WiFi N is not going to give you good reliable streaming. You would be far better IMO running a CAT5e cable to the player, or if that's not a realistic option then use Homeplugs.

As everthing is going to be streamed from a NAS you could save a little bit and get the cheaper Dune TV101. It is exactly the same player but with less connectivity and only 100mbps LAN.

Mark.

[Holwill]

Not tried the Dune range, but I have a Mede8er and have played around with hacking the Mede8er FW for AC ryans PlayON players. I did have a Popcorn A110 for quite some time and although each chipset has its issue's I found the realtek based players played everything I threw at them with no issue's. The Sigma based Popcorn was more hit and miss with file types and yamj could be a pain at times. However the Mede8er videowall and now the new music wall is not only easier to use, but also faster to navigate.

[Warlord1981]

thank you both for your answers!
to tell u the truth im a little more confused. judging from your answers as well as from my research sigma based players (dune in our thread) are faster and higher picture quality, where on the other hand realtek based players are more compatible with file formats and network devices, correct?
Also, say now that i wont need the g-lan since i dont care about internal HDD movie tranfering, and say that i wont need wifi as well since its useless under HD streaming conditions (though i think my new router - linksys ea4500 by cisco - could handle this), theres no need anymore for me to look into 301w and go directly to 101, as well as med400x2 from mede8er (which also has 100mbit lan and no wifi)? then again med400x2 or dune hd 101? :D

i've heard some issues with dune hd 101 and BR iso's..

Also which brand has faster, more good looking and more efficient GUI/menu?

[MarkE19]

To state upfront I have never owned or even used any Realtek players, but.....

Originally Posted by Warlord1981

to tell u the truth im a little more confused. judging from your answers as well as from my research sigma based players (dune in our thread) are faster and higher picture quality,

basically yes, but it's not a VHS vs DVD type quality difference. But I believe that Realtek have issues with 24p from a BluRay.

Originally Posted by Warlord1981

where on the other hand realtek based players are more compatible with file formats and network devices, correct?

Not true in my experience - it is the Sigma chipsets that have the better compatability.

Originally Posted by Warlord1981

Also, say now that i wont need the g-lan since i dont care about internal HDD movie tranfering, and say that i wont need wifi as well since its useless under HD streaming conditions (though i think my new router - linksys ea4500 by cisco - could handle this), theres no need anymore for me to look into 301w and go directly to 101, as well as med400x2 from mede8er (which also has 100mbit lan and no wifi)? then again med400x2 or dune hd 101? :D

In theory wireless N is fast enough for HD streaming, but you need near enough 100% clean reception which is unlikely in most enviroments. So in practice very few ever manage reliable wireless HD streaming.

Originally Posted by Warlord1981

i've heard some issues with dune hd 101 and BR iso's..

What issues? I did a review of the TV101 soon after its release and I had no problems playing any of my BD ISO rips from either a local attached HDD or streamed from my NAS or PC. The only thing missing from the TV101/TV301 players is a full BluRay license so you wont have access to the disc menu, but the film will still play fine.

Originally Posted by Warlord1981

Also which brand has faster, more good looking and more efficient GUI/menu?

Don't know about speed but in general the Sigma chipset players have the better UI.

Mark.

[Holwill]

Well Mede8er has various videos on there website or YouTube and I am sure Dune must have some on there's or YouTube. Regarding the picture quality I can only comment on when I owned both and tbh I never saw anything it really. Maybe things have moved since the A110 and 1073dd+ chipsets on that I could not comment.
It may worth hanging on and seeing what happens with the Pivos xios ds and the forthcoming xbmc release, as that would knock them both out of the ballpark regarding ui and scraping. This may also run on the Sum vision nano plus + slim as it is essentially the same box.

Just watched a couple of menu videos on YouTube of the Dune Yardis set up and not a lot in it really, I think the Dune is quicker to browse cover art although the mede8er software allows a bit more customisation of the cover and synopsis sheet. although the same be available on the Dune.

[Warlord1981]

hmm that Pivos Xios DS menu/UI looks really promising and beautiful (android ICS + XBMC wow!), but can it be compared to the Dune and Mede8er hardware-wise (in terms of performance, picture quality, compatibility with formats) ? Is it realtek or sigma based?

[Holwill]

Arm based A9 Cortex with Mali 400 GPU, tis early days to say but I have it running on my Nexus 7 and its pretty stable on that so far and looks good, but they still have a lot of work to do, but I saw a comment saying offical release may be next week.