We're expecting big things from the media streaming market this summer. With online services like YouTube and the BBC iPlayer booming and home media collections expanding, 2009 could be the year when these versatile devices become more commonplace in the modern home.

Freecom is the first of what seems to be a series of manufacturers looking to release a successor over the next few months, replacing the moderately successful Mediaplayer 450 with the new Mediaplayer II. Despite the previous iteration being a little light on features, we liked the straightforward operation and decent degree of media control and support, so the new version should look to improve on its predecessor's faults and bring it into line with new developments.

It's off to a good start with a tidy, brushed aluminium design, which is far more appealing than the rather cheap-looking plastic build of the previous model. A decent range of connectivity at the back includes HDMI, composite and component with coaxial audio.

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There's also an Ethernet port, single USB for connecting external devices and a USB-host for connecting it to a computer to transfer files to internal storage. Speaking of which, the device is available either as a ‘drive-in' kit so you can fit your own SATA drive, or with 500GB or 1TB preinstalled. This is obviously a useful option to have for those who want to copy a library across for local playback, and Freecom keeps it simple with drag and drop and auto-sorting of various media content into video, music and photos.

Those who have a large collection that's constantly being updated will prefer to stream files across a network, and this is where we ran into the first major issue with the device. Unlike its predecessor, the Mediaplayer II doesn't have wireless built-in and, although it is available if you purchase an optional dongle from Freecom, this costs a rather hefty £45. To make things worse, there's only one USB port on the back so if you wish to set it up for wireless streaming there will be no space to attach external storage.

Thankfully, it's quite straightforward to set up and configure the streamer on a network, which involves scanning the area to locate your connection and entering the appropriate password. Freecom has also kept things simple when it comes to sharing media and still uses Windows' shared folders to configure access. This no-nonsense approach should appeal to beginners, but when you delve a bit deeper it is apparent that little effort has gone into supporting modern forms of media playback.

This begins with the interface, which is a surprisingly poor effort and confines file and location browsing to a small window on the left of the screen. The right-hand side is taken up by either a poor resolution thumbnail to signify video/music/photos or, in the case of video, a preview pane for the currently highlighted file.

This is a nice idea in theory, but in practice it's only really useful for locally stored video files since the overhead required to begin playing a file over a network is around 10 seconds, adding needless delays to searching that can be quite frustrating. Thankfully this can be turned off so you can browse a collection uninterrupted, but a viewing window that can only display about 10 files at a time makes the situation far from ideal.

Video playback is pretty good at standard definition resolutions over wireless, though anything higher (an HDMI or component connection supports up to 1080i) will require a wired connection or copying the file to an internal drive or connected storage.

One major plus point here is that you can copy files between any attached storage (including networked drives) via the player itself, a feature that's surprisingly rare in this market. Format support looks good on paper, but in practice the lack of support for codecs such as H.264 and formats like MP4 and MOV means that those requiring a versatile way to share video alongside portable players will be left wanting.

Control is little better than average for video with no option to skip through files at predetermined intervals, adjust aspect ratio or resume playback when interrupted. A zoom control and subtitle support is about your lot, so the approach here is overly basic to say the least.

The same follows through to audio and, although it is possible to create playlists, a lack of repeat and shuffle controls means playing an album requires you to select each song individually from a simple file list. Photo viewing is a little better and offers a range of transitions and timings along with rotate and zoom controls for showing off a collection.

Despite the fact that it gets the basics right, we were left feeling rather underwhelmed by the Mediaplayer II. It doesn't really improve on the previous version in any way and demands an extra £45 for wireless that previously came as standard.

A poor interface, limited media support and control and a serious lack of access to online content leaves it struggling to compete. The straightforward setup and operation isn't enough to outweigh some rather major drawbacks.

Despite the tidy design, internal storage option and reasonably priced 'drive-in' unit, the Mediaplayer II is lacking quite seriously in some important areas. It may be a good option for casual users who appreciate straightforward setup and operation, but those with large collections looking to enjoy online media via such a device will find it severely lacking.