The moment Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link (also known as the BIVL or DMX-NV1) was announced last year, we knew the product would face an uphill battle. What could Sony’s proprietary video streamer offer that you can’t already get from Apple TV, Xbox 360, Sony PS3, Vudu, or the Netflix Player from Roku? Well, Sony’s main answer is free content. While most network media streamers focus on movie rentals or subscription services, the BIVL’s backbone is bringing content freely available on the Web–from places such as YouTube, Blip.TV, CBS, and Sports illustrated–and putting it on your HDTV. Recently Sony announced the addition of Amazon’s Video On Demand service, giving you the option of renting in addition to the free content.

That might sound good on paper, but using the device is a whole different story. First off, most of the free content is lackluster–the video quality is poor, many of the clips are short, and most of the content just isn’t compelling. Secondly, finding the content is difficult as the interface is sluggish and much of the content is haphazardly categorized and out-of-date. If the BIVL still sounds enticing, you may be disappointed to find that it only works with recent Sony Bravia LCDs–you can’t just add it to any old HDTV. That leaves a pretty small audience of people who would still be interested in BIVL. Granted, the addition of Amazon’s Video On Demand has made the product more compelling, but with superior alternatives such as the Apple TV, Netflix player, TiVo HD, and the SlingCatcher, it’s hard to recommend. If you really want to watch YouTube videos, Web video clips, and rent movies from Amazon on your new Bravia HDTV with minimal effort–and don’t mind a sluggish interface–the Bravia Internet Video Link gets the job done. But regardless of whether you have a compatible Bravia, almost any of those alternatives will be a better choice.

Design

Measuring 6.5 inches long by 1.46 inches wide and 4.13 inches high, the module is about the length and width of paperback book. It weighs less than 4 pounds and can be screwed on the back of Sony’s compliant TVs with the included mounting bracket, allowing the device to be hidden behind the TV set. The BIVL can also be fitted with the included stand if you choose to vertically stand up the device beside your other AV gear. The device is outfitted with curved, slim edges on the top and bottom and coated in Sony’s traditional, neutral color–dark gray. It has a subtle appearance, similar to a cable modem–a good thing if the device is sitting next your black, chunky AV receiver.

Sony includes an HDMI cable, a USB cable, AC adaptor, stand, cover, and TV mounting bracket. That’s a solid accessory pack, but curiously, the company did not include an Ethernet cable, even though the BIVL requires one–there’s no built-in Wi-Fi. You’ll need to make two connections from the BIVL to your TV: USB and HDMI. That means the BIVL will use one of the HDMI inputs on your TV, but there’s an additional HDMI input on the BIVL to replace the lost connectivity on your TV. Unfortunately for those who loathe adding more to the spaghetti of wires behind their AV system, the BIVL requires another wall outlet for its external AC adapter. This might be even more problematic for users who go the wall-mounting route.

Interface

Sony seamlessly integrates the BIVL’s content into the PS3-style XMB (Xross Media Bar) interface that is already used on Sony HDTVs. Navigating to the Web video content is logical compared with other devices we used; for example, Samsung’s interface divided its content between two menus (and two remote buttons) and had a noticeable amount of latency when browsing through the built-in Shockwave videos. Connecting the BIVL to your Sony HDTV adds two new features to the default interface: My Page by Yahoo and a list of channels under the Videos tab.

Browsing for videos also follows the familiar XMB layout; content is set up by channel, followed by a gridlike interface, with (but not always) categories on the left side of the screen to further distinguish videos. There is no search function, which we immediately desired after scrolling through thousands of CBS episodes. The playback interface bar for videos is also laid out logically. The up-and-down directional pad buttons zoom in and out on the picture, while right and left fast-forward and rewind the video, and holding down right enables a “super” fast-forward.

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