WD Live - Album, Video and Folder Art maintained with Mezzmo

[smitbret]

I'm getting ready to dump my PS3 as a media server. I like to rip my BRs to my PC and serve them up using Mezzmo, but Cinavia is really starting to create a hassle so I need to dump it for something Cinavia free. The WD Live family looks good and so does LaCinema or Boxee. My question is, now that I've got my library all configured in Mezzmo know is the album, video and folder art is maintained on the Western Digital Live devices. I've worked hard to get my library completed with this info and this way my 5 year old can identify the shows she wants by the "movie poster"?

If/If not, is there a better device (UPnP or DLNA) with this feature that is Cinavia free and will stream video files in the following formats:

.m2ts = h264 + AC3-5.1 and 2.0 (Blu-Ray Rips)
.mp4 = h264 + AAC-5.1 and 2.0 (Downloaded Digital Media)
.vob = mpeg 2 + AC3 (uncompressed DVD rips)
.avi = Xvid + AC3-5.1 and 2.0 (Old DVD rips and DL'd media)

All of these are natively compatible with the PS3, so there's got to be something out there that does this.

This Pivos AIOS HD Media Center also seems attractive since I have a spare 500GB HDD sitting around that I could insert, but it doesn't appear to work with Mezzmo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815645001

I wouldn't mind the convenience of using a DLNA enabled BR Player (just in case I wanna throw a disc in) if I knew that Cinavia wouldn't be an issue and that operation would be as smooth as my PS3, i.e. easy interface, REAL FF/Rew and album/folder art support. Unfortunately, the Oppo's out of my price range of $100-$150 bucks or less.

Any ideas would be awesome. Thanks.

[Paul]

The Pivos AIOS HD Media Center seems to be UPnP compliant so Mezzmo should be able to stream video, music and photos to it. You mention you had problems - what problems did you have? What device profile did you choose? We will need to see a set of logs to create a specific device profile for it. You can send the logs to support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

I don't have direct experience with Cinavia, so hopefully some other Mezzmo users can assist you.

[smitbret]

The Pivos AIOS HD Media Center seems to be UPnP compliant so Mezzmo should be able to stream video, music and photos to it. You mention you had problems - what problems did you have? What device profile did you choose? We will need to see a set of logs to create a specific device profile for it. You can send the logs to support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

I don't have direct experience with Cinavia, so hopefully some other Mezzmo users can assist you.

I had no problems with Mezzmo. Cinavia is just the new copy-protection stream on DVD and Blu-Ray that mutes the audio of Cinavia protected rips after 20 minutes of playback. I have a dozen or so Blu-Rays with Cinavia protection that I am unable to rip and playback because the PS3 supports Cinavia. As a result, I am looking for an alternative device to the PS3 that will behave in nearly the same fashion. I was just hoping that someone could tell me how the Pivos reacted with the Mezzmo service.

If the Pivos will pull up the playlists that I've created in the Mezzmo library and will also support the movie posters, album art and metadata as well as provide full FF/Rew functionality like the PS3, then I would be inclined to purchase it. I can use my DirecTV IRDs to playback the Cinavia titles with Mezzmo, but there is no art, no FF/REW and the "experience" is just not nearly as smooth as with the PS3. Ideally, if there were a BR Player out there I would enjoy that for the rare time that we actually want to use the disc, but I don't remember the last time we did it that way and I believe that Cinavia support is a requirement for al BR players made in the USA after February. If there are other devices out there that would do the job better, I'd be inclined to look into those as well.

I guess I'm looking for recommendations from current users of other devices. If there are any particularly favorites of the Mezzmo creators, I'd like to see what those recommendations might be.

Basically, I won't purchase a streaming device that won't work with Mezzmo and I saw no mention of DLNA on the Pivos website.

[smitbret]

OK, so I think I've just about decided to pick up the Pivos AIOS HD Media Center. I'm just waiting for confirmation that movie poster art will be displayed when served up through Mezzmo. Anyone?

[Paul]

Looking at our support database, we have had one user earlier this year report to us that using the XBMC device profile in Mezzmo with their Pivos AIOS HD Media Center worked great. He did not say whether artwork was displayed or not on the media center though, so I cannot help you there (...Mezzmo will of course deliver artwork to the media center if it requests it, just like it does for any DLNA/UPnP device).

[smitbret]

Looking at our support database, we have had one user earlier this year report to us that using the XBMC device profile in Mezzmo with their Pivos AIOS HD Media Center worked great. He did not say whether artwork was displayed or not on the media center though, so I cannot help you there (...Mezzmo will of course deliver artwork to the media center if it requests it, just like it does for any DLNA/UPnP device).

Cool, I think that answers the question, then. Thanks Paul, you guys are the best.