Content area
Abstract
[...] it also takes aWindows computer or laptop (no Mac or Linux) and PlayOn software ($40 for "lifetime" service) before the streaming-video curtain rises on "District 9."
Full text
The masquerade might have lasted forever if Sherwood hadn't given the R-904N audio-video receiver a nickname. -What is this thing? With the rounded edges, streamlined design and that familiar ghost-white patina, maybe a set-top concoction from Apple? A Martha Stewart cable box? Or a new 3-D Blu-ray player?
Call it the Netboxx, though, and you know exactly what to expect:A7.1-channel audio-video receiver with a built-in media streamer, yet another trinket for the home that reaches out to the Internet for movies, music, TV programming and Web content.
Sherwood aims high with the Netboxx. The networked media player, licensed from VuNow, easily surpasses Internet-enabled HDTVs in variety and Web "channels." Yet it suffers from the same sluggishness, poor navigation, substandard video quality and irrelevance of too many offerings that now make Internet- enabled HDTVs a questionable investment.
The average consumer might assumethat getting Netflix, CinemaNow or Amazon On Demand movies for pay or freebie TV shows from Hulu requires nothing more than connecting the Netboxx to a home network. In fact, it also takes aWindows computer or laptop (no Mac or Linux) and PlayOn software ($40 for "lifetime" service) before the streaming-video curtain rises on "District 9." To play music or movies stored on a computer, you must have Windows Media Player 10 or later and enable file sharing on your home network.
By my count, the VuNow module from Verismo, the Netboxx's technology, offered 220 "channels," everything from YouTube videos to local TV stations that stream video, TMZ gossip, Al Jazeera, NASA TV and, praise the Lord, greatest-hits reruns of the late televangelist Gene Scott.
There were so many more opportunities for discovery than with the latest Internet-enabled HDTVs.Yet too often, channels- 17 of 24 on the first screen of "popular sites" - were "under maintenance" and unavailable.
The Netboxx, aside from its streaming abilities, is also among the few home-theater receivers using Class D amplification. These digital amplifiers are much smaller and run cooler than traditional amplification. Thanks to Class D, the Netboxx (17 inches wide, 2.5 high and 10 deep) is about half the size of a typical audio-video receiver.
Sonically, digital amplifiers are hit or miss.The Netboxx, unfortunately, is closer to a miss. It exhibits one of Class D's worst qualities: an artificial sheen that colors virtually anything it plays, particularly noticeable here with music. Sherwood also cut a few corners to squeeze everything into the trim Netboxx. It gave up multichannel analog audio and S-Video connections and does not provide assignable inputs that allow the user to designate, say, "Video1" as "TV" or "Blu-ray."
Netboxx puts Sherwood ahead of most manufacturers trying to bring the popularity of mobile video home. So far, though, mobile video playing on a big-screen HDTV isn't a hot attraction.
Credit: Kevin Hunt, TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS
PHOTO: What: Sherwood Netboxx (R-904N), sherwoodusa.comPrice: $649Hot: An audio-video receiver with built-in streaming-media module, digital amplification in a low-profile chassis available in black or white.Not: Low-quality,Web-caliber video. PlayOn software and computer needed for Netflix and other premium services. Echo-y, artificial sound.Alternative: A standard receiver with a separate media streamer like a PlayStation 3 gaming console. Or Sherwood's upcoming RD-7605N, with traditional looks at a lower price ($499).; Caption:
(Copyright 2010 by The Orlando Sentinel)