Re: Panasonic Sd Jukebox V2.4
Lillia Iniguez
Once you go into your media the Pro has an option to display the folder art (in the case below each movie is in its own folder and has a folder.jpg file). This is a nice option as it gives a little bit more of a jukebox feel to it. This however only works if movies are stored in individual folders. If the folder is a folder rip of a DVD or BluRay when you select a pop up box will appear asking you if you want to navigate the folder or if you want to play the folder (in most cases you are going to want to play the folder which will begin playback). If you have a standalone file in the folder (such as an mkv) you still have to navigate into the folder and select the file. One other neat feature, there is a preview feature available. When you select a video file a preview clip will being to play in a small window.
As a replacement to the stock UI there is a third party jukebox that can be accessed/launched from the Xtreamering menu. Once launched you will see a menu similar to the Pro main menu which offers you access to your Movies, Series, Pictures, Music, and Setup. At present Series (TV Shows) is a future feature. I did not get a chance to see if pictures and music were functional. To set up the jukebox you will need to go into the Setup option.
Once the scan is in progress you should see a results summary which shows how many movies are available and how many new movies were found. One nice feature, you can then access your jukebox and manually adjust on your own personal site (i.e. )
There are many things to like about the jukebox. The ability to run the jukebox directly from the Pro without the need for a PC is a big plus, and you still have the flexibility to manage/edit the jukebox separately via the website. The ability to also instantaneously switch between views was a welcome change over other static jukeboxes. On the downside the jukebox still appears to be a work in progress, and lack of TV Show support is a deal breaker for me.
- When the original Xtreamer was first announced one of the big selling points was a built in movie jukebox. However, two things were quickly discovered. First, there was no jukebox for the Xtreamer, it was simply a PC application independent from the Xtreamer (so in my view this was quite deceptive advertising). Second, and a bigger issue to many, the Xtreamer jukebox they were advertising appeared to be a rip off of the popular YAMJ jukebox, used without getting permission or at a minimum acknowledging the YAMJ developers. This may explain why the original jukebox has been dropped in favor of the community driven jukebox highlighted in this review.
Like most other players on the market you just need to assess what your needs are and based on the pros/cons figure out what player best fits. Using the Pro to store large amounts of content as well as playback worked great, and even the original Xtreamer I found to be the perfect mobile jukebox. For a spot in my home setup though the Pro just falls short.
Content from the built-in hard drive can be accessed with this machine. Go through family photos, videos or listen to music through the Media Center that's built-in. Additionally, your iPad or Android tablets can be used as a controller to access features such as the song search function. Furthermore, you can capture your MP3G & Video tracks directly from USB storage devices and into the internal hard drive. You can pull up your media instantly for true jukebox performance.
RealPlayer SP includes audio CD burning capabilities, DVR-style playback buffering, multimedia search, Internet radio, a jukebox-style file library, an embedded web browser (using Microsoft Internet Explorer), and the ability to convert and transfer media to a wide range of devices. This includes music players such as iPod and Zune, smartphones such as iPhone and BlackBerry, portable gaming devices such as Sony PSP, and console gaming systems such as Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. Since version 11, RealPlayer SP has gained Flash Video support, DVD, SVCD, VCD burning (120-minute), and video recording (DRM is supported).
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