Gero Vermaas on...: August 2008

Searching replacement for current PVR/DVD-Player/media streamer

I currently own a KiSS DP-558 and although I'm quite impressed with the features included I'm not so happy with the overall stability and quality of the device. I've got it for less then 3 years and did have several defects and recordings often fail. Recently it also started mixing random colors while playing back a recording. About time to replace it.... preferable with something that has similar functionality, which is:

Record TV (also while watching another channel. I'm adding this remark because when using putting a recording device behind a single tuner SettopBox you only get one channel out of the settopbox which you can then watch and record and I want to be able to watch 1 channel and record another)
Stream music from Mac Mini over network connection
Stream movies from Mac Mini (many formats) over network connection
Stream photos from Mac Mini over network connction
EPG with option to select programs for recording and also to specify which programs show always be recorded
Play DVDs and CDs

(For streaming from the Mac Mini I'm using the KiSS MacLink software)

On top of the above requirements I'd like to switch from analogue TV to digital. I checked if may cable provider (Ziggo) has a settopbox that would match all above requirements, but unfortunately not...

After some googling it appeared to be not so easy to find a similar device... The TiVo2 boxes in the US look really interesting, but TiVo2

is only available in US in NTSC format (need PAL in The Netherlands)
require a service subscription (which I would seriously consider to subscribe to if it was available in NL), luckily the Dutch TiVo community has a way to get it to work in NL, but only for TiVo1 boxes. But t looks as if TiVo1 boxes can't stream media from a computer.

Another option would be a Dreambox, but the lack of documentation makes me wonder what functionality is really included out of the box. Looks like it needs some additional work to be able to stream media from a computer.

Apple TV is also an options, but that would only cover the streaming requirements and not the recording and DVD/CD playing...

And lastly I could build a mini PC myself that has all I need, but I'd prefer an out the box (or boxes) solution that does not require me to hack something together and support it for the rest of the family. Ease of use is also a requirement...

In summary... looks like this is going to take at least 2 devices to realize the same functionality now provided by the KiSS DP-558