Rating: 
Summary: For the love of god, avoid this product!
Review: I bought this wireless media device early last year. The other reviews were right. It does not play consistently, the wireless link randomly goes up and down, and it hangs my pc as it attempts to index the media files. I just checked HP's website and they do not have a firmware update for the media device nor an update for the server software for the PC. Run, don't walk back to the store and return this useless piece of junk.
Rating: 
Summary: Worked - Sometimes
Review: I had no trouble setting it up, the synchronization takes forever though, as does navigating the primitive menus. Not good for extensive music collections for that reason. Wireless works if you position it properly (IE don't put it in a cabinet with everything else in your home theater if it's a wired mess, and make sure you follow standard wireless rules about angles). The sound quality is great on high quality sound files. Good for me, who doesn't expect a miracle for $199 (shop at HP's online store for that price).
Rating: 
Summary: Great product, if you have patience
Review: I had no trouble setting it up, the synchronization takes forever though, as does navigating the primitive menus. Not good for extensive music collections for that reason. Wireless works if you position it properly (IE don't put it in a cabinet with everything else in your home theater if it's a wired mess, and make sure you follow standard wireless rules about angles). The sound quality is great on high quality sound files. Good for me, who doesn't expect a miracle for $199 (shop at HP's online store for that price).
Rating:
Summary: Worked - Sometimes
Review: I have read a few bad reviews of this product, but I had to verify it for myself. I added the media receiver to my existing wireless network. The unit was placed about 15-20ft (through 1 wall and around 1 corner)from the access point. Upon initial setup of the software it was unable to connect to the router. After repositioning the media receiver (2-3 feet closer to the router and standing the unit on its side)it was able to locate my router. It played for about 2 minutes then lost connection again. I then updated the firmware, which was supposed to improve wirless performance of the device, unfortunately after the update it seemed worse! It took about a dozen tries before finding my server, and after it was up and running, it would drop signal after only a few minutes. I know my wireless network is not at fault because I use a laptop that is double the distance of the media receiver and it gets a good signal. This device may be ok if you are going to use it wired, but for wireless systems, I would wait a while until these type of products become further developed. It seems HP released these way too soon, and possably with inferior hardware!
Rating:
Summary: Glitchy and full of bugs
Review: I'm not at all happy with this device. While it does have excellent sound quality playing MP3 and WMA files, it is very buggy. It locks up frequently, is very moody, and doesn't play MPG or AVI files. I'm hoping for a firmware upgrade from HP to make it more stable. I would wait for the next model that is more robust and full featured.
Rating: 
Summary: Works as advertised after firmware update
Review: Per the other reviews listed, out of the box wireless performance is very poor. HP posted a firmware update on 10/7/2003 that DRAMATICALLY improve wireless performance. Before, my player would drop its connection after 5-15 minutes. After the update, its run for hours on end without interruption. The upgrade is a bit of a hassle but the results are worth it!
Rating:
Summary: Very poor network reliability.
Review: The box seems incapable of handling any network unreliability which can happen in a wireless network. If I shutdown my WAP, the connection to the server is lost, but when I bring it back up the EW5000 does not reestablish the connection--you either have to power cycle or re-apply the network settings in the config menu.
Secondly, the unit has a tendency to get behind on button presses from the remote. When accessing things on the network, the user interface hangs until it is complete. Then all those button presses are processed. My unit has had a tendency to hang(requiring power cycling)--especially when I make the network unreliable by walking near the unit with my cordless phone(2.4Ghz). The unit also seems a bit deaf. I get 60% only 15 feet away from my WAP. My laptop gets full strength signals all over the house including downstairs. HP, to their credit, is sending me a no-hassle replacement, but they didn't sound to hopeful that anything significant will change. The support team, however, spent a great deal of time with me to try to solve the problem. I give them very high marks. Oh yes, in case you are wondering, I did update the firmware to the latest release. It helped slightly, but did not fix the problems. On the other hand, when it works, it is a nice unit. Easy to choose the music, pictures, etc. A nice feature is to assign a music play list to a photo album. Also, when making changes on the PC, the unit seems to pick up the changes without rebooting. The song title/info is in a small font. I wish that they would display the song in the screen saver instead of the HP logo.
The only major drawback is that you need to serve the files from a Windows PC. You cannot use Linux/Samba or any open standard file sharing system. I was thinking of adding a network harddisk to my network. This is no longer an option. I notice that Sony is also using a proprietary solution for their network server. I was also surprised that I could not control the unit via a web page. I currently own a TurtleBeach Audiotron which is a far more robust and versatile unit. If it had a TV interface for music selection I would not even consider the EW5000 which is a toy by comparison.
Rating:
Summary: Ultimate turkey
Review: This has to be the ultimate turkey of all time. I cannot believe anyone at HP even tried to make it work. If in a moment of weakness you take one of these off the shelf, immediately put it back!!!
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