BIOS Reviews the Pinnacle Wireless G Digital Media Player

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.biosmagazine.co.uk/rev.php?id=215' target='_blank'>http://www.biosmagazine.co.uk/rev.php?id=215</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Pinnacle Systems' Wireless G digital media player lets you access certain audio, image and videos stored on your PC or laptop's hard disk on a regular TV in the comfort of your living room - and without wires thanks to support for 802.11g. The silver set-top box and supplied server software is a snap to use, and within a few minutes you'll be finding all of your music, movies and photos, organising them by category, and then playing them back on your TV without a computer in sight. Similar to a PC running Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition, movies playback as clear as the original and there's no loss of sound quality either, which is great news. The product also supports digital video recording, as long as you have a TV tuner card in your PC. On the downside, the buttons on the remote control aren't very clear (fonts are small and buttons are shiny), audio files are automatically converted into MP3 format, and the server software only runs on Windows systems. Nevertheless, it's a fascinating product that can make your PC and TV do almost everything like Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition operating system."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/ShowCenter.jpg" />

[Pat Logsdon]

Hurrah! DivX and Xvid support!

[iclark]

About 12 months ago when shopping for a lounge room media player I almost bought the Pinnacle Show Centre until I found the Virtuoso MC-500 from Neuston (www.neuston.com)

It was a 50/50 decision at the time but some poor user feedback on the Pinnacle support forums pushed me to the Neuston.

A couple of quick observations about my experience Media Centre products and in particualr the Neuston.

Media Centre Products

One of the most functional, simple and awesome examples of convergence of technology.

I deliver to my Lounge Room my DVD collection, Music, and Photos &amp; Internet

My wife can sit down and browse any of the '000s of digital photos we have. Delivered by the TV with a good choice of soundtrack is a great way to view photos of birthday parties, sports events, family functions etc. The kids love it and will often prefer to watch photos over TV !!!!

Got small kids - Sick of scratched DVDs. We have ripped all of our DVDs and even compressed them to MPEG4 format (via Dr DIVX) and now the kids simply scroll through the collection with a remote, hit play, pause, FFWD etc etc. Not sure about the true quality if you are a high end buff but it looks perfect to me. The offer AC3, Dolby etc etc but we only have basic TV set up and no stero.

Audio / MP3 - Internet Radio / Full blown MP3 playback solution. Make a playlist of 5-6 hours of music to suit you mood (dinner party background music say and hit play and enjoy the evening).

Internet - Full internet access in the Lounge room. Pity about the navigation via a Remote Control.

I am convinced Media Centres are only in their first generation. If I would only pump live TV via my Media Centre. Throw in PVR functionality Ooohhhhh....

I am sure it will come as will the branding of these with Dell, HP, Microsoft, Sony, Phillips logos.

The MC-500 observations

Awesome piece of technology. Delivers everthing and more. Easy to set up. Wireless 802.11b is too slow for video (too jerky). Have not tested 802.11g yet.

Kids and the wife can drive it with ease.

Most impressive tech support I have ever seen from ANY company (and I have been buying tech "toys" since the Newton Message Pad). No matter what the problem, Neuston listen to the feedback and develop a solution where possible - usually in a few weeks. New releases contain not only fixes but many new features driven by user feedback.

The uploading of the software updates is a simple as a few clicks.

They are extremely active on their support forums and even developed a Mac server version in response to user feedback.

Wish List - Built in Wireless (802.11g), Wireless Keyboard for internet navigation.

BTW I have no interest in any form with this company or the sale of this product - I just reckon it is a great product and love their support.

[Jason Dunn]

Great first post iclark! Nice to hear your thoughts - yes, media players are still very new on the market and rough around the edges. For first and second generation products, most of them are pretty good. I can't wait to see how great they'll be in 24 months!