That’s why I thought I would love the Verizon FiOS Mobile Remote. It’s an app that turns your smartphone (currently only two phones, the excellent Motorola Droid and the so-so HTC Imagio, are supported) into a remote control for your FiOS set-top box. As it turns out, though, setting up the app was much more difficult than it should have been — thanks to some weird settings on the HTC Imagio review unit I used for testing — and the app itself left me wanting a bit more.

To use Mobile Remote, you need to install the app on your Droid or Imagio smartphone. Droid users will find the app in the Android Marketplace, while users of the Windows Mobile-based Imagio can download it via their mobile browser. (Note that your phone must be connected to a Verizon FiOS Wi-Fi network in order for the Mobile Remote app to work. ) You then need to enable the Mobile Remote widget on your FiOS set-top box. You register your phone by entering your mobile number on the TV. Once the setup is complete, you just launch the app on your phone and it will automatically connect to your TV; a small icon will appear, briefly, in the corner of your TV to tell you that the connection has gone through.

Getting to this point, though, was difficult for me. I followed the setup instructions to the letter, only to find out that my phone wouldn’t connect to my TV. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app on my phone and tried again. Still no luck. I then exchanged several e-mails with Verizon’s tech support, and talked to them on the phone several times. They checked all of the settings on my set-top box, and said they could find no discernable problems.

I was ready to throw in the towel when the FiOS folks offered to send help directly to my house. Two reps walked in, one of whom already had the app installed on his Motorola Droid. He took a look at my TV, and within minutes had his phone connected to my TV. The problem was, we had discovered, with my HTC Imagio. He fiddled with the wireless settings and was able to get the Imagio connected to my TV, too. Finally. (As a side note, the Imagio review unit that I have for testing has had repeated problems establishing and maintaining a Wi-Fi connection.)

After all that work to get it up and running, the Mobile Remote app had a lot to live up to. And it did deliver, to a certain extent. I was able to instantaneously adjust the volume and channels using the up and down arrows on my phone’s screen; the TV reacted to the phone just as quickly as it did to my actual remote.

The biggest drawback of the Mobile Remote app is that it does not display a numeric keypad on the screen; it shows only arrows or DVR controls. And you’ll need numbers, especially if you’re hoping to switch from channel 103 to 665 in time to catch your favorite show. To access numbers, you hit the “keypad” icon on the bottom of the screen, which brings up an on-screen QWERTY keyboard — letters, not numbers. You then hit the numbers icon to find the numbers themselves, which are laid out in a straight line as if you were accessing them on a keyboard. I’d much rather see the Mobile Remote app display an on-screen replica of the number buttons as laid out on your actual remote. Verizon says this is something that could be added to a future release.

The app does have some nice touches though. For one, it automatically mutes the TV when a call comes into your phone. It also lets you display photos from your phone on your TV, and lets you import your favorite channels from the TV to the phone to make switching to those channels easier.

Mobile Remote is not quite the improvement over my actual FiOS remote that I was hoping for. If Verizon adds a numeric keypad, though, and makes it available on more phones, Mobile Remote could be the answer to my remote control woes. It’s just not there yet.

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FLO TV launched the Personal Television late last year, but the company has been providing mobile TV service via cell phones for a couple of years now. FLO TV service is delivered over a dedicated mobile TV network; it doesn’t piggyback on existing 3G networks used by cellular carriers. The company says this allows it to deliver a higher-quality television experience, one that is more like the TV-watching experience that people are used to having at home.

But using the Personal Television did not quite live up to that standard, even though the $200 device makes a great first impression. It’s small (4.5 inches wide by 3.1 inches tall by .5 inches thick); at first glance you could mistake it for a portable GPS. It features a 3.5-inch touch screen for watching TV, and a neat little kickstand that flips out for propping it up on a table or desk. 

The Personal Television relies on FLO TV’s service for content, and the service is a bit expensive for what it delivers: it costs $14.99 per month (though you do get six months of free service when you purchase the device). FLO TV delivers about 15 channels to the Personal Television, including ABC Mobile, CBS Mobile, NBC 2Go, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon, among others.

