iXtreamer - Can't Get Any More eXtreme

There are a whole bunch of companies making HD media players, in all sizes and formats. One of the first really popular ones was the Xtreamer. When the craze for media players first started, most models introduced by mainstream PC peripheral brands had the necessary HD playback features.

One of the larger HD media players around

Xtreamer pushed the envelope and introduced wired and wireless support so you could access network shares and also stream content from the web if needed. This was a pretty revolutionary thing for its time. Years later, after introducing a few other models, the iXtreamer is launched. The market now has no dearth of media players, so the iXtreamer has to bring something really special to the table for it to stand out. 

Design and Build Quality

HD media players are going to end up sitting in your living room, right next to your large LCD TV. Previous Xtreamer models have been smaller and minimalistic in their design. The new iXtreamer is bulky to say the least, and it’s probably the largest of all the HD media players we’ve seen so far. It’s more like a compact, mini-ITX PC chassis. 

The player is raised by somewhat larger feet, presumably to allow space for the exhaust fan to cool the player effectively. The player is fitted with plastic panels of different grades and qualities. The end result is a good, solid device. 

Easy 3-5.inch drive installation

The top of the player has a sliding panel that hides the connector for Apple’s iPod, iPhone and iPad devices. A foldable panel on the side allows users to insert an internal 3.5-inch drive in the Xtreamer. This panel feels lighter than the rest of the player and feels loose.

With a typical 3.5-inch desktop drive inserted into the iXtreamer, it’s quite a heavy product. The iXtreamer doesn’t use an internal power supply - a DC wall adapter is provided. 

Features

The Xtreamer is filled to the brim with features. The key feature of the iXtreamer is the ability to play content from Apple devices (iPad, iPod and iPhones). The player does not support the 4G iPod, iPod Classic and 5G iPod. If you use one or more Apple devices, this feature by it should wet your palette.

Connectivity

The product isn’t only designed for Apple products. The two USB Ports should be enough to connect two external storage drives. If you need more capacity, you can fit an internal 3.5-inch drive inside the player. Installation is extremely simple and shouldn’t take more than a few seconds. There is no docking tray or connectors to fit manually. Simply, slide the hard drive in place and you’re good to go. Data can be dumped directly onto the iXtreamer using the other slave USB port, as well.

Plenty of connectors

Moving on to the other connectivity options, the player has the essential HDMI connector along with composite, component and digital audio connectors in the form of a coaxial and an optical out connector. The 100 Mbps Ethernet connectivity should be good enough to stream HD content from an NAS device or PC on the wired network. If you want to go wireless, you’ll have to spend an additional sum for the optional 802.11n USB WiFi adapter.