CiragoTV Platinum CMC3200 Network Multimedia Center Review

Legit Mods and Ends Reviews

The CiragoTV Platinum Network Multimedia Center

When we ran into Cirago at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show we were introduced to their brand new media player, the CiragoTV Platinum.  CiragoTV outfitted the Platinum HD Multimedia Center with the ability to play Blue-ray ISOs, as well as MKV, AVI, MP3, and OGG files.  They also included a BitTorrent client and the ability to convert the player to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device so that all devices in your home or office can access the contents of the CiragoTV Platinum.  There is even a huge 2TB hard drive built in to house as much multimedia as you want.

The CiragoTV Platinum comes in three different configurations: The $179 500GB CMC3050; a $199 1TB CMC3100; and a $299 2TB CMC 3200.  The CiragoTV Platinum CMC3200 HD media player that we have contains a Realtek chipset that has traditionally been great for viewing every form of HD multimedia.  We really don’t expect any surprises when we evaluate this unit.  Our biggest questions are how well does the GUI look and feel and how functional are all the amenities such as the BitTorrent client.

Another big plus that this player has is the ability to record live television through its AV In.  From the looks of things, it should function as a SD digital recorder.  The CiragoTV CMC3200 doesn’t have a built-in tuner so don’t pick this unit up expecting to get digital signals over the air or even ones that aren’t decoded by a cable box.

(Click on Comparison Chart above for larger picture)

CiragoTV CMC3200 Featured Specifications

:

• Store media files on the built-in hard drive


• Watch high definition 1080p videos directly on your TV


• Access files on the local network with the NAS function


• Stream files over the network directly to your TV


• Share P2P files using the BitTorrent client


• Copy files between Multimedia Center, USB devices, memory cards, and other devices on the local network


• Record Live TV through AV in (DTV converter or cable/satellite box required)


• Record and playback different shows simultaneously


• Pause or rewind live TV shows with the Timeshift feature


• Built-in LAN networking, wireless networking via optional USB adapter


• Enjoy photo slideshows, music playlists and internet radio


• Card reader (MemoryStick/MemoryStick Pro, SD/SDHC/MMC) for easy access to media


• 2 available USB ports for additional storage space


• Multi-language user interface


• Get PlayOn for only $19.99 - www.cirago.com/playon


• PlayOn User Guide - www.cirago.com/playonuserguide


• Interface     2x USB 2.0 (host), USB 2.0 (device)     Spec Sheet


• Ethernet     10/100Mbps, wired and wireless (via optional USB 802.11n 300Mbps adapter)


• Card Reader formats     MemoryStick/MemoryStick Pro, SD/SDHC/MMC


• Power     12V, AC/DC 110/240V adapter included


• Video output     HDMI up to 1080p, AV


• Audio output     SPDIF (optical), Stereo


• Video input     AV Input


• Recording format     MPEG2, up to 720 x 480


• Supported video formats     MPEG1 (dat, mpg), MPEG2 (vob, mpg, ts), MPEG4 (avi, divx, xvid, wmv, mov, mkv), RM/RMVB, VC-1, H.264


• Supported audio formats     MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV, AAC, AC3, ADPCM


• Supported image formats     JPEG, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PNG


• Warranty     1 year

Next Page - Setting up the CiragoTV Platinum

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Netgear NeoTV 550 HD Network Media Player Review

Legit Mods and Ends Reviews

NeoTV 550 - Netgear's Flagship HD Media Player

When Netgear introduced the NeoTV 550 last summer, their goals was to make a complete digital media server that plays movies, music, and photos shared on your computer or networked devices including PCs and Macs.  The NeoTV 550 displays and plays your media in full 1080p with HD 7.1 Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound.  It has a built in SD card slot as well as a couple of USB ports so that you bring over your media directly to the media player without a network.

The immediate problem for the Netgear NeoTV 550 is that in the past year or so, there has been a tremendous influx of media players and media streaming enabled devices on the market.  With a retail price of $199, the NeoTV 550 starts off behind the curve being one of the most expensive players on the market.  One of our favorite players – the Western Digital Live Hub carries the same MSRP, but the Western Digital comes with a 1TB hard drive for on-board storage.  The question is: Can the NeoTV 550 deliver performance to justify this cost?

Netgear recently released a robust firmware upgrade for the NeoTV 550 HD Media Player to give what was already a solid media player a few new bells and whistles.  Firmware 3.0.325 which was released a short time ago features Video and Audio improvements as well as a slew of multimedia streaming upgrades and bug fixes. Today we look at how Netgear’s newest upgrades compares to other top players on the market. 

