NETGEAR EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD Reviews & Comments
The Digital Entertainer HD supports high definition playback of Windows Media Video 9 or MPEG-4 file formats at up to 1080p resolution on your HDTV. .
Rating 0/5
Truely Appauling
Reviewed by
Anonymous
26 April 2009
Do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, waste your hard earned cash on a Netgear EVA8000. Save yourself the annoyance and frustration regardless of your level of technical expertese. The 1U device looks impressive from the outside, finished in Cisco battleship grey, but do not be fooled. The design of the device, and in particular its software, is pityful, rendering the experience unpleasant and the EVA8000 useless. I have other Netgear devices and have always been impressed, but frankly, this is an utter embarrasment - Netgear should be ashamed. Regardless of the level of firmware installed the software is hopeless. Slow to power up, constantly reboots, awful interface, relies upon poor PC server application. Could not be worse! You have been warned. PS3 / TVersity = Much better solution. TVersity provides transcoding so that the PS3 can play flac files (my reason for buying the EVA8000)
Rating 5/5
Excellent Product
Reviewed by
Adam Z
14 January 2008
I have tried a number of devices and this IMHO gives the most consistency in playback and connectivity amongst the current devices.
For me the two most valuable things are:
a. Direct smb access which means you do not have to rely on streaming software such as Twonky or Mediabolic
b. The tagging tool, which although there are minor issues regarding tagging structure, means you can view Covers, Genres and deions of an avi. Searching is also possible by Genre, Director, Actor, Year, Rating, most recently added.
There are a few issues on fast forward and rewind but once you have worked out the sequence it works extremely well.
Be aware that both Sky and Vigin+ remote controls will send signals to this device.
Would also recommend the Netgear Forums if you have any issues where you should find resolution. Beta software is also available to support mkv containers.
Rating 5/5
Good product with great support from Netgear
Reviewed by
Mark
10 December 2007
Ive had this product for about 4 weeks now and found it to meet all my needs.
Netgear are investing a lot of time to hone the EVA8000 from being a good product to a fantastic product. I’ve first found the streaming to be flaky and blamed it on the EVA. However I discovered the issue was down to my wireless network not quite reaching my living room. To solve the problem I brought some Devolo homeplugs which work a treat. Now I get perfect streaming from my NAS which is where I keep most of my films.
The eva8000 has great potential and if you are a technically minded person, then I suggest signing up to netgear’s free beta program
forum1.netgear.com/eva8000beta_program.php
Rating 2/5
Nice idea, but ...
Reviewed by
23 August 2007
I am on my second unit. The first wouldn't boot until the factory reset button was pressed and then it would keep rebooting every 30 seconds. My replacement unit works but hangs if streaming from my PC. It also hangs when playing media attached to the USB port but this is less prevalent than with the streaming media.
When it works it's a great product, but unless you have a lot of patience steer clear of this product until Netgear have a more stable firmware available.
Rating 5/5
NETGEAR Digital Entertainer HD Wins Prestigious “PC World Recommended” Award
Reviewed by
PC World’s Editors
02 August 2007
In a review roundup titled “Entertainment Everywhere,” NETGEAR’s device was ranked first, singled out from six other digital media receivers on the market, including Apple TV. It was the only device to achieve a “Very Good” rating based on performance, versatility, features and ease of use. The article and review appears in the August 2007 issue of PC World (US magazine)
Rating 5/5
Impressive
Reviewed by
Angus
01 August 2007
Ive had none of the problems mentioned, apart from the weather thing doesnt always work. Full HD compatability thus far.
Rating 5/5
Absolutely Great (after youve upgraded to the latest firmware!)
Reviewed by
Beemer
10 July 2007
Hi
I experienced most of the problems described by the other posts here.
All I can say is, upgrade to the latest firmware and youll probably find that 90%+ of your problems will disappear. Well they did for me! As one of the other posters has mentioned, even the weather forcaster on the main page begins to work.
I am now able to read RSS feeds and play any associated video attachments.
I would definately recommend the unit. Actually I am thinking about buying a second unit for use in another room!
