Jeremy Charette
10-24-2005, 05:00 PM
<img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/charette-sep05-linktheather-1.jpg" /> <br /><b>Product Category:</b> Digital Media Player<br /><b>Manufacturer:</b> <a href="http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=96&categoryid=18">Buffalo Technology</a><br /><b>Where to Buy:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007MGEOC/ref%3Dnosim/13269302-20/102-5064284-2829723">Amazon.com</a><br /><b>Price:</b> $351.99 USD<br /><b>System Requirements:</b> A TV, a computer, a network (wired or wireless)<br /><b>Specifications:</b> 16.5 x 2 x 10.43 in., 100-240V 50/60 Hz, Supports Windows XP, 2000, Me, and 98SE<br /><br /><b>Pros:</b><li>Plays high-definition video;<br /><li>Does not require HDCP;<br /><li>Connects wirelessly to your home network.<br /><b>Cons:</b><li>Poor user interface;<br /><li>Does not play most protected content;<br /><li>Will not play WMV HD DVDs.<b>Summary:</b><br />The Buffalo Technology High-Definition Wireless Media Player has incredible potential. It can output up to 1080i high-definition content and stream music, video, and photos across your home network. It can play almost every multimedia file type out there, from a wide variety of sources. So does it live up to the hype?<br /><br />Read on for the full review!<!><PAGEBREAK><br /><br /><span><b>Music, Movies, and Photos, All On Your HDTV!</b></span><br />Buffalo Technology was among the very first to release a media player with the ability to stream high-definition video from any PC in the house. The idea is simple: the PC-P3LWG/DVD Wireless Media Player takes audio, video, and photo files from your home network, a CD or DVD disc, or an external drive or device, and plays them back on your HDTV. It can connect to your existing network with an ethernet connection, and it also has a built-in 802.11g/b wireless card, allowing it to stream data at up to 54 Mbps. <br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/charette-sep05-linktheather-3.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 1: This diagram shows how the PC-P3LWG/DVD connects to various devices.</i><br /><br />It can read a variety of video file formats, including wmv, divx, mpeg, vob, just for starters. As for audio files, it can play mp3, wma, ogg, wav, aac, and ac3; as well as a few others. Last, but not least, it can display various picture file formats, including jpg, gif, bmp, tif, and png. The PC-P3LWG/DVD can play back DVDs and SVCDs. It can also play back data files from various CD and DVD formats. All video files (except for commercial DVDs) are upscaled to whatever resolution your TV supports, up to 1080i.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/charette-sep05-linktheather-9.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 2: Just a small sample of the formats the PC-P3LWG/DVD supports.</i><br /><br /><span><b>It All Sounds Good On Paper...</b></span><br />Wireless networking? Check. High-definition playback? Check. Simple, yet powerful interface? Well...let's talk about that for a minute.<br /><br />The PC-P3LWG/DVD comes with the usual extras, a remote, standard RCA cables, and a user's manual. It also includes a CD with some networking software and an ethernet cable. Setup is fairly easy, just plug the unit in, and turn the power on. (Side note: why are component video cables not included in the box?)<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/charette-sep05-linktheather-11.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 3: Connection diagram for a standard-definition TV.</i><br /><br />I connected the PC-P3LWG/DVD using my own component video cables. The unit defaults to an output setting of 480i, which is fine for most standard definition TVs. What to do next isn't exactly intuitive, so I had to flip through the manual to figure out how to change the output resolution. A combination of the setup and enter buttons cycles through 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. My TV doesn't display 720p, so I got nothing but a blank screen when it cycled to that setting. Personally, I'd prefer to see a menu where a user can check off the output formats supported but his or her TV, like the menus found on my HD Cable Box and my Xbox.<br /><br />Once I had selected 1080i output, I noticed that the user interface wasn't very sharp. It turns out that unless you go into the Setup menu, select the high-definition browser option, and restart the unit, it displays the same standard definition menus, no matter what display output you choose. It would seem to me that if you are using a high-definition output format, you would naturally want a sharp, clear, high-definition menu to look at. :? <br /><br />The home screen displays any devices you may have connected to the PC-P3LWG/DVD, including any USB drives, networked hard drives, and other computers on your network (but only after you've installed Buffalo's LinkTheater software or Windows Media Connect). It also displays whatever disc is in the CD/DVD drive, whether it's a commercial DVD movie disc, or a data disc in any number of formats. Buffalo Technology relies on Universal Plug 'n' Play (UPnP) technology to automatically detect and connect to compatible devices. The trouble is, it doesn't always work "automatically". When this happens, you have to be tech-savvy enough to know the device's IP address and name, and be able to manually enter this information so that the PC-P3LWG/DVD can find it. Not exactly "user friendly".