The Netgear NeoTV 550 Featured Specifications

System Requirements

Connections

• Two (2) USB ports (1 front, 1 back)


• SD card slot


• eSATA port


• 10/100 Ethernet

Languages

• English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

Media Sources

• USB Storage devices


• eSATA storage devices


• SD memory card


• CIFS/Samba, NFS


• UPnP AV and DLNA Servers


• Windows Media Player 11 Media Sharing

Video and Audio Output

• HDMI 1.3a, 36bpp deep color, 12 bit xvYCC processing and HDCP 1.2 compliant


• Component video


• Composite video


• Stereo analog audio


• S/PDIF optical digital audio

Digital Media File Formats

• Codec format:


• H.264 HP@L4.1 up to 1080p


• VC1 MP@HL, AP@L3


• WMV 9


• MPEG-2 MP@HL up to 1080p


• MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP@L5 to 10 Mbps (Xvid)


• MPEG1/2/4 SD


• H.263

• Container format: AVI, Xvid, MOV, MP4, MPEG2 PS, MPEG2-TS, DVD ISO/VOB/IFO, MKV, ASF, AVCHD, DivX, WMV, M4A, M2TS, MTS, MP1, MP2, MPG, DVR-MS, BDMV

• Blu-ray (external USB Blu-ray player not supported)

• Audio:


• Dolby Digital (AC3), Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD


• DTS 2.0+, DTS HD and DTS HD MA (passthru)


• MP3 up to 320 Kbps or variable bit rate (VBR)


• Gapless playback MP3, FLAC, M4A, M2TS


• WMA8 and WMA9 up to 192 Kbps or variable bit rate (VBR)


• WMAPro, AAC, FLAC (to 5.1, 192Khz), PCM LPCM/WAV (to 5.1, 192Khz)


• Internet radio (streaming MP3)


• MKA

• Subtitle:


• SRT, SMI, SSA, SUB, TXT, DVD, PGS, VOBSUB, SUB/IDX
  

Next Page - NeoTV 550 - Box Contents & Setup

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Gaming Network Card EVGA Killer Xeno Pro

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I believe most of you ever have a problem while watching good online match, or playing online game sometimes lag is inevitable. And I also believe that you'll be angry or get disappointed when you play online game and get lag. To try minimize these kind of problem, BigFoot Networks launch Killer Xeno Pro, a network card sold by EVGA that take control of internet away from Windows and manages the bandwidth the user need. Even to operate this kind of card a little bit complex but it gives what is promises.

This card come up with PCI Express x1 connector Gigabit Ethernet card with a network port, a USB 2.0 port and two audio output/input. It has 400 MHz PowerPC processor with 128 MB of DDR 2 RAM. To install this card is quite simple, just plug in the card, then disable your onboard LAN (through Control Panel or BIOS setup will be no proble,) after than install Killer Xeno Pro driver so it can take over the network of your CPU.

For further specification you can see it below :

• Speed : 10/100/1000 MB/s
• 400 MHz dedicated Network Processing Unit
• 128 MB DDR2 PC2100 266 MHz memory
• PCI Express x1 connector
• Port : RJ-45, USB 2.0, 3.5mm audio input/output
• Dimension : 4” x 4.5” x 7.5” (10cm x 11.5cm x 2cm)
• Weight : 4 oz (115gr)
• Real Manufacturer : BigFoot Networks
• MSRP in the US : $130

Finally I want show you the Strong Points and Weaknesses Points

Strong Points :

1. Easy to install and configure
2. Overall improvements of latency in framerate values
3. Make it possible to download file and keep on playing game online

Weaknesses points

1. Connection improvement may not be worth the investment
2. Casual gamer will not feel the need to have it
3. It will not improve bad internet connection

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Unique Network device ASUS RT-N56U Black Diamond

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All of us is know that network device is almost in ‘box’ design. But now ASUS take something different to the network device and it’s so unique. Not only because have unique design but also this have so many advantages on it. And for the installation it’s really easy and user-friendly so the user won’t be confused. This device also support wireless network and wire network so that’s why this device is so powerful and complete. If you want everything and all information see it below:

• Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi means that the RT-N56U Black Diamond is effectively two routers in one. Both 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices can connect at speeds up to 300Mbps concurrently. Separate frequencies allow both networks to operate completely independently, which means wireless HD video streaming over 5GHz 802.11a/n won’t be affected when 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n devices connect.
• Five Gigabit Ethernet ports (4 LAN, 1 WAN) plus hardware-accelerated NAT provide excellent wired network performance. Paired with compatible devices and a suitably-capable internet service, the RT-N56U Black Diamond can achieve data throughput speeds of over 900Mbps — much higher than other home broadband routers.
• Support for up to 300,000 data sessions means that the RT-N56U Black Diamond has around 20 times the networking capacity of other home routers. Data transfers won’t slow down when the router is under heavy load and easy-to-use QoS settings ensure that important traffic — VoIP calls or online gaming — isn’t adversely affected by large file downloads.
• ASUS Ai Radar provides enhanced 5GHz Wi-Fi coverage using customized beam forming technology. The RT-N56U Black Diamond intelligently detects where each connected 5GHz 802.11a/n device is located and delivers the strongest connection possible. This transforms what may be a weak omni directional signal to a stronger, unidirectional one, improving throughput as a result.

Easy Installation

• Wizard-based configuration makes the RT-N56U Black Diamond extremely easy to configure, even for network novices. ASUS plug-n-surf technology establishes an internet connection via an ADSL or cable broadband modem in three steps, while Dr. Surf helps troubleshoot wired and wireless network connections and EZ Printer Sharing makes sharing a single printer among several networked computers a breeze.
• Two USB 2.0 ports allow the RT-N56U Black Diamond to both share a USB printer on a network and operate as high-speed NAS (Network Attached Storage) when an external USB 2.0 storage device is connected.

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Network card

Network card


PCI Wireles Network Card

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