I-O Data's networked AVeL LinkPlayer DVD player

Gateway, KiSS Technologies, and a couple of others have had a few of these out for a while now, but I-O Data has a new networked DVD player of their own coming out, at least in Japan. The AVeL LinkPlayer has that fancy 802.11g WiFi that's being put into everything these days and over a home network can wirelessly stream MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DivX, XviD, and WMV9 (which is Microsoft's new high-definition video format) video files and MP3, AAC, WMA, and Ogg audio files that are stored on your PC's hard drive. Whether it can also playback DVDs with DivX and WM9 video files burned onto them is a little less clear, but we're guessing not. But even better, the LinkPlayer sports a USB 2.0 port for attaching an external hard drive in case you can't be bothered to stream things over the network.

[Via Akihabara News]

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

I have an Apple G5 and a G4 iBook, both with 802.11g. I have the laptop in my bedroom and my G5 in the living room. I mounted my G5's hard drive on the iBook and tried to open a DivX file with VLC. It worked for the most part, but it was choppy at times and when you paused everything got out of whack. Its a good idea to have wireless video but if you think that you can do it now you are out of your mind. What if I was downloading something at the time? I'm sure that would have made the video that much choppier.

I like the idea but it just doesn't work right now.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

I found the product available on the I-O Data USA site, you can even buy it for $299. The only thing I am worried about is the fun little quote:

"[CAUTION] This is a "Japanese Package" (No Any English)."

Wonder what that means exactly, I can assume it means that everything is still in Japanese, but I wonder if the on screen menus are as well and if a regular English speaking/reading person could use this player. Oh well, guess I may have to wait for the Linksys player.

http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/products.php?cat=MIJ&sc=JSR&pId=AVLP1%2FDVD

[E. Douglas Jensen @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

I don't care about wireless, I just want something that plays MP3's and WMA's on a DVD. If it would also play DIVX's and WMV's on DVD's, that'd be even better.

[e-mail]

[Zinc @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

No mention of it from the manufacturer...
If I'm paying an extra $200 just for the networking I'll stick with my Philips DVP-642.

[gualtiero capolei @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

era ora che uscisse un player con queste caratteristiche,
continuare su questa strada ?otevole

[Orion @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

I installed a home network into my house (CAT6, RG6, coax) when I bought my house. I even left a spare ethernet port in my entertainment closet for my Plasma / Bose system. Don't ask me why. =)

So imagine my excitement when I stumbled across the networked Avel LinkPlayer2. Bought it the same day and hooked it up 2 days ago.

Overall, the LinkPlayer performs as advertised. Great all-in-1 support. I love streaming DivX from my puter, or plugging in a USB key to preview a quick clip. Good buffers and smooth playback. For example, if I'm using my DVD burner, I can't play a movie at the same time on my puter. Not so with the Avel LinkPlayer. I can run my hard drive like crazy, yet the buffering is good enough to ensure smooth playback. Pretty impressive.

Only downside is the video / sound quality. No DTS audio support. The component video quality was also substandard. Compared to my 4 yr old Toshiba DVD player, the LinkPlayer's video looked flat and lacked sharpness.

However, it was a good buy, and I'm still excited. Unfortunately, I'll need to keep my old DVD player hooked up if I really want to impress my friends with my plasma TV.