<br /><br />Frankly, the home screen isn't pretty to look at, nor does it necessarily tell you what you need to know about what's on any of the networked devices. Fortunately, when you select a device (like a networked PC), it pulls up a much nicer interface which allows you to play back video, audio, and photo files. There's also the option of displaying RSS feeds, web bookmarks, Internet radio, podcasts, and Yahoo search. This all sounds well and good, but there are a few problems.<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>That Sounds Great, But...</b></span><br />For starters, the video, audio, and photo menu screens can't be sorted by anything other than alphabetical/numerical order. The PC-P3LWG/DVD supposedly allows you to sort your music by library, album, artist, or genre, but I couldn't get it to recognize any of the tags assigned to my music by Windows Media Player and iTunes. It simply displayed the complete filename, tag and all. There is no indication in the manual as to what type of music tags <i>are</i> supported.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/charette-sep05-linktheather-5.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 4: The Music browser screen.</i><br /><br />Buffalo Technology allows you to use <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/wmconnect/default.aspx">Windows Media Connect </a>to play protected WMA and WMV files. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to play a single protected file using WMC, since the PC-P3LWG/DVD was not listed as an "authorized" device. This is a pretty significant downfall, considering that one of the strengths of this media player is the ability to play <a href="http://www.wmvhd.com/">WMV HD </a>files. The only non-protected WMV HD files available are the sample files available on Microsoft's WMV HD website. WMV HD DVDs are available, but they don't play in the PC-P3LWG/DVD because they contain DRM encoding that only works with Windows Media Player. I also couldn't play protected music files that I'd downloaded from Napster (although the manual says that I should be able to). I also had a ton of problems with mysterious file errors using Windows Media Connect, as well as massive system slowdowns, and <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,8941">I'm not the only one.</a><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/charette-sep05-linktheather-6.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 5: The Video browser screen.</i><br /><br />Photos? Forget about it. I couldn't get photos on my PC to display at all, no matter what I tried. I found similar complaints from other PC-P3WLG/DVD users.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/charette-sep05-linktheather-4.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 6: The photo browser menu.</i><br /><br />The most significant problem I had is that the PC-P3LWG/DVD can't cope with slower data transfer rates. When I used a memory card reader, or my existing 802.11b wireless router, I experienced significant stuttering and jerkiness when playing back music or video files. This made it impossible to use as a Digital Audio Player. It certainly didn't have to do with distance or a weak signal, as my router and laptop were within a couple of feet of the Wireless Media Player. Apparently the PC-P3LWG/DVD can't pre-cache files to prevent this from happening.<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusions</b></span><br />I had high expectations for the Buffalo Technology Wireless Media Player. It certainly had all the right stuff. It's one of the few stand-alone devices that can play back WMV HD video files. Unfortunately, this very capable hardware is let down by a poorly designed interface. It looks like it was created by three different designers; the setup, home, and media menus look totally different. None of them are very intuitive or easy to use.<br /><br />Some of the problems with the P3LWG/DVD are beyond Buffalo Technology’s control. Windows Media Connect is not a very mature file streaming package, WMV HD content is sparse, and without High Definition Content Protection (HDCP), major content providers probably won’t allow this device to play back DRM protected content. Also, since this device doesn’t have HDCP, the DVD Consortium and the MPAA will not allow it to upscale DVDs to 720p or 1080i (DVD output is fixed at 480p).<br /><br />WMV HD video looks outstanding when played back in 1080i on an HDTV. Unfortunately, WMV HD isn’t a very widely supported format, and what little content is available also contains DRM protection. Buffalo Technology claims they are trying to allow users to access more DRM’d content, but I haven’t seen any progress in this area since they released this product in February of 2005.<br /><br />With an improved user interface, HDCP, and better DRM support, the P3WLG/DVD could be a truly great product. As it stands right now, however, I can’t recommend it. Get a Media Center Extender instead, or wait for the Xbox 360 to come out in November.<br /><br /><i>Jeremy Charette is a Process Engineer for a global defense contractor. When not working, he enjoys reading up on a variety of subjects, playing video games on Xbox Live, and spending time with this wonderful fiancee.</i>