Pixel Magic HD MediaBox

Giddy

Giddy

Giddy

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Anyone got one or seen one in action? I'm thinking of getting one instead of a fully blown HTPC, but would like to hear a few reviews from owners. I'm particularly interested in how noisy it is under load and whether the user interface is much cop? It will be used for video streaming only so not worried about the audiophile version.
 
I got one of those recently, the MB100.

It's absolutely fantastic. It has a few bugs (see Pixel Magic Forum) but nothing I've found to be too serious. They seem to update the firmware regularly so that's good.

I, like you, was also thinking about putting together a HTPC but couldn't be bothered with all the hassle and configuration. Not to mention that the MediaBox uses considerably less power.

It has every connection you could possibly want. I have it connected to my plasma with HDMI at 720p and the picture quality is great, especially WMVHD stuff but unfortunately there isn't much content in that format around. SD stuff is upscaled pretty well also.

As for noise, the unit itself is silent as there are no fans. However I have installed a 500gb disk into it that produces a slight hum but not noticeable when playing stuff. I have ripped all my DVDs directly onto the hard drive without any compression (ISOs and VOBs) and they play perfectly.

I don't do any streaming so can't advise on that. The downside to this unit is that it won't play any h.264 stuff and the price is a bit steep.

I find the user interface simple and intuitive (download the manual as it has some colour screenshots). Oh, and the remote is also better than usual, it has a backlight.
 
Thanks, the noise was one of my major concerns and its good to know the vendors are providing regular updates.

Just been doing a bit of research and it appears you can't write to the HDD via the LAN connection, has this been resolved with now with recent firmware updates?

Lack of support for h.264 does concern me, but from what I've seen this is currently the best unit available. I guess I'm just looking for an intermediate solution whilst the HD-DVD/Blue-ray situation calms down, and this also provides a simple way to watch downloaded content without burning DVDs.

Any idea if this is stocked by any of the high-street stores, Sevenoaks maybe?
 
Giddy said:
Just been doing a bit of research and it appears you can't write to the HDD via the LAN connection, has this been resolved with now with recent firmware updates?

Any idea if this is stocked by any of the high-street stores, Sevenoaks maybe?
Click to expand...

A beta firmware was released yesterday that adds the ability to transfer files to the hard disk with the LAN connection using FTP. I haven't upgraded myself, but from their forum it seems to work well albeit very slowly. Firmware also adds internet radio.

I'm not sure who else stocks it, I bought it from *** [sorry, may be a competitor].
 
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Cheers... I've just ordered one for 289 now I know I can write to it from the network. It would become bit of a pain having to copy everything from PC to a portable HDD and then onto the unit itself.
 
Giddy said:
Cheers... I've just ordered one for 289 now I know I can write to it from the network. It would become bit of a pain having to copy everything from PC to a portable HDD and then onto the unit itself.
Click to expand...

It has a type A and type B USB 2.0 ports, so you could connect it to PC/MAC directly and transfer files that way assuming you fit a hard disk into the MediaBox. Currently that would be considerably faster than the LAN option.
 
My AV kit is no where near my PC so connecting the unit up directly will be a ball ache. I'll see how I get on with ftp initially and if I find it too slow I'll just use a portable HDD or laptop.

Thanks for the info... I'm off to read the pixelmagic forums :)
 
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