|
Overview
The Mvisto DivX Player works like an
external USB drive, