Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

D-Link specific stuff goes here
Post Reply

Are You Happy With You DLink Hardware?

Yes
22
76%
No
7
24%
 
Total votes: 29

User avatar
mgillespie
Posts:1222
Joined:Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:19 pm
AV Hardware:TwonkyMedia AV UPnP Mediaserver (Marvell Kirkwood ARM Sheevaplug with Debian Squeeze).
2x Noxon V2 audio client
1x PS3 Slim 500GB Audio/Video UPnP client.
1x Sony VGF-CP1 Wireless Photoframe.
Location:UK
Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by mgillespie » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:28 am

Each manufactuers forum, I am posting a sticky poll, so others can get a instant feel if other users are happy with their purchases.

Splatz
Posts:17
Joined:Wed May 16, 2007 7:51 pm

Re: Are You Happy With You DLink Hardware?

Post by Splatz » Thu May 01, 2008 7:40 pm

I run Twonky on a NAS and stream to the DSM520.

My only gripe is while I can see why the DSM520 needs Active TV to access the web and on-line media like utube and Hulu, etc, it kinda defeats the reason why I preferred to run the media server on a NAS - I simply don't want to have my PC turned on all the time.

So I am still looking for the ideal media player that can access my NAS media server and can access web content without needing my PC to be switched on. While I accept that the DSM520 cannot do everything that I want, it does everything else ok.

sergioe
Posts:3
Joined:Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Are You Happy With You DLink Hardware?

Post by sergioe » Thu May 01, 2008 9:15 pm

I have been using the DSM-520 for over 6 months now. Audio and video play perfectly. The only problem I have is displaying pictures full screen in 1920x1080i mode. It doesn't work well, it displays stretched horizontally when attempting to fill the TV screen. It's a problem admitted by DLink that hasn't been fixed in the current firmware version (1.06). So, my work-around is to create a HD (1920x1080i) video slide show with the pictures (I use Nero Vision 8 to create the HD video in MPG-2 format). It works very well, but the video obviously takes much more disk space than the JPG pictures. OK for now, hopefully it will be solved in the next firmware version.

My setup is:
DLink DSM-520 connected wired (Ethernet 10/100 Mb/s) to SMC 2804WBR router, video connected to Mitsubishi HDTV using component video (1080i resolution), and audio conected to Sony receiver using optical digital.
Twonky media server installed on Buffalo Linkstation II (MIPS) version 4.4.4, connected wired (Ethernet 10/100 Mb/s) to SMC router.
Media - music: MP3, 192 kb/s; pictures: digital, 5 Mpixels, 1-2 MB JPG; film, scanned 2400 dpi, 1-2 MB JPG; video: MPG-2 (1080i, 480i and 480p).

User avatar
mikle_01
Posts:208
Joined:Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:32 am
Location:Germany, Kiel

Re: Are You Happy With You DLink Hardware?

Post by mikle_01 » Mon May 05, 2008 11:58 am

My setup:

DSM-320 (wired) with MSSII (500GB) and TW 4.4.4.

I' am really satisfied with this setup!

Unfortunately all pictures are playing very slow (because of they large size of ~2-3 Mb coming from 7 MP camera) and - as sergio wrote - problems with displaying pictures in full screen. But that is a problem with all streaming clients - they proc. is to slow for scaling.

Regardless of all setting (my 16:9 tv) they're stretching horizontally or cut at the top. Thumbnail (preview) is least of all not possible - takes soooo long and sometimes crashes or only stop showing thumbnails after a couple thumbs...

Video is really great; vob, mpeg, mp4 and a few XviD/DivX (some stuttering) - but all with Dolby/dts 5.1 and sound's well !! (See in example the comparison with my Zyxel DMA-1000: http://www.twonkyforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 430#p18430 )

Audio is even great; all of my MP3' s playing well and navigation is simply and quick (the page +/- button is so great to scroll pages for pages up-and-down instead of browse even next line.

Michael ;-)
NAS: Synology DS211j 4TB with Twonky 6.0.31 "Kirkwood"- Clients: Philips Streamium NP2500, Sagem "My Dual 700", WD TV Live Gen.2 + Gen.3, - TV:Philips 42PFL8654

jaak
Posts:57
Joined:Sun Jan 28, 2007 1:49 pm
AV Hardware:Dlink dsm520, dsm320, dell poweredge serveer
Location:Estonia
Contact:

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by jaak » Sat May 24, 2008 9:25 pm

I have both DSM320 and DSM520.

DSM320 is for music only and I'm very satisfied with that.

DSM520 is used both for music and videos and has more demanding job to do. I'm pushing it to the limit trying to get everything in HD. And there the problems start. In usual divx and VOB-s DSM520 is great. Only problem is lipsync, using fast forward. In most cases FF loses movie/voice sync and I try to avoid FF.