Some of the content is simulcast with what the networks are broadcasting to regular old TVs. If you turn on CBS Mobile at 11:30 at night, for example, you’ll see David Letterman. But some of the content is also “timeshifted,” according to FLO TV. Letterman’s show, for example, is shown again the day after it airs at 11:30 am, so that people can watch it on their lunch break.

The timeshifting serves a couple of purposes. One, it fills gaps that might occur because FLO TV does not broadcast your local programming, like the news you might see at noon every day. It also allows you to watch programs that you’d miss because the Personal Television does not offer any DVR-type recording features, nor does it offer access to any sort of on-demand library — yet. FLO TV says on demand features are likely to be added to future products.

The absence of a DVR and an on-demand library is not a deal breaker for me. But the poor reception I often experienced when testing the Personal Television would be. According to FLO TV’s coverage map, I live in an area with relatively good service. Yet, in some areas of my house, reception ranged from poor to nonexistent. Programs often looked pixelated and smeared, and sometimes the video froze up completely while waiting for a signal.

Reception did improve when I moved around the house, and got even better when I drove to a neighboring town to test the device. At its best, the picture looked as crisp and clear as anything you’d see on a standard definition TV. The 3.5-inch screen can feel small, though, so expect to squint if you’re trying to make out the text in a news report, for example.

The Personal Television is FLO TV’s first dedicated device, and the company says it does not consider itself a “device company,” but rather a company committed to bringing the experience of mobile TV to consumers. To that end, FLO TV is currently working on both an in-car TV system and an iPhone add-on.

The Personal Television is hampered by its high price and mixed reception, but it could also benefit from more programming. I think the idea behind it has promise, though, and I’m very interested to see how well the iPhone add-on works when it’s available later this year. Using a device I already own to watch TV on the go could be a lot more convenient — and affordable — than purchasing an additional device just for that luxury.

Now that I’ve spent some time testing out the Intel Wireless Display system, I can say that it lived up to my expectations — for the most part. The system was not without the occasional hiccup, but overall, it provided one of the best ways I’ve found for viewing PC-based content on your TV.

The system is only available on three laptops: the Toshiba E205-S1904, Dell S15Z-2249CPN, and Sony VPCS111FM/S, all of which are available exclusively from Best Buy. As of this writing, the retailer is offering the Push2TV adapter as a free add-on when you purchase one.

Once you have a compatible laptop and the Netgear Push2TV adapter (I tested the system out on the Dell model), the setup is quick and easy. You connect the Push2TV, which is about the size of a small external hard drive, to your TV using the included HDMI cable and then plug it in. (Alternatively, the box can connect to your TV via component A/V, but you’ll need to supply your own cable.) You then turn it on, and you’ll see a screen on your TV telling you the device is ready to make a connection.

The Push2TV box came with a note suggesting that you update the Intel Wireless drivers on your laptop before using the Intel Wireless Display software. As it turned out, updating the drivers was the most time-consuming part of the setup. After I installed the new drivers, I was unable to connect my laptop to any wireless networks for several minutes. It took several reboots before my computer was up and running again. (NOTE: I’ve asked Intel about this and they are looking into it.)

Once my laptop was back in working order, I launched the Intel Wireless Display software using the handy shortcut button on the top of the keyboard. You press a button to scan for available adapters if yours is not showing up in the list of devices. (On subsequent connections, the device should already appear when you launch the software.) You click a button to connect, and, if it’s your first time making a connection, you’ll need to enter security codes that appear on your TV screen into the software on your laptop.

Once the Intel Wireless Display is connected to the Push2TV box, you’ll see your laptop screen mirrored on your TV. You do not have the option to extend your computer display over to your TV, thereby leaving you with space to work on your laptop; both displays show the exact same contents. If you bring up your e-mail, you’ll see your e-mail on your TV. If you bring up your Facebook page on your computer, you’ll see it on your TV.

And if you bring up Hulu and launch a video, you’ll see it on your TV. You’ll also hear the sound on your TV — and through your laptop, so you’ll want to mute your computer in order to have the best audio experience. 

