| Manufacturer: Netgear | Model: Digital Entertainer Live |
| Price: $149/£119 | Web: Netgear |
Introduction
Last week we reviewed Netgear’s entry-level network storage solution for the home, the Stora. Once you have all of your media collated and stored on a network storage device like the Stora, or for that matter, any network attached storage device or home server, one of your fun next steps is to enable playing that media all over your home. Of course, your PCs can access and play that content easily – but what about your TV? That big screen would be great for viewing your photos with the family, listening to your music on your sofa (as I’m doing as I write this review!) and watching videos together – but how could you do it?
Whilst an increasing number of TVs will be shipped with Ethernet ports in the future, the short terms answer for many is a digital media receiver – a small set-top box that can connect your TV to the network, and provide the interface for navigating and playing all of your media on the big screen. Now, DMRs have been around for a little while and still have yet to really grip the market – that may be because they’ve been underpowered and generally do not present the user with a great user experience. I may also be because the whole networked media use case still hasn’t hit the mainstream. Or because users are struggling to understand just how to get a decent quality network connection near their TV. In reality, it’s a combination of those factors that’s held back the DMR market to date, but manufacturers continue to improve and release new models into the marketplace.
Netgear’s Digital Entertainer Live is the company’s latest attempt to bring networked media into the living room. Its previous efforts, the EVA7000 and 8000 were reasonable efforts but a large chassis, flaky firmware (I managed to brick both models in the past during a Firmware update) and lack of user interface polish blotted its copy book. The new model, called Digital Entertainer Live (EVA2000) brings a new, much smaller chassis (resembling the company’s router designs), a refreshed UI, HDMI connection and links to new online services (that’ll be the “Live” bit, then). We’re reviewing the UK model today, which differs slightly in the online services bundled in-box, but will cover the US model’s services later in the review.
What’s in the Box?
Right, let’s get the Digital Entertainer Live unboxed – it’s a compact package that contains the following:
- Digital Entertainer Live (EVA2000)
- Infrared remote control
- 2 x AAA Batteries
- Ethernet cable
- Quick install guide
- Resource CD
- Composite AV cable
- Power Adaptor
The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed a glaring omission – the Digital Entertainer Live connects to the network with the supplied Ethernet cable (or via wireless via an optional wireless adaptor, bought separately) and connects to your HDTV via HDMI using the supplied…. oh, hang on, they haven’t included a HDMI cable in the box. So, note that if you buy in a store or online, you’ll need to add-in a HDMI cable too as Netgear couldn’t be bothered and the Digital Entertainer isn’t entertaining anyone without one. Sorry but, I don’t accept analogue AV as an acceptable solution for high definition TV owners in 2010.
First Looks
Those of you who have owned a Netgear router in the past few years will instantly recognise the design of the Digital Entertainer Live – it looks a lot like a small router. But the important word is small. Previous Digital Entertainer Models were designed to be the length of your DVD/Blu-ray player (I opened one up and it the actual motherboard was tiny – it was all fresh air) which meant they were tricky to install if space under the TV was limited. The great news is that Netgear have seen the light, and the EVA2000 is tiny – a neat and compact media receiver that should slot easily into most TV cabinets.
The front of the unit just has an LED showing power status and the infra-red sensor for the remote, whilst around the back, you’ll find a 12v power socket, 10/100 Ethernet socket (should be fine for high definition video, but come on Netgear, was Gigabit that much more expensive to put in?) and two USB 2.0 ports for attaching hard drives with media.
