Buffalo Link Theater PC-P3LWG/DVD

If the concept of streaming high-definition video over a wireless network sounds appealing-and you're ready to upgrade your cruddy old DVD player-then you'll love Buffalo's Link Theater. Not only does this wireless media player offer progressive scan DVD playback, it also plays back premium flicks downloaded from sites like Movielink, and features both Web browsing and Internet radio. It can even load image and video files directly from a USB drive. At $349, the Link Theater isn't cheap, but it's an amazing value when you consider everything Buffalo crams into this sleek silver box.

The metallic case looks exactly like most current DVD players, and the simple LCD display shows whether a DVD is playing or data is streaming to the device. On your TV, the Buffalo Link Theater interface looks quite polished and colorful. Buffalo Technology also deserves credit for the simple-to-use remote with clearly labeled home and setup buttons. Oddly, the remote does not include volume controls, so you have to use your home receiver or TV for that.

The Link Theater is one of the few wireless media players to support true high-definition playback. We played sample 720p movies downloaded for free from wmvhd.com, as well as "enhanced quality""feature films from Movielink.com (such as Friday Night Lights and Closer), and we were impressed with the video quality on our ViewSonic N1750w LCD TV. The Link Theater can also handle just about any XVID or DIVX high-def video file with full support for Dolby 5.1 surround, all with jitter-free playback.

The Link Theater supports the latest Windows Media HD codec, so you can stream 720p and even 1080i files obtained from Web sites, newsgroups, and via the BitTorrent client. Keep in mind that full-length high-def movies are not yet readily available (no legal Internet services provide true 720p feature films), but the Link Theater will keep you on the cutting edge as more and more HD content becomes available over the next few months.

For those of you who stream home movies but tend to watch DVD rental discs, the Link Theater lets you play those directly on its internal DVD player, which also supports standard CD-R/RW discs and CD-ROMs. The Link Theater includes connections for S-video, component video (red-green-blue) and standard RCA video. You can also use both a digital optical and digital coaxial connection for surround-sound audio output to a home stereo receiver. (Most wireless media players support one or the other, but not both.) The Link Theater does lack the handy DVI-out connector on the Viewsonic WMA100 for LCD TV owners, but that's a minor drawback.

In tests, the Link Theater streamed all of our content accurately, smoothly, and consistently. Some video images looked pixilated at first, but that was caused by interference on our wireless LAN. After that was addressed, the Link Theater never had any problems with high-quality audio files, photo slideshows, or high-def videos. (The player uses 802.11g with frame-bursting enabled.)

The Buffalo Link Theater does not directly support protected media. To play rented movies from Movielink or CinemaNow, or purchased tracks from Napster, you'll need to install Windows Connect (search Microsoft.com for the download), add the Link Theater as a device, and change the downloaded files' properties. You can then stream those files from your PC over the network. Buffalo Technology has promised a firmware update that will simplify this process, but the point is that the Link Theater does support DRM content if you are willing to put in some effort.

Everything else about the Link Theater is as intuitive as can be. The minute you install the media manager software on your PC, the Link Theater finds all your media files without first requiring that you add files. Plus, if you plug a USB key drive loaded with videos and photos into the Link Theater, the drive appears automatically at the main login screen. We're not sure why the Link Theater supports Buffalo's one-touch AOSS security, but we suppose it will come in handy if you desperately need to encrypt those family reunion photos.

While the Link Theater does just about everything, it's the crisp videos (both streamed and on DVD) that will keep you coming back for more. No other wireless player offers as many features for the price.