I watched an episode of Lost from ABC.com and it looked and sounded very good on my TV. In fact, the video looked just as good –- if not better –- on my TV than it did on my computer. Audio and video were perfectly in sync, and I noticed only one small instance of the video stuttering. The only oddity was that I was unable to get the white cursor of my computer to disappear, so I saw it on my TV screen, even when I was watching the video in full-screen mode.

The experience was even better when I used the Intel Wireless Display system to watch a video that was stored locally on my hard drive. I used VLC’s excellent media player to watch an episode of 30 Rock that I had downloaded, and when I put it in full-screen mode, I was able to forget that I was actually watching it via my computer — that is, until my screen saver launched, obscuring the video.

The Intel Wireless Display and Push2TV box are designed to play back almost any kind of content, including YouTube videos, Flash content embedded in Web sites, video from Hulu, and content purchased from iTunes. The Best Buy sales rep that I spoke to said that the system would not play back content from commercial DVDs or Blu-ray discs, though, as they were copy protected. But when I inserted a DVD in my laptop (a new copy of the Disney Pixar movie “Cars”), it played back on my TV without a problem. In fact, it looked stunning. Video was crisp and clear and very, very bright.

It supports video resolutions up to 720p, which may seem low if you have a 1080p TV. But keep in mind that the video resolution is more likely to be restricted by the source content anyway. Netgear’s instructions tell you to keep your laptop and the Push2TV box within 12 feet of each other, and say that you need a line-of-sight between the two. I tried putting my laptop in another room, though, and the video played back flawlessly.

Oddly, though, on another occasion, when my laptop was sitting less than five feet away from the Push2TV box, the Intel Wireless Display lost the connection between the two. It was unable to find the Push2TV box again until I rebooted.

This was a minor annoyance only, though, and one that seems even less consequential when thinking about how easy this system is to set up and use. Right now, the biggest weakness of the Intel Wireless Display/Netgear Push2TV combo package is how limited it is in availability. You need to purchase a brand-new laptop in order to take advantage of it. If Intel could offer the Wireless Display technology as an add-on for existing laptops, it would make this system more appealing — and affordable.

The BlackArmor NAS 110, which is available in versions with 1TB and 2TB of storage, is designed for the small/home office or “prosumer” user, according to Seagate. And it does have some very business-focused features, such as the ability to back up as many as 10 connected PCs and support for Windows Server 2008, so that a small office could use the device as its primary server.

But it also offers some home entertainment features, too, such as the ability to share media files with DLNA-compliant devices, like many set-top boxes. It also works as an iTunes server, letting you share audio and video files with other computers on your network running Apple’s software. All of its media sharing features worked as advertised, but the BlackArmor NAS 110 doesn’t offer any extra media-friendly features that would make this drive stand out from what it becoming an increasingly crowded market.

Seagate’s BlackArmor NAS 110 sports a sleek black design that belies its geeky interior; it’s a bit smaller and more square-shaped than your average hardcover book. To install it, you just connect it to your router using the included Ethernet cable and then plug it in. You then install the BlackArmor Discovery app on your computer (Windows or Mac) to locate and map the drive. Seagate also includes a BackArmor Backup app that can be used to set up automatic backups.

Seagate’s Discovery app automatically finds your Seagate drive, and you just click a button to see the drive details. It shows you the folders that exist on the drive, and you can connect to them from within the software, or you can choose to map them so that you can access them later, without using the software.

But things go downhill when you enter Seagate’s Web-based interface for actually managing your BlackArmor drive. You get a Spartan interface — which I actually like, as it loads quickly and doesn’t overwhelm — but the options become more complex. You can delete the existing folders on the drive and add new ones, but when you create new folders, you’re presented with options that can be difficult to navigate. For example, when you add a new folder you have to select which of the following services you’d like: CIFS, FTP, or NFS. While a technically-savvy user may be able to select his service without a second thought, a home user who’s looking to share some video files may be confused.

