I don't see why WiDi WOULDN'T eventually catch on and become a very popular feature, it's on the short list of requirements for my next laptop... With receivers at $70 (ideally $50 in the future imo) it becomes an impulse buy for a ton of people.
I'm quite certain a lot of people would rather pay $50 to wirelessly hook up their laptops to their TV and enjoy pretty much ALL available online content than pay $50 for a STB that may or may not have access to what you want. The Apple TV is $99 and one of the biggest reasons people get it is to mirror their iPads or Macs unto the TV!
Sure if you're a home theater enthusiast you want a more permanent/streamlined solution than a laptop, but for a lot of people this is a killer feature. Intel needs to start marketing it better imo.
Hell, I'm about to pay $72 (with a discount) for a similar receiver that only works with HTC phones (AFAIK) and which I may dump a year or two from now... I'll gladly pay as much for Netgear's device once I have a WiDi enabled laptop.
since their previous NTV550 model is no more supported (in less than a year), with a buggy firmware, without youtube support, without external DVD BD support despite advertised ... so ... i won't give a cents to netgear device anymore
I understand it is difficult to measure electronic reliability when a new brand or model hits to market however I feel readers would appreciate reviews should also include when possible electronic reliability when reviewing electronic items.
There is no point in reading raving reviews of electronic items when there is a high degree of electronic failure this especially includes media streamers.
Just outside my warrant my Netgear Neotv 550 failed. It will not boot at all. Tired everything to recover & or get my Neotv 550 to boot. This unit if anything was the biggest piece of crap I had the displeasure of purchasing.Yet at the time I was ready to make a purchase many reviewers of this crap product all raved how good this media player was.Original purchase price was $200.00 Au, USA dollars - I see on internet other people experience the same failure of the Neotv 550.
I will never buy a Netgear product again.
Secondly it seems to be so problematic I see all over the internet most media streamers have poor & badly written software/firmware. It is apparent companies that manufacture & or supply media streamers many seem to be out there for one thing TO MAKE A DOLLAR. Many companies do not care at all if they release bad or hastily written firmware & or do not release updated firmware leaving many consumers high & dry with inoperable electronic items especially ref to media streamers.
Netgear is a typical corporate company does not care at all concerning its customers. Netgear are no longer updating firmware for the Neotv 550 & yet this media player is still buggy in late 2012. Western Digital did the same thing by discontinuing updating firmware then release new model model media streamers within a short time frame.
One has to question & be highly cautious of purchasing any electronic item made in China. Gone are the good old days when you could purchase an electronic item with confidence knowing the item you purchased would not breakdown & or fail within a short time frame. This is not the case today.
While media streamers are becoming cheaper in cost this is not necessarily the best road to travel. Personally I prefer to pay more money for higher quality & better electronic reliability.
Keep your eyes on Thailand. China is now gaining a reputation of now becoming expensive, poor electronic reliability therefore some corporate companies are now looking at electronic manufacturing in Thailand cheaper wages & Government incentives..
I wonder if things will change in Thailand = cheap price better electronic reliability - most likely not!
I see perhaps in the future network media streamers may disappear altogether because of the advancements concerning network TV/L.C.D. & we may see in the near future network Blu Ray players will transcode a significantly wider range of video/media formats than they transcode now - only time will tell!
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lurker22 - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
Plex support on this model? I tried Roku for Plex, and it and the app were both so buggy I returned the Roku 2Impulses - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
I don't see why WiDi WOULDN'T eventually catch on and become a very popular feature, it's on the short list of requirements for my next laptop... With receivers at $70 (ideally $50 in the future imo) it becomes an impulse buy for a ton of people.I'm quite certain a lot of people would rather pay $50 to wirelessly hook up their laptops to their TV and enjoy pretty much ALL available online content than pay $50 for a STB that may or may not have access to what you want. The Apple TV is $99 and one of the biggest reasons people get it is to mirror their iPads or Macs unto the TV!
Sure if you're a home theater enthusiast you want a more permanent/streamlined solution than a laptop, but for a lot of people this is a killer feature. Intel needs to start marketing it better imo.
Hell, I'm about to pay $72 (with a discount) for a similar receiver that only works with HTC phones (AFAIK) and which I may dump a year or two from now... I'll gladly pay as much for Netgear's device once I have a WiDi enabled laptop.
brunchto - Friday, June 8, 2012 - link
since their previous NTV550 model is no more supported (in less than a year), with a buggy firmware, without youtube support, without external DVD BD support despite advertised ... so ... i won't give a cents to netgear device anymoreultimo - Friday, July 13, 2012 - link
There is one fatal flaw here, it cannot play commerical blu ray discs, which would of made it more useful.lapettie - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
I understand it is difficult to measure electronic reliability when a new brand or model hits to market however I feel readers would appreciate reviews should also include when possible electronic reliability when reviewing electronic items.There is no point in reading raving reviews of electronic items when there is a high degree of electronic failure this especially includes media streamers.
Just outside my warrant my Netgear Neotv 550 failed. It will not boot at all. Tired everything to recover & or get my Neotv 550 to boot. This unit if anything was the biggest piece of crap I had the displeasure of purchasing.Yet at the time I was ready to make a purchase many reviewers of this crap product all raved how good this media player was.Original purchase price was $200.00 Au, USA dollars - I see on internet other people experience the same failure of the Neotv 550.
I will never buy a Netgear product again.
Secondly it seems to be so problematic I see all over the internet most media streamers have poor & badly written software/firmware. It is apparent companies that manufacture & or supply media streamers many seem to be out there for one thing TO MAKE A DOLLAR. Many companies do not care at all if they release bad or hastily written firmware & or do not release updated firmware leaving many consumers high & dry with inoperable electronic items especially ref to media streamers.
Netgear is a typical corporate company does not care at all concerning its customers. Netgear are no longer updating firmware for the Neotv 550 & yet this media player is still buggy in late 2012. Western Digital did the same thing by discontinuing updating firmware then release new model model media streamers within a short time frame.
One has to question & be highly cautious of purchasing any electronic item made in China. Gone are the good old days when you could purchase an electronic item with confidence knowing the item you purchased would not breakdown & or fail within a short time frame. This is not the case today.
While media streamers are becoming cheaper in cost this is not necessarily the best road to travel. Personally I prefer to pay more money for higher quality & better electronic reliability.
Keep your eyes on Thailand. China is now gaining a reputation of now becoming expensive, poor electronic reliability therefore some corporate companies are now looking at electronic manufacturing in Thailand cheaper wages & Government incentives..
I wonder if things will change in Thailand = cheap price better electronic reliability - most likely not!
I see perhaps in the future network media streamers may disappear altogether because of the advancements concerning network TV/L.C.D. & we may see in the near future network Blu Ray players will transcode a significantly wider range of video/media formats than they transcode now - only time will tell!