First I wanted to explain why I give it a 3, the idea is great in fact the concept deserves a 5 but the lack of detail in usability and design by Pinnacle, plus the technical difficulty in setup I must knock off two full stars.I have to open this story and state that I've been in IT for about 12 years so I'm very comfortable with hardware and software setups. But this little product proved to be quite a challenge. Here is a play by play of last night's events.
Started off by trying to install MediaManager w/o having to upgrade to XP SP2, however I finally gave in, despite a year of SP2 resistance and upgraded. Note that the ShowCenter documentation clearly states that it will work with SP1. So I'm now about an hour into the process and I have a slightly slower PC due in part to SP2. Next, I reinstall the previous failed attempt of MediaManager and this time it works. Based on reading other people's comments here on the board I changed my Linky to channel 4 and disabled WPA then killed the PC firewall. Great at this point I have the software set now it's just a matter of setting up the hardware, should be simple...right???
Ok its hardware time, I plug in the audio and video cables and fire up the SC 200 first screen comes up and I realize that Pinnacle spent very little money on usability as a UX/BA I shake my head and proceed to change the wireless configuration settings. Then the system performs not one but two firmware updates. I can now see my Linky and I'm thinking I'm almost home but not so fast, after a few more configuration changes I finally see my PC. Next I select the PC and see the media menu, from here I'm thinking YES it's over so I pick a title from the Music menu and it starts to play but then hangs and nothing happens, no sound, no video, nothing. I reboot the SC and try it again, nada, zip, zilch, sorry try again. At this point I can only figure that it has something to do with the bandwidth since I can see the PC and the music/video/photos I just can't play any of them. At this point I have too much time invested to give in and go the cheap/easy wired way out so I create a homemade directional antenna booster and increase my gain by about 12dbs. I reboot the SC for the last time and eureka I'm streaming music, most importantly music from my Rhapsody playlist from my PC through my LifeStyle system. At this point I hit the sack since its 2:15 in the morning and save the rest for when I wake.
I wake up and reconfigure my firewall and WEP since it doesn't want to work with WPA, fortunately I don't have many script kiddies in the hood trying to sack my WAP, so downgrading to WEP isn't much of an issue. So after about 4 hours of hell I finally see the pearly gates and head off to work. I know this has been a longwinded review but I wanted to let you know that just like anything in life persistence wins over all odds and technological challenges. Below are cliff notes in the event you decide to travel this road yourself.
* Upgrade to XP SP2 before installing (backup important data prior, just in case)
* Set your router to channel 6 or below (mine worked well on 4)
* Disable your PC firewall (you can turn this on after you make your connection, it just helps to reduce the variables)
* Disable WPA or WEP (same note as above)
* Ensure that your wireless signal is pulling at least -45dbs or better
* Make sure the Windows Media Connect is running to handle DRM like Rhapsody
* Make sure that you are logged into Rhapsody
* Make sure that MediaManager is running
* Switch from Ad-Hoc to Infrastructure
The included software is fairly lame, my suggestion is if you plan on this investment, get a good media serving box. Like I mentioned earlier, it works very well with the ReadyNAS X6 for video. (Photos and music are another issue, but no fault of ShowCenter).
The only really wishes for a box like this are:
1. Support for H.264 MP4s
2. Direct connection for streaming of music right now it must go through your PC.
Buy Showcenter 200 with Wireless G Play Digital Media From Pc On Tv Now
After having read some customer reviews about this product, I figured I'd be in for a bit of a battle with the setup. And indeed, it was a bit painful. Entering a 128 bit WEP key on a phone keyboard is not fun at all, and I had to do it several times before the Showcenter would recognize it for some reason. And even worse, you have to PAY to call their support center $25/call (after the 1st call)! What?! That is wrong, wrong, wrong. In my opinion, if a product is defective, or if the instructions for setup are incomplete, the customer should not have to pay to get their questions answered.Once it's set up, there are only a couple of minor gripes. One of them is that it takes a good 3-5 minutes for the machine to warm up and recognize the wireless connection each time you turn it on. So if you're looking to just turn it on and go, this will be a major disappointment. The other minor gripe is that it takes awhile to toggle through the menu.
Also, I'm not sure if this is a problem with my audio receiver or with the Showcenter , but my receiver will not recognize the Showcenter as a video source, so I had to plug the video directly into my tv, but the audio was able to go into my receiver just fine. It's a minor inconvenience though.
But all that said, hey, it's WAY cheaper than getting a Sonos, and the sound is great. You can put together playlists and group your files however you want for easier access. And it has access to internet radio stations, which are fabulous, and it's HD ready. You can also view photos and video files as well. All work great! I was also able to synchronize the Showcenter with my Logitech Harmony 890 remote, which I love. I can't recommend that thing enough.
I was torn between 3 stars and 4 because of the setup, but now that it's set up, I only have the gripe of it being a bit slow to get going. So, 4 stars it is.
Read Best Reviews of Showcenter 200 with Wireless G Play Digital Media From Pc On Tv Here
Wireless video streaming works nicely, with amazing performance. As a test, I played a 700MB AVI-format movie. The install took me 10-15 minutes. BTW, I have a 11g wireless network running in the house, and I use a Compaq NC6000 laptop to run the media center software. The laptop is about 3 years old and running XP/SP2.Want Showcenter 200 with Wireless G Play Digital Media From Pc On Tv Discount?
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