Netgear NTV200 : Over-the-Top Streaming for Non-Networked TVs
by Ganesh T S on December 22, 2011 10:50 PM EST- Posted in
- Media Streamer
- Home Theater
- NetGear
The NTV200's YouTube app is the leanback version with the 10-foot UI. Unfortunately, my thoughts about the leanback version are mixed at best. On a PC, I found the leanback version to be quite pleasing to use. However, on the media streamers I have tried, it is not easy to move around. My first complaint about the Leanback app on the NTV200 (or, for that matter, the WDTV Live Streaming Media Player too), is that the place and method to link an YouTube account is not immediately obvious. The result was that a random video started playing as soon as I started the app.
Searching for videos with the on-screen keyboard and the bundled remote is a nightmare. Unfortunately, the Leanback app is the only way to access YouTube in the NTV200. (In the WDTV Live Streaming Media Player, the YouTube Videos app presents a much better and intuitive interface, and it is present in addition to the Leanback app).
Does the Leanback app at least provide 1080p videos? To determine this, we used our standard HTPC test suite YouTube clip, and played the 1080p version on the PC first. The 6 minute clip downloaded approximately 180 MB of data into the PC.
YouTube Sample Stream on a PC : Bandwidth Characteristics
In the Leanback app, playing back the same clip downloaded approximately 100 MB of data. The bitrate points to a 720p HD version being played back.
YouTube Sample Stream on the Netgear NTV200 : Bandwidth Characteristics
On the whole, the YouTube experience on the NTV200 is less than ideal.
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JoeMcJoe - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
That remote looks ok.I have the Boxee one, its terrible, worst remote ever.
The interface to the Boxee is pretty poor also, I have it because it plays MKVs and DVD ISOs great. I hope it plays Blue ray ISOs one day too.
I use a Qnap NAS.
The PS3 interface is great.
Matt355 - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
When I first got my Boxee box it needed to update its software, its Still not as polished as the Apple TV But its good. I like the remote because it makes using the web browser easier and mine has a dedicated Netflix button.damianrobertjones - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
Personally I have little faith in Neatgear at this point in timehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-Wireless-Gigabit-A...
I purchased said router only to find that it wouldn't retain an ip address for anything over 30 seconds. No review mentioned this which was odd so I now think twice before thinking about anything 'netgear'. Plus, obviously, the wireless dongles can be a bit pap at times
OzzieGT - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
One thing which is sorely lacking is how the box handles local streaming (file shares, DLNA, etc). This is a very important feature in a box like this for me.ganeshts - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
There is nothing around this unit's price point which has all these premium video features and also support for media over local networks. (Roku has some sort of Plex support, but it is really very spotty and there is no native codec support most of the time).As I said in the concluding remarks, go with the WDTV Live SMP which has better local media support and also has almost all the premium VoD services one would use..
Brovane - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
Why would NetGear launch this box and leave out Amazon Vod?Matt355 - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
I Know. it must be licensing or something because its not on Xbox, Playstation, or even Boxee. I mostly see it on Tivo.sulu1977 - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
Where's the web surfing capability? If people can surf the web on a tiny cell-phone, wouldn't it be far more logical o be able to surf the web on a big TV?shorty lickens - Saturday, December 24, 2011 - link
I just got my mom the Roku LT for Xmas. According to this article, the Netgear is slightly better for the same money.Oh well.
HiFreak1c - Saturday, December 24, 2011 - link
Actually, Xbox360 can stream MKV w/ Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound through windows Media Centre. It just can't play DTS is all.Addon for WMC: http://www.mediabrowser.tv
Codec support: http://www.divx.com/en/software/divx-plus/codec-pa...
Codec support: http://http://ac3filter.net/
Mine works fine most of the time, apart from a few issues with it locking up and stuff. I'm going to replace it with a HTPC soon, but for the mean time it works fine as a poor mans alternative to a proper HTPC build.