I was very happy with the Netgear M101 device, and expected great things from the EVA700 when I purchased it last year. Overall I have been very disappointed with the product's unreliable nature and tendency to crash or slow to a crawl when browsing through the menus or in the midst of playback (even over a wired connection). I do see great potential, however it just isn't realized... at least not at the level it should be.  I have upgraded the firmware and that does seem to have helped stabilize the system somewhat.

The function I miss most from the M101, which was not addressed in any firmware or software upgrades I've performed on the EVA700 to date, is alpha search.  On the M101 I could type in the letters of a track title, artist, album, etc., and the listing on the device would auto scroll as I typed. With over 4,000 artists in my music library, this is really essential... or if not a search, the interface at least needs a way of quickly browsing through the folders without waiting 5-10 seconds for each screen to load. If I wanted to play something by an artist with the last name "M" it would take many frustrating minutes to navigate that deep into the list!

Is there a way to search or browse QUICKLY through the library? Perhaps jump to a certain letter or location in the list? Does anyone else have this issue? I am surprised that it does not seem to be a common complaint--maybe there is something obvious I am overlooking? I am using Windows Media Center on a Viiv-enabled Vista system. Would trying different media server software give me different functionality on the EVA700 interface?

Thank you for any suggestions.