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**AGJ** · 09-20-2010, 05:46 PM

Here's a pretty good one http://shop.xtreamer.net/categories/Xtreamer-PRO-/

**GregiBoy** · 09-20-2010, 06:18 PM

Hi there.

I cannot comment on the Argosy as we currently don't get them in Australia but Maineman and a couple of others her have purchased them in the US and have had good results. Perhaps they will chip in with their comments.

Of current products, my favourites that I have tested and am currently retailing in Oz, the Measy E9HD and the Kaiboer 1073 are my picks of the bunch. (www.measy.com.cn & www.kaiboerhd.com). These shuold be available on eBay in the US.

Main features are:-
Work fine as player up to 1080i MKV's with support for multiple audio & subtitle tracks and chapter marks held within the MKV files and I haven't seen any stuttering problems for passthrough MKV's. Fab is still incapable of producing files containing these features but we can only hope. There is plenty of Freeware out in the marketplace that will do it. I will not commnt on these as this is a Fab forum.

Good NAS capabilities.

Hard Disk Tray for easy removal/changing rather than an internal install.
Support for playback of full DVD rip folders with menu capabilities.
Support for playback of Main Movie Rips of Blu-Ray.
Internet video, photo & radio capabilities.

Of products that I am currently testing, the Kaiboer K530i is the pick of the bunch with the above capabilities and the added bonus features of support for Cover Art and playback of BluRay HD audio which the above do not have.

It is not going to be cheap though, retailing here in Oz for around AU$250.

As a general comment, do not even consider wireless networking because it is not up to scratch because of the bitrates involved. If hardwiring is a problem, have a look at some of the Ethernet over Power devices such as produced by Netgear & D-Link. I personally prefer the Netgear stuff.

Also, be prepared to put in qa little research & effort ensuring that your home network is fine tuned as tis is vital and be prepared to outlay more hard earnt pennies once you become hooked on the concept.

I will bet you the first thing that you will want after getting all working correctly is more storage. I have 8Gb of NAS storage on my network and 2Tb in each player and I'm still short on space.

Of course this does not even factor in the possibility of storage of illegal downloaded torrents of new movies and TV shows which does occur but I do not condone but does happen in the "REAL WORLD"....

Hope this helps.
GB

**rschildt** · 09-20-2010, 08:34 PM

Originally posted by GregiBoy View Post

I cannot comment on the Argosy as we currently don't get them in Australia but Maineman and a couple of others her have purchased them in the US and have had good results. Perhaps they will chip in with their comments.

Sorry GregiBoy...Thought you were using the Argosy, must have been Maineman or someone else!

I'll be wired to the network. I tried my BD390 wireless, and only Netflix trailers in SD could play. Any of their HD stuff, or my own backups on the network were so choppy they were unwatchable.

I will look at the two you and the one AGJ suggested. Thanks...I'll wait to see if some Argosy owner cares to comment on theirs as well. Those are on Amazon starting at a decent price.

**toaddub** · 09-20-2010, 10:39 PM

Originally posted by AGJ View Post

Here's a pretty good one http://shop.xtreamer.net/categories/Xtreamer-PRO-/

This site has been hacked. It says "System Hacked by - Turkish Muslim Hackers".

I've read good reviews about Argosy. Waiting for a good deal to get it.

**AGJ** · 09-20-2010, 11:22 PM

Originally posted by toaddub View Post

This site has been hacked. It says "System Hacked by - Turkish Muslim Hackers".

I've read good reviews about Argosy. Waiting for a good deal to get it.

Now that funny

Well here link to the U.S.A Official Partner http://www.xtreamerusa.net/

**maineman** · 09-21-2010, 12:18 AM

Originally posted by rschildt View Post

Sorry GregiBoy...Thought you were using the Argosy, must have been Maineman or someone else!

I'll be wired to the network. I tried my BD390 wireless, and only Netflix trailers in SD could play. Any of their HD stuff, or my own backups on the network were so choppy they were unwatchable.

I will look at the two you and the one AGJ suggested. Thanks...I'll wait to see if some Argosy owner cares to comment on theirs as well. Those are on Amazon starting at a decent price.

Hey rschildt,

Yup, I'm one of the Argosy "posters".
I picked up an HV335T MP for $89.99 back in Feb 2010
Both Newegg and Amazon had it for the same price.

