Hardware Xtreamer Network Media Player Review

With our media collections expanding faster than our Christmas waistlines, we check out the Xtreamer, an all in one media player with more than a few tricks up its sleeve. Can it dethrone the impressive WDTV Live? Read on to find out.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/12/12/xtreamer-network-media-player-review/1

 

All the click to enlarge images appear to be smaller than the thumbnails themselves :s

 

Very true... Not that I wanted to see this outdated ugly box any larger anyway.

 

^ +1

fail of a product. i was sceptical looking at the first pictures, the thing looked tiny(no bigger that a 4 port router) so i wondered what it might do apart from keep papars falling off one's desk, turns out it cant do much more!

this must piss you off a little harry, time spent reviewing an item like this, for the product to be soo lowsy....mind, you did get to do the wdtv last week so its technology karma commin' to getcha!

peace

fatman

 

whoops - a slight resizing error there. Sadly I won't be able to rectify till monday as the originals are at the office!

I've actually spent a great deal of time with both the WDTV Live and Xtreamer over the past few months (they were mini-reviewed in the mag) and it's frustrating how behind the Xtremer is now. As I say in the review, on paper it's the better device but the actual execution just isn't up to scratch.

SD playback is fine of course, as is 720p, but we're moving more and more towards ultra high bit-rate, 1080p content and the Xtreamer just cannot cope.

I also negated to mention that the DTS down mixing on the Xtreamer is rubbish. 5.1 > 2.0 sounds flat and imbalanced with explosions far too loud and speech far too quiet. The WDTV Live does a much better job of keeping the downmixed audio balanced and while it's obviously not perfect (if only we all had Onkyo amps and 5.1 setups) it's very mucha more pleasant auditry experience.

 

this is very strange

i have loads of 1080p content and all work flawlessly after the latest firmware (the old firmware had problems just like on the review)

and the RTD128X i is much more powerful that the one used on wd tv

 

So.... not very strange at all then! As you have confirmed their results from your own previous experience. I would assume that they have the original Firmware running...

It still does not solve my personal main issue with this device. As a means of streaming media it will be on display in the main part of the room and it just looks like an old 54kbps modem from the early 90's... like it fell of the set of 'Hackers'.

 

^^^ whats wrong with a retro look =p

come on this is a modding community, I would just make an acrylic case for it ^_^

 

60 MB/s isnt even in Blu-Ray Spec as that tops out at 40 MB/s

 

please try a 40mbit blu-ray sample instead

 

I enjoy the retro look.

 

ok there is something wrong here

i played 3 blu ray files that are over 20 mb/s
and a custom vid i mad in sony that went over 25- 30 mb/s
and there was no stutter or anything what so ever

 

can some one tell where i can get a 30+mb/s blu ray sample ?

 

No, not everyone mods. As for the retro look... I doubt you are watching Blu-Rays on an old 20" tube based tv.

 

I don't know what to say. I have an xtreamer and have been using it for three months now and I do not recall a single file not being read or stuttering happening. And I use it with a large range of different types of files and with lots of 1080p movies.

"the interface of the Xstreamer to be confusing and irritating." Again, I can't possibly understand how such an easy interface can be irritating and confusing. It may be too easy and therefore limited but confusing and irritating ?

I am not saying that this is the best product out there, but for 99 euros I still think it's a good deal.

EDIT:
People are complainig because this meda player is tiny ? To me being small it's a bonus (that's what she said I know ). I bring it with me when I travel for work and with its 500 GB disk full with movies. Portability I call it.

 

same here
after the newest firmware the xtreamer reads 1080p files more than 30 mb/s
ive tried a 35 gb ts rip of 5th element and its wasnt stuttering what so ever

 

We test all our media testing kit with a set array of files, from publicly available HD trailers to custom samples, varying significantly in bit-rate and codec. This peaks with our 60MB/s sample, but that was by means the only thing the Xtreamer struggled to play. 1080p AVIs also refused to play and 1080p MKVs visibly stuttered under particularly high bit-rate sequences, ruining playback.

I've used both devices, side by side playing my own media collection over an extended period and there really is no contest. The WDTV has a better interface, is silent out of the box, and from our testing is much more capable when it comes to multi-formats. While the Xtreamer did play 80% of the files we gave it, the WDTV played 100% and it's that 20% difference that's critical her, especially as bit-rates and media demands are only going to rise.

If you're media library plays using an Xtreamer, fantastic, but as a reviewer I need to test more of the devices capabilities than checking to see if one or two identically encoded files play. In fact I re-tested almost every file on Thursday after spotting a new firmware release was out - it still failed to play the same HD test files and still stuttered under particularly high-bit rate 1080p MKV playback. That's not to say all 1080p MKVs struggleof course, but again, it's those minority of files that won't work that'll spoil your experience.

Incidentally, images fixed - sorry for the delay!

 

can we know what firmware version you were using ? That is critical too here. Especially for the first product of a a 6 months old company.

EDIT :

It seems you were using the latest release.

 

so what u are saying is the WDTV is better than Xtreamer in every way ?
can u tell me one HD trailer that didnt work on the Xtreamer
if there is may you please link ti to me

 

BD-ISO is not unique to xtreamer, it's supported by the PopcornHour C200.