Since I got my Qnap TS-101 file server, I’ve been religiously backing up all my media files – especially backup copies of my music and DVD movies. But it’s always bugged me that I’m unable to access these in my living room – instead, it felt as if I was stuck with my computer, even for my entertainment needs.

The much touted Apple TV is late, and it seems as if it won’t support Divx or Xvid-encoding (my preferred codec) for video files anyhow. So I thought that wasz that.

Imagine my excitement when I found the SnaZio Net Cinema HD SZ1310 going at a mere S$349 – almost $150 less than the Apple TV. It comes with software for accessing the media files off your Windows or Mac computer. But best of all, it supports uPnP – so accessing my media files on my uPnP-capable Qnap TS-101 should be real easy, and without the need to install any software or much tinkering. Needless to say, I bought it right away.

So does it work? Well, out of the box it didn’t support WPA encryption and couldn’t join my home WiFi network, so I had to turn encryption off temporarily. Once connected to the network, I ran the firmware update and after downloading and installing the firmware successfully, WPA was now available. Turned WPA back on for my home network and the SnaZio joined it easily.

Right away, the SnaZio detected my Qnap TS-101 as a “Twonkymedia device” (which I later renamed in the Qnap configuration) and browsed all my media files readily. I’ve since watched a few backed-up Divx-encoded movies streamed from the Qnap TS-101 and everything worked perfectly!

But don’t just take my word for it – check out this exhaustive review of the SnaZio Net Cinema HD SZ1350 (the SZ1310’s “big brother” which comes with a DVD drive)!