The
WD TV is still more or less the king of the tiny media player boxes, but now Viewsonic is getting into the game at a lower price point -- and minus the whole network compatibility bit. The VMP70 is a "direct connect" media device, so it will play content from your choice of USB-compatible storage, pumping it at up to 1080p to your display over HDMI or component cables, also sporting composite for lower-def fare. It packs an S/PDIF port to get clean audio, and supports a slew of formats including the usual suspects (DivX,Xvid,H.264) along with some slightly less usual ones (RM/RMVB, DTS, OGG). It's all available for an MSRP of $129.99, but
order now and you'll get special holiday pricing of $98.99. Operators are standing by... somewhere... probably.
posted Nov 5th 2009 7:41AM
I can't keep up with all these companies jumping on the bandwagon of home media players. I'm still looking for the one media player that has a nice intuitive user interface and a much better advance remote.
And yes I do have logitech 550.
Same here, I dream of something that functions like XBMC.
Then get an ion based nettop, and put XBMC on it. No reason to wait. Heck, you can even do it with AppleTV if the big A hasn't blocked it again.
Nice. Similar specs to the WD TV for $30 less.
Doesn't say whether it plays MKVs, however. Could be a deal breaker if true.
Well said - if it does support MKVs them I'm buying! My old coffee table laptop is struggling with the HD stuff.
seriously. One of these days someone is going to realize that you could boost your customer base by like 40-50% by adding mkv support to one of these player. I really don't know why it isn't universal already - its not like there're any legal issues - its an open source format.
but for now I think I'll just stick with my really long hdmi cable and wireless keyboard. It works well enough.
im still waiting for a review on the asus oplay. it has builtin network n lots more but not sure how slick the ui is.
MKV support is certainly important, but I really don't get these companies that make space-saving, itty bitty players, just to have to hook up a usb drive of the same size or bigger... it just makes it messy, rather defeating the purpose IMHO.
I just want the built in wifi n with playson and mkv support on these things and i'll be one happy camper. I dont mind having to connect an external usb hdd to it, i just hate having to walk back and forth to get new content. Lastly, keep it under $200, $150 preferably and they can get my money. That's all i'm saying.
mkv is a deal breaker for me too. So is no networking.
but companies don't support it because the only people delivering content in mkv format are internet pirates and video geeks who ripped their whole collections according to some scene standard. But it's not like Amazon or itunes or hulu or netflix is selling or streaming in mkv format. Video recorders don't record to that format as a default.
Honestly. A huge problem would be solved if people uploading video stopped using mkv and maybe used mp4 instead. Because even a 360 will play an mp4 (under a certain size but you get my point). Mkv is just not that popular outside of internet downloads and that's a problem. whether it's open source or free or whatever. me i'm getting the wd though.
Is it possible to install such thing in a car?.
Because, many hidef screen for a car cost over $1000 green.
you probably could with the right power inverter. however, this doesnt come with a screen, so you still have to cough up for one.
I have the WD TV installed in our van. It was custom install. It shouldn't be that difficult for any custom installer. Not an HD screen but it works great.
Looks quite nice: Better design than the WD TV (IMO).
The specs doesn't say anything about this matter, but I would like to get my hands on a player that has good support for subtitles. Does anyone know any?
no networking? no deal.
Oh, that reminds me: I still have a Viewsonic projector somewhere in a box o.O Should use that one again some time.
On Topic: No networking is a dealbreaker but what I'm really interested in is the GUI. Haven't seen any beautiful interfaces on those players so far.
What on earth is a "hundie"? Is there a tax on the amount of letters you can use in an article?,Or are you just to lazy to speak English
Don't bother barking up that tree with Engadget bloggers, I've tried before... they just end up deleting your posts most of the time.
i don't know about them being 'to' lazy, but you were definitely too lazy to check your own post about english...
And if you want to harp on precise language use, he wasn't exactly "speaking" English either, but rather typing it. Anyhow, you can still use slang and write a literate blog post. It's not as though he was translating The Iliad. I think people become grammar bashers when they are compensating for inadequate genitalia.
I love Engadget's spin and writing style, but a "hundie"
How 'bout a dred?
So will the SPDIF give you true surround sound output?
I have a laptop with a USB soundcard that then outputs the audio via SPDIF to a THX 5.1 system at the moment (the video goes to a projector) so I presume that this will just plug straight into the surround sound system?
Asus O!Play is where it's at right now.
How can you say WD TV is the king of media players at the moment?!
Popcorn hour have been doing it for years, and ther is far too many options out there to even say that one is king! The Xtreamer is looking the most promising at the moment, money and capability wise!
popcorn hour is not a mainstream company that's why.
