Digital Trends

Actiontec Wireless Digital Media Player June 3rd, 2004 | by Jeff Fila

A Few Bugs and Quirks to Work Out

Actiontec will need to work out a number of issues to make the Wireless Digital Media Player as useful as they say it is. The speed, navigation, and ease-of-use of audio playback really needs to be addressed. As audio capabilities will probably be the most important feature for prospective buyers, this is the first thing Actiontec should focus on. They also need to totally revamp the Web browsing utility, as it is nearly useless in its current form.

There are also some display issues and performance issues that should be addressed. The remote suffers from a latency issue, which can make navigating through media files a hassle at times. Navigation with the remote could also be improved as the menus can take some getting used to and don't seem as intuitive as they should be. The device would also benefit if the display of media file names were shifted to the left, since many music and movie titles are cut off now, and there is wasted empty space to the left.

We'd like to see an LCD display on future revisions too. Having to turn on your TV just to listen to music is one of the drawbacks of many of today's networked media players, and we think an LCD or VFD, like the Slim Devices products, go a long way in making the devices more useful. The device could also use a relocation of the PCMCIA card slot, as the wireless card takes away from the product's aesthetic appeal by sticking out so far.

Actiontec's support for the product really needs to be improved also. We called them with a few questions and there was no option on their support menu for the Wireless Digital Media Player. After selecting the wrong menus and hanging up to redial numerous times, we finally found a way to talk to a service rep, who didn't have many answers for us. Actiontec's online support is just as lacking, as there is no Web support section for the player, while there is one for each of their other products. At least it would be nice for them to post an FAQ on the Website, as there certainly must be some frequently asked questions.

Finally, Actiontec needs to get their facts straight between their Website and product literature. There are many inconsistencies that can lead to confusion. For instance, the box states that the player is compatible with “All Major Operating Systems including Windows 98, 98SE, Me, 2000, NT/4.0, XP, Mac OS X (10) or higher, Linux/BSD, Unix.” We could not verify this as the Website only lists the Windows operating systems and the included CD is only for Windows operating systems. The box also states that the product supports DIVX files but the Website makes no mention of it.

Conclusion

With a host of important features, the Actiontec Wireless Digital Media Player offers just about everything you could want in a networked media player; support for video, audio, images and Web browsing. Unfortunately it falls short in two of the four categories. While batting .500 would be history-making in baseball, when it comes to consumer electronics, having only half of your features work as intended just doesn't make the cut.

Actiontec's Wireless Digital Media Player handles the playback of images and video quite well, but it falls short in its Web browsing capabilities and the feature that most people are going to want the device for — playing music.

Actiontec has a solid start with the Wireless Digital Media Player and there are certain things it does quite well. If you are looking for a device that can play your digital photos on your TV or home-theater monitor, this would be a good choice, that also offers good movie playback and limited audio functions. If you're looking for a networked media player to play a large digital audio collection, this may not be the best choice. With some important improvements, this product just might be something worthy of most home-entertainment systems. But until then, it is simply a mediocre device in an increasingly competitive market.