We wants us Al-Tech's MediaGate MG-35 and MG-350HD
See? Is it really so hard to make a reasonably well-equipped
media adapter/set-top box that you wouldn't be
completely ashamed to put in your living room? Al-Tech's MediaGate MG-35 and MG-350HD have Ethernet, an internal
3.5-inch hard drive, a USB 2.0 port, RCA-compostive, S-video, and component outs, optical/coax and analog stereo 5.1
audio out, oh, and codec support for MP3, OGG, WMA, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX 3.11+, and XviD. Bonus: the MG-350HD has a USB 2.0
host port (for an external hard drive, for instance), integrated 802.11a/g, and MPEG1/2/4 and WMV9 in hi-def (720p and
1080i). Don't they even get how many people would freaking buy these things if they brought them to America? Don't even
get us started, man.
[Via Akihabara News]
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Guttrhead @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Check this out
http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/20050106/modix-01.html
Everything listed up there except ethernet and usb host, i think. You can also copy dvds 1:1 to its hard drive and use all menus when you view them.
whts the point @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
if you can't record whats the point...guys we need those things to be able to record as well...
Guttrhead @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
I think this one is set to stream from your computer or transfer to the hd wirelessly. That way you dont need an htpc at every tv.
Allan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Those of us in the US can get the Modix HD3510 (http://www.cooldrives.com/hdmohdpousb2.html) instead...
tracy @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
there is also these...
http://www.fiaon3.com/On3_pro.cfm
its networkable, unlike the one i got which is not networkable..
http://www.tvix.co.kr/eng/
things i whish they had..
a. a screen on the front to navigate with when you dont want to turn onthe tv to do it.
b. a shuffle function.
Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Available in Australia in April through Anywhere.com.au. Yipee :)
Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Oops, that should be anyware.com.au
llajumpvid @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Will the MG25 or better the MG350 be coming to the USA? If so when???
Frank Marten @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
I think the MG-35 is great. It plays the majority of media files including my Ipod's AAC files which is not listed as one of the support files. Despite being reasonably happy with it, there are a few things I wish it also did. These are:
1. Allow you to access the device via the network. It only allows access via the USB interface.
2. I agree with one of the other people leaving a note that it should have a shuffle feature.
3. The playlist feature is not good. It should allow you to create multiple playlists that can be used even after the device has been turned off.
Other wise, I think it is good.
Frenik @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Can anyone tell me if the MG-35 plays ripped DVD's via the IFO files (for chapter/subtitle/audio stream support etc) or only play back VOB files?
MrCyberdude @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
it plays across rj45 via .ifo with menus working etc.
at the moment i am having bandwidth issus trying to watch ripped accross network but i believe that is because i have cooked my switch and am running with a different voltage stuck on fan.
.
.
http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?t=118544
.
I just upgraded the firmware with MG35_1.3.2.upgrade file with no trouble after i opened it as a movie file.
.
Two annoying things since firmware update are;
1. when i fast forward a video it no longer stops fast forwarding with the Play/pause button on remote, but does with the enter direction pad.
2. it no longer plays my MPEG4 movies that were recorded with a Sanyo Digital Media Camera VPC-C4 which is damn annoying as i believe it is just an mpeg4 file nothing fancy. AND it did play before with 1.3.1 firmware.
Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
I just got the mg35 and found the following:
1. It doesn't support linux file systems which is odd as its a linux based device.
2. My windows systems finds it mostly as an unrecognised device (which is probably a windows thing)
3. I can't scan for music while its playing. Using it at a party is difficalt for this reason.
4. There is no random function.
Otherwise its a great unit. All of those things (except the window detection issue) can be fixed (or the feature added) through firmware updates.
Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
I just got the mg35 and found the following:
1. It doesn't support linux file systems which is odd as its a linux based device.
2. My windows systems finds it mostly as an unrecognised device (which is probably a windows thing)
3. I can't scan for music while its playing. Using it at a party is difficalt for this reason.
4. There is no random function.
Otherwise its a great unit. All of those things (except the window detection issue) can be fixed (or the feature added) through firmware updates.
Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
My last post made mention of USB and device detection troubles. I have done more testing and it seems that my (healthy) Seagate 160G hard disk is in some way not toally compatable with the MG 35. I have used a smaller 20G drive and the device works fine.
Sam @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Any word on when the MG 350HD is going to be released?? On the website it still says coming "soon" using the term 'soon' loosely.
Thanks!
MrCyberdude @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
New firmware on the altech site
MG35_MediaGate_en_1.4.0.upgrade
anyone tried it out yet?
Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
I have recently purchased a MG35 and fitted a 160Gb HDD to it. I had the HDD in a portable USB drive, and used it to collect and play media using a DVd player that had USB port. This dvd player would not read HDD unless it was setup as FAT32. When I put the HDD onto the MG35, it would not work unless I move the files off, re-format as NTFS and then put the files back on.
Everything now appears to work ok, and I have also tried the new 1.4.0 firmware upgrade. Have not noticed any new features as yet.
When I try to browse my network (2 x Computers with Win XP Pro, both can see each others shared drives ok !!) the MG35 says that it cannot find any computers with shared drives. !!
I have tried all sorts of changes to XP file shareing, re-sharing, change of share name < 12 chrs etc. No Firewall, but am using Router to provide DNS.
MG356 shows it has received IP of 10.1.1.6 from DNS ok, and I can ping the MG35 on this address from other PC's ok.
Anyone know how I can get the MG35 to "see" the other PC's ??
I also have a friend who has had no problems getting the network aspects working, but he had to re-install XP onto on PC and now MG35 will not see this one, but can see 3 other pc's which are setup exactly the same ???
Weird ??
Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Update on Networking MG-35 problems
After many hours trying both static IP and DNS , I could not get MG-35 to "see" any shared pc's on the network. (I have a Dlink Router/switch used as the network switch, which supplies dns.)
I eventually changed IP range on the router to 192.168.0 subnet, and presto, it works ok now. SO, MG-35 does NOT like 10.1.1 subnet at all.
I suspect it actually may be that it only likes class D networks, as the dlink was using 255.255.0.0 subnet, but I don't have time to reset everything and try this out.
Any Comments ??
John @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Just got mine yesterday and It works great except that the rules for sharing files is a mystery. I have 6 PC's (Mainly XP) and it shows them all (as long as they have at least one share. Problem is that on 3 PC's it says the sharing is in the wrong format...
I've followed the guidelines for no wirewall, turn on the guest account etc (All of which is really bad and I'd like to know how to get it working with these protection features still on) but I can't get these machines to go. Actually, one of the working PC's has the firewall enabled and it works fine. Its not a SP2 issue as this is on PC's that work and fail. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Replies to mg35@john.penngelley.com would be really helpfull.
Elton @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Hi all,
I upgraded to Firmware 1.4.0 a few days ago. At first I was excited about the fact that it seemed like quite a few issues were fixed.
Video files appeared in alphabetic order finally. A shuffle feature was added. Apparently AVI file playback was fixed (though I hadn't seen a problem with it)
Unfortunately... My AVI file playback is now prone to stuttering between frames. It is ever so slight but enough to annoy you when viewing. Initially I hoped that it was an encoding I was watching but last night I found the issue occurred with other AVIs too.
I have emailed AirLinkTek about it but doubt I'll get a response. Never have in the past.
I would be wary of moving to 1.4.0 ... I am thinking of going back to 1.3.2 or 1.3.1 ... Does anyone want to recommend either of these? If anyone has the Firmware 1.3.1 can you please email it to my gmail account as it is no longer available.
cheers
Elton
sdsdv10 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
For help with the MG-35 is suggest going to;
http://www.avsforum.com/
Quite a few owners/users there.
Chay @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
I updated my MG25 to 1.4.0 and the AVI stuttering is gone (was 1.3.2).