Hands on: Sony’s $129 N100 Media Player ‘Does More Than Roku’

I do hope Sony upgrades the Netflix interface to allow for searches and adding to instant queue. The disc for playstation allows this so it can’t be far behind. Also the Apple Tv allows for search and adding to queue.

I think the reviewer did not spent the time and test the DLNA features to see what formats it actually supports.

I own a Roku for a while now and just recently bought the N100.  I think the Roku is better than the N100 overall, thus has more value.  There are a lot of channels for Roku than N100.  The channels for the Roku box have better contents.  On the other hand, the currently available channels for the N100 are close to useless, at least for me.  The UI for the N100 is sluggish and the fonts are ugly.  Netflix on the Roku box is way, way better.  It seems that you can only stream some old formats from DLNA for the N100.  You can stream your media from your LAN on the Roku as well.  Check out: http://www.roku-channels.com/

The Roku gets new channels every now and then.  I haven’t seen a new channel for the N100 yet.

Quang, why don’t you mention the numerous problems people are having with Roku. After numerous updates and especially the last one, build 897, the box reboots itself constantly and also the streaming quality after 10 minutes of watching degrades to 2 dots. I have 2 Roku’s and this happened to me along with many other folks. Send people over to the Roku support pages and let them find out just how inadequate Roku’s support is! That is why I bought a Sony. I wanted this box for Netflix and Amazon. Not interested in DLNA. I wanted a box that works, this one does. The UI for Netflix on the Sony does need upgrading, but I can live with that. As for the sluggishness and fonts, I don’t see that at all on my box. And I agree that most of the channels on the Sony are pretty useless. Like I said, only wanted it for Netflix and Amazon. Even Sony’s offering of the video on demand is lacking in content. I’m happy with my purchase..

Alan, you mentioned that with the latest build your Roku box reboots itself constantly.  Perhaps, your box is faulty?  I doubt the Roku folks would release a build that bad.  I have not noticed a single reboot with this build or the previous build, and it’s always left on 24/7.  The Roku is not perfect, but it’s pretty good for what it’s designed for.  At this moment, the N100 is good for watching video from an USB storage.  Other than that, there’s not much to mention positively.  I hope Sony will release a new firmware to prove me wrong.

Quang, it has happened on both of my boxes. One is only 5 months old. As I stated earlier, if you stop by their forums, you will see that I am not alone. My boxes only started rebooting after that update, among other things. I started out a fan of the Roku, but after all the issues and the non existent farmed out tech support; from India like Dell and so many others of late, I’m done. I do hope Sony updates the UI on Netflix to match Roku and Apple Tv. If not, I’m still happy with this box…Take care…

I stop by their forums once a while.  Scanning throw the first few pages i noticed only Chuck_IV has the problem you’re describing.  Have you tried resetting the box to factory settings and re-adding your channels?  A new firmware should be released next month with Hulu Plus and hopefully it will fix your problem.

Back to the N100, I rather have a USB port on the side or back of the box as I don’t like the cable hanging out in front.  What were they thinking?  The UI shows an item called “USB Storage (front)” as if there’s more than one USB port.  Maybe I’ll modify it and route the USB port to the back or side.

As far as farmed out tech support-sony has exactly the same thing.  Also, sony video quality for netflix is very inconsistent between players.  PS3 is great, sony 570 so-so.

Wouldn’t know Dan; haven’t had to call them. And if I do, I’ll take the support of a company that has a reputation and track record to Roku any day….

Gives Thanks for this. I got the connect from a commentary you left at different site and found it to be a great compiling of the story thus far. Here’s imploring for the integrity of the swap.
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I have few HDD media players and I normally “upgrade” my media when there something new in the market, that match my “new” need.  To my total disappointment when I try out this Sony SMP-N100 media player.  Yes, it indeed it have couple cool features like build-in Wifi, slick, streaming etc… but it lack one major important feature that I don’t believe.  It seem the device does not support the USB portable HDD (the small form), the one that draw power from the USB port.  I mean it works with USB HDD that use external power supply though.  This is not convenience at all; I mean if I turn off the device with the remote, I still have to get off my bed to turn off the USB HDD.  I have the Hornettek Showcase HDD media player, that supports both internal and external HDD.  From my bed, I can turn the device off with the remote and any USB connected HDD ( that draw power from USB port) will turn off too; No worry about HDD running all days long. 
The only reason I bough this Sony media player because it a Sony.  Did I forget to mention, the menu is slow to response when made selection? Media start up is also slow too.  The menu itself is not user-friendly; it “odd” and it take too may step find the movie I want to see.  I return the product and did not test further…..very disappointed with the product.

This device can´t play avi or divx files through the multimedia server, only by usb drive. This is a serious drawback, specially if you want to stream from your NAS or your computer. Forget it, you have to copy everything you want to watch and plug it in the usb port.