Mediagate 350HD hard drive video player - my unprofessional first impressions.
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/review.aspx?CIaRID=3142
I've had this hard-drive enclosure/media player for a couple of days now, and here is a brief report. Since I use wmv-9 almost exclusively for final output, I'll confine my observations to this format. Other HD formats mpeg-1, mpeg-2, and Divx are untested by me.
I'm using 720p so far. It will support 1080p output, but since my monitor cannot do 1080p, I couldn't test that.
The Mediagate generated wmv-9 picture has nice deep blacks and rich colors on my Olevia LCD tv. I sat in my sofa and marvelled at the HVX-200 footage that was only watchable previously on my audibly noisy computer and monitor configuration.
The unit is nice and quiet (depending on the drive you put in.... my Maxtor 7200 rpm drives make a squealing noise. I chose the Maxtor 5500 rpm drive Which was quiet, and the lower speed didn't seem to hurt playback).
Hardware decoding on the Mediagate 350HD provides smooth buttery playback. In comparison, wmv-9 footage played on my Amd Athlon 3000+ desktop and raided 7200rpm drives look jerky (yes, I do defrag my drives constantly). Moving cars, in particular, tend to "studder" on my Athlon.... all this time I've mistakenly attributed this to the "24p" look.... but no more.
Pro's:
Beautiful wmv-9 picture.
DVI connection allows for connecting to smaller and cheaper computer lcd monitors.
Very light weight unit and small.
You can transfer finished footage from your computer (using computer) to the mediagate unit wirelessly. Or you could play files that reside on your computer... or theoretically, from your neighbor's computer, if his wireless network is unsecured.
You can kinda adjust the black level on output. In comparison, the black coming from my regular DVD players all look greyish on my Olevia LCD monitor.
The number of files that can be played is limited by the size of the drive you put in. I've considered purchasing a DVD player with wmv-9 capabilities, but wasn't crazy about swapping DVD's (I'm lazy).
Con's:
Unit is light plastic... feels fragile. Squeaky plastic.
There is a tendancy for the player to lock up if it tries to read a video file with a compression it doesn't recognize. Then it subsequently refuses to read any other files, even the ones it had read previously. Requires a reboot.
I occasionally see some "sprinklies" of white dots (pixel size) that randomly pop up in the shadow areas. They remind me of emulsion dropouts you'd see on some film projections. It doesn't really bother me... makes the experience more "film-like". It is more apparent on a larger screen like the Olevia 27" LCD than on my regular 19" LG computer monitor. I'm not sure if the "sprinklies" are artifacts generated by the decompression hardware, or anomolies caused by my rather long (10 ft) DVI cable. I've yet to download the latest bios upgrade, which may have already solved this problem.
At $289.00 Canadian I find it a bit pricey for a drive enclosure with media capabilities.
While the Mediagate is capable of host mode for USB peripherals, it doesn't seem to be able to copy or delete files. There is no One Touch Backup capability which would be of use to HVX-200 users.
No card reader.
No firewire.
Conclusion:
Overall, I like the mediagate 350HD well enough to want to keep it. My ideal mobile theater: Media 350 HD player, 19" lcd monitor and a Xantrex powerpack/inverter.
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/review.aspx?CIaRID=3142
I've had this hard-drive enclosure/media player for a couple of days now, and here is a brief report. Since I use wmv-9 almost exclusively for final output, I'll confine my observations to this format. Other HD formats mpeg-1, mpeg-2, and Divx are untested by me.
I'm using 720p so far. It will support 1080p output, but since my monitor cannot do 1080p, I couldn't test that.
The Mediagate generated wmv-9 picture has nice deep blacks and rich colors on my Olevia LCD tv. I sat in my sofa and marvelled at the HVX-200 footage that was only watchable previously on my audibly noisy computer and monitor configuration.
The unit is nice and quiet (depending on the drive you put in.... my Maxtor 7200 rpm drives make a squealing noise. I chose the Maxtor 5500 rpm drive Which was quiet, and the lower speed didn't seem to hurt playback).
Hardware decoding on the Mediagate 350HD provides smooth buttery playback. In comparison, wmv-9 footage played on my Amd Athlon 3000+ desktop and raided 7200rpm drives look jerky (yes, I do defrag my drives constantly). Moving cars, in particular, tend to "studder" on my Athlon.... all this time I've mistakenly attributed this to the "24p" look.... but no more.
Pro's:
Beautiful wmv-9 picture.
DVI connection allows for connecting to smaller and cheaper computer lcd monitors.
Very light weight unit and small.
You can transfer finished footage from your computer (using computer) to the mediagate unit wirelessly. Or you could play files that reside on your computer... or theoretically, from your neighbor's computer, if his wireless network is unsecured.
You can kinda adjust the black level on output. In comparison, the black coming from my regular DVD players all look greyish on my Olevia LCD monitor.
The number of files that can be played is limited by the size of the drive you put in. I've considered purchasing a DVD player with wmv-9 capabilities, but wasn't crazy about swapping DVD's (I'm lazy).
Con's:
Unit is light plastic... feels fragile. Squeaky plastic.
There is a tendancy for the player to lock up if it tries to read a video file with a compression it doesn't recognize. Then it subsequently refuses to read any other files, even the ones it had read previously. Requires a reboot.
I occasionally see some "sprinklies" of white dots (pixel size) that randomly pop up in the shadow areas. They remind me of emulsion dropouts you'd see on some film projections. It doesn't really bother me... makes the experience more "film-like". It is more apparent on a larger screen like the Olevia 27" LCD than on my regular 19" LG computer monitor. I'm not sure if the "sprinklies" are artifacts generated by the decompression hardware, or anomolies caused by my rather long (10 ft) DVI cable. I've yet to download the latest bios upgrade, which may have already solved this problem.
At $289.00 Canadian I find it a bit pricey for a drive enclosure with media capabilities.
While the Mediagate is capable of host mode for USB peripherals, it doesn't seem to be able to copy or delete files. There is no One Touch Backup capability which would be of use to HVX-200 users.
No card reader.
No firewire.
Conclusion:
Overall, I like the mediagate 350HD well enough to want to keep it. My ideal mobile theater: Media 350 HD player, 19" lcd monitor and a Xantrex powerpack/inverter.