Any Netgear NTV550 owners out there?

No its a different animal altogether. No video wall or fancy features really - plays DVD files and ISOs fine. Remote is like the WDTV Live's with a few extra buttons and functions. The 550 remote doesn't work with it (more's the pity). I'm not sure I have any 1080P MKVs to test - will have a look. Nothing in the manual suggests they should be a problem though:

ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/NeoTV350UM_21Dec10.pdf

Cheers SSB. Will it play DVD's from SMB shares in the native format? The way it looks on the server is \\share\<movie name>\VIDEO_TS.
 
Cheers SSB. Will it play DVD's from SMB shares in the native format? The way it looks on the server is \\share\<movie name>\VIDEO_TS.

Absolutely - it works perfectly. All my stuff is SMB shares - probably 90% DVD ISO and the rest in MKV and the odd DVD folder.
 
I've just tried attaching an external optical drive (BD/DVD/CD) but my NTV refuses to play anything from it.

A quick but of googling and some people seem to suggest it should, others that it shouldn't.

Anyone know for sure whether '550 does/doesn't play from attached optical drives...?
 
Hi fellow owners. I have the NeoTV 550.


Currently, I have set the 550 to search the media share on my ReadyNAS, but it adds all the cover art in my music folders to the photographs part of its database, which I don't want.

Is possible to specify where it searches for videos, music and photos separately?

Also, I have tagged a lot of my photographs, but the NeoTV doesn't seem to allow me to browse by those tags. Are the categories fixed? Does it ignore photograph tags?

TIA
 
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Hello

If you have separate Shares, one for Music, Movies, Photos then if you go into Media Locations and press 'i'nfo on one of your Shares then you can specify what type of content each Share contains.

Hope this helps.

Kevin
 
That does help, insofar as I didn't know about that option. Unfortunately, I don't have separate shares, and I cannot share a subfolder on my ReadyNAS, which seems like a huge oversight on the developer's part, so I guess I'm stuck with the way I have things since reorganising different media types into separate shares would cause problems elsewhere for me.

It's a shame that subfolders of shares can't be selected individually in the NeoTV to be scanned, as opposed to just the entire share.

I've subsequently tried using the DLNA server that is built into the NAS, but the NeoTV does not even see that despite supposedly supporting DLNA.
 
It's a shame that subfolders of shares can't be selected individually in the NeoTV to be scanned, as opposed to just the entire share.

Depending on how many subfolders there are, could you share each individually?

Pixmania are selling the NeoTV 550 for £83.90. I read earlier in this thread (or it may have been another) about some concerns re buying from a French outfit, but I've just spoken to Netgear support and the say they will honour the 2 year warranty in the UK. Good deal?

Sorely tempted to take the plunge at that price.
 
Depending on how many subfolders there are, could you share each individually?

Pixmania are selling the NeoTV 550 for £83.90. I read earlier in this thread (or it may have been another) about some concerns re buying from a French outfit, but I've just spoken to Netgear support and the say they will honour the 2 year warranty in the UK. Good deal?

Sorely tempted to take the plunge at that price.
Despite one or two functionality niggles, it is a rock solid unit in my opinion, so if I were you I would go for it.
 
I'm using it for 1:1 rips from Blu-Ray and DVD. Everything is fine with a hard drive attached via eSata, but streaming HD over a network will depend on the performance of your router.

That's a great price, but like all media streamers the 550 isn't perfect, so it depends on your wants and needs.
 
but streaming HD over a network will depend on the performance of your router.

Not using a router, using a gigbit switch so should be OK. Network is all wired too.
TBH at this price I could stick it in one of the kids' bedrooms if it's not up to scratch.

Sold.
 
The reason I mentioned HD streaming is because I have my 550 and my PC wired into a gigabit switch, which then connects to my router. I had great results with a Netgear DGN3500, but recently (since upgrading to BT Infinity) I've been using a BT Home Hub 3 and I've not been able to stream HD without issues. I've been trying to decide between a WNDR3800 and WNDR4500, as either of them will most likely solve the problems, but as they each have their own strengths and weaknesses I just don't know what to do for the best.
 
Surely, if you're using a switch, the only involvement your router will have is dishing out ip addresses?

Edit : Sorry - did you mean HD streaming from 't internet?
 
The issues only started when the router was changed. :(

It was from an internal hard drive in my PC. It's not a major issue, as I am currently ripping to external HD's and using a dock anyway.
 
AFAIK as long as all your network devices are on the same subnet, the router won't be involved in the transfer.

It should go PC > Switch > Streamer
 
I wish I understood what the problem was. I've just placed an order for a WNDR3800, as Pixmania have a crazy price on it. So will confirm if it solves the issues. :D
 
Hello, I was waiting for a Dune TV-301, but it takes sooo long to release the product that I search for other opportunities. Is the new player something worth buying?

