Digital entertainer for windows

If you use the remote's number pad to enter text, as on a cell phone, it can be agonizingly slow. Any Internet-enabled device like this should accept a standard keyboard.

But when I attempted to connect a keyboard to the Netgear device, my computer scanned it as if it were a USB drive, potentially containing music or video, and then ignored it.

USB keyboard support is reportedly coming soon. I tried both the wired and wireless options for this review, and both were utterly reliable. A configuration wizard helps you locate all of the audio, video, and photos in any shared folders on your network, and it later gives you the freedom to select or unselect any individual folders.

For me, this step meant ensuring that my kids' photos made the cut, while batches of shots of old DVD players wouldn't crowd the pipeline. Over in the living room, a simple wizard on the TV guided me through the other half of the setup, including networking choices.

Still, future changes to my settings almost always required a reboot of the Netgear device, a process taking over a minute each time. Despite the fact that I have cover art saved on my PC, some of the tracks I played displayed no identifiable cover images—and sometimes the wrong covers.

As of a recent firmware update, though, it auto-detects HDMI and instantly makes the adjustment to the out- put setting. The update is simple to perform; all you need is a USB flash drive to physically carry a download from your PC to the living room. While the user interface is not as pretty as those on some other set-top boxes, the experience is surprisingly rich. An active YouTube video will keep playing with audio in a reduced window as you navigate between other tasks in other onscreen menus.

However, even with the unit's adequate internal scaling, YouTube is inherently "Internet" video, and so the quality can be jarringly ugly on an HDTV. It plays higher-quality DRM-protected Windows Media Video downloads from a variety of sources, versus lower-quality streamed video. BitTorrent originated as a peer-to-peer protocol. Many different download sites use it because of its efficiency in distributing large files, legitimate and not.

But now www. Almost everything on the bill of fare is in standard definition. At press time, 16 p or i videos were available. Some high-def shorts and movie trailers are also available from Apple and Microsoft. Other than that, there just isn't much need for HDMI quality right now.

Of course, this box is a gateway to your music library as well. It can play iTunes music away from the computer, although the PC must be authorized to play the tracks and must be running the Digital Entertainer for Windows and iTunes software. I plugged in my iPod, and it displayed photos and played unprotected music without incident. This was after a two-minute scan, though, which I had to repeat every time I removed and reattached the player.

When my PC was powered down, it could not play purchased iTunes directly from the iPod, invoking the same restrictions as if it were trying to play from my computer's hard drive. You can also play purchased WMA music, but not rented tracks from subscription services.

Interestingly, shortly before this review, AppleTV expanded its own features set to include YouTube support, in addition to a new model with a gigabyte hard drive. It also works with a broader range of computer-downloaded content, although iTunes video is explicitly incompatible. Provide a clear and comprehensive description of the issue and your question. The more detail you provide for your issue and question, the easier it will be for other Netgear EVA owners to properly answer your question.

View the manual for the Netgear EVA here, for free. This manual comes under the category Media Players and has been rated by 1 people with an average of a 6. This manual is available in the following languages: English. Below, you will find the most frequently asked questions about the Netgear EVA Is your question not listed?

W indows software on yo ur W indows-based computer. T o install the Digital Entertainer for W indows software:. Power on your computer , and log in as needed. The W elcome screen opens.

If you do not see the W elcome screen,. Follow the Setup W izard steps to accept the license and install the. Note: The software on the CD is de signed to make installation. Only the Digital Entertainer Control center is. Ask a question.