Samsung Smart Media Player: Is It Worth It?

[Guest]

Samsung's upcoming Smart Media Player will let you turn any TV into a Samsung Smart TV — for a price.

Samsung Smart Media Player: Is It Worth It? : Read more

 

[ap3x]

I really like Samsung's products and have standardized on Samsung TV's in my homes. Also have a Samsung washer and dryer, but I have to say that I would never buy one of their peripheral solutions again. Bought 2 of their media center extenders and they connected and worked but the performance was so bad that they where virtually unusable.

Media Center worked fine though Xbox but I hate having a full console on all the time.

 

[sykozis]

Cable subscribers can also integrate your existing service with the Smart Media Player, without any tedious input-switching — provided that your cable company supports CableCARD technology. Keep in mind, though, that not every cable provider offers this technology, or allows users to provide their own cable boxes.

Does this thing actually have a CableCard slot on it? If so, I'll happily drop $150 on it to ditch the $16/month I'm paying Verizon for my DVR....

 

[monsta]

A Chromecast would do the job at a fraction of its price at $35 , so $150 is a lot for this.

 

[otacon]

@monsta

Chromecast is nothing more than a crippled basic Roku. Not even worth $35.

 

[monsta]

You got a good point there Octacon.
Why would anyone pay $150 for this when you can get a Smart Blu ray player for the same if not cheaper price that has these features plus more?

 

[milktea]

If this can replace my older Micca EP600, then I'm all for the upgrade (for something smarter).

I need a media player that will support & play BDMV, BD-ISO, MKV, MOV, WMV, TS, FLV, BD/DVD-ISO, VOB, MP4 and "RM/RMVB".

And it needs to be able to wireless access my fileserver using NFS/SAMBA.

 

[Jeff Burns]

the WD-Live series does most of that milktea

 

[sykozis]

If this thing supports CableCard, it can do much more than the Roku can and is well worth the $150 when you consider what TiVo sells for.

@Otacon - CableCARD isn't as old as you seem to think it is. They didn't actually go into circulation until 2003. CableCARD is also federally mandated in the US by the FCC for digital cable and satellite TV.
@Monsta - How exactly does a "smart Blu-ray player" have the same features? According to better written articles, this STB supports CableCARD, which means it can be used for digital cable or satellite as a replacement for the rented STB from the cable/satellite provider. Considering only 1 company currently sells a CableCARD compatible STB (and that's TiVo) to the general public, this is a big deal for those of us that are tired of being forced to pay rental fees on an STB to have cable.

In the US, all cable providers who's service requires an STB, are required by law to provide subscribers with CableCARDs and permit the use of 3rd party STBs that are certified by CableLabs.... Currently, TiVo is the only one (still) on the market....this would be the second one when it launches.

 

[oj88]

$150 would be fair if it includes a Blu-ray player, or a 1TB hard drive for recording the streamed media.

 

[milktea]

@Jeff Burns
You're right that WD-Live does most. And the keyword is 'most', which could mean a lot to some people.
WD-Live does not support any form of ISO (BD/DVD), and not support for RMVB. It's a real pity. Because they have something good going, but just missing a few key items.
By the way, the Micca is all metal and has no fan. So it's whisper quiet.

 

[beppomarx]

@milktea

I need a media player that will support & play BDMV, BD-ISO, MKV, MOV, WMV, TS, BD/DVD-ISO, VOB, MP4 and "RM/RMVB".

And it needs to be able to wireless access my fileserver using NFS/SAMBA

I have a Samsung bd-6500 blu-ray player whick I bought for this reason. Seems essentially the same thing for the same price but mine does bluray but no dvr. But I can say that wireless dlna streaming is garbage. I have a pretty decent wireless n router and I 'might' have made it through a movie once without dropping a packet which then kills your stream. I ended up hatdwiring my nas to the router and router to the player and it's golden now.

And o hope Samsung beefs up the processor/gpu, mine can play uncompressed movies ok but if i have a large compressed mkv over about 20GB it stutters and cannot keep up.

 

[milktea]

@beppomarx

That's why you have to make sure the equipment that you're using is sufficient for the content.
I'm using a ASUS EA-N66, which has a 3x3 antenna, dual band. This connects to the Ethernet port of the Micca EP600. Those tiny USB wireless adapter won't work!

On the server end, the NAS connects to a router with 3x3 antenna capable to dual band n/ac. And I've also increased the wireless Tx power of the router.