I mainly stream DVD iso from my QNAP nas
I want an optical for my A/V
what are the added features towards a Dune?
 
&#8226;New feature: Access attached devices from PC

&#8226; Access your attached NTV550 devices by opening \\NEOTV550 from your PC, or use unit's IP address

However, when I try to access the NTV550 from my Mac, all I see is a single share called "Attached Devices" which contains a shortcuts/aliases that do not work. Clicking on one causes an error "The alias cannot be opened because the original item cannot be found".

Has anyone else gotten this to work from a Mac?
 
Hasn't anybody really found the solution?!
 
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I'm looking for at mediaplayer and consider the Netgear Neo TV550, the player will be connected to a NAS via LAN.

And I wonder if the player fills these criterias:
It should be able to play 1080 without lagging playing from MKV.
Have artwork and synopis.
I want a simple intuitive GUI (the kids will have one each in their room).
The player should come from a company that supports their products with updates and fixes.

We'll just play media from the NAS.

The players being considered at the moment are:
Dune HD TV-101, Western Digialt HD TV G3, Mede8er MED400X2/500X2, Netgear Neo TV550, Xstreamer Sidewinder 3, Asus O!Play HD2
 
I'm looking for at mediaplayer and consider the Netgear Neo TV550, the player will be connected to a NAS via LAN.

And I wonder if the player fills these criterias:
It should be able to play 1080 without lagging playing from MKV.
Have artwork and synopis.
I want a simple intuitive GUI (the kids will have one each in their room).
The player should come from a company that supports their products with updates and fixes.

We'll just play media from the NAS.

The players being considered at the moment are:
Dune HD TV-101, Western Digialt HD TV G3, Mede8er MED400X2/500X2, Netgear Neo TV550, Xstreamer Sidewinder 3, Asus O!Play HD2
1080 from MKV with no lag - check (assuming connected by wired ethernet.)
Artwork and synopsis - check
Simple GUI - check (but like any GUI you need to learn it)

Support - FAIL!!!!! Netgear have made this product EOL already and the promised updates have not materialised. There is supposed to be one final update from a a subcontracted third party, but that is already 6 months late.

TBH, the issues that the vociferous users (not me) have reported don't affect me so I am happy. It's a bit quirky in places however it does what I want with little fuss.

HTH.
 
At the moment my only two candiates are Dune HD TV-101 and Western Digialt HD TV G3. I guess I would be satisfied whoever of these I'll decide to buy.

Thanks to you and everyone who have helped me here at avforums.com
 
I tried playing some YouTube videos recently, NTV550 managed to list them but wouldn't play any. Anyone else..?

Echo Mr Orange's comments and add my own personal pet hate that trick play is pants on anything but MKV files.

"The ultimate media player" we were told, only to see Blu-Ray playback quietly expunged from the feature list when thet couldn't get it working.
 
Just to emphasise how completely rubbish Netgear were with this, I re-read the thread. Here are some timeline highlights. Remember that this was a 3rd generation product from Netgear.

Once they work the kinks out of it and update the firmware for a bit I think it's going to be terrific.

It's early days for this unit and Netgear have the chance to make it something special with some decent and timely firmware updates - give them a chance

Player has just been shipped (Jan 2011), and we are now 7 months away from end of life...(EOL) - Last FW update was August 25th 2011 Fw Thread


Then 3 months before EOL

Just to spread the word, Netgear have now opened a Bug / Feature Voting System.

Now 3 months after EOL we have posts such as:

Pixmania are selling the NeoTV 550 for £83.90. Good deal?

Is the new player something worth buying?

1 year after EOL
I'm looking for at mediaplayer and consider the Netgear Neo TV550


First mention on this thread that it is EOL is one year after...

Support - FAIL!!!!! Netgear have made this product EOL already and the promised updates have not materialised.


The unit never really worked as advertised for most people. Blu-ray was terrible, youtube did not work, negotiations fell down for some paid streaming services, the last FW for me (both beta and stable) also left cover art wall not working, the SD card does not work anymore so there is no caching at all, scanning does not work until you have done it 3 times in a row....

The worst I think is that Netgear kept saying "don't worry, this is a flagship best in market product and FW fixes will solve issues" and then they dumped it with no warning, but kept selling it!!

The customer support, tech fixes, marketing and communication, and level of honesty and customer care displayed were a complete shambles, and I have vowed to never buy netgear again (including at work where i have spent hundreds of thousands on computer equipment).

sorry it is seems a rant, but when you read back knowing when EOL is, you just feel like so many people were let down.
 
It is a shame that Netgear didn't allow this device to live up to its full potential because it's a decent piece of hardware. I thought I'd end up getting rid of mine once I bought the WDTVLive but it's still my go-to device for streaming video and BD iso whilst the WDTV has just become my Netflix streamer...
 

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