Preferred IPAD client?

Hello all. New users here (still in trial period) and just have a couple quick questions.

1. Which IPAD client is preferred? I have tested with a few and found Ace Player to be the easiest to use as it just worked with no transcoding needed, the only small issue is no Thumbnail preview. Some of the others show the thumbnail but are not compatible with the .MKV files I have created. Is there client that is pretty, easy to use, just works with no changes and shows thumbnails?

2. I have a new Vizio HD TV. This TV does not have DNLA built into it. So I need a very low cost device thats only purpose is to stream movies from Mezzmo. Can anyone recommend a very low cost solution for this?

Thanks.

I guess if Ace Player works the best for you, then that's the best to use :)

If you are looking for a device to just stream movies, try WD TV Live or Xtreamer - they both work well with Mezzmo, don't cost much and support many formats natively, so it means less transcoding.

Perhaps other users can suggest more...

Easy one to answer...

iPad: XBMC. Providing your device is jailbroken. It plays 720p and 1080p MKV without transcoding. I use mine this way and stream from Mezzmo no problem. As far as i can see there are no approved apps that can play mkv without stuttering. Apple will not allow access to the hardware decoder unless it is an MP4 file. So if not jailbroken, it's likely you'll have to transcode.

TV: WD TV Live. There is a new version that came out late 2011. Amazon seem to be the cheapest at around £75. Supports virtually every format and has content view for rich experience. i.e. screens show fan art, movie description, actors etc. very nice interface.

Hope this helps.

Gus

By far the best app to use is iExplorer HD it not only allows you file access to all your sever documents (even remotely) but it does a great job playing all of my DVD's right off my server. With my simple I5 dual core processor I only wait 1 min for the video to start but when it does there is no lag. In addition, I can airplay the video right to any of my AppleTV's. By far this is best investment for an app.