Also confusing : Once you create a folder — selecting the services you want — you’re then presented with a second screen where you have to set access rights to the drive. I thought I had granted myself (as the admin) rights to all of my folders, but found myself unable to access any of them a few minutes later. My error was easily resolved by a quick trip back to Seagate’s software, but a clearer setup process could have helped me avoid it altogether.

Once you get past all of the administration woes, though, the BlackArmor NAS 110 performs well. It streams files to DLNA-compliant set-top boxes without incident, and allowed me to share audio files between two computers running iTunes.

But performing well on these, the most basic of media streaming tasks, isn’t reason enough to buy this drive. When you compare it to Netgear’s Stora, which has its own embedded media player software that lets you play back music and video files right from the drive, Seagate’s drive feels downright pedestrian. If you’re a business user looking for secure file storage and backup, the BlackArmor NAS 110 could meet your needs. But if you’re a home entertainment junkie looking to share audio and video files throughout your house, you can do better than this drive.

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That’s why I thought a USB TV tuner might be the perfect solution: I could hook it up to my computer and view HD content on my shiny new 20-inch monitor. I’d pay only once — the upfront cost for the TV tuner — and could kiss cable bills goodbye forever.

As it turns out, though, paying cable bills might not be so bad after all, if the few days I’ve spent testing Hauppauge’s WinTV-HVR 1950 USB 2.0 Hybrid TV tuner are any indication. This $149 device has plenty of potential — and in the right circumstances, could prove useful — but it didn’t work well enough in my house to make me think about cutting the cable.

The WinTV-HVR 1950 is actually a small box, slightly smaller but thicker than a CD case, that connects to your computer via USB 2.0. It can capture analog NTSC and digital ATSC channels, as well as ClearQAM (unencrypted cable) channels. You also can connect external video sources (like DVD players) using the tuner’s S-Video and composite video inputs.

Hauppauge recommends connecting an external antenna when scanning for over-the-air channels, but, unfortunately, the company does not supply one with the device. Even a small, portable antenna, like the one included with the company’s WinTV-HVR-950Q I tested a few years ago, would have helped. When I connected the tuner in my home office and scanned for ATSC channels, it found zero. My computer is next to a window, and there are no tall buildings in my neighborhood to block transmission, but when used without an antenna, the WinTV-HVR 1950 was not able to pick up any channels.

When I tried the tuner on my laptop, in a downstairs room in my house, I had better luck, and was able to pick up a handful of over-the-air stations. Still, if you want to use this product on a desktop computer that’s in a fixed location, you’ll need to purchase your own antenna. Unless you happen to have one sitting on your roof, that is. The user manual notes that a roof-top antenna will deliver the best picture, but let’s be serious: who has a roof-top antenna these days? And who’s willing to hook one up just to use a TV tuner with their computer?

Not me. That’s why I switched to scanning for ClearQAM channels. To do so, you need to connect a cable line-in to the WintTV-HVR 1950, so you’ll, presumably, need a cable subscription. You could get by with paying for only the most basic service, I suppose, but doing so defeats my stated goal of going without cable entirely.

But the tuner did find plenty of ClearQAM channels; after scanning for just a few minutes, it identified more than 600 channels. That number was made even more overwhelming when I started watching them on the included WinTV software, and found that the way they were numbered made absolutely no sense. The HD broadcast of what is usually Channel 2 appeared as Channel 12203. Channel 4 was channel 63.10451. Only a few of the stations had names with them; most were represented as only a baffling series of numbers.

None of the channels had any programming information with them either, all of the shows were labeled “Unknown.” That means that if I wanted to record them using the WinTV software, which is actually pretty slick, I’d have to do so manually.

The good news is that all of the channels I was able to watch, both the ClearQAM stations and those that I was able to receive over-the-air without an antenna, looked great. HD picture quality was excellent, and even standard definition programs looked relatively clear. That’s why I think that Hauppauge’s USB TV tuner does have potential. If your computer is portable, or in an area that gets good reception, this device could prove to be cost-effective. But for the rest of us, Hauppauge needs to include an antenna. Until then, I guess I’m stuck paying for cable.

