2. Wireless compatibility is pathetic.
I have been using wireless networks since they came out. I am somewhat familiar with configuring them. My entire wireless network is DLink AirPlus XtremeG running at 108Mbs, with compatibility for 54Mbs and 11Mbs hardware. This worked because I had people connect their laptops to my network for printing and browsing the web. I, of course, had SSID Broadcast disabled so I typed in the SSID into the DSM-320 along with my other network information and it refused to find my network. After turning down my network speed and broadcasting my SSID it connected, but then refused to download the firmware update. It was stuck at zero. The machine froze and I had to pull the plug to reset the machine. Playing videos started well, but 2 minutes in the machine would freeze with no network activity and the plug would have to be pulled. In short, the wireless functionality was terrible, and I like DLink stuff.

3. Does not maintain the aspect ratio.
I bought this planning to use my machine as a video jukebox. I have a dedicated TV card (Hauppauge PVR-250) and schedule my TV recordings over the internet. The DSM-320 was going to allow my to watch these videos on a TV instead of the computer. Also, I have a large hard drive that serves as a movie jukebox. The movies are kept in their original widescreen aspect ratios (16:9 or 2.35:1). I was very surprised to notice that the DSM-320 did not display the black bars required to make the picture look normal. It filled the screen with the picture and made everyone look tall and skinny.

Those are the big problems, it is also plagued by the slow menus and horrible server software mentioned in other reviews. I guess the biggest compliment I can give it is that when connected to a wired network, and while using s-video, it worked great. Even the wife could navigate the menus (slowly), play music (provided I had setup the M3U playlist for her on the server computer), look at pictures and play videos. Unfortunately, there are other products that will do those things better and cost $100 less. Do I think the DSM-320 has potential? Yes, but it needs several firmware upgrades to fix those big problems I outlined. I'm not waiting for that though, I'm sending mine back.

7-16-04

Most of the problems have already been described in other reviews, but I'm unable to get a solid wireless signal to the device and have no desire to run a hard-wired line to my living room at the moment. I've tried a new router, replacement antenna, and moving the equipment around as much as conceivably possible . . . to no effect. Video and Audio still skip too much.

Also, for what video I could actually get to play, much of it is in widescreen and the device has no options for adjusting aspect ratio, so the picture's just stretched vertically over the whole screen. A letterboxing option on the remote would be a nice addition.

1. Unable to play more than one song in a row. The player stops after each song on an album. Must build custom playlists for each album in your collection.

2. Repeated "Unsupported file format" on standard MP3 files. These same files play on every other mp3 player I own.

3. Unresponsive remote - have to hit each button 2-3 times before the entry will register.

4. No Divx support.

Unfortunatly, most of the features DLink advertises for this product do not work or work slugishly or not without major annoyances. I'm an IT professional working for more than 18 years in the industry and must say this product was released much too early to the consumer before addressing bug issues. All the advertised file formats do not always work. I've seen errors from "file not found" (even though it shows the file name on the media center, "file type unknown", and the list goes on. I still haven't been able to get playlists to work and the only way I could get it to work with one of my computers is to map it from another computer and stream through two computer to get to the living room. I keep hearing that DLink is going to address the software and firmware issues, but have yet to have any of my emails returned from DLink's tech support concerning my problems. If all the features worked, this would be one nice addition to your home multimedia experience. As of now, it's mostly a pretty piece of electronics that will rest turned off on my stereo shelf until DLink figures out how to address all their bugs.