Over the past six months I’ve picked up a few pieces of hardware that have changed my media consumption habits a bit. Brief descriptions/reviews:

Sans Digital AccuNAS AN2L – network storage. I bought one at work to use as a quick and dirty data bucket (the fact that it would mirror 2 disks was the big draw) – once I got a first-hand look at the other things it could do, I bought myself one to use at home. Web server? Check. FTP server? Check. BitTorrent client? Check – you can grab a .torrent on your PC, copy it over to the NAS box and the NAS box will handle downloading the file. Nice power saving opportunity – turn off the honker PC and let the low power AN2L run 24/7. UPnP streamer? Check – a nice and reasonably standardized way to access content on the NAS box (think audio and video) without needing a Samba client (see Archos, below). Update – just realized I’d used a potential confusing TLA – NAS = Network Attached Storage.

Popcorn Hour A-100 – media player. This little box lets me play all kinds of stuff on the teevee/stereo. It can access the NAS box using standard Microsoft file sharing (SMB/Samba) or talk to any UPnP streamers it sees (another way or getting at the NAS box). One very cool feature? It will play .iso images of DVDs – I can rip one of my DVDs to iso format, store it on the AN2L, and replay any time – no loading the DVD player necessary, and you get everything – menus, special features, etc. It doesn’t upscale – my DVD player does – I’m not sure if my TV will and I’m pretty sure I don’t care enough to fiddle. If you throw a hard drive into the PCH it will do torrents and UPnP just like the NAS box, but without a drive, it is dead silent (good thing). It doesn’t mirror (out of the box – someone has probably tweaked it), so the AN2L is where content lives.

Archos 705 – personal media player. I wanted a media player that I could use in the house and on the road – I also wanted a screen that I could see. This gadget hit both targets – it will not fit in your pocket, but it will store a bunch of eps of The Prisoner, Deadwood, Venture Bros. , etc. along with hours of tunes (though if music is your primary focus, it is too big) and you don’t have to squint. I also picked up the base unit that allows it to become a mini-DVR. Copying files to/from it is a PITA – Archos have apparently killed it’s file sharing capabilities, so to get files off it you need to connect it via USB to a computer. As a be-all and end-all convergence gadget, it’s lacking – as a satellite screen, it works like a charm.

In action, the sequence of events might look like:

• I hear about an interesting torrent (I know – ancient example). I find the .torrent file and fire up the AN2L. Time passes.
• Download complete! Now it’s evening and a little light entertainment sounds like just the thing. I use the PCH A-100 to play the downloaded file (physically on the NAS box in the basement) back on the living room teevee.
• Phone rings – dang. I pause playback and talk talk talk on the phone. “KTHXBAI”, hang up phone and look at the time – late! “I think I’ll watch the last 10 minutes of the show in the master bedroom suite [massive exaggeration]”.  Grab the 705, queue the show up to where it needs to be and watch and/or go to sleep before the show is over.

I’m not there yet, but my bog-standard teevee watching is so minimal at this point (weather, amurcan football and F1 when I can find it) that my cable feed may have a limited life span.