Kodak Theater HD Player | Specifications And Reviews

While there are lots of options out there for connecting your TV to the Internet, the Kodak Theater HD Player is one of the first big-name players out there. Is the Kodak Theater Wireless HD Player with Gyro-based Wireless Pointer Remote a good buy at $199? Or would it be a better idea to use that cash advance on a GoogleTV when it hits the market?

What is a Kodak Theater HD Player?

The Kodak Theater HD Player is designed to connect your PC, along with the internet, to your television. It uses either a wifi or wired internet connection and claims to be able to stream music, videos and pictures.

You can also connect to Flickr and on-demand video feeds in this streaming. To control the user interface, the box uses a "gyro-based wireless pointer remote". Half mouse and half Wii-mote, the battery-powered remote can take commands with a simple wave of the hand along with buttons to type.

What do reviews say about the Kodak Theater HD Player?

User reviews vary widely when it comes to actually using the Kodak Theater HD Player. The high-resolution compatibility is pretty amazing - videos and photos come out really nice when displayed properly. The gyro-based remote is also almost universally loved - it elegantly solves the issue that a keyboard is too bulky while a standard TV remote does not provide enough functionality. The biggest issue with the Kodak Theater HD Player, though, seems to be the software that the Kodak Theater HD Player runs on. Engadget summed it up best in their review:

We'd say the main problem here is that Kodak hasn't quite managed to make a product easy enough to use that we could recommend to the people who would actually get the most use out of it: our parents. There were enough breaks in the usability and layers of complication to make it too frustrating to the basic user.

Should I make the Kodak Theater HD Player purchase?

The Kodak Theater HD Player does some things very well - it displays photos from your PC and Flickr incredibly well, the set-up is easy, and it connects to WiFi without a problem. However, the box also cannot easily display many web pages, including your Facebook photos and tends to have problems buffering YouTube videos and iTunes movie files. So should you get no faxing payday loans to fund this purchase? The bottom line is that the new Kodak Theater HD Player isn't as authoritative enough for high-techie users, but it carries out a lot of the simple things that many basic users will love. The Kodak Theater HD Player has many good things going for it, and does a very good job on many of the basic things.