Wireless Media Stick - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

rdrr2008 · 2011-01-23, 05:28 PM

Did a search and couldn't find anything.
Anybody using one? Pros and Cons....link

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/research/id/rc8979.aspx

Wayne · 2011-01-23, 11:59 PM

I read the Futureshop link but I still don't understand what this does? It says it lets you stream media from your PC to "any media player with a USB port". What do they mean buy media player? Certainly this would not work with a Rogers STB even though it has a USB port. Is the benefit of this that it gives you wifi so that solves a problem if you have a media player without wifi - but don't most of these media players have wifi?

The ony other issue is that playing HD files over wifi doesn't always work so well.

van der Decken · 2011-01-24, 12:05 AM

In a nutshell, it makes a network connection look like a USB drive.

blueroomelectro · 2011-01-24, 12:26 AM

For the $119 price I'd rather have an AppleTV2

Wayne · 2011-01-24, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueroomelectro

For the $119 price I'd rather have an AppleTV2

Exactly - you can get full on media players for that price or a wee bit more. Makes no sense.

sakul · 2011-01-25, 08:46 PM

Hi,

I have been testing this device for several months. And yes the apple tv is a whole media player (but you can't stream your divx movies from your pc, only audio and pictures ;-) ) but this device is something else. It is meant for the millions of existing and future media devices out there that have a usb port that you would normally use with a usb stick or removable usb drive. So now instead of using a usb stick or drive plugged into your tv or any other media player, that you need to continually copy files to manually, you simply plug this device in and it 'pretends' to be a normal usb stick to the tv/media player, but instead it is streaming files off of any device on your network.

I have tested it in pictures frames, stereo systems, media players, game consoles, tvs, projectors, ... anything I can get my hands on with a usb port for playing media files.

The AR internet radios with the usb port were never meant to stream music from a home media server... now it does..

I have my stick at home set up on my wdtv (that only accepts usb devices) and I have nearly 1 TB of media shared from 4 locations; 2 pcs and 1 linux server and 1 apple timecapsule. You can start to see the convenience and versatility of never having to unplug the stick once it is set up, just copy your files to the folder you have shared...

So in a nutshell, it is a virtual usb stick, that emulates a usb file system by streaming media off a network.. instantly turning any device with a usb port into a wireless device, even if it was never meant to be wireless.

and last but not least, it is a Canadian company, and the stick was invented and developed exclusively in Canada..

sakul

edit; btw, the stick streams 720p HD files up to 4 GB in size perfectly fine. I have even streamed 720p with a wireless b router. The stick is made exclusively for media streaming, and it's caching and programming seem to work fine with 720p.

Wayne · 2011-01-25, 11:46 PM

But can't you pay players like the WD TV live for less than the cost of this device? I use SageTV extenders, and they are now going for $150 although they don't have wifi.

I admit it would be cool to use this with something like a digital photo frame, but I am not paying over $100 for that.

sakul · 2011-01-26, 08:55 AM

Well, it is on sale right now for under 100!

classicsat · 2011-01-26, 11:16 AM

1c under.

Still, not enough of a value in some cases.

PeterK · 2011-04-13, 09:05 AM

Well I ordered one to test it out...well see what its all about when it gets in.

2011-01-23, 05:28 PM	#1
rdrr2008 Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 47	Wireless Media Stick Did a search and couldn't find anything. Anybody using one? Pros and Cons....link http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/research/id/rc8979.aspx

2011-01-24, 12:26 AM	#4
blueroomelectro Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 676	For the $119 price I'd rather have an AppleTV2 __________________ Bill My blog

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2011-01-23, 11:59 PM	#2
Wayne Veteran Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Scarboro Posts: 5,578	I read the Futureshop link but I still don't understand what this does? It says it lets you stream media from your PC to "any media player with a USB port". What do they mean buy media player? Certainly this would not work with a Rogers STB even though it has a USB port. Is the benefit of this that it gives you wifi so that solves a problem if you have a media player without wifi - but don't most of these media players have wifi? The ony other issue is that playing HD files over wifi doesn't always work so well.

2011-01-24, 12:05 AM	#3
van der Decken Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Calgary Posts: 45	In a nutshell, it makes a network connection look like a USB drive.

2011-01-25, 08:46 PM	#6
sakul Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 4	Hi, I have been testing this device for several months. And yes the apple tv is a whole media player (but you can't stream your divx movies from your pc, only audio and pictures ;-) ) but this device is something else. It is meant for the millions of existing and future media devices out there that have a usb port that you would normally use with a usb stick or removable usb drive. So now instead of using a usb stick or drive plugged into your tv or any other media player, that you need to continually copy files to manually, you simply plug this device in and it 'pretends' to be a normal usb stick to the tv/media player, but instead it is streaming files off of any device on your network. I have tested it in pictures frames, stereo systems, media players, game consoles, tvs, projectors, ... anything I can get my hands on with a usb port for playing media files. The AR internet radios with the usb port were never meant to stream music from a home media server... now it does.. I have my stick at home set up on my wdtv (that only accepts usb devices) and I have nearly 1 TB of media shared from 4 locations; 2 pcs and 1 linux server and 1 apple timecapsule. You can start to see the convenience and versatility of never having to unplug the stick once it is set up, just copy your files to the folder you have shared... So in a nutshell, it is a virtual usb stick, that emulates a usb file system by streaming media off a network.. instantly turning any device with a usb port into a wireless device, even if it was never meant to be wireless. and last but not least, it is a Canadian company, and the stick was invented and developed exclusively in Canada.. sakul edit; btw, the stick streams 720p HD files up to 4 GB in size perfectly fine. I have even streamed 720p with a wireless b router. The stick is made exclusively for media streaming, and it's caching and programming seem to work fine with 720p.

2011-01-25, 11:46 PM	#7
Wayne Veteran Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Scarboro Posts: 5,578	But can't you pay players like the WD TV live for less than the cost of this device? I use SageTV extenders, and they are now going for $150 although they don't have wifi. I admit it would be cool to use this with something like a digital photo frame, but I am not paying over $100 for that.

2011-01-26, 08:55 AM	#8
sakul Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 4	Well, it is on sale right now for under 100!

2011-01-26, 11:16 AM	#9
classicsat Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Kincardine ON. Posts: 4,004	1c under. Still, not enough of a value in some cases.

2011-04-13, 09:05 AM	#10
PeterK Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 91	Well I ordered one to test it out...well see what its all about when it gets in.