Most helpful client reviews
8 of 8 humans found the following review helpful.
Utter Crap
By Senatorfan
Ok, so I recognise it sounds harsh… but please read initial and then you may determine for yourself.
I purchased the unit (new) when it comes to a year ago…. searched the web, researched the company (“supposedly” good routers), and concluded based on the hardware choices that it seemed like the best choice.
Being a bit of a gearhead, I figured that I could work out any bugs (I assume that a new product that has software will have a few bugs…see Microsoft =). I get home, try to install it….no dice. Looked at SMC’s web site…downloaded the updates…and got Internet Radio. No mp3s, no Video, and parts of little jpg’s.
Phoned SMC’s “tech support” … I use quotes on purpose…. 1-800-India … had to phone back 3 times to get an individual who spoke English… to whick they followed their canned troubleshooting script. I was a little offended by the “just buy another computer and install it there” comment. (My PC was 2 mths old at that point, and near-bleeding-edge).
So the re-calls to “Tech” support goes on and on for months… SMC ended up substituting the product (which did utterly nothing) … and was in regards to to throw it off my balcony (being that pissed off and frustrated)….when I came all over some 3rd party software that permitted me to at least get the thing to work (most of the time (TVersity) … now, it’s only the firmware that’s buggy….hangs, restarts on it’s own, menu overlay issues, etc etc.
The issues with this piece of crap are well-known out on the Net… so if I were to be buying knowing what I recognise now, I would have to determine amidst the Hauppage and the D-Link 320… there are a lot of D-Link folks that hate the Server Software (and are using TVersity BETA software as it’s so bad)… but at least the hardware is good.
To those out there who say / review this as a good product, my simple response (as an IT guy) is that SMC/Vendor Sales Reps must not be writing deceptive reviews for an unsuspecting public. Companies ought to not be attempting to trade a product where the software/firmware is not even up to “Beta” standards (think how angry you would be to get Microsoft XP Beta, when you think you are getting their buggy ver 1?)
If you do determine to buy it….you have been warned.
7 of 7 persons found the following review helpful.
Just what I was looking for, but didn’t rather make the grade
By C. LITTLE
I was looking for a networked media receiver that supported 802.11G which I’ve been using for my home network. When I came upon this SMC Multimedia Receiver I was very excessively affected emotionally to make it the solution to converging the amusement center with the breadth of content (photos, music, and videos) available on our PCs.
The SMCWMR-AG was somewhat easy to configure (although 802.11* may be tricky for any technophobe). Once I installed the content server software on my PC, and pointed it at my mp3, jpg, and mpg content everything was ready to go. The primary disappointment came when I wanted to commence a slideshow from the hundreds of pictures of our infant. The pictures are disunited into folders based on events and dates, but I couldn’t get a slideshow to work all over folders (without rearranging the files or copying to a new directory). Also, the slideshow function froze intermittently (not sure what the issue was here).
MP3′s seemed to play fine (along with looking at pictures simultaneously), with the same limitation of playing throughout folders. I didn’t get a prospect to setup new playlist to see if this solved these problems. I was likewise disappointed in the fixed types of Internet radio streams supported, but I’m sure that could be bettered through software in the future.
The clincher for me returning the device to the store was playing video. Home movies encoded in anything but the lowest bitrates played fine for a few seconds then did an unwatchable jerky dance. The wireless network reported an magnificent link and 54Mbit and now and again 36Mbit connection speeds.
Finally, the user interface seems a bit crude and slow to respond. Again, this may be upgradable in the future so there is the potential for substantial improvement. It just didn’t meet my expected values at this time.
So, I’m taking into account attempting competitory appliances such as the Prismiq or Play@TV products. If they don’t do the trick it is time to build that media-center PC in an amusement center-friendly case and be done with it. That still leaves the challenge of sharing content all around the house unsolved. 
4 of 4 persons found the following review helpful.
OK if you are geeky sufficient to persist with it
By M. Bailey
So I am geeky enough…but my wife wouldn’t be, or my parents or any individual else who expects the widgets in their home to just work when turned on. Yeh, I know this is supposedly leading edge but if it’s going in the home next to the TV it needs to be a hell of a lot more reliable. I’m not talking with regards to the network psychological result of perception learning and reasoning you need to set it up, I guess if you have a Wireless Access router you are already geek sufficient to set this up, in truth that percentage of it is finelooking easy. It’s reliability, stupid. My VCR never “hung” nor will have to this. I shouldn’t have to run upstairs to reboot the PC each hour to restart the server software. The remote control’s functions ought to in truth work, not hang the unit calling for a power cycle to free it up again. It’s temperamental, buggy, and prone to hangs & crashes at both the receiver and PC Mediaserver software end. As another reviewer said, “not yet ready for primetime”. The market of geeks like me more than willing to persist in spite of the bugs is not big sufficient to help these products, the sooner these businesses realize that and get to the same level of easy-for-the-average-Joe and reliability of something like a Tivo the better. Better still; just build this functionality into something already existent like the Tivo, now that would be a product. Summary: Buggy as hell but cool when it works.
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