Im using Brite-View Cinematube and it plays everything you throw at it. incl. mkv's http://www.brite-view.com/cinematube.php
Is it just me, but the Cinematube box looks just about like the ViewSonic's VMP70 ? Wish I would would have know about the Cinematube before I bought my WDTV ( although I'm pretty happy with my WDTV ).
Yeah, a home media player with the capability of playing .mkv files would be awesome.
Cool media player though, plus it's cheap.
The Western Digital WD TV Live plays mkv files. That's one of the big reasons that it's considered the 'king'.
I own an Asus O!Play, and I couldn't be more pleased. Picked it up new for $97 w/ a free hdmi cable. After an update from Asus's website, I find it has a responsive ui, great performance, and a superior features to WD/Cinematube/all the other ones I've seen out as of late.
I would argue this, aside from ISO playback wuth full menu support, O-Play doesn't really have much over anything, it pretty much matches all that is out there right now. I got the WDTV live and the hacking community for this device is intense. Not even a week after it came out a hacked firmware was available that allows you do to so much more. What are these superior features you are talking about?
I bought 4 WDTV Lives for my house and all work off the network and plays everything with a good interface.
Also to the person who says the xtreamer is best, yah if you are into complicated interfaces and some fan noice. Definately not for mom or pops to navigate to play the media.
My biggest gripe with these media players is they don't support out of the box external cd/dvd/blu-ray drives.
I know there are firmware hacks to support this but its darn right stubborn of the manufacturer not to support it.
1. Be wary of any product that does NOT show its interface - the most important part of any media player - its doesn't matter what the unit physically looks like. There should be dozens of interface shots if the product is any good at all.
2. Be wary of any product that doesn't support the formats you need/want - no MKV, no AC3, no OGG Video, no ISO DVD, no VideoTS
3. No ethernet port. No wireless.
4. Be wary of products with a half dozen typographical errors on its product pages.
Moral: stay away. There are only three decent media players out there right now. SageTV HD Theater, Popcorn Hour and the WD box. That's in order of versatility/quality. The Sage box is far and away the best solution on the market.
This is clearly a rebranded CinemaTube, but for some reason, it looks like Viewsonic has removed the networking capability.
"This is clearly a rebranded CinemaTube, but for some reason, it looks like Viewsonic has removed the networking capability."
Sorry, I should have included a link to back up my statement: http://www.brite-view.com/cinematube.php
According tho this review, http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Multimedia/ASUS-O-Play.html
"MKV formats played without a hitch."
Of course the Asus O!Play does! It's the logitech that is being discussed here!
less than a hundo
Simple - we just need to collaborate on a MATRIX of features and create a chart to compare these things. Engadget!!? Hop to it. :)
Press Release: http://www.viewsonic.com/company/news/vs_press_release_314949.htm
The VMP70 supports the most complete set of video and audio formats of any media player available including MPEG1/2/4, Divx/Xvid, MKV, H.264, VC-1, WMV9, RM/RMVB, DTS, Dolby Digital, WMA, MP3, FLAC, OGG and MKA to name a few.
Press Release: http://www.viewsonic.com/company/news/vs_press_release_314949.htm
The VMP70 supports the most complete set of video and audio formats of any media player available including MPEG1/2/4, Divx/Xvid, MKV, H.264, VC-1, WMV9, RM/RMVB, DTS, Dolby Digital, WMA, MP3, FLAC, OGG and MKA to name a few.
@Slartibarfast
i must say you should include cinematube in your choice. so far cinematube can do much better than most of the players except for search function. this viewsonic does not sound good as it does not tell anything about DVD menu capability, search function, HD camcorder file compatibility, MKV and many more (cinematube can do it all except for search). PDF datasheet from VS is just terrible.
I'm not sure why anyone would consider a unit like this, when a better unit (in my opinion) with the WD TV Live can be had for a mere $20 more. I bought the WD TV Live from Best Buy for $119 the day it came out and have been very happy. Ethernet jack's ROCK.
Q: What kind of engineering moron designs a digital media player without a network port these days?
A: A soon to be unemployed one.
I have the Asus O!Play and it rocks, I love it. Hooked it up to my network and download all my tv shows and movies in 720p, then browse them with the player.
I bought this one at USD100 in Hong Kong, does everything ViewSonic offers, with an Ethernet port and SMB client to access files off the NAS:
http://www.olevia.com.hk/product_details.php?workplaceID=22&productid=436
this is made by brite-view's parent company, a CinemaTube without networking feature. i'll just get one CinemaTube over this clone ...
the wd tv without network is 90$, and with network is 120$...so unless i'm missing something there really isn't a reason to pay 10$ more for this one.
Sorry, but no. No networking + no HD audio = no deal.
why not get a popcorn hour media tank? they play everything known to man including .mkv and do network streaming as well.