The new Iomega Screenplay Director HD media player is an internet TV and home network set top box that offers HD online movies, YouTube & web TV, and access to media stored on devices on your home network.

The device replaces the old Screenplay TV link which came out in 2008. I got a hands-on look at the new media box while at CES 2010 and it certainly delivers on what it promises with a very reasonable price tag.

You can watch HD movies purchased or rented from Cinema Now, an online movie rental service similar to iTunes and Amazon Video-on-Demand.

Other online content includes YouTube, Flickr, Internet radio, RSS feeds, or podcasts, all accessible through the easy-to-use user interface and remote. Check out the GUI in the video below:

It also comes with a healthy 1TB internal drive and uou can also hook up additional storage via the 3 USB ports.

Home Network Media

The HD Media Player also gives you access to videos and media on your home network in a wide variety formats.

It can connect via Ethernet or Wi-Fi and has DLNA support making watching videos across your home network relatively seamless.

Unfortunately for WI-FI wireless access you’ll need to purchase the Iomega 802.11n Wireless Adapter separately or one of the following supported USB Wi-Fi devices which can be hard to get hold of:

• Trendnet TEW424UB (USB)
• Edimax EW-7316UG (11g USB)
• Encore ENUWI-G (USB dongle)

You could try your luck with another USB Wi-Fi device but quite often they’ve been reported not to work.

Wi-Fi networks tend be a bit sluggish for copying large files and playing HD anyway so you may want to look into a home plug adapter or CoAX adapter to extend your internet connection. These are usually offer a faster and more reliable connection compared to Wi-Fi, but are more expensive.

Full Specs

Media Formats

• Audio Formats – MP3, AC3 (Dolby® Digital Encoding), WAV, OGG, WMA
• Video Formats – MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX®/XViD), H.264, WMV, AVCHD
• Photo Formats – JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG and TIFF
• File Types – .mkv, .avi, .asf, .iso, .vob, .mp4, .mov, .wmv, .flv, .ifo
• PAL/NTSC – Full 1080p high definition (24 fps)
• AV Connections – HDMI, Composite video and audio R/L; Component video: Y, Pb, Pr, optical audio
• Hard drive format: NTFS (default), FAT32

Interfaces

• 1 x RCA Component Video Out – Rear
• 1 x Composite Video Out – Rear
• 1 x Stereo Audio Line Out – Rear
• 1 x HDMI Digital Audio/Video Out – Rear
• 1 x RJ-45 Network – Rear
• 3 x USB – Rear
• 1 x Toslink S/PDIF Out – Rear
• EthernetWireless
• IEEE 802.11b/g/n
• DLNA support

Other

• Versatile Supports many CODECs and file types including H.264 so you can enjoy your entire media collection
• Access online content on internet sites such as YouTube, Flickr, Internet radio, RSS feeds, or podcastsLarge capacity
• Save up to 1500 hours of video, 4,000,000 photos,or 18,500 hours of music on the  1 TB drive
• DivX Home Theatre Certified Includes Iomega Protection Suite anti-virus and backup software solutions

Pros

• Full HD support
• Supports lots of file formats
• 1TB storage included
• Rent movies online and YouTube access

Cons

• Needs separate adapter for Wi-Fi support
• Would like to see more online TV and internet features

Bottom Line

Retailing at $250 the Iomega Screenplay Director HD (model number 34650) is a healthy price when you consider the 1TB storage included (an external Iomega 1TB hard drive is typically $100 or more).

With full HD support, ability to watch videos on the home network, and online TV, movie rentals and internet functions it has a good amount to offer. Lack of built-in Wi-Fi is a real shame though.

Iomega Screenplay Director HD Marketplace – Deals & Discounts

On Amazon:
Buy it on Amazon.

On eBay:

Also See

• The Monsoon Volcano which offers internet TV, placeshifting, home network media playing and more.
• More Internet TV Set Top Boxes
• Homeplug Ethernet Adapters on eBay

Announced back in January at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was the Addlogix EchoView FM PC2TV Wireless Video Converter. Basically it allowed you to watch your PC on your TV wirelessly.

The device has now been re-launched and re-branded as the ‘InternetVue’. I definitely prefer the new name.

Essentially the device is a wireless video router that can stream a video of what’s on your PC’s screen, wirelessly to your TV set.

Is this like the Apple TV?

This small device is similar to the Apple TV, except it has a DVI output (the Apple TV has a HDMI port), and is video format agnostic. This means it doesn’t matter what you play on your PC, you can watch it on your TV.

The problem with most media extenders is that you can only watch certain types of videos, whereas the InternetVue plays whatever you have on your PC screen.

Yes it will play anything including Hulu videos, YouTube, MegaVideo, KMPlayer, Windows Media Player, Winamp Video, etc.!

Some people have even used the device to give business presentations from a PC on a larger screen.

The Internetvue 2020 Unpacked

Control PC From the Couch?

The 2100 version of InternetVue does not allow you to control the PC indirectly, you have to control your computer the old fashioned way.

However, the 2020 version solves this problem. It comes with a infrared remote control which you can use to control your PC’s mouse and directional keys, and perform basic text entry. Therefore you don’t need to get up out of your seat to put on a new video or visit a new website.

Limitations

InternetVue 2100 delivers video in a low resolution of up to 640 x 480 VGA/SD which won’t please HD fanatics. The 2020 version is better with XGA graphics resolution up to 1024 x 768.

Some users have reported that the InternetVue is cumbersome to set up and have run into problems, although other readers have stated it is quite easy to use. It does require software on your PC to run (which is provided) and on lower performance PC’s it can cause video and computer performance to become jittery.

There are also reports of the video being jittery on the TV, while on the PC it is fine. This is a result of the wireless connection not being able to handle transferring the video and is dependent on the speed and setup of your home network. This can be improved by using a wired connection over a wireless connection.

One other potentially major downside is that you must have wireless enabled PC or laptop for InternetVue to work wirelessly. If your PC is wired then you have to use a wired ethernet cable to connect the device to your TV.

It has also been reported that the remote isn’t the greatest for PC cursor control since there is quite a bit of lag.

InternetVue Specs

The device is based on the PC2TV chip from Quartics which is also being bundled with the SlingCatcher from SlingMedia.

• Send computer video wirelessly to TV, monitors, projectors, or other video displays
• Compatible with wireless (802.11 b/g) enabled PC (no additional hardware required).
• Plug-and-play installation with driver installed from the product (no CD).
• Access Internet or local area network (LAN) through on-board 10/100 Ethernet interface.
• Compatible with Intel-based Mac’s (requires installation of Apple Boot Camp and Windows XP).

Currently AddLogix has launched the InternetVue 2100, the digital version with DVI and VGA outputs, and also has the very similar the InternetVue 2020 which has higher resolution and composite and component video outputs.

InternetVue Marketplace – Prices, Deals & Discounts

On Amazon:
Buy an ‘InternetVue 2020′ box from Amazon

On eBay:

You may also be interested in:

• More Media Extenders on WebTVWire
• The Roku Netflix Player for Streaming TV & Movies To Your Living Room
• Searching for more Media Extenders on eBay