Roku may have fired the opening salvo this holiday season with its Streaming Stick, but the folks at Netgear are not letting the competition take all of the glory or marketshare. At last night's "Holiday Spectacular" in New York City, Netgear launched their NeoTV streaming players which start at an affordable $49.95 for the basic model. All three models offer 1080p video output and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround; the top NeoTV Max ($69.95) also supports Vudu 3D and comes with a rather handy remote with a QWERTY keyboard on the back. The NeoTV Pro at $59.95 offers the ability to stream your laptop screen to your television via Intel's WiDi; which based on my quick test worked extremely well.
All three models also offer built-in wireless support (WiFi b/g/n), iOS/Android remote app support, and the top two models cliam up to 300 Mbps streaming speeds, and the ability to play from DLNA servers and USB storage. I'm not sure why Netgear isn't offering the USB or DLNA on the middle model and we don't understand not offering the better remote with all three because it's a great selling feature. For $69.95, the NeoTV Max is a great deal.
We played with the new Netgear streamers at the show and found a lot to like; especially the newly designed remote that semmed to work better than the remotes that come with the AppleTV or Roku boxes. The QWERTY keyboard worked extremely well from even fifteen feet away.
Netgear also showcased something for the office or traveling salesperson that should be on your list this holiday season. There is nothing more problematic than being in front of a potential client and not being able to show your presentation on the in-house HDTV or projector. Enter the Push2 TV ($59.95) which will allow you to wirelessly display your laptop, tablet, or smartphone on a TV.
I'm buying one for the laptop bag next week. Yeah...that good.
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