Do you stream?  Have you discovered the pleasures of being able to access all the media on your network directly on your television?

NETGEAR's been bringing this technology into homes for years now with the original Digital Entertainer (EVA 700) and Digital Entertainer HD (EVA 8000.)  Personally, I've grown quite attached to the Digital Entertainer HD, as I can watch any television shows I've recorded as well as listen to my music collection right in my main setup. 

You can only imagine, then, how esctatic I was to get my grabby geeky mitts on the new flagship product in NETGEAR's entertainment line - the aptly named Digital Entertainer Elite, also known as the EVA 9150.

Unboxing the Digital Entertainer Elite

The Digital Entertainer Elite comes attractively packaged, and anyone who is familiar with NETGEAR will recognize the box layout immediately.

The unit is very nicely secured with foam and protective wrap, and is packaged with a remote control, cables, instruction sheet, and software installation disk.

Continue forward to see my first impressions of the Elite...

First Impressions of the Digital Entertainer Elite

It's immediately apparent that this is a beautifully revamped device, and the first change you'll notice is the nifty hard drive bay in the front of the unit.  The sleek black finish promises to more seamlessly integrate itself into your home theater setup as well.

If you're anything like me at all, you won't be able to resist flipping down the front panel to examine the hard drive enclosure.  ReadyNAS owners will be very familiar with this design.

It's simple (and kind of fun) to pop out the hard drive, and prompts thoughts of how easy it will be to stuff media on multiple hard drives and "swap" them out in the EVA.  Just push the button on the left side and the caddy will release, allowing you to slide it out.

The back panel of the Digital Entertainer Elite doesn't offer anything you didn't expect.  A SCART connector, digital audio output, S-Video, composite, component, HDMI, and Ethernet connections are all present.

So, now that we've gotten to get a look at this beauty, why not get it set up?

Page 1 2 3 4 Next »