Main problem with DSM520 os lack of Matroska, AVC, H.264 support. Still, some .TS format HD is playing (for example Victoria secret show in TS format, 1080). Most of HD matherial is in .MKV (Matroska) container, AVC / H.264 format. This is an issue, cause DSM520 doesn't support this standard. You have to convert it to some other format, but its fail/success trial. Have been waisting lot of time trying to convert -- unsuccesfully.
2,0 TeraByte Intel Atom 230 server; Popcorn Hour A-110; THX Onkyo TX-SR706 Hitatchi 1080HD;
My HD streaming blog; Dell sülearvutid;

bonienl
Posts:26
Joined:Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:46 pm

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by bonienl » Sun May 25, 2008 11:13 am

In general I am happy with the DSM520, it is a steady performer for both video and music, though I like to see some improvements in the DVD playback area.

DSM520 does not support menu structures, nor sub-titles, nor multi-audio selection. An annoying 2 seconds delay occurs between each next VOB file. This is really a limitation in otherwise a good product. Certain limitations can be bypassed, but this shouldn't be the aim when using this product.

Marcus
Posts:17
Joined:Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:04 pm
AV Hardware:Compaq TC-3100 Server 4gb Ram,
Windows 2003 server running Twonky downgraded to Version: 7.2.7
around 10tb of USB drives
Output to W7/8/10 computers, PSP, XBOX, PS3, Sony Bravia
Mostly wired, but some wireless on a 100base network.

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by Marcus » Fri May 30, 2008 10:35 am

As with all things there is always a niggle or two, but generally I'm over the moon and all the dvd players have got thick layers of dust on them now 8)

I run a Windows 2003 server with over 2tb of storage (it'll be 6tb soon once I get that sata raid up and running).

Currently this only streams out to a dsm520 box. But there is a dsm320 on the shelf and an xbox to throw into the mix once I can get the cables run to the various kids bedrooms (no I'll not bother with wireless). I rip dvds to a raid system using magic dvd ripper and keep them in the original mpeg format with the dolby digital sound track. The discs then get put in a box in the loft!

I did try to use the music side of things but with over 25,000 music tracks to play with the system got a bit overwhelmed. So I'll be using windows media player and a digital connection to my amp for audio playback. The setup worked.. it's just such a pain to find anything without a keyboard. And I can't say the photo side of things has ever appealed to me.

I get the odd problem that requires a server restart. Either audio is pitched wrong (it comes out low) which is quite odd as the video seems to be running at the correct frame rate, and the audio is dolby digital most odd. Or sometimes the opposite happens and the video stutters, in a similar manner to a bad telecine pull down from 24 to 30fps. Both problems usually go away after a restart (or three)

I've yet to get either DTS audio or a HD display to test out these sides of the box, I hope they are as seamless as the current playback system.

Gripes: The server does not seem to delete a file that has been moved or renamed. I am a bit geeky with filing the titles and when they rip they rip as title01, title02 ect... they then get renamed into episode/film title. I used to rip to a server listed folder, but now I rip to an unscanned drive and move the files once done. It'd be nice if the database could see a file was missing and delete the entry accordingly.

I'd love to be able to share folders differently between boxes. I have seen the items listed in the client display, but I don't see a way of sharing folders to one device and not another. Last thing I want is the kids sitting their bedrooms watching Aliens when they should only be watching Disney, so a bit of parental control somewhere somehow please.

Searching is also a pain on the d-link 520 box, it can only ff/rewind at set speeds and these seem very slow ( a x2, x4, x16, x32 display wouldn't go amiss d-link boys and girls ) and you can only jump to a time if you disable ff/rewind.. please :shock:

But it all works and I am happy, the kids like having all the Dr Whos available at the touch of a button and it stops dvds being strewn across the bedroom floors, saves shelving space and gives me one more thing to fiddle with :D

Cheers,

Marcus

jaak
Posts:57
Joined:Sun Jan 28, 2007 1:49 pm
AV Hardware:Dlink dsm520, dsm320, dell poweredge serveer
Location:Estonia
Contact:

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by jaak » Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:45 pm

I have DSM-520. Main problem is Matroska (.MKV extension) container and H.264 format. As I'm keen HD adopter, I need badly these features. As it said 520 is HD model, should play most frequently used HD formats.
2,0 TeraByte Intel Atom 230 server; Popcorn Hour A-110; THX Onkyo TX-SR706 Hitatchi 1080HD;
My HD streaming blog; Dell sülearvutid;

zhadnost
Posts:4
Joined:Fri Mar 02, 2007 2:34 pm

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by zhadnost » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:19 am

I have a DSM-320RD, more than a year ago they released what appears to be the final firmware for this unit.

