Buffalo LinkTheater Media Player
An Affordable Way to Stream Video from Computer to Television
Apr 8, 2009
Many times downloaded movies or clips will just look better on the "big screen", aka: the television. This is also desirable when entertaining friends or family. Instead of huddling around the laptop guests can relax in comfort in front of the television. Enter one of the most interesting and useful devices, a LinkTheater device from Buffalo. This device is a multimedia player! It wirelessly – yes, wirelessly, connects to the computer that has the movies (or pictures, or music) and plays them on the television screen. And best of all, work on the laptop or media source can continue even while the movie is playing!
Simple Set-Up to Enable Streaming Video
- Just connect the audio and video connectors into their outlets on the back or front of the television, plug it into a power outlet and it is ready to go.
- Now, to connect to the computer just install the included software or use Windows Media Connect, which some computers already come with or can be downloaded free from the Microsoft website.
- Once the software is installed, set it up by pointing the program to the folders where the media is held.
- Then wirelessly connect to videos, photos and music to create a nice multimedia library that can be viewed on the television.
Stream Media Content from Multiple Sources
The device can also connect to more than one computer or media source by installing the software on each computer containing a media source. In addition, a USB device such as a flash drive can also be utilized to serve as a source for the multimedia. Just plug it in to the USB port on the front of the device and it is ready to go!
Wireless Remote Control
Another great feature of this device is the remote control. There is no need to directly access the computer to play the videos or other media. The included remote controls wireless access to the media source and has all the functions of a multimedia remote including volume, play, fast forward, reverse, stop, pause and more.
When shopping for the device make sure it comes with the remote. Many vendors sell a refurbished device at a great price but do not include the remote. The system is helpless without it. An “all-in-one” universal remote may work but was not tested since the system used for this review came with the remote.
On the Negative Side
The only negative issue was in playing some videos, the system had a hard time buffering the content and the picture would freeze for a time. Sometimes the video would even stop playing. Finding the point where it left off once the video stopped was difficult and even irritating. On the videos that had this effect, the media was transferred to a flash drive and watched that way.
Overall, the Buffalo Media Link media player is a great find and very inexpensive as well. The price is so enticing one could actually order two and have access from two rooms instead of just one!
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