OK, so I've decided to make a small review on my little Egreat M-34A Network Media Tank. It may be a bit outdated since there are newer models readily available nowadays, but this one still does the job very nicely.
It's a nice, small little device. Has plenty of inputs and outputs, namely HDMI, SPDIF, Optic out (the important ones for HD

)
They're not very stingy either when it comes to what you get in the box:
Being as it's an NMT, it has all the sweet functionalities of its competitors (IE. Popcorn hour A-110).
Basically, this little box plays all my MKV 720P and 1080P movies directly from my USB external HDD. There's also a nice little SATA slot on the side of the box for connection a SATA2 hdd.
The box runs all sorts of great html scripts, and can also stream directly from your PC via ethernet or wireless (not recommended for HD).
If you get something like this, I'd recommend looking into the YAMJ (Yet Another Movie Jukebox) for automatically organizing your movies.
Bottom line: If you love HD movies (which is obviously why you're here

), and you have a home theater system, this is a very elegant and convenient way of playing them.
Only downside is that it doesn't play TrueHD bluray movies.
Egreat's newer models do support them, but at $150 shipped worldwide, the Egreat M34A is definitely a great value for money.