The biggest effect the update had was to painfully distort the sound produced (irrespective of what you are doing with the unit, even playing DVDs).

This has irritated me to the point of deciding that I will never buy Dlink hardware again.

akawally
Posts:1
Joined:Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:26 am
AV Hardware:DNS-323 running Twonky
DSM-510 Client
PSP Client
Vista Clients

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by akawally » Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:45 am

Love it. Great DVR solution, running smoothly for about a year now without any glitches.

Recorder: Windows Vista Premium, SFF headless recorder box enabled with Webguide plug-ins and dial tuners. Records, marks commecials, and moves files to Network Storage. Cost: $270

Network Storage / UPnP: Dlink DNS-323 with Dual 500GB SATA2 drives (RAID 1) & Gig-Ethernet wired connection. Runs Twonky UPnP & serves audio, video, and still picture images. Using Twonky with a large MP3 library, advanced navigation is a must. Cost: $280

Network: Dlink DGS 2208 / 2205 Gigabit Switches. Cost: $20 and $40

Clients: Dlink DSM-510 works really well, connects to TV via composite RCA, S-Video, or HDTV. I use a wired Gigabit connection to the DSM. Only thing lacking is surround sound. Have also used PSP and Windows Vista or XP as twonky clients. Cost: $119 for DSM-510.

Also, I put a couple of APC UPS's in place, so the system never goes down.

jaak
Posts:57
Joined:Sun Jan 28, 2007 1:49 pm
AV Hardware:Dlink dsm520, dsm320, dell poweredge serveer
Location:Estonia
Contact:

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by jaak » Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:57 pm

Surround sound is supported by DSM-510. Just use digital sound and decode it in home cinema receiver. If surround is encoded, its decodable...
2,0 TeraByte Intel Atom 230 server; Popcorn Hour A-110; THX Onkyo TX-SR706 Hitatchi 1080HD;
My HD streaming blog; Dell sülearvutid;

MxPav
Posts:1
Joined:Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:15 pm
AV Hardware:2 x DSM320
1 x DNS323

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by MxPav » Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:40 pm

I've had 2 x DSM320's for about 4 years and my DNS323 for about a year and a half. I use them for video only. I have just over 1 TB of video. I run Twonky on the DNS323 and the Dlink media server on a Win Server 2003. Their have been a few problems and headaces over the years, but once I resinged myself to encoding everything with Nero Recode things have run perfect.

I have ordered a DSM510 but it is currently on back order. I will update once I get it and have tried it out.

PS for anyone having problems with Nero Recode MP4's (Nero 8 and 9) and the DSM320 try NeroDigitalProfileConverter.

Not sure exactly what it does (no documentation), but it will fix all the MP4's that Nero 8 and 9 create that will not play on the DSM320.

There is nothing to install. It has one exe and two Dll's. You just drop the file that Nero Recode creates (make sure to use Nero Digital Standard Profile) on the exe icon and it spits out a copy that will play on the DSM320. Not sure if any of the other DSM products have had the same problem with Nero 8 and 9 MP4's.

It can be found at http://www.nero.com/eng/downloads-nerod ... verter.php

Sooooperpigdog
Posts:4
Joined:Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:16 pm
AV Hardware:Dlink DSM-510 and a dear old Netgear MP101

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by Sooooperpigdog » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:26 am

nice bit of kit (DSM-510). Played numerous HD/BluRay films through it. OK, i'm on the second one after the original died.

Marcus
Posts:17
Joined:Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:04 pm
AV Hardware:Compaq TC-3100 Server 4gb Ram,
Windows 2003 server running Twonky downgraded to Version: 7.2.7
around 10tb of USB drives
Output to W7/8/10 computers, PSP, XBOX, PS3, Sony Bravia
Mostly wired, but some wireless on a 100base network.

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by Marcus » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:15 am

Sooooperpigdog wrote:nice bit of kit (DSM-510). Played numerous HD/BluRay films through it. OK, i'm on the second one after the original died.
What are you using to get the blu ray ripped please?

Marcus

Sooooperpigdog
Posts:4
Joined:Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:16 pm
AV Hardware:Dlink DSM-510 and a dear old Netgear MP101

Re: Are You Happy With Your DLink Hardware?

Post by Sooooperpigdog » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:28 pm

Marcus wrote:
Sooooperpigdog wrote:nice bit of kit (DSM-510). Played numerous HD/BluRay films through it. OK, i'm on the second one after the original died.
What are you using to get the blu ray ripped please?

Marcus
Who said I was ripping the Blu Ray disks.......

Post Reply