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To be fair, the ViewSonic MovieBook is not designed to compete with a full-scale tablet; it’s more of a rival for Apple’s iPod Touch. Like the iPod Touch, the MovieBook plays back audio, video, and image files stored on its 8GB of internal memory. Apple’s device packs in more internal memory — it’s available in 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions — but the MovieBook does features a microSD card slot for adding more storage.

Like the iPod Touch, the MovieBook features a minimalist design: from the front, all you see is the 4.3-inch screen, which is significantly larger than the iPod’s 3.5-inch screen. What the MovieBook offers in size and resolution (its screen displays HD content up to 720p), it lacks in touch, though. To use the device, you’re forced to rely on its sub-par controls, which sit on the edges of the player.

The MovieBook also lacks any sort of wireless connectivity for accessing content; the only way to get content on the player itself is to transfer it using the included USB cord or to put it on a microSD card. Once the content is on the device, ViewSonic’s menu system makes it easy to find. It’s organized with folders for music, photos, videos, e-books, and voice recordings (which you can create on the player); those folders each have sub-folders for the different storage locations, such as local disk and external disk.

While the menu system is nicely laid out, the same can’t be said of the MovieBook’s controls. To move through menus and play back content, you’re forced to rely on a series of small buttons on the top of the player. They’re easy enough to find by feel, but their functionality isn’t always intuitive, so I found that I often had to tilt the player down to see which button I needed to press. A touchscreen with on-screen icons would be much easier to use.

While the lack of a touch screen is almost forgivable, the inability to fast forward and rewind video content is not. I accidentally re-started one of the videos I wanted to watch, and could find no way to fast forward to the point where I’d left off. (The device gives you that option when you resume playing a file, but I accidentally chose the option to start the file over from the beginning, and then had to sit through 20 minutes of content I’d already watched.)

Content looks great on the MovieBook’s 4.3-inch screen, though. The device supports a wide range of video file formats, including AVI, RM/RMVB, MP4, MOV, PMP, MPG, DAT, H.264, and H.263. All of the files I transferred to the device started playing instantly, with no lag time at all, and the picture was crisp and clear. The included speaker provided decent, if not overwhelmingly loud, audio, and ViewSonic includes earphones, too.

Also included are the necessary cables (audio out and composite A/V) for connecting the MovieBook to your TV. Doing so is easy, and content looked decent when viewed on a bigger screen. A remote control is included, too, which can be handy when using the MovieBook as a set-top box.

ViewSonic’s MovieBook sells for about $120, which seems like a bargain compared to the $199 price tag that Apple’s 8GB iPod Touch sports. But while its bigger screen is nice, the MovieBook lacks the intuitive controls that make Apple’s device and its ecosystem so appealing.

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But that doesn’t mean I’m writing off the products from CES entirely. Here are five devices that were on display at CES that I’m hoping to get my hands on, and soon.

HTC HD2

I know Windows Mobile phones are yesterday’s news. But, to be honest, it’s not the phone features of HTC HD2 smartphone that have me so interested; it’s the phone’s 4.3-inch screen. I loved the roomy 3.7-inch screen on the Motorola Droid, so I can’t wait to check out this one. I’m often watching video on or capturing video with my phone, and I sometimes find myself squinting at the 3.5-inch display. An upgrade to a 4.3-inch screen would be welcome. But, we don’t yet know which carrier will offer the HTC HD2 in the U.S.; that could make a real difference in what kind of video services it offers — and could make or break this phone as a mobile video device.

Tivit

Now the Tivit would make a killer accessory for the HTC HD2 — if only this portable TV receiver worked with Windows Mobile phones. Alas, the Tivit, made by a company called Valups, compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry phones with Wi-Fi, and some Android phones. The Tivit uses the Mobile DTV standard and, after you download the necessary viewing software on your phone, broadcasts Mobile DTV channels to your phone.

Vizio TVs

Vizio is known for making budget-friendly HDTVs, and the company had a presence at CES, both on and off the show floor. One of my former colleagues from PC World visited Vizio at CES and got a peek at some pretty cool sounding products — they’re so cool, in fact, that I’m putting two of them on this list.

