Misc : Been moving, renovating.

So me and my fiancee have finally moved to our own place. Been kinda hectic so haven't had much time doing any coding or playing with Android or Java. Living room is finally ready, i did a little media wall to hide all the cables to the speakers and television.

After wallpaper and everything mounted.

Lousy picture, now i just need to choose a media streamer / extender. Before we had the computer in the living room so we just used a simple hdmi cable to the reciever and started everything that way. Alas no more. Been doing some research and havent gotten any wiser.

Requirements:

• ISO support. DVD & Bluray with menu support.
• HD audio formats.
• Preferrebly 3D support (Used once a year : )
• Fast GUI
• All regular media containers, MKV w/ embedded subtitles. External subtitles, DTS, etc.

Looked at building a small HTPC but would be simpler with a little box that can stream everything.
I've eyed the Mede8er MED1000X3D , fairly recent product with hopefully some good support. The design doesnt really impress me but hopefully the inside does. I'll update the post with the solution i take and a mini review.

MED1000X3D Mini Review :

A MED1000X3D have been bought and tried out in the living room. First time i started it, remote control functions never got any response or lagged really bad. I was nervous.

A quick restart and it behaves better. This review is based mostly on it’s capabilities on movie playback of different formats. I’ve never used the drivebay inside the machine, i just stream from my computer and it’s connected to the home network by wire.

First of, it handles all the usual movie containers perfect, MKV, AVI, and DVD ISO files, etc. HD Audio tracks which was a buying point for me works nicely and gets decoded by the reciever.

Bluray can be played either from an ISO file or from the correct directory structure (i.e a BDMV folder) it will play it as a disc. However the menu on most of my new ones i’ve tried doesn’t work and will probably never get implemented. Quote from their forum :
‘No media streamer will offer this as a Blu-ray stack is necessary, along with a full license, to support full menus. Plus, doing so means you must implement Cinavia copy protection, which renders Blu-ray backups (ISO's) useless.’

Subtitles which i use is also nice, can be resized and moved around. Need ‘em, otherwise i need to crank the volume up so high. Last function i played around with is their custom software for building a ‘Movie Jukebox’, just place a file with a NFO file extension  with the correct IMDB url in the movie folder and the program will do the rest. Cover, artwork, etc.

There are a few Internet related apps included in their software. Youtube, Internet Radio, Weather and some video feeds.  All in all i’m happy.

Minus-
Remote Control, kinda plastic and needs accurate pointing to the device.
Price, well, based on the chipset other manufacturers use for their Media Extenders  it’s a bit hefty. They do include a HDMI cable though. : )  

My score: 8/10