Views on this gadget please

[Ethel]

Do I need it?
What will it do for me?
Is it easy to use?

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive /hardware/2233804/western-digital-wdtv

[ACtheTROLL]

Normally I'd simply ask what is wrong with you woman .... it's a gadget ... of course you need it.

but I'm a bit of a mediaphobe - so my question is (I don't normally ask this question where gadgets are concerned) ... do you need all that flexibility ...

I got me one of these little puppys

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductI D=623005&source=froogle

bung it a 1Tb drive and you can play and record divx, mp3 a few other formats & jpg

it's a bit tinny .... but it works a treat ....takes memory cards and it's an external disc as well

[Ethel]

I have films, music, photos, youtube clips, tv recordings on my Creative Zen - I hook it up to the tv with a small cable and everything plays tickety boo on the big screen.

Do I NEED anything else?

[ChuckFickens]

Doesn't sound like you need it to me

if your zen does the job stick with that.

(ps if where to get anything similar it would be a networkable one)

[ACtheTROLL]

with chuck on this ... I think just about every review I've read about media streaming and the like always ends with something on the lines of ....

This really is an impressive effort from Western Digital, in a marketplace that hasn�t really been cracked by a decent player so far. (faint praise?)

if your zen does it - why change?
the only limit is storage capacity

[Ethel]

I do get tempted to BUY BUY BUY when I see new gadgets.

My Zen is limited with storage, but as I have copies of everything on the humungous external hard drive, I download and delete as needed, so it's not a problem for me.

By the way, have you seen the new ickle vaio........

[fo3nix]

Looks OK, but a bit basic to me.

Personally, I'm on the lookout for a decent small-sized PC.

Stick Mythbuntu on it, get a freeview tuner usb stick, and it'll play local videos or over the network, record and pause live TV, play DVDs, and show Youtube videos etc.

Ends up being a bit more expensive, but a whole lot more useful for me.

[fo3nix]

Just read an interesting article on the Popcorn Now box. Seems like a decent and interesting competitor.

[wideboy]

ACtheTroll, the Scan device looks quite good but does it only use FAT32 (bit limiting!). Saw this in the spec.:-

� Capacity - In- built format function (up to 32GB limited)

??

[Ethel]

Link to the popcorn now, please

[fo3nix]

I got the named mixed up, sorry.

http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/

Popcorn Hour A-110.

Seems fairly promising. But as I said before, if I were to do this, I'd rather have the flexibility of running Mythbuntu on my own machine.

[Ethel]

Now that does look interesting. :)

[ACtheTROLL]

Get thee behind me ethel ....

I'm banned from e-bay for the forseeable future

wideboy

that's only using the box's software ... (bit like xp)
using swiss knife or other partitioning software the box works with up to 1Tb a treat.

as I said ... dont expect too much ... it's cheap and cheerful ... but I use mine a lot ..

spock
the needs of the many and all that
....nob off ... from quite a lot if not all of the regs

[wideboy]

Thanks ACtheTroll - I'll get round to using SwissKnife sometime - I need to format large capacity hard discs for use on other devices.