Sony's interface just doesn't do a good job of maximizing the available screen real estate. Sony also lists tons of niche video services that aren't that useful to most people.
It wouldn't be so bad if those services were merely dumped at the bottom of the list, but quality services like Vudu and CinemaNow are interspersed. On the upside, the navigating the Sony SMP-N feels fast, so that makes it a little less painful to scroll past a bunch of services to find Vudu. There's also a video search feature, although it's basically useless. It doesn't even search Sony's own streaming-video service, Sony Unlimited.
Instead it only searches a few of the niche video services you probably aren't interested in. If you're going to include a feature called video search, it really should search for videos you want.
Each of these shortcomings may seem minor on its own, but they really do add up and make the SMP-N more frustrating to use than it should be.
That's a shame, because its core functionality at this price is among the best we've seen. When the SMP-N was announced, Sony put a lot of emphasis on the fact that it can handle 3D content, but we don't consider it to be an important feature on a streaming-media box. There's not enough 3D content, and there aren't enough buyers interested in 3D.
A streaming-media box is all about which streaming services are supported, and the SMP-N does a good job of filling up our chart. Moshcam is actually a video service that streams live concerts for free. There are some significant missing services. TV is nowhere to be found, nor are many of the popular music subscription services, such as Rhapsody, MOG, or Spotify.
Sony's own Music Unlimited is supported, although that doesn't have nearly the support on other devices that competitors do. There aren't any social media Facebook, Twitter, and so on apps, either, although that's not a big loss, since they usually don't translate well to the big-screen environment. We do miss support for a major photo-sharing service like Flickr or Picasa, as using a box like this is a nice way to show off photos.
We actually had pretty good success playing back a mishmash of content off a connected NAS drive, but you're best off searching user opinions on CNET and elsewhere if you're looking for compatibility with specific media types. We'll also quickly note that there's an Internet browser, but the experience is so slow and frustrating that we doubt we'd ever use it. We had no problem streaming media over our home network or over the Internet, using both the wireless and wired connection.
Of course, streaming-video quality and network performance depend a lot on your broadband connection and home networking conditions, but we had consistently solid playback with the SMP-N Is it better than the Roku 2 or Apple TV? The Roku 2 doesn't really handle your own digital media collection and the Apple TV is limited in the streaming services it supports.
The Sony SMP-N fills that niche, with a good selection of streaming services and decent playback of your own digital media. The problem is that the SMP-N doesn't do anything particularly well. The subpar user interface holds it back as a streamer and it's just OK at handling your own digital media, especially compared with boxes like the WD TV Live or Boxee Box.
We imagine most buyers will go with the box that handles their personal lifestyle the best Apple fans would go with the Apple TV, heavy streamers would stick with the Roku 2, and so on , which leaves the Sony SMP-N with limited appeal.
Matthew Moskovciak. The external design is also considerably improved over last year's, especially the new simple remote. The user interface is poorly designed for a streaming-media box, especially when browsing movies via cover art that is too small to read. We've added this product to our database but we haven't actually tested it yet.
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Sign up. Buy Now. This product hasn't been reviewed yet. Sony Streaming Player. Engadget - Not yet scored. Critics 3 reviews. Users 3 reviews. Sony's SMP-N streaming-media box packs a lot of functionality, but it's hampered by a subpar user interface. Read Full Review. Home Theater Review. Some early reviews suggest that the user experience is less than intuitive, compared with those other boxes.
If you like all the things the SMP-N brings to the table, we recommend you give it a test drive to see the interface for yourself. What Hi-Fi. Sony SMP-N Engadget Reader. August 23, The box is ok. It is a low rate Roku or AppleTV. The video works good, but the UI is utter crap. July 24, Remote needs a volume button. Web Browser doesn't display flash video. Hard Drives.
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