One is the XVT Pro series of HDTVs. These feature built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity; support for Vizio’s own line of apps and Yahoo Widgets (so I can access ZeeVee’s Zinc app on my TV); support for Wireless HD; and — best of all — Bluetooth remotes with slide-out keyboards.

That’s for when I’m at home. When I’m on the go, I’ll take one of Vizio’s portable televisions — either the 9- or 10-inch model, which the company says are among the first to receive broadcasts using the new ATSC mobile TV standard.

Intel Wireless Display

I spend a lot of time testing various devices that let you take the video content stored on your PC and view it on your TV. So, naturally, I spend a lot of time messing with cables, struggling through confusing set up menus, and swearing at the TV. But Intel’s Wireless Display technology promises to help clean up my cable clutter…and my vocabulary.

To use Intel Wireless Display, you’ll need a compatible laptop — meaning one that’s has one of Intel’s new processors, its HD graphics, and its wireless technology. You’ll also need an adapter to connect to the TV, and a TV that has HDMI or component A/V inputs. Once you have all the parts, the content on your PC is sent to your TV wirelessly.

Lenovo IdeaPad U1

Tablet PCs were big news at CES this year, but I’m not entirely sold on the idea of an all-touch-screen PC. That’s why I like the idea behind the Lenovo IdeaPad U1. This device is a hybrid netbook/tablet; when you need to type, you can use the built-in keyboard. But, should you want to ditch the keyboard to, say curl up on the couch and watch a movie, you can just pick up the detachable display and go. Perfect for indecisive folks like me.

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Like the original version of ZViewer, Zinc Beta 5 aims to provide a single portal to various sources of Internet video. The free application offers access to a variety of sites and services that offer TV shows and videos, such as Hulu.com, Amazon’s Video on Demand, ABC.com, CBS, and FOX — to name just a few.

You don’t have to go out and access each site individually to find out what TV shows and movies are available online; Zinc collects all the information for you, and presents it in a consistent, searchable interface. Zinc does not actually play back any of the content; instead it offers easy access to the various players you need, which open from within Zinc. So if you want to watch a show on Hulu, Zinc brings you to the page on Hulu, where you view the site’s ads. If you want to watch a movie on Netflix, Zinc pushes you to the Netflix player, but you’ll need your own account.

The organization features are fine, but they’re not enough to make Zinc essential to your TV watching experience. What could make Zinc a must-have, though, is its new Queue feature. This allows you to create your own list of shows and movies that you’d like to watch, whether those shows are on ABC.com or the Onion News Network. That means if you’re browsing the available episodes of Glee on Hulu and Amazon on Demand, you can just click to add them to your queue. Next time you launch Zinc, you don’t have to go out and find them again; just click on the title in your queue and the video will launch (provided you’ve coughed up the cash for any paid titles, of course).

What’s nice about the latest beta of Zinc is that you can take your queue and your Favorites (a feature launched on an earlier beta that lets you bookmark your favorite shows) with you to another computer, as the whole experience has been moved to the cloud. The “cloud” is one of those buzzwords I’ve come to detest, but I like how it works here. You can download Zinc to another computer, sign into your account, and presto, your queue of shows is waiting for you.

The queue is not without its limitations, though. For one, you can only add single episodes to it; you can’t add a whole season or series at once, so it can be time-consuming if you want to add several titles. It also doesn’t automatically delete titles, or even prompt you to delete them, once you’ve finished watching them. And it doesn’t remember if you’ve started watching a show or not, or allow you to pick up your viewing from where you left off.

Zinc is appealing on a computer, but ZeeVee’s goal is for you to access it from a TV. To that end, the company also is announcing today a Zinc TV Widget for Yahoo Connected TVs. While these connected TVs are becoming more popular, they are by no means ubiquitous. So, how else can you view Zinc on your TV? ZeeVee is no longer pushing its set-top box; the company realized that the devices were too expensive and difficult to install — something I experienced first-hand.

