There has been some confusion on how the Digital Entertainer 8000 HD works with BitTorrent, as a source for video content, so I thought I'd share my experiences and see if I could clear up a few things.

BitTorrent is a technology used to share binary files, such as audio or video files. The technology makes it easy to upload these files, and share them with the world. One of its most compelling features is that the more people download these files, the faster they download for each new person that attempts to download it. For more information about BitTorrent and how it works, ask your kids take a look at these two articles: What is BitTorrent? and How BitTorrent Works.

There is a plethora of digital content - some free, some not-so-free, some legal, some not-so-legal - to be downloaded from BitTorrent sites around the net. Much of it is high-quality HD (up to 1080p) video, and the EVA does a great job playing this content. But it's a little more complicated than you might hope at first blush.

NETGEAR advertises that the EVA8000HD can "Play BitTorrent Downloads on Your HDTV" out of the box. This, along with some of the specs and a few of the reviews I've read, makes it easy to believe that you can download BitTorrents directly to the unit. However, I'm sorry to say you can't actually download BitTorrents directly with your Digital Entertainer through its interface on the TV. Instead, here's the dealio...

Once you understand how BitTorrent works it's extremely simple to download directly to your computer or network server. But you use your PC / laptop / Mac to download BitTorrent content, and you store it on a hard drive - networked or otherwise. The EVA does not support some kind of BitTorrent browser mechanism built into the unit, and there is no data storage built into your EVA. The Digital Entertainer is designed as a connector between the hard drive where your data is stored and your HD television.

So, when downloading your movie or music file from your favorite BitTorrent sites (nope, I won't list them - just type "BitTorrent" into your favorite browser), you need to make sure it's something that the EVA can actually play. Most torrents include the file extension in their name, so it's not hard. Just make sure the file you download is listed in this chart.

Another thing I do is setup my BitTorrent program to download all files directly into one of my EVA scanned folders. Once you do this and you have the file all you have to do is rescan your shares and your new videos or photos will show up on your Digital Entertainer.

One last tip... You might also want to tag videos you download to show more information when browsing them with your EVA. I plan to publish another article explaining how to use the tagging tool for best results in this regard, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Hope this has helped demystify BitTorrent. Post a comment below and share your experiences if you are an avid BitTorrent fan.

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