1st media player - HD200 or Netgear EVA9000?

[Wified]

Which one would you get? What is the best standalone media player right now?

And what about NAS?

HP MediaSmart Server EX487
or
Infrant/Netgear ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer

Thanks for advice on a newbie just getting into this whole thing, looking mainly for something that just works. Not looking for "work-in-progress" type of solution, which all HTPC's are.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Wified

Which one would you get? What is the best standalone media player right now?

I would say either the Popcorn Hour or SageTV HD200.
If you plan to ever use SageTV, definitely go with the HD200. If you're only looking for a standalone media player you could go with either and be fine.

Thanks for advice on a newbie just getting into this whole thing, looking mainly for something that just works. Not looking for "work-in-progress" type of solution, which all HTPC's are.

I tend to disagree with your statement on HTPCs and personally would say "work-in-progress" type solution would be the standalone media players. If you want good, stable DVR/PVR, Media Center you'll be happy with SageTV.

I see the HD200 as a stepping stone into the HTPC world. Start out with a simple network-attached media player that can do online video and some other nice stuff. Then you can expand into HTPC liveTV and PVR-type stuff with SageTV down the road with the same box.

[chalnick]

I have the same question - EVA9000 or HD200. I have searched in vain for a good discussion that compares the two devices. What I am looking for is something that will pull my home videos (many different formats) and photos from an NAS and allow me to watch them on my TV. Will both devices do this equally well? Anyone have thoughts on which is better or what the key differences are?

[Texas-Hansen]

HD200

and

HP MediaSmart Server EX 485 (or EX 470...if you can still find it). For more detailed info on the HP MSS, you might check out www.mediasmartserver.net



I'm using an H200 as an extender. I'm also using a HP MSS EX470 with 4 TB of storage in it. It has the Sage Media Center WHS software running on it. Works very nicely together. I use it for streaming movies but not for recording TV as I leave that to the DVRs in each room.