ZeeVee CEO Vic Odryna suggests two ways: either using a VGA cable to connect a computer or laptop to a TV, or buying an inexpensive netbook and creating your own dedicated set-top box. This idea sounds good in theory, but when I tested Zinc on my (admittedly worn-down) laptop, the application was so slow that using it was an exercise in frustration. When I used Zinc on my speedy new Windows 7 desktop PC, it ran at light speed. I’m not sure what kind of experience you’d get running Zinc on a netbook.

So, right now, Zinc remains a bit of an enigma. It’s a good piece of software for your computer that could be great for your TV. But getting it there could prove tricky. If ZeeVee — or another company — could come up with an easy, cheap way to get Zinc on the TV, the app could flourish. Until then, its purpose is limited.

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The Stora looks almost like an old-fashioned safe, with its small, squat design. Only the flashing lights on the front (indicating power and connectivity) give it away as a high-tech alternative. And high-tech it is: The Stora packs in a 1TB drive, and has a bay for adding another, should you need more space. It supports gigabit Ethernet, offers a USB 2.0 port, features a built-in iTunes server, and is DLNA certified, so it can stream media to compatible gear. It’s also remotely accessible from the web, allowing you to access multimedia files from within its web-based interface.

Setup is pretty simple: You connect the included Ethernet cord to the drive and your router, plug in the AC adapter, and turn it on. Netgear includes a CD with the Stora Desktop software; installing this was a bit time-consuming — the CD took awhile to run — but not complicated.

And the included software was worth the wait, as the Flash-based application is slick. Netgear says the Stora is designed for “first-time users who don’t want to learn server administration as a hobby,” and the software’s interface goes a long way toward that end. It features an attractive black and purple design, with appealing, easy-to-identify icons. Folders are automatically created for family sharing, as are a private set of folders for each user. Each of these libraries contains folders for documents, music, photos and videos, though these can be renamed or deleted and new folders can be added.

My only complaint about the application is that its graphic-heavy interface means uploading files takes a few more clicks than it might otherwise. If you were accessing the Stora through the plain-old Windows Explorer interface, you could just drag a file right to the desired folder on the Stora and transfer it with one click (and you can access the Stora via Windows Explorer, if you’d rather). To transfer the same file in the Stora Desktop app, you have to click on the folder, select “upload” from the drop-down menu, and then a new pop-up window appears. Here, you can either navigate to the file you want to add, or you can select the “Drag and Drop” option, which allows you to drag your file to the new window.

This is a minor annoyance, though, and it’s one that I quickly forgot about when I began exploring the rest of the app’s features. You can easily create a slide show of the photos you’ve uploaded, or create an album and upload it to a site like Facebook.

But where things get more interesting is when you begin exploring the embedded media player. Stora’s software has its own multimedia player, so you can play back music and video files from within the app. Just click on the file you want to view, or the playlist you want to listen to, and a new pop-up window with the player appears. It’s remarkably simple, and you don’t need to launch any external applications…unless your file format isn’t supported by the player. And the file format support could be better. Right now, the Stora player supports just a handful of formats (MP3 audio files, and MPEG-4, MOV, and FLV video files).

Sharing content is another strong point for the Stora. To access your content remotely, you just point your browser to mystora.com, and you can quickly navigate to your device. The web-based interface is nearly identical to the Stora Desktop app, so right away, you’re in familiar territory. You can set up shares to send to family and friends who might want to view your content, too.

Netgear offers a premium Stora service that, for $20 a year (after a free 30-day trial), offers some added remote access features. For one, you can play your media files over the web, using the same embedded media player. In my tests, performance was very good; video looked great when accessed remotely. The Stora premium service allows you to download files remotely, too, so you can access them from the computer itself if your file format isn’t supported by the embedded player.

We all know that we should be backing up our files for safe keeping. Thanks to Stora, securing your files doesn’t have to feel like work.

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NetGear’s latest set-top box, the Digital Entertainer Live (EVA2000), is a good idea, on paper. The $150 device, powered by Verismo’s VuNow technology, lets you access video content from the Web and your home network. It lacks any built-in storage, but does have two USB ports for connecting drives.

