Upgrades to $800 Moxi HD DVR boost streaming-media capabilities

In a world already saturated with DVRs, Digeo decided this year was the perfect time to launch its own model, with the Moxi HD DVR joining TiVo as independent players in a space increasing dominated by cable and satellite providers' own devices. The Moxi, currently sold only at Amazon.com, comes with a 500GB hard drive, dual HD tuners, CableCARD support, and an Ethernet port. While it's prohibitively priced at $799, the Moxi doesn't require a monthly subscription fee, like a TiVo device or a cable provider's DVR.

With other home theater components adding more streaming-media services to their feature lists, it should come as no surprise that Moxi has been upgraded to support online video from Hulu and Netflix, along with streaming audio from Rhapsody. Owners will be given a free key for MediaMall’s PlayOn media server software for limited time, as well as a free one-month pass to Rhapsody's music service. Of course, you'll need the Moxi to be attached to your home network for these features, and its networking support is now enhanced with the DLNA-certified Media Link, which allows it to stream media from your networked PCs. The new eControls feature even lets you control Z-Wave home automation devices with the Moxi interface.

While Moxi is keeping up with the competition with its latest upgrade, it still needs more to justify its nearly $800 price in this moribund economy. Why couldn't Digeo foot the bill for a lifetime Rhapsody subscription for Moxi owners instead of a month? How about giving owners a free Netflix subscription for online streaming over the Moxi? The more of these free perks it could offer, the better the value proposition looks to those who may consider an alternative to TiVo or a TV provider's DVR box.