Test Equipment

Test Equipment

  • Storages & Accessories
    5 x Samsung HD 154UI 1500GB (Xtreamer)
    3 x Samsung HD 103UI 1000GB (1 for Xtreamer, 2 for e-TRAYz)
    4 x Samsung HD 501LJ 500GB (Desktop PC)
    1 x Samsung HM 500JI 500GB (Xtreamer)
    1 x Samsung HM 250JI 250GB (portable)
    1 x WD My Book Essential 500GB (Xtreamer)
    1 x CnMemory BlueIce USB stick 4GB (Xtreamer Emergency Flash)
    1 x 7-Port USB 2.0 Hub (Xtreamer)
  • Network Devices
    1 x AVM FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7170
    1 x D-Link DGS-1005D Green Ethernet
  • Computers
    1 x Desktop: Core 2 Duo E6600, 4GB RAM running Windows 7 Ultimate x86
    1 x Laptop: Core 2 Duo T7200, 2GB running Windows 7 Ultimate x86

Full HD TV

The Xtreamer is connected to my TV via the AVR (HDMI). The Samsung offers an aspect mode called "Just Scan" which maps 1 pixel from the video signal to 1 pixel on the TV screen. Means, you set your Xtreamer to 1080p and each pixel will then be displayed as a pixel on the screen. However, "HDMI Auto" mode on the Xtreamer didn't allow me to enable "Just Scan". Only in 1080p 50Hz I was able to set the mode. Apart from that I had no issues with the Samsung TV.

A/V Receiver

The major flaw of this receiver in my setup is, that it only supports HDMI 1.2 but for the time being (until I can afford a better one) it will do. At this stage (firmware v2.1.3) the Xtreamer still does not process TrueHD sound properly (only 2ch downmix) but as long as the receiver doesn't handle HD audio, I couldn't care less. Hopefully the Xtreamer will support it in a future firmware release, so other customers with newer receivers will be able to benefit from it. And then I have a reason to get a new receiver :)

5.1 Speaker

Nothing to say much about these speakers. For my living room, they are good enough :)

Storages & Accessories

The 3.5" HDDs are very quiet. I remember I purchased some Seagate 7200.11 HDDs before and was shocked about the noise they created compared to the WD My Book, so I went over to so-called Eco-Green drives from Samsung. Anyone who wants a low noise setup will like them. I got five of them inside nice Fantec cases (DB-339US2). The 2.5" HDD is not an Eco-Green but it's quiet anyways as most 2.5" drives are. The big HDDs are connected to the USB hub and from there to the Xtreamer. The 2.5" 500GB HDD will be used inside the Xtreamer case, the other one will be used as a portable HDD. Since the Fantec cases have their own power supply unit, I have the USB hub unpowered but I have the option to plug the powercord into it when needed. No problems with this combination so far. The USB stick ist just a normal stick with average transfer rates.

Network Devices

The FRITZ!Box is my communication central! Every device with network/communication abilities - wired or wireless - is connected either directly to this little box or via the GBit switch. My desktop/laptop, the PS3, my phone, the Philips streamer and last but not least the Xtreamer itself. Modding the box, you can wake up your PC remotely from the internet. Too bad neither the Xtreamer nor the e-TRAYz do support this :(

Other Media Devices

The PS3 is connected via WiFi to my network. As expected, after enabling the UPnP service on the Xtreamer, and searching on the PS3, I can access my media files on the PS3! It won't play my HD MKVs of course but at least I can browse music and image files via the PS3 on drives attached to the Xtreamer.

The Philips streaming client can grab music files from UPnP servers and play them. Currently I mainly use it as an alarm clock but I already tested successfully streaming music from the internal Xtreamer HDD over WiFi to the Philips :)

Remote Control

Yeah, the Logitech Harmony is the best purchase I made for my system :) I can control everything with it, except the PS3 although there is a solution for this problem, if anyone is interested, google for "Logitech Harmony Adapter for Sony PlayStation 3". I just didn't want to pay more for this adapter than for the original PS3 bluetooth remote. Nonsense. Besides that, did I already mention that the Harmony is the best purchase I made?

Camera / Camcorder

I use the DSLR only for taking pictures for my review, since I unsuccessfully tried to connect it via USB to my Xtreamer. I think the Xtreamer was in no good mood, so it refused to map my EOS as a USB drive. How evil the Xtreamer is...

I bought the IXUS much later than the FS100 camcorder (which I used for the Youtube videos). It's main purpose will be to serve the DSLR as a companion and to record videos in 720p for Youtube to replace the old crappy SD videos.

Computers

Everyone should have a computer at home. I recommend using Windows 7 coz Windows XP Pro SP3 was the first nice Windows OS for me to use but soon will look a bit outdated. Vista sucked big time but Windows 7 scores in many aspects.

By the way: for the UPnP tests I used TVersity Free on the PC.