Hi gang,

My suggestions would be to add...

"quick scan for new media" by folder (as opposed to rescanning all folders with thousands of songs and pictures).

Add  folder views i.e. list, details, thumbnails and additional to this font size changes within the skin.

add reverse scrolling (I'm sure there is a more technical term for it) i.e. push UP at the top of the list to scroll straight to the bottom and vice versa.

a Visualiser for music and internet radio and additional screensavers.

I'll add more when they come to mind.

Much Love

Flaymr

1. How about an easier way to play an album. Instead of going to album/folder/browse/down one slot/play, it'd be great to just find the album you want to hear and hit 'play' and have it start playing in order. As it is currently set up, there are simply too many hoops to jump through.
2. Better display of pictures. Looking at photographs taken with my Nikon D100 through the Netgear look like crap. The aspect ratios and rendering are wrong, and nothing I can find will make them better. (Yes, I've tweaked all the supervisor settings to no avail..) I do not have this issue when looking at them through the same cables, the same network, on my PS3.
3. A better screen saver or the ability to change it
4. A better, smoother GUI
5. Is there really any use at all for the 'desktop' access function? I've tried to use it and either the accessibility/use of the mouse needs to be improved, or scrap the idea all together and concentrate efforts elsewhere. (Like the GUI)
6. LOVE the 'visualizer' idea by Flaymr
7. Navigation of the photographs menu needs some improvement. Again, too many hoops to jump through to get the basics. If I want to start a slideshow - just let me find the main folder of the particular collection and hit 'play'. Viola - we're off to the races. Again, take a look at the PS3 and how it displays photos. Much smoother and more intuitive.

Thanks everyone for your great suggestions. I really like the folder views and visualizer ideas. Does anyone else out there have anything else to add?

Peter Redmer
Administrator
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Better handling of iTunes. It seems I have to go to my PC and re

Better error handling. When the HD EVA can't find a file, or hits an error, it just seems to hang. I'm sure there is some sort of time-out sequence it is cycling through, but it displays no message and I have no idea whether to sit and wait or restart it or what.

Also, my earlier message about iTunes seems to have been cut off. I have to got to my PC and re "configure" my EVA box if I want to play iTunes songs. It seems that during the configure, netgear launches Windows Media Player in the background on my pc, and that allows the EVA box to play my iTunes files. I can't store my iTunes music on my NAS either, they have to be on my PC with the WMP running for them to play. This is frustrating because I bought the NAS to store all of my music and now I can't move it there and have it play.

Last, it would make a ton of sense for the EVA 8000 to go out to the net and find the album or movie cover artwork and info for all my movies and music on its own, rather than me having to index each song through the tagging interface.

When I start up iTunes, it instantly goes online and grabs the info for every song.

Last, sorry to keep referencing iTunes, but they do it so well... the way iTunes handles the album cover art images is so fast and smooth, while the EVA 8000 really struggles to load images just a few hundred KB in size - why is that so hard? My house is networked with Cat5, so the EVA is connected by wired and wirelessly, and has a ton of bandwidth. It surprises me how much it struggles to handle images speedily.

64 bit support on the software side would be great

background music for slideshow

My first set of suggestions. My basis is my EVA9150.

Note: I am not a native English speaker, so please be lenient with my mistakes ;)

1) is it not possible to SIGNIFICANTLY improve the throughput via wifi and ethernet? both are so sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwww , it is so EXASPERATING :o
NB: USB is not the faster I have ever seen either...

2) improved network interface:
- more parameters available, such as MTU,
- [COLOR="Red"][B]BUG FIX[/B][/COLOR] ("Network performance insufficient buffering"), it is exasperating:
[URL="http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=40400"]http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=40400[/URL]

3) could you modify the fw so that EVA is available for playing movies etc when it is copying files from USB? Waiting for EVA to have finished the copy is sometime boring.... (particularly if I am copying several xxGB MKVs....)

4) Videos:
- could you include a support for DTS and rmvb files? pleeeaaase.......
- could the time necessary to change the langage of the movie played (langage A instead of langage B) be REDUCED: 30s it is long, MUCH TOO LONG. And once changed, could EVA keep in memory the langage choosen for the next play?
- Youtube & co:
>> could you include a feature to register videos on the hard drive of EVA?
>> could at least videos be cached/buffered on the HD (at least until EVA is switched off)? If I want to see a video again just after having seen it, it must be downloaded again and EVA buffers, buffers, buffers... rofl

5) Improve the ReadyNas Photo section ([URL="http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=45115"]http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=45115[/URL] For instance could you at least include a slideshow function?

6) Radios
A lot of radios cannot be lisetened using EVA:
- mms:/etc... : NO
- [url]http://blabla.m3u[/url] : OK
- [url]http://blabla[/url] (rien de spécial) : OK
- [url]http://blabla.ram[/url] : NO
- [url]http://blabla.asx[/url] : NO
- [url]http://blabla.pls[/url] : NO
- [url]http://blabla.wax[/url] : NO
- [url]http://blabla.ogg[/url] : NO
--> could the compatibility of EVA be improved? Most of european radios are broadcasted with one of those extension and cannot thus be listened to with EVA....

