Iomega Screenplay TV Link Director Edition - £100

Good build and easy set-up don't disguise a lack of features

The TV Link Director Edition is essentially Iomega’s ScreenPlayer Director stripped of onboard storage, though the solid aluminium pcasing resembles a slimline external hard drive.

Less attractive is the power light that glows a brilliant white up front and is distracting. The unit also runs quite hot after little more than an hour in use.

There are two USB ports up front and one more at the rear. AV outputs comprise HDMI and composite video, an optical digital audio output and stereo phonos. A Scart adapter is provided for the composite and phono outputs. Ethernet is included for networking (with uPnP or DLNA-compatible sources) or you can add a wireless dongle, though it has to be Iomega’s own (£31).

The remote is a little too quirky in terms of design and buttons but serves its purpose, though we had to point it straight-on with the box to guarantee a response.

The interface isn’t too pretty to look at either. Music, video and photo menus are used to browse files stored on connected drives and an Online Media menu provides access to YouTube clips (in SD only with search ability) with the option to add links to Flickr, Shoutcast radio and RSS feeds via Iomega’s website. With storage attached, you can use the TV Link as a torrent client. Playlisting of files isn’t supported but there’s a slideshow mode for photos.

Video can be fast-forwarded and rewound at six levels of speed indicated by onscreen arrows. High-quality MP3s and XviD files sounded/looked as good as expected, but while our MKV HD files appeared sharp we experienced loss of audio sync on one, whereas other players had no trouble.

Somewhat pricey, the TV Link is decidedly basic and lacking in stand-out features.

Ratings
PLUS
■ Reasonably plug-and-play
■ Format support
■ Sturdy casing
MINUS
■ Remote isn’t great
■ Basic software
■ Limited dongle options
Build ★★★★★★★
Setup ★★★★★★★
Performance ★★★★★★★
Features ★★★★★★★
Value ★★★★★★
68%