Zinwell ZIN-5005HD ''ZinTV'' 3-in-1 Networking-Ready 1080p Full HD Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader Free Internet TV/Radio (Black)

Zinwell ZIN-5005HD ''ZinTV'' 3-in-1 Networking-Ready 1080p Full HD Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader Free Internet TV/Radio (Black)
This box is identical to BriteView's CinemaTube 5005HD. The interface is gritty and sparse. The remote is OK. The features are on par with just about anything else that's out there now, except that you don't have direct access to Netflix or other services (you can to to it uses PlayOn). I don't use it for that because I can get Netflix in a variety of ways (TV, DVD Player and Tivo). If you have UPnP servers on your Network, this will pick them up. I use PlayOn and it works fine most of the time (PlayOn can be a little "hinky" sometimes). I haven't tried it with TVersity or Twonky yet. Playback of ISO/MKV files is uncomplicated. Don't expect to be wowed by the UI, it's as drab and utilitarian as they come. But once you have a stream going you can easily adjust audio/subtitle/aspect options easily. It doesn't have WiFi and it doesn't have a gigabyte connection either. Yet, it works really well streaming HD content over a wired network. That's what I need. 

For the money, you get the ZinTV box which has all the usual connections(composite/component/HDMI/USB 2.0(x2)/Optical SPDIF), a remote, and a full set of cables(even HDMI). It's pretty reliable. I used a dedicated user/password login to connect to my network shares and sometimes it seems to "forget" the password. This may be due to the server rebooting and the credential cache getting cleared, I haven't figured out why. It's not a big deal though. I like uncomplicated and this box is all that. I haven't tried the Torrent client yet and really don't have the desire to. This box can also be used as a "Simple NAS", which I haven't tried either. In short, this is the ugly duckling in the media player world that can hold its own quite well against its more expensive competitors. It does what it needs to though quite well and it won't break the bank. I recommend it. I've had the CinemaTube for about 6 months know and since that time I've been trying other media players for another TV we have. After trying several, I ended up getting another 5005HD, this one branded by Zinwell. Please know that each media player does it's on thing right now. They are not supposed to be Roku replacements, not are they supposed to replace WD TV or even Popcorn Hour boxes. Each one brings it's own feature set to the market and you need to find the one that works best for you. These boxes (the 5005HDs) hit the mark for me, of course, your mileage may (and proabaly will) vary. 

I give this device 4 stars mainly because of its features, reliability and the fact that it isn't hyped up to be something that's it's not (like many of the competitors). I'd could give the UI a 3, but that's an aesthetic thing. If the UI was prettied up, I've give it a 5 as a whole.