7) Concerning DEW:
- softwares as tag editor etc could be kept in DEW,
- but parameters of EVA should really be available through a web interface as it is already the case for readynas. It is really a pain to be forced to switch on the TV and use the remote for defining the parameters of EVA (or modify a parameter).

8) could netgear include the support of external CD/DVD readers (connected through USB directly on EVA)? It should be easy and could be very usefull

For instance DVDs inserted in my LG GP08nu10 (external DVD reader) are not detected by EVA.

If, in addition, netgear could also include the possibility to rip DVD ISOs in the interface of EVA, it could be cool also.

I also would not mind to have an option to see any USB-HDD/CD/DVD reader that are connected to EVA on the network. Like, say if something is conected to EVA using USB connection and that new drive shows up in Widnows.

That could be an equivalent to the readyshare feature provided by the router WNDR3700:

[URL="http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/WirelessNRoutersandGateways/WNDR3700.aspx"]http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/WirelessNRoutersandGateway...


My 2 cents :)

1. Spotify client would really make a big difference
2. Legacy support for AVI files, for digicams avi's as M-JPEG (motion JPEG A&B), not having to convert hundreds of them!!! This is big minus...
3. Voddler client would rock! http://www.voddler.com/

How about a better UI?

A way to navigate a big library [audio, video etc.], aside from starting at A or Z, alpha-numeric keypad? I mean really!

Internet access AND access to Hulu etc....

Better through put via wifi AND USB [why does Netgear truncate ALL bandwidth to the EVA? ...are they owned by Comcast?], or for that matter have it recognize a HSF+ formatted external USB drive that is connected.

Gigabit Ethernet.

A useable Photo viewer, what is there now is a joke.

Maybe a USER MANUAL!???????? To help explain the UI/Remote

etc. etc. etc.

If I did not win this I'd have returned it for a Mac Mini, what a misleading over priced kludgy device this is.

-----------------

OK, after today's firmware update YouTube is working better as is Internet Radio etc, and then a few hours with tech support on the phone I have resolve some isuues that make it useable so I did edit my above post.

IMHO the EVA9150 still leaves me with much to be desired, the internal HD — in it's current crippled state/format and with it's and slow performance — is really only useful for buffering which begs the question why not just use onboard flash memory for buffering.

I have enjoyed it more today [post update] than I have in the past few weeks, BUT if I did not have a ReadyNAS NV+ for the EVA9150 to stream from I do not think I would be as happy with it as a standalone digital media streaming device. My 2¢.

Are there any moderators out there who can update us on the progress of some of these ideas?

BBC iPlayer and Sky Player would be brilliant if you're able to, however a Spotify client would be easier to integrate wouldn't it?

A more ergonomic menu system wouldn't go amiss, especially when trying to build a play list and then view/edit it, or go back a couple of songs.

Video's too - having a more manageable playlist would be great.

Are there plans for a new firmware for the 9100? If so, can you say what may be dealt with?

Cheers!

APPLE TV vs. EVA

I don't really want to go there but, I feel it is necessary to compare EVA vs. the Apple TV in order to assess and propose improved functionality for the Digital Entertainer. It's been said before and unfortunately I am going to join in the chant. I think EVA does need an improved user interface. I think if she had a INTUITIVE easy to use/navigate interface she might gain a little more mass appeal (provided new promo video represented this possibility) as of now in my opinion it has the appeal that it only applies to those with over stuffed pocket protectors. In terms of programming, I feel if a person who has no techno savvy can't operate it, it's no good. What I would like to see added to EVA would be a similar feature to what the Apple TV offers such as playback information on the device remotely controlling the Media Player in Apple TV's case it is the iPad or iTouch in Eva's case it would be the computer. I think having playback information on the computer as well as the TV being viewed would be advantageous especially in a multi-room audio scenario when a TV/display isn't really required as the only content of concern is the music being played back where the only necessary function is to track what is being played and to what will be played next. What I don't like about Apple TV's interface is that you have to scroll through a virtual on-screen keyboard say when browsing you tube... I realize EVA scrolls through a virtual keyboard in the exact same way but, why can't I use my laptops keyboard when it's right there in front of my face? Add this feature and I feel you will be ahead of the crowd. Additionally, I like to imagine the playback information would be considered almost mandatory (currently standard with Apple) but I think it has the potential of being even cooler to not just provide playback information but to also replicate the source info on your computer at the same time (no missed moments for bathroom, kitchen or just chillin outside breaks) again while implementing the use of the real keyboard for control/content selection. As for me, I only use the remote software (not the remote) that came with the EVA as I put it on my laptop & my wife's macbook pro additionally we have the EVA distributed through all 4 TV's in the house and control our selections via our laptop's which brings me to my final request as I just bought an iPad because I hate hauling my laptop around the house for browsing purposes & I like the touch feature big time but now I am carrying both my laptop (for EVA control purposes) and my iPad because I prefer it over baking my lap. So my big request is to please, please pretty please consider making an iPad Ap for controlling the EVA as this would be massively awesome to have control over my EVA @ the touch of my finger tips.

THANKS FOR READING & CONSIDERING ADDING THESE POTENTIAL FEATURES.

Chris