Netgear EVA2000 media streamer handles Hulu, SD video

The Netgear Digital Entertainer Live EVA2000 is a small media streaming device that’s about the size of a Netgear wireless router. What makes this little box interesting is that Netgear licensed technology from VuNow that lets you access web content from YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and other web sites. In order to access much of that content, you’ll need to download and install PlayOn on a PC connected to your home network. But I’ve already done that in order to stream Hulu videos to the Nintendo Wii hanging out in my basement.

In addition to streaming web media to a TV, the EVA2000 can also stream audio, video and pictures over your home network from a PC to a TV set. It works with an Ethernet connection. Or you can use a Netgear WN111 802.11n WiFi adapter with the box to stream content over a wireless network.

OK, that’s the cool part. Here’s the downside: Unlike the Asus O!Play HDP-R1 which I recently reviewed, the Netgear EVA2000 can’t handle most HD video.

I recently caught up with a Netgear representative at a trade show in New York and he told me that the company is working on adding support for 720p video in a variety of formats including DiVX. But while there’s a fair amount of demand for H.264 HD video, it could take a little longer for that to show up because it will likely require a hardware update while 720p DiVX support could likely be added with a firmware update.

I’m hoping to test out a review unit sometime next month. In the meantime, you can check out a few photos after the break. The Netgear Digital Entertainer Live EVA2000 is available from Amazon for about $107.