The
Iomega Screenplay looks like a decent device. Unlike the WDTV, which is a standalone video player, the Screenplay acts as a NAS too.
Advantages of WDTV over Screenplay:
- Super compact. The WDTV is really tiny, you can easily carry it with you during travel. That plus a portable hard-drive, bam, watch movies you really want in a hotel.
- Use external hard-drive that you already have. Upgrading storage is as easy as getting a larger external hard-drive.
- Cheap. Bestbuy frequently put it on sale for $99. Screenplay is $300, although you do get 1TB built-in.
- Supports H.264. With the screenplay, you have to have the transcoding software on your PC transcoding the video in realtime and feeding it to the Screenplay.
Advantage of the Screenplay over WDTV:
- Network connectivity. It's a 1TB NAS. The WDTV would've been prefect if it has an ethernet port and can stream videos via network like the Screenplay.
- Remote seems to be better than the cheap plastic WDTV remote.
- Can record video via video-in. This could be very useful to some.
I wish devices like this came out sooner. Years ago, it's extremely difficult to even find a device that can play divx/xvid reliably, let alone mkv. I already have my ultimate solution. Currently, I have all my videos on my Windows Home Server, connected via gigabit ethernet. To the TV, I have an actual computer (the
Apple Mac mini is perfect) running XBMC/boxee.
Advantages of my setup:
- No format restriction. I can play anything I want. XBMC is just awesome.
- With Bittorrent client installed, I can download and watch. No need fumbling around copying files.
- Gigabit ethernet. HD streaming, no problem.
- With a TV tuner, I can have DVR functionality too (Windows Media Center is great for DVR use).
- Windows Home Server also gives redundancy and backup. The Screenplay, despite being a NAS, has no redundancy.
Obviously my setup is much much more expensive though. But it has the ultimate flexibility.
I'm glad more and more standalone devices with HDMI coming out supporting divx, xvid, and matroska. I just wish they were out sooner.