cineDISK NAS doubles as a media player

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 28th 2007 at 5:15AM

We've seen a couple interesting remote media players and NAS solutions in the past few months, and even some laughable attempts to merge the two, but this NAS unit from SavitMicro comes the closest we've seen to combining the two devices successfully. In addition to being a standard NAS / USB 2.0 box with a 3.5-inch SATA drive bay, the cineDISK features a host of output options, including a 1080p-capable DVI port (although max resolution is listed at 1080i), component and composite video outs, optical audio out, and two USB host ports for plugging in extra storage. Codec support isn't as full-featured as we'd like, but it covers the major bases: MP3, Ogg, WMA, WMV HD, HDTV@TP, DivX, MPEG-4 and MPEG-1/2. No word on pricing or availability, but if this thing comes in at a reasonable number (and lands in the US) we can see a lot of people being interested. Hit the read link for a couple more beauty shots, including one of the back panel.

[Via SlashGear]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Storage

Tags: 1080p, cinedisk nas, CinediskNas, media player, MediaPlayer, nas, savitmicro

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Eduo @ Jun 28th 2007 7:35AM

How would this compare, say, with one of those freecom mediaplayer 350?

I ask because, as luck would have it, I bought one of them freecom things two days ago. It hasn't even arrived yet.

Neutral

JC @ Jun 28th 2007 8:21AM

I have one of those, but it's sold in Canada as a Mediasonic MG35. They're pretty good, I'm very happy with mine. The only thing it doesn't play is WMV, but everything else I've thrown at it works like a charm.

Neutral

Eduo @ Jun 28th 2007 9:13AM

JC: I think I can live without WMV support :)

This looks more... round but other than that I can't see what advantage may be.

These guys making these media-aware disks should take a page from the XBMC project (or MSMC itself) and start trying to put a little more design into their wares. Nowadays a nifty interface is almost as valuable as a nice exterior design (and, conversely, a sweet exterior design can lead to disappointment when dealing with an inferior user interface).

That and customisation of Subtitles (SRT files). I don't know what TVs these guys use to test these things, but the final outcome is usually horrible.

Neutral

JC @ Jun 28th 2007 9:40AM

You're right about the interface. The MG35 is decent, it's a little slow in responding, but I generally don't have a big problem with it. It also displays subtitle files pretty well. I'm thinking of upgrading to the WiFi version. The fact that it can play media files off a Windows/SMB share on your network is great too, for smaller files, I can just put them on a share on the PC and play them on the TV.

Neutral

Eduo @ Jun 28th 2007 10:47AM

I bought the WLAN version, actually.

No idea when it'll be shipped, though. I don't think I've received much in the way of communication from Freecom. I'd hate to have to call them.

I have to say. I actually wanted a mobile XBMC for when I'm not home and a shared network disk to mount in both my mac and my xbmc for when I am. I have yet to see the interface in this but I've been burned before (with my Siemens Gigaset PVR M750AV, for example) to doubt the freecom before I see it.

It's not like these're cheap devices.

I think these are just some small functionality away from being absolutely perfect. If they did what they do and also had the following they'd be perfect:

1.-Torrent client (I currently have a half-assed attempt in a Synology disk that I stopped using because having it crippled was actually more frustrating than none at all, this is currently my shared network disk, even if the webserver is nifty).

2.-Basic LCD screen to be able to drive this without even the TV (for playing music).

3.-Skinnable, aesthetically pleasing, modern user interface. I want gradients, I want shadows, I want reflections, I want animations. :)

Do you know where can I find some screenshots of the freecom's UI? I can't seem to find any.