It's an excellent Player and was inexpensive to boot.

The only drawback so far is that it can't handle the DTS-HD audio stream on BD.
No big deal for me, since I'm not set up for it anyway.
That'll be in my retirement home in SC. I'd hoped to do it this year, but it looks like it's gonna be 2011.
The only other annoyance is the menu function...or lack thereof.
With standard dvd ----> h.264 conversions, I can fit approx 800 or more flicks on a 1 TB hdd.

Scrolling through that many movies gets old, but then on the positive side, I never have to get out of the comfy chair to look for or swap a disc.
GregiBoy admonished me, told me to organize them.
Called me lazy...can you imagine?
I was shocked...shocked I tell you...

Seriously, I wish that it had page up/page down function and I've read where this is a distinct possiblity with future firmware updates.
We'll see.

Here are the specs:

Specifications
HARD DRIVE SUPPORT
Internal Storage 3.5” SATA I/ SATA II HDD
File System NTFS/ FAT32
INTERFACE
USB 2.0 USB 2.0 type A host port x 2
USB 2.0 type B device port x 1
Ethernet 10/100M RJ45 connector x 1
Wireless Ready
Wireless 802.11g (Realtek RTL8187B controller only)
(not included) 802.11n (Realtek RTL8192/RTL8191SU controller only)
(Support certified USB wireless dongle only)
AUDIO/VIDEO INTERFACE
Analog Output Composite video and stereo audio out (RCA x 3)
Component video jack (Y/Pb/Pr) (RCA x 3)
Digital Output HDMI connector x 1
Optical S/PDIF output (TOSLINK x1)
MEDIA SUPPORT
Audio Support MP3, WAV, OGG, WMA, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital®, DTS®
Video Support MPEG-1(MPG/DAT),
DVD Folder(IFO)/DVD ISO,
MPEG-2(MPG/VOB/TS/M2TS),
MPEG-4(Xvid/AVI/MP4/MOV/M4V),
H.264/AVC/AVCHD(AVI/MKV/FLV/MOV/M4V/TS/M2TS),
VC-1(AVI/MKV/M2TS)
WMV9 (AVI/WMV/MKV),
RM/RMVB(720p)
File Extension AVI, MKV, MPG, VOB, IFO, TS, M2TS, MOV, M4V, WMV, FLV, RM,
RMVB, ISO
Photo Support JPEG (baseline), BMP, GIF, PNG
DVD Folder DVD Menu/Audio/Subtitle/Angle Selection
Xvid Subtitle Format IDX/SUB, SRT, ASS, SSA, SMI
Music Slideshow Music playback during photo slideshow
Max. Content Resolution
Video 1920 x 1080 pixels
JPEG 5120 x 3840 pixels (baseline)
VIDEO OUTPUT
TV System NTSC / PAL
Screen Ratio 4:3 / 16:9
Component 480i / 480p / 576i / 576p / 720p(50/60Hz) / 1080i(50/60Hz) /
1080p(50/60Hz)
HDMI 480p / 576p / 720p(50/60Hz) / 1080i(50/60Hz) / 1080p(50/60Hz)
POWER SUPPLY
Input AC 100-240 V, 50/60Hz
Output DC 12V, 2.5A
GENERAL
Dimensions 202(L) x 151(W) x 52(H) mm
7.95(L) x 5.94(W) x 2.05(H) inch
Weight 482g (without Hard Disk Drive)

**rschildt** · 09-21-2010, 10:47 PM

Thanks maineman! When you say:

With standard dvd ----> h.264 conversions

What container are you using? I've heard mkv is the best choice. Supposedly my LG BD390 blu-ray player can handle that, but so far I've been unsuccessful.

Does the Argosy handle them okay?

Have some $$ stashed away from my birthday (do we still celebrate birthday after 43??), so I may pull the trigger soon.

**GregiBoy** · 09-21-2010, 11:45 PM

Most of the new breed of players will handle MKV fine but some do not have some of the features of MKV implemented. In fact Fab doesn't at the moment either but it's supposed to be happening.

Some of these features are:-

All contained within the MKV file..

