Is Netgear Eva 700 a good buy?

Everything about the Netgear support, problems, hints...
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louwke
Posts:3
Joined:Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:22 pm
Is Netgear Eva 700 a good buy?

Post by louwke » Sun Nov 18, 2007 9:18 am

Friends,
I am using my current client (Philips SL400i) to stream videos and music wireless. My server a a simple Windows XP system with currently close to 1 TB of media (yes performance is becoming a problem!). I am planning to buy some more clients for in the other rooms of the house.

Could anyone let me know whether the EVA 700 is a good buy for my configuration? There are good bargains at the moment ...

Thanks, L.

J@n
Posts:27
Joined:Mon May 29, 2006 6:22 pm

Post by J@n » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:24 pm

Hi Louwke,

I bought Eva some time ago and at the time it was a good buy. It was not all too expensive and did what I wanted it to do. It does stream a lot of different types of media and can deliver HD content to your TV. It does not consume a lot of power and looks nice next to your audio equipment.

So now for the bad news :shock:

The interface is a quirky. It looks like a hobby project.
The screen saver has a tendency to jump in at times I don't want it to
Sometimes all color is removed from the interface (don't ask me why)
It sometimes can't find my media streamers (Twonkymedia and Wizd)
You can (and often must) reset it by either taking the power plug out of the socket or press the on/off button for 15 seconds
The unit weighs next to nothing (I am thinking of putting a brick inside for stability :wink: there is plenty of room)

But the worst by far is that Netgear does nothing to support the device. Firmware upgrades are virtually non-existent. Support is even worse.

Would I buy the device again? Nope! Have a look around and see what is on the market now. Take a look at TVix or Syabas (NMT) or just google around for a media adapter.

HTH

Greetz,

J@n
Software: TwonkyMedia (upgraded)
Streaming: Synology DS101j (320 GB) for Music and Pictures (hardly); Synology DS106e (500 GB) for Video using Wizd (sorry...only can afford one license TM) Player: Netgear EVA-700 (The SL50i has died)

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