Beemer
Rating 0/5
Load of Rubbish NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
Reviewed by
Colin Weldon
03 July 2007
I have spent 3 days trying to get this thing to work properly without it continually rebooting on its own while trying to set it up. I have a good network with 1 laptop (XP Home), 1 desktop (XP Pro SP2) and a Microsoft Home Server all working perfectly, until the Netgear s/ware totally screwed up my home server resulting in a fresh install. The s/ware says no network present and cannot find the shares although it finds all 3 PCs. I eventually got it to find the Photos on the server and it finds my 59,000+ music files but stops at 5% and says no music files found. It cannot even see my 21 videos on the server at all. I have been in contact with Netgear and after going from person to person they say my box is faulty and awaiting a call-back from a manager. As soon as I get the OK for him, I am going to send it back to Broadbandbuyer for a full refund as I do not want this hassle all over again and I do not want a replacement. It is the last Netgear product I will buy ever.
Rating 2/5
Ditto on the buggy
Reviewed by
Paul B
01 July 2007
Like Chris S mine worked for 30 mins, before going into continual reboot looping.
Impressed for that 30 mins though.
Rating 4/5
Promising but work to do
Reviewed by
Andreas Iacovou
30 June 2007
Got this recently and overall am pretty impressed. However there are bugs which I am hoping will be resolved with firmware updates. During video playback it will sometimes freeze and restart, also it would not detect HDMI at first but this seems to have resolved itself. Easy set-up and loans of features. So far im happy
Rating 5/5
What can i say?
Reviewed by
Mike Watts
27 June 2007
One word, WOW. This is one amazing piece of kit.
Plugged it in followed setup, after 10mins it was up and running.
Happily plays all my videos, movies and music without hassle, extremely fast playback over wireless, does seem to go out of sync every now and then but comes back shortly after (possibly the wireless could just be my setup).
The HD side I havent fully tried however it seems to play all my files, no matter what resolution they are at, absolutely fine.
After doing an update i was in for a sweet surprise.
The weather function which in the manual says US only, now works for UK.
Interface improvements here and there.
But the best thing of them all, it decided to pick up on my DVD images on my computer (stops me from damaging the disc), whether in Video_TS format or an ISO/IMG it picks them up and plays them. Only downside is no dvd menu, it just plays the film.
Defiantly suggest it to anyone looking for media streamer, especially in HD.
Rating 5/5
9/10 Trustedreviews.com
Reviewed by
Jonathan Bray - Trustedreviews
27 June 2007
The EVA8000 is clearly an extremely capable media streaming system. Not only is it able to play HD video over a pretty sluggish 802.11g network – an impressive feat in its own right – but it can also be used to stream, listen to and display a large proportion of the media files you may have scattered around your network, be they on a laptop, PC or NAS box.
It's a feature set that many would pay good money for, but with the EVA8000 you don't have to. It really should be top of your list.
Rating 2/5
Great idea but buggy...
Reviewed by
Chris S
27 June 2007
Nice box, and v.capable spec. But my experience is that it is still not sorted well enough.
See netgear support forum for the probs.
Mine worked for about 10 minutes then goes into endless power-on please wait loops. Can't flash from USB stick if bad firmware and HDMI detect is flaky.
Rating 5/5
NETGEAR Digital Entertainer HD Awarded “Best of CES” Award by LAPTOP Magazine
Reviewed by
LAPTOP Magazine
07 March 2007
LAS VEGAS, January 16, 2007 - NETGEAR®, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, today announced that the NETGEAR Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000) has received the Best of CES Award from the editors of LAPTOP Magazine. According to LAPTOP Magazine, the Best of CES Award, which honors products that embody innovation and inspiration, was awarded to the Digital Entertainer HD as the best product in the Wi-Fi category.
“What makes the EVA8000 stand out from the pack is its easy, searchable user interface,” stated LAPTOP Magazine in its Best of CES winners announcement. “You have full access to your PC, including the ability to search for the exact YouTube video you want, right on your computer screen. The market is full of similar products, but at first glance, this one stood out for its wide range of capabilities and ease of use.”
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IMPORTANT ADVICE
Your TV and audio system can take centre stage making it easy to show off media such as photos & video footage as well as allowing you to choose music from your playlists at parties. Stream the files from your computer direct to your tv or sound system. All this can be done wirelessly from files stored on your PC or streamed direct from the Internet*
