I'm looking at getting a media centre to stream movies, ripped dvds etc off a NAS RAID box at home.

Last week I bought a Kiss 1600 from PC World. It worked reasonably well, but the menu system is pretty basic and the scart output was always "on" causing the TV to switch over even if the box was off. It went back after a couple of days.

I then did more research on the web... The Netgear EVA8000 get mostly positive reviews and as it's a new device has an active forum and fireware upgrades.

Then.... I remembered chatting to an ex-colleague recently about running an Xbox as a media centre. I've got hold of the media centre application for Xbox and it's really really good. You need a chipped Xbox to be able to install and run it. However, I don't want to deprive the kids of their Xbox in the "games" room so it's not a long term solution.

Has anyone experience of the Netgear EVA8000 or similar devices that I should consider?

Thanks
Graham.

I use an Xbox360 for streaming downloads from Napster its great. I can also play games and as from last week you can download movies for 14 days hire. £2 for SD and £3.20 for HD.

I use the streaming facility to audition albums before I purchase the CD, my spend on CD's has reduced from £120 PM to £30 - great value.

Gerry

graham mail me

neilDOTgDOTwATbtinternetDOTcom

regards

neil