Neuros OSD Media Center review

Probably the most frequent question people ask about the PSP – apart from ‘Where are all the good games?’ and ‘Why do those UMD things cost so much?’ – is ‘how do I get video on the Memory Stick?’

You are looking at one answer, albeit a pretty complicated one. The Neuros OSD is the hacker version of Apple TV, a Linux-based, open-source solution to cutting down and burning video from your DVD player, TV or VCR (remember those?), and streaming it through your house via Ethernet.

What the OSD is best at though – and which Apple TV can’t match – is putting DVD and TV on to chip. If you’re looking for something to rip from DVD to PSP this does the trick very neatly, with a minimum of complex menus and codec-wrangling.

It’s no UMD

The result is pretty decent video on your PSP’s screen, although even the highest quality is not as good as DVD, and visibly worse than UMD movies on PSP.

But considering it’s spitting out of a novel-sized box on your desktop, it’s really not bad – and the chance to record off PVRs or from TV is a neat add-on.

For nerds only

Sadly the Neuros wears its open-source heart on its sleeve: the OS is pretty grim, the recording software has various weird nooks and crannies, and the whole thing will probably unnerve you.

Unless, of course, you’re a dyed-in-the-wool h4XX0R who lives in a wireless-saturated flat full of semi-functioning open-source devices and robot slaves. In which case, don’t hesitate to snap one up.