AV Gadgetry

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.

3 thoughts on “AV Gadgetry

  1. [Read with French accent}
    The Internet, she is a small place. This morning I read your AccuNAS AN2L post…this afternoon you comment on my French cop cars post. Aiee! The giant squid has escaped from the mind control device!

  2. Sacré bleu! I’m convinced that the web has reduced the 6 degrees of separation to something under 3 – and I like it.

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