Chapters
Multiple Audio Tracks
Multiple Subtitle Tracks
Cover Art
Media Information Tags such as year, director, actor, genre, etc, etc.

Do your homework research on the player and ask as many questions as possibe and browse through all related forums. Google is your friend !!!

**rschildt** · 09-22-2010, 02:42 AM

Really like the look of the Kaiboer line. Especially the K550i. Most media players look like the original Xbox! There's look like actual AV components. Unfortunately, none of them (or the Measy's) are available in the US. Tried eBay, like Gregiboy suggested, but no luck. There is a Kaiboer distributor in Canada though, acording to their web site. Never bought any electronics from Canada. Would they work here in the US?

I wish they had a side by side comparison on the Kaiboer site between the K550i and the k530i (and other players). Like the look of the K550i better....but as they say, looks aren't eveything. Would also like to compare Kaiboer models to the Argosy/WD and other models available here. Guess I have my work cut out for me.

**GregiBoy** · 09-22-2010, 03:03 AM

Measy told me that they were doing a deal with BestBuy in the US so that may be an avenue to pursue. They could be branded with their own brand name.

I am testing the K530i at the moment and it is unreal. They have just released new firmware that supports the use of Cover Art.

My library now looks great too.

**rschildt** · 09-22-2010, 03:50 AM

Originally posted by GregiBoy View Post

Measy told me that they were doing a deal with BestBuy in the US so that may be an avenue to pursue. They could be branded with their own brand name.

Didn't see anything that resembled the E9HD, but did see the new Seagate GoFlex media player. Here's the specs:

FreeAgent® GoFlex™ TV HD Media Player
STAJ100
Specifications
Model Number STAJ100
Interface USB 2.0
Capacity 0GB
Features
Video Connections HDMI 1.3; Composite; Component
Audio Connections HDMI 1.3; Stereo; Optical S/PDIF
Video Formats MPEG-4 (Xvid); MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO); Xvid HD; DivX HD+; MPEG-1; AVC HD; TS/TP/M2T; RMVB Real Media; DivX®; VC-1; M2TS; WMV9; H.264; MKV; MOV; AVI
FLV
Media Player Only
Subtitles SAMI (smi); SRT; SUB
Video Resolutions PAL 576i/576p; NTSC 480i/480p; 720p; 1080p; 1080i
Audio Formats WMA Pro; WMA; Dolby® Digital; ADPCM; FLAC; AAC; ASF; DTS; LPCM; OGG; WAV; MP3
Playlist PLS; M3U
Photo Formats JPEG files (up to 20 megapixels); MJPEG; BMP; TIFF; PNG; GIF
Supported File Systems HFS+; NTFS; FAT32; FAT
Internet Sites Supported Video Feeds (RSS); Text Feeds (RSS); Weather Widget; Finance Widget; Flickr; Mediafly; YouTube; Picasa; Netflix; vTuner
Network Connection Wi-Fi Adapter (Optional); Ethernet
Ports 2 USB
TV Systems NTSC; PAL

Anyone try one of these? Bit more expensive than the Argosy, but likely cheaper than the Measy E9HD and the Kaiboer (if I can find them).

**rschildt** · 09-24-2010, 02:02 PM

Did a little checking, and the Measy E9HD, Argosy HV335T and the Seagate GoFlex HD are all based on the same Realtek 1073 chipset. I assume that means they all should have similar abilities. Just that some may have more bells & whistles, which are likely firmware related, which hopefully can be updated over time (asuming the company wants to).

There's a 10% off coupon on the Seagate at Newegg, which makes it and the Argosy both at the $100 mark shipped. Would really like some input on the Seagate GoFlex TV HD if anyone's tried it.

**mars1952** · 11-07-2010, 05:06 PM

I have good luck my Windows Media Center computer that I built. I use DVDFab to copy the movies to the MC computer hard disk. The hard disk is shared so that I can watch movies with any computer wired or wireless anywhere on my network with Windows Media Center or PowerDVD. The TV show that I have recorded off the air can also be player by any computer on my network using Media Center or Media Player.

Lately I had problems with a few movies:
Castle S1 D3
Castle S2 D2
Castle S2 D3
Iron Man 2
These movie won't play on media center when copied using Full Disk. They will only work If I copy using Custom and cut out all the menus.

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