Closing Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed using the LinkTheater. It handled more video formats than other units I've tested, was handy for photo slide shows, and its music playing features worked well. I was especially pleased that it worked as well as it did with the various UPnP-based servers on my LAN because that's the way these devices should work - I don't want to to leave my computer turned on just to watch a movie or listen to music.

On the negative side, the lack of WPA support was disappointing and the few glitches I encountered were annoying. But the biggest flaw is the LinkTheater's inability to upscale retail DVD's to HD resolution due to its lack of a DVI-HDCP or HDMI connector. While you can get around this if you don't mind ripping, de-encrypting, re-encoding and burning your own DVDs, including a digital output connector would certainly enhance its use as a DVD player.

But for $300, Buffalo has come out with a powerful, full-featured product that will help many digital media enthusiasts successfully marry their digital and analog worlds.