- The Ultimate" Media transformer" that decodes all - The ZinTV (ZIN-5005HD) is tough. MPEG1/2/4, .MKV, H.264 and Real - you can throw them at this baby! & DTS and Dolby digital ready
- Up to 3 Torrent downloads simultaneously - Torrent downloading with ZinTV (ZIN-5005HD) is as easy as 1-2-3* : Just save your favorite torrents to the USB storage device
- UPnP streaming send CNN, ESPN, CBS and Hulu your way - Install 3rd party applications such as PlayOn and TVersity on your computer and connect the ZIN-5005HD to the same network - now you're ready to enjoy internet and PC content in the living room!
- Full 1080p HD hightens your sense - Are you a movie snob who can't stand anything that's not Blu-ray quality? The ZinTV (ZIN-5005HD) will meet your high standards and satisfy your taste. Dive into a sea of high-definition pleasure!
Setup is super easy with both. Connect to your TV or receiver via HDMI cable, attach an external hard drive (not included) and go into the menus to configure your audio and video option. You can also connect these to a wired network and Western Digial has certified a number of USB wireless adapters that require a bit more knowledge to setup. The documentation from both companies could be a lot better so I'll call this one a tie.
The WDTV Live is a bit slower to start up but directory changes are much-much faster than the Zinwell. I suspect because the WD indexes and caches directories of any external drives while the Zinwell has to reread it each time. The difference in speed is absolutely huge. Basically performance wise the Zinwell feels really-really doggy to me. Advantage WDTV Live.
The WD has a much cleaner and better looking interface compared to the Zinwell's ugly menus over a /Linux/like/file/system/. I can live with ugly as long as it works but in 2011 I shouldn't have to. Advantage WDTV Live.
The WDTV Live outputs 5.1 audio in DTS format over HDMI, toslink or coax; the Zinwell outputs raw bits or stereo over HDMI. If your Receiver supports DTS then advantage WDTV.
The Zinwell's remote is a tad better but much larger. Both media players work seamlessly with Harmony remotes. Advantage Zinwell.
Both play nearly every popular audio and video format either from your own external hard drive or across a wired network. However both struggle trying to play hi-def video across a network connection. I find that hi-def vidio from an external hard drive works pretty well with the WDTV Live but never could get the Zinwell to output anything but stereo without the sound breaking up. Advantage WDTV Live.
The Zinwell promises access to the full DVD/BD menus but I never could get menus to work and found the separate audio selection button to be stubborn. With the Western Digital you do have to get used to using the "options" button to access audio and subtitle choices but they work. Slight advantage WDTV Live.
Bottom line the network media player market is still immature with many newer products coming down the pike but for now I consider the Zinwell a no-go for my needs.I own the Zinwell unit (not the brite-view or the viewsonic that look exactly the same).
Good for:
-Home HD Videos (Havent run into a file that it wont play yet)
-Playback DVD image files w/o burning on to DVD
-Karaoke Files (it has a left/right channel shift key)
-Picture viewing with background music (you choose what song to play)
Pros:
-2 USB ports that work with Hard Drives (Only tried NTFS) and USB flash drives (Only tried FAT16, FAT32, NTFS)
-lots of codec (rmvb, avi, mkv, iso, vob extensions all work fine)
-1080p output
-both bitstream of decode DTS and Dolby Digital sound (DTS ES 6.1 and DD EX both work fine, dont have anything to test high bitrate audio format though)
-Network capability (never used it)
Cons:
-video/audio glitches when switching subtitles or audio tracks in a video file, easy fix by rewinding a second then play, then will play flawlessly till the end
of the file.
-StewartWon't see my wireless. I hooked it up wired, and it will see my network, but fails to log on. I hook up my external hard drives to it, and it will play dvd image files fine, unless they are blu-ray. They play, but it seems there is too much information for it, because after a few minutes, the sound will crackle, then stop. The movie plays on, but no sound. If I pause it, I can get sound again for a couple seconds, but then it does it again.
If it was just regular DVD image files, it works fine, but it is suppose to be an HD player, and Blu-Ray is HD. It will not work with Blu-ray image files.
And the internet radio/tv stuff is a joke, it took me like a century to update the firmware and still shows logon fail message.
one star for some media player basic features, but there are plenty better choices (some of them are even cheaper).The Zinwell is adequate. Plays all the files I threw at it. IMO, the bonus internet features are not ready for prime time. Not being NetFlix ready is a big disappointment. Build quality is above average. User interface is below average. Responsiveness is below average. I tried it with an 801.11n wireless adapter and had mixed results. Sharing files with others was spotty but it could be due to my older N router and network setup.
Other Media Players I Own
WDHD Live Plus is above average since it is the only media player I own that is NetFlix ready. Also the file sharing works both ways and is pretty reliable. However, it is the only media player I own that didn't play a handful of my ISO files. These files were ripped several years ago so maybe I just need to rip them again with the program I'm using now. This device seems more prone to locking up which is frustrating. The remote is also too small w/o much functionality.
Argosy HV335T with internal 1TB hard drive (self installed in minutes). Pros: build quality, response time, internal hard drive (one less power cord to worry about), semi-reliable file sharing (only when the internal hard drive was installed). Cons: not NetFlix ready, average user interface.
Finally, I have an Asus O!Play HDP-R1 (w/o wireless). Pros: Plays all my files. Sold user interface. Responsive. Picture viewing best of all players because it has the Ken Burns effect for transitions. Cons: Not NetFlix ready. When wired to my network it only file shares in but doesn't file share out as far as I can tell.
All were under $100 and worth every penny for basic ISO playback on an attached or internal storage device for one TV only. Because I want to share one storage drive among three TVs I was looking for something with excellent file sharing. I couldn't find it in the media players listed with my current 801.11n router so I have ordered a dual band router (Linksys E3000) which has a NAS USB port. I hope that by separating out the N signal on the 5ghz frequency, I will be able to stream to all my media players w/o an issue.
All of these devices are firmware upgradeable. If NetFlix is added these devices will be really cool.
While all of the devices of it's class may leave something to be desired from the user interface point of view, this one has been highly compatible, and easy to configure. I use local files (via USB hard drive), and LAN resources (both file share and UPnP DNLA Servers, in this case PlayOn and Orb) and have been pleased. I stream both raw files as well as access DVD images across my LAN (Wired and Wireless N).
Everything I have thrown at it has worked and I recommend it highly.
Pros :
Plays almost everything
Cost efficient
Decent remote both for access of files and playing DVD images
DNLA compatible so using a Transcoding server (in this case PlayOn from MediaMall) works to get me access to Hulu, Netflix, and a boatload of other online media
Cons:
User interface isn't exceptional
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