Rapsody N35

[PD_BARBS]

I had this post to a different forum, so this is probably the best place for it.


I was recently looking for a media treamer to get HD content from my PC to watch on my HD tv. As I did not wat to have to pay for Sky HD and other sources are non existant.

Anyway after some research on here and other forums, I decided on the Rapsody N35, I will share my experiences on this device with the forum as there are currenly very little details regarding this player on here.

The player is not widely sold in the UK, so I had to get my player through eBay via Madrid.

I will not go into a review of the product and leave that to the experts as posted on these reviews:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/two-ne...ew-2161-6.html

http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?id=5718&cid=5

I have had the player a few weeks, so have been able to play around with it a bit. My initial impressions are very positive, it is easy to use, looks great and the HD content on 720p is awesome. I downloaded and played a few episodes of Planet Earth and the picture quality is exceptional.

I will continue to add more of my experiences and issues as I get a chance to play with this player more, and hope that others will also do so. As there is little information about this cracking player on this forum.


One drawback I found so far is that is does not play mkv files.

[Autopilot]

That looks very tasty, nice style too. Its been out a while though, any updates?

[JetJockey]

Hi PD

Thanks for the info, I will check out the reviews now.

Whats the connection with Spain (Madrid)?

I will be down in Murcia on Saturday for 4 days and I don,t mind driving. Can I pick one of these up there if I set it up before leaving the UK??

Cheers, Jetjockey.

[JetJockey]

Hmmm......... Not quite sure what to think. Looks nice.

Bit worried about it having been around for a while as things move fast in this game. From the info I have seen it appears to have a major flaw, it doesn't do 1360x768, the native res for an awfull lot of 50" Plasmas (mine included)!

Have there been any major firmware updates lately?

I have just invested in a new silenced PC case, a new silenced Hard drive caddy, and a new silently cooled ATI card with HDMI out etc. I may just sit on the fence for a few weeks and wait for the first "Popcorn Hour" reviews to materialise. Apparently it's fitted with the latest all singing, all dancing chipset.

Cheers, Gerald.

[PD_BARBS]

Originally Posted by Autopilot

That looks very tasty, nice style too. Its been out a while though, any updates?

There are regular frmware updates, but I haven't heard of any model updates in the last year.

[PD_BARBS]

Originally Posted by JetJockey

Hmmm......... Not quite sure what to think. Looks nice.

Bit worried about it having been around for a while as things move fast in this game. From the info I have seen it appears to have a major flaw, it doesn't do 1360x768, the native res for an awfull lot of 50" Plasmas (mine included)!

Have there been any major firmware updates lately?

I have just invested in a new silenced PC case, a new silenced Hard drive caddy, and a new silently cooled ATI card with HDMI out etc. I may just sit on the fence for a few weeks and wait for the first "Popcorn Hour" reviews to materialise. Apparently it's fitted with the latest all singing, all dancing chipset.

Cheers, Gerald.

The last update was October, so they seem to be keeping on top of it. I know it has been out for a while, but every other player seemed to be getting mixed reviews. This is the only one I could see that has been widely endorsed. It is certainly not without its limitations though, but so far I am happy with it.

I never heard of the popcorn until now, so I may end up regretting my purchase. I see the popcorn supports mkv, which is a grip I have with the Rapsody, I also like the download torrents feature, although this would not be a seller for me.

[PD_BARBS]

It seems that the company who created these units no longer exists, and as such future support could be questionable.

[JetJockey]

Oh well......

I'm having a few days off at the mo down in sunny Spain so have decided to go over the reviews again.

Wasn't too impressed with the new MSIRX2600XT card, and to be frank, am getting fed up with the HTPC putting out 60Hz all the time as it causes significant judder on 50Hz UK material.

So............ Back in the market for a video streaming device. I am going to have a look at the Netgear EVA 8000 again as it was pretty impressive when borrowed one the other day. Someone in another thread says it plays MKV files after the latest firmware update?? The one thing I loved about it was the remote control. You could take it to the bottom of the garden and bury it, the EVA8000 would still respond. I can't stand those units with a tiny sweetspot and under powered remote control.

Cheers, Gerald.

[PD_BARBS]

Originally Posted by JetJockey

Oh well......

I'm having a few days off at the mo down in sunny Spain so have decided to go over the reviews again.

Wasn't too impressed with the new MSIRX2600XT card, and to be frank, am getting fed up with the HTPC putting out 60Hz all the time as it causes significant judder on 50Hz UK material.

So............ Back in the market for a video streaming device. I am going to have a look at the Netgear EVA 8000 again as it was pretty impressive when borrowed one the other day. Someone in another thread says it plays MKV files after the latest firmware update?? The one thing I loved about it was the remote control. You could take it to the bottom of the garden and bury it, the EVA8000 would still respond. I can't stand those units with a tiny sweetspot and under powered remote control.

Cheers, Gerald.

Good Luck.

I will be intersted to hear how you get on with it. As the mkv file thing may become an issue as more and more content is using this format.

The problem is the sigma chipset will not support it, so a firmware upgrade will not help the rapsody.

Other than that, I still think it is a great box, easy to use, etc.

[bashers]

I've been struggling with this player for three months now

I've been through all the latest firmware versions available that will play "faultlessly" ISO images without luck
AVIs and pictures play perfectly now but i cannot find a good firmware that will play every ISO I have.

I'm not prepared to decompress all the ISOs to folders and that will mean making folders for all AVIs in my film directory

According to Rapsody, this problem should have been sorted in much earlier versions than the one I'm running, so essentially, if I'm still getting this issue i must have problems with my machine.

After the upset last night of trying to watch a movie and getting to the third film before it would play more than 10 minutes i decided to take it up with KJ Global the UK distributor.

They were not really interested in this problem. They said that there were many types of ISOs(!!) and that it was not guaranteed to play them all.I told them that according to the website (theirs and rapsody's) it would and that the firmware says it fixed now.
They suggested selling it on eBay!

So think twice before purchasing this.

Most things it plays beautifully. AVIs and DIVXs are great and look great, but if you need ISO playback tread carefully

[PD_BARBS]

Hello Bashers

There are some good technical info on this player on mpcclub.com and avsforum.com, there may be some posts on here that help you with your pain.

I checked other forums, it seems that ISO was screwed up with the 3.13 firmware update, but has been resolved for the latest version, if you have not tried this, it may be wirth a go.

Good Luck