But in my tests, Digital Entertainer Live proved mixed. I like its smaller design and ease of use. And I especially like that it comes with a lower price tag than past Netgear devices. But the device is a bit buggy, and it suffers from sub-par video quality, leaving me unable to whole-heartedly recommend it.

Set up is pretty simple: you connect it to your TV via HDMI, but you’ll have to supply your own cable, which is disappointing considering that more and more products are bundling HDMI cords. Alternatively, you can use the included composite A/V cable. You connect it to your home network via Ethernet or wirelessly, but the wireless adapter is a $30 accessory — and it will occupy one of the device’s USB ports. I used a powerline networking kit to connect the Digital Entertainer Live to my home network with a wired connection, which the company says will provide the best performance.

Once the device is connected, you can use it to access videos from various online sites like YouTube and various Internet TV stations, and, through the use of PlayOn’s $40 Media Server software, content from sites like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon (a AMZN) Video on Demand. (Mac users, beware: PlayOn only runs on Windows PCs.) You also can browse through files stored on networked computers and hard drives.

Using Netgear’s on-screen menus to navigating through all of these sources could be a lot easier. The menu is organized into three main choices: My Collection, Movies on Demand, and Internet Video. But you’ll find some of your content sources under all of these headings; your Netflix Instant Watch queue, for example, appears under both “My Collection” and “Movies on Demand.” Hulu, meanwhile, is accessible through both “My Collection” and “Internet Video.” A little bit of streamlining would great enhance the user experience.

So, too, would improving the organizational system. Much of the content from sources like Netflix and Hulu is annoyingly categorized in a series of folders. To access a TV show from Hulu, you have to go into a folder called “TV Episodes” and then scan through a series of folders for each letter of the alphabet. If you’re looking for Glee, you have to go all the way to the “G” folder, and then scan through more folders for each TV show that starts with G — and there are more of them than you might think. Once you find the Glee folder, you have to scan through its contents to find the episode you want. A search feature would be a welcome addition.

But the lack of a search function for some sites is a minor annoyance. More pressing is the poor video quality I often experienced. In my tests of streaming video — all over a wired connection — the video ranged from unwatchable to just good. The box supports video resolutions up to 720p, but none of the streaming content I watched seemed to come close to HD. YouTube videos fared the best, with some HD YouTube clips looking pretty sharp. But Netflix Instant Watch movies and HD TV episodes rented from Amazon Video in Demand looked decidedly low res. I wouldn’t bother paying a premium for HD content if I were planning on watching it via the Digital Entertainer Live.

I also had trouble getting the Digital Entertainer Live to play back some of my Amazon video content. I rented The Hangover from Amazon on my computer, and sat down in front of my TV, ready to watch the movie via the Netgear box. The Digital Entertainer Live found the title in my Amazon library, but was never able to play it back. Each time I tried, the box seemed to freeze, and one time required a reboot. A VuNow representative thought this problem might be a PlayOn issue, but I was not able to resolve it. However, I purchased an episode of Parks and Recreation from Amazon, and this played back without a problem.

Not surprisingly, video quality improved dramatically when played from a USB drive connected to the Digital Entertainer Live. This is one of the reasons that Netgear requires you to download movies to a connected USB drive when you purchase them from CinemaNow — a feature that is enabled on the box. It may seem like a hassle, but one that is worth it for the improved video quality.

At $150, the Digital Entertainer Live is less than half the price of Netgear’s Digital Entertainer Elite, which lists for $400. It’s also less than half the size; the Digital Entertainer Live is about the size of a router, while the Elite model is comparable to your average DVD player. But the Digital Entertainer Live is not meant to compete with devices like the Elite; it’s positioned instead as an alternative to boxes like those designed by Roku.

The Digital Entertainer Live offers features similar to those of Roku’s $130 HD-XR box, which I have not tested. That device is $20 cheaper, and it comes with built-in wireless capabilities to boot. But it also lacks the ability to access Hulu, which Netgear’s box offers. If only the Digital Entertainer Live offered better video quality, I could recommend it easily. But for now, if you can live without Hulu, Roku’s box could be worth a look.

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