Details flow on Netgear's EVA9150 Digital Entertainer Elite

We had the bare essentials when we spotted Netgear's Digital Entertainer Elite trying to waltz through the FCC unnoticed, but now we've got the hot, juicy details required to make those things called "purchasing decisions." Wired has it that the media streamer will check in during Q1 2009 at $400, which will buy you a roomy 500GB hard drive, "an updated user interface that allows users to choose content from free sources such as YouTube and Flickr," full 1080p support and the ability to swap out the HDD should the owner choose. The catch, however, is that the box is currently disconnected from most major content providers, and without a link to Netflix (or similar), users will have to either provide their own material or simply surf over to online portals such as Hulu. Four bills is a lot to ask for something in the "been there, done that" bucket -- we'll give it three months before the first substantial price cut.

[Lowest Ranked @ Dec 10th 2008 11:24PM]

1080p VCR.

[Slav @ Dec 11th 2008 1:50AM]

Wait, a VCR would mean this has some DVR capabilities but I don't see anything about a built in tuner or a recording possibility. Personally I'm waiting for something like the Popcorn Hour but with a DVR capability. I don't have Cable or Satellite but want to record some over the air HD stuff.

[E71 @ Dec 11th 2008 7:49AM]

I hope they provide one without a hard-drive. Got lots of 1TB drives lying around so a portion of that $400 going towards the 500GB is just... so unfair.

[Brian! @ Dec 11th 2008 12:46PM]

Ciper: This unit is more aimed at the person who has a library of ripped DVDs and recorded TV shows. A dream for someone who hits up torrent downloads.

Gary: I dunno about TrueHD, but it has Wireless-N built in.

Slav: This is not a recorder, just playback. The real focus of this type of devices is to playback your computer material on your HDTV. So if you record TV on your PC, then this is great addition. Or if you download shows. Basically it searches your networking for shared media files and allows you to browse and play them on your tv. Pretty straight up there.

[Giga @ Dec 10th 2008 11:26PM]

On the bright side, the casing looks nice.

[balls @ Dec 11th 2008 12:45AM]

$400 seems about 1 benji too much.

[deanypop @ Dec 11th 2008 3:43AM]

Uh, Boxee anyone? If it rolled out the door pre-installed, it'd be worth four bills (but yeah, in this economy, maybe $300 is a splurge-limit for joe consumer). Boxee really could be the "Android" of the settop set, just replace all the built-in OSes and let folks run all their content through whatever.

[ciper @ Dec 11th 2008 3:58AM]

Why would I buy this for 400 when I can get a TivoHD with the same features plus 100 more for 600$ with a lifetime subscription? (valid for any existing customer).

[Gary J @ Dec 11th 2008 11:21AM]

I didn't see metion of wireless or TrueHD decoding.

[Jeebus @ Dec 11th 2008 12:51PM]

I can get a PS3 for $400.

[Murc @ Dec 12th 2008 2:38AM]

...why not spend half that price and go with the popcorn hour.