Overall, the apps are a bit lackluster. For instance, the music apps offer no compelling reason to switch from a more robust app such as iTunes, which already handles music sharing, tagging, and randomized playlist needs just fine. Memory Safe's scheduled backup functions are nice, but Windows 7 has its own a built-in app.

Even the two apps I was most looking forward to--Bit Boost and Torrent Genie--were underwhelming. Bit Boost is essentially a collection of three preset configurations for the Play Max's Quality of Service functions, promising a way to avoid the tiresome chore of configuring QoS rules manually. Unfortunately, while this app might be useful for juggling VoIP and video, the Online Games mode is downright antiquated. It supports 11 games, most of them dating back to the early 2000s (such as Quake, Half-Life, and Team Fortress 2). The most recent game on the list (Battlefield 2) debuted in 2005. If you want newer titles to work with Bit Boost, you'll have to add them manually--port ranges and all.

Similarly, Torrent Genie sounded like a great idea: You leave your PC on to download BitTorrent files all the time. But I prefer to manage my downloads with , as Vuze feels slow and clunky--and unfortunately Torrent Genie supports only Vuze, forcing me either to choose between the two or to deal with the hassle of using two torrent clients.

Another complication: One of the perks of leaving your PC on with Vuze (or uTorrent) is the remote management function, which lets you manage your torrents from another PC, but it doesn't work with Torrent Genie.

We haven't yet put the Play Max through our complete battery of performance tests , but it managed to sustain strong bandwidth (between 20 and 25 megabits per second for close and medium ranges) in an office environment with plenty of other Wi-Fi networks nearby.