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Pinnacle’s Showcenter media streamer has been around since 2004 and the product name of this latest version may cause some confusion - we initially thought the 250HD indicated it had a 250GB hard drive, but it doesn’t.
What it actually means is the device will stream HD material. And, with sales of HD televisions going through the roof, it’s a sensible addition.
What’s not so sensible is that the Showcenter 250HD doesn’t include an HDMI output, so the glory that is audio and HD video in a single, thin cable isn’t something you’ll experience with this media streamer.
If you want to output HD video you’ll need to use the component video sockets and pipe the audio out separately - potentially via five cables. Which leads us to another gripe: not content with omitting HDMI, Pinnacle has also opted to frustrate purchasers further by not including component video cables - unlike with Scart cables, few people have a selection of spare component video cables stashed in a cupboard, so you’ll need to buy these separately. Furthermore, component video can’t handle 1080p HD video, only 720p and 1080i.
If you’re not fussed about HD video, the Showcenter 250HD has a number of other video and audio outputs, including Scart, composite and S-video, along with digital (optical and coaxial) and analogue audio.
Unlike with previous versions, you won’t find any streaming software included. Pinnacle, like many other manufacturers, instead leaves the process of getting content from your PC to the Showcenter up to DLNA-compatible media players, such as Windows Media Player 11.
The Showcenter 250HD can also receive content from any UPnP-compatible network-attached storage (Nas) drives you may have, as well as via the USB port.
As with most media streamers, you can hook it up to your network via a wired or wireless connection. It only comes with 802.11g wireless and not the faster Draft-N version. So if you want to make use of its HD streaming capabilities you’ll need to opt for the wired route, and we’d recommend using some form of powerline networking, such as Solwise’s NET-PL-200AV-Push.
If there’s one aspect of media streamers that we regularly complain about it’s the poor interfaces. And despite the numerous hardware updates, Pinnacle’s interface hasn’t changed much. This new version features the same amateurish setup pages, although the browsing of your media has been improved. But there’s no album art to spice things up and long track names are cut short.
There are no navigation buttons on the device itself either, leaving you to rely on the extra-large remote. This is as ugly as ever and it’s not clear which button does what. With a menu system slow to respond, it’s easy to confuse the Showcenter with lots of buttons presses.
Video codec support is good, including the popular DivX and Xvid varieties, although we still managed to find the occasional file that required conversion first, and outputting HD video over component looks just as good as over HDMI on other devices.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Showcenter from Pinnacle and, although it certainly has its strengths, we were hoping for more of an overhaul with this new version. The lack of an HDMI port is shocking and the interface is still nowhere near as slick or intuitive as we’d like. And with rival products offering web access, we were surprised to see Pinnacle pass it by yet again.
In short, the Showcenter 250HD works well, but we expected more.
See also:
Stream your high-definition media with ease 06 Dec 2007
One of the cheapest media streamers available, but at what cost? 28 Nov 2007
A media player with typically elegant Apple design – but where’s the content? 25 Apr 2007All Home Entertainment Tags: Media Streaming Device
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