Dune HD Smart D1 1080P Media Player

Here's the problem: I have a large collection of DVD's & blu-ray discs that I hate messing with and media carousels are notoriously difficult to keep balanced (leading to scratched discs). I also have dozens of different formats of home video files from the various cameras I've owned. What to do?I started with Apple's wondeful AppleTV, but it wasn't powerful enough for my needs and it's locked into Apple's ecosystem. I decided to build a media server and the Dune HD Smart is one part of it. First, I built a server to house all my family's media. Next, I setup my new Dune Smart and connected it to the same network my home server is on. After much research and futzing, I managed to get Zappiti's excellent media server up and running on it. THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! I'm a geek that built computers for a living and I had a heck of a time getting everything working smoothly. Finally, I sat back with my wife and watched a flawless, fully legal, backup (from a disc I own and currently possess) of my favorite movie. Rock solid performance.Pros:- Plays EVERYTHING I have thrown at it. It's like VLC player.- Sleek and small. It fits right next to my Apple TV and Xbox 360.- User serviceable and upgradable. Add a HDD for better options.- Plays back 1080p video with no hiccups or dropped frames.- Decodes all the latest audio codecs from DTS & Dolby.Cons:- Getting Zappiti up and running was a chore. Better off getting a Zappiti player.- No built in HDD (for the D1 version). Was hoping for some accessible flash.- Old school LCD readout. I'd prefer the more modern LED display.Conclusion: I strongly recommend looking at the Zappiti line of media players if you're serious about serving your media files to your TV. The Apple TV is a great alternative, but it's just not quite what I needed. Now that I have a Dune Smart, my Apple TV is relegated to Netflix playback. If you are computer savvy, this is a great buy. If not, steer clear!NOTE: Due to the varying degrees of legality surrounding media backups, I don't condone any kind of piracy. This is a device that must be used responsibly within the confines of the law.

Excellent network media player. Over the years, I've tried many devices and technologies, including building my own systems with Media Center and Sage. The Dune devices play everything and very realibly. I'm now playing my entire library from my QNAP NAS so I only have to manage and update media to a single central location. Using Zappiti's interface [...] and it is awesome. So far, no issues and 100% reliability for Dune and Zappiti over the network. It took me a while to make my mind up to purchase the Dune D1, but I'm really happy that I did now. I'll be buying two more for other locations on my network.Dune HD Smart D1 1080P Media Player

Disclaimer: Mediaplayer/streamer manufacturers always use an excuse to blame home network when something does not pop stream correctly. In my case I used two streamers in turns but connecting to exact the same Ethernet port. Dune Smart vs. PopcornHour A300. Connecting to 1Gbit network and NFS share where I had jellyfish 90Mbit test file. Popcorn played without a hitch, Dune could not at all. I have tried over SMB same effect. Dune advertises that their players features special network optimization technology that plays hight bitrate files even over 100Mbit networks but simply does not work and does not meet advertised spec. I learned hard way when I had to pay 10% of the cost of the player for shipping costs. dune HDI did not refund the shipping to me and I had to pay to return to them. All in all, do not buy. Poor customer support, extra greedy company that does not stand behind their products. IPTV also was not stable and locked up as well.

I first tried the Kdlinks which was okay, but it couldn't show the full Blu-Ray menu, but it does 3d. I have always admired the Dune, but the steep price made me hesitate. When my movies started to sputter and cut parts of the movie off I had enough and found this Dune model for a great price. I pulled the trigger and noticed it played full Blu-Ray menu's and a flawless exact disk playback. I could now enjoy all of the extras and deleted scenes and look for certain chapters of a movie. The user interface is ugly with no cover art but by installing Zappiti you can have a beautiful user interface with photos and the option to skip the menu and previews and go straight to watching the movie. Be ready to pull your hair out getting Zappiti up and running properly. There is a ton of info on the internet which you will have to throughly study to understand. If you are not computer savvy don't try this on your own. Zappiti is very cool and really makes the Dune run on all cylinders but it took me two very long weeks troubleshooting and trying different options to get it up and running. You can install a 4tb hard drive and install lots of movies. I had to plug a cat 5 into the Dune or purchase a separate wifi dongle to get it online. I was not happy when I discovered it didn't have on board wifi. The unit doesn't have any fans and runs extremely hot, even when it's in standby mode.Overall I'm happy with it but the Dune company needs to update this model with onboard wifi, a better user interface, 3d options, and a better front display that doesn't look like it just arrived from the 80's. This is a great product but takes a person with a lot of patience to get it running smoothly and efficiently. I wish you luck if you go with this. Media Players are the wave of the future. Have fun!