Viewsonic WMA100
Viewsonic’s contribution to the
streaming-media scene is the WMA100.
Like Buffalo’s LinkTheater, the WMA100
streams multiple video formats using
a basic UPNP server. Unlike Buffalo’s
product, however, the WMA100’s
interface is clunky, slow, and diffi cult
to use.
Once we got video playing withthe WMA100, it looked
and sounded quite good.
It choked on some Xvid
encoded videos, but played
nearly everything else with
aplomb. Colors were crisp
and clear, and the image
held up even in scenes
with lots of fast motion.
Unfortunately, when playing
a ripped DVD, the device
doesn’t provide you with any
of the typical DVD options,
so you can’t choose subtitles
or an alternative audio track.
Furthermore, the WMA100 is
incapable of piping an analog
signal to your stereo via the SPDIF,
which forces you to change inputs on
your stereo every time you switch fi les.
That’s just goofy!
In the end, we see no reason to
recommend this adapter over Buffalo’s
LinkTheater.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT 6
$300, http://www.viewsonic.comBUY^ THE PERFECT STREAMING BOX
Buffalo LinkTheater
Let’s start with the most versatile, easy-to-use product in
our roundup. The LinkTheater not only connects to your
network and streams audio and video across your
wired or wireless LAN, it also includes an integrated
DVD player. Setup was ludicrously simple; in fact, the
LinkTheater began working before we’d even installed its
server software. It hitched onto another Universal Plug and
Play server that was already running on our LAN. That’s the
way a streaming box should work.
The LinkTheater handled every video format we threw at it,
including Divx, Xvid, WMV, and even straight MPEG-2, without
a hitch (it wouldn’t, however, play QuickTime movies). We’re
especially impressed with the video quality of the streamed
content. This LinkTheater video looked as good as or better than it
does when played directly on our PC monitors.
Unfortunately, we weren’t as impressed with the LinkTheater’s
handling of music fi les. The box choked when presented with
a mere 8,000-track library, and sound quality left something
to be desired. We therefore don’t recommend the LinkTheater
for audio streaming; you’d be better served by a stand-alone
audio streaming box—such as Slim Device’s Squeezebox ( http://www.
slimdevices.com ) or Sonos Jukebox ( http://www.sonos.com ).
Also included in the LinkTheater package is a rudimentary webbrowser. We’re not enamored of set-top browsing, but it’s an
option that no other streaming box here offers. Although the
server app will pull your bookmarks from Internet Explorer or
Firefox , we’d prefer it to go a step further and give us the news-
feeds directly from our favorite sites.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT 8
$350, http://www.buffalotech.comThe Buffalo
LinkTheater streamed
great-looking video in damn
near every format we tested.Apple
Airport
Express with
iTunes
Apple pitches the
Airport Express
as an easy way to
stream audio from
your computer to your stereo. Unfortunately,
nothing could be further from the truth.
Because the Airport Express’ original
function is as a wireless router, it’s diffi cult
to confi gure it as a streaming media device.
And once you have the Airport Express up
and running, the experience is disappointing.
Each installation of iTunes can play to only
one location at a time. For instance, if you’re
streaming songs to your living room from
your offi ce, you can’t listen to songs using
iTunes in your offi ce.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT 4
$130, http://www.apple.com36 MA XIMUMPC JUNE 200 5
You’ve got your home network up and running, and
you’ve built your media server. All you need now is
something to turn the bits stored on your media server
into audio and video on your TV. Lucky for you, that’sexactly what these boxes do! Once you purchase a
streaming box, getting it going is as easy as connecting
the device to your TV and network, and then installing
its software.