Rating: 
Summary: Just what I was looking for, but didn't quite make the grade
Review: I was looking for a networked media receiver that supported 802.11G which I've been using for my home network. When I discovered this SMC Multimedia Receiver I was very excited to make it the solution to converging the entertainment center with the breadth of content (photos, music, and videos) available on our PCs.The SMCWMR-AG was reasonably easy to configure (although 802.11* can be tricky for any technophobe). Once I installed the content server software on my PC, and pointed it at my mp3, jpg, and mpg content everything was ready to go. The first disappointment came when I wanted to start a slideshow from the hundreds of pictures of our infant. The pictures are separated into folders based on events and dates, but I couldn't get a slideshow to work across folders (without rearranging the files or copying to a new directory). Also, the slideshow function froze intermittently (not sure what the issue was here). MP3's seemed to play fine (along with viewing pictures simultaneously), with the same limitation of playing across folders. I didn't get a chance to setup new playlist to see if this solved these problems. I was also disappointed in the limited types of Internet radio streams supported, but I'm sure that could be improved through software in the future. The clincher for me returning the device to the store was playing video. Home movies encoded in anything but the lowest bitrates played fine for a few seconds then did an unwatchable jerky dance. The wireless network reported an excellent link and 54Mbit and occasionally 36Mbit connection speeds. Finally, the user interface seems a bit crude and slow to respond. Again, this may be upgradable in the future so there is the potential for significant improvement. It just didn't meet my expectations at this time. So, I'm considering trying competitive devices such as the Prismiq or Play@TV products. If they don't do the trick it is time to build that media-center PC in an entertainment center-friendly case and be done with it. That still leaves the challenge of sharing content throughout the house unsolved. :-(
Rating: 
Summary: This thing bites.
Review: I'm about to return my second unit. Both units are in a perpetual reboot mode. I can't enter any menus, or reset the machine. Neither unit has worked for me. SMC technical support was clueless. The thing just "feels" cheaply made. Sorry I can't tell you about the operation of the unit, because it has NEVER worked. The second copy they sent me has NEVER worked. It sure sounds good on paper, but I'm a dissapointed buyer that will never buy SMC stuff again. If you get this....good luck!
Rating:
Summary: This thing bites.
Review: I'm about to return my second unit. Both units are in a perpetual reboot mode. I can't enter any menus, or reset the machine. Neither unit has worked for me. SMC technical support was clueless. The thing just "feels" cheaply made. Sorry I can't tell you about the operation of the unit, because it has NEVER worked. The second copy they sent me has NEVER worked. It sure sounds good on paper, but I'm a dissapointed buyer that will never buy SMC stuff again. If you get this....good luck!
Rating: 
Summary: Say hello to my little friend...
Review: OK, let's get this straight. You can use this like a jukebox to play all your songs, but you have to set up your songs as a playlist in Musicmatch, which is VERY easy. Musicmatch 9.0 is a free download and works very well. Make sure you then add the Musicmatch file on your computer to the shared files on the media stream interface. All your playlists will then be accessible. Your songs will play without having to enter each one. You can then play them sequentially or randomly. Set up multiple playlists and easily access them...there's no limit to how many songs you can have on a playlist, so you can stream music for a few days if you want!!! Everyone in your family can have their own playlists.
Setup is relatively painless...download the software or install the cd and follow the directions, then connect the unit and configure it to work with your network on the TV interface. There is a very comprehensive user's guide that is available as a download, so you can check it out before you buy it.
If you want to stream pictures, then share your picture files through the computer interface, ditto for videos.
You can listen to music while you look through pictures, although sometimes this may cause a stutter in the sound when the pictures are changing.
The software has 3 radio programs pre-installed, and I am having a little bit of difficulty adding more free stations, but I will figure it out eventually.
The interface is very simple...the unit plays only mp3's for now, but there will probably be firmware updates that address this in the future. Speaking of firmware, you can program the unit to automatically check for updates when it powers on.
The unit itself is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It's slightly cheesy, but not horribly so. It's silver and blue and has an electric blue light. It comes with a very simple remote, and yes, you do have to point it directly at the unit for it to work. I have it over 150' away from an 802.11g Netgear router that is on another floor, and I get a great link quality.
Pros- small, easy to install and configure, firmware updates, remote, plays pics, mp3's, and internet radio, upgradable with firmware, solid reputable company, music sounds great.
Cons-Internet radio not that easy to figure out, remote must be pointed directly at unit, only RCA jacks, no s-video or optical inputs (sound quality was great, though, with most of my songs encoded at 128 kbps), can't see what song is playing when going through playlist, however, hopefully this will be addressed by firmware and you can always print out your playlists).
Summary- Great little unit...one of the first of its kind...does what I need it to do...shows pictures and plays music...say hello to my little friend :)
Rating:
Summary: An Essential wireless addition!
Review: SMC Networks have been offering networking hardware for almost 30 years now. Today they take a step into a new area of networking. The EZ-Stream is one of a kind. The receiver is an essential addition to any computer users' home theatre. The EZ-Stream is compatible with all three wireless standards (802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g) and also comes with an Ethernet port if there is no wireless base station in the network. The device allows the user to play various media files from a designated computer on the network. Let's take an in depth look at the ups and downs of the EZ-Stream and see if this device has the potential to go far! (full review @ Bytesector.com)
Rating:
Summary: OK if you are geeky enough to persist with it
Review: So I am geeky enough...but my wife wouldn't be, or my parents or anyone else who expects the appliances in their home to just work when turned on. Yeh, I know this is supposedly leading edge but if it's going in the home next to the TV it needs to be a hell of a lot more reliable. I'm not talking about the network knowledge you need to set it up, I guess if you have a Wireless Access router you are already geek enough to set this up, actually that part of it is pretty easy. It's reliability, stupid. My VCR never "hung" nor should this. I shouldn't have to run upstairs to reboot the PC every hour to restart the server software. The remote control's functions should actually work, not hang the unit needing a power cycle to free it up again. It's temperamental, buggy, and prone to hangs & crashes at both the receiver and PC Mediaserver software end. As another reviewer said, "not yet ready for primetime". The market of geeks like me willing to persist in spite of the bugs is not big enough to support these products, the sooner these businesses realize that and get to the same level of easy-for-the-average-Joe and reliability of something like a Tivo the better. Better still; just build this functionality into something already existing like the Tivo, now that would be a product. Summary: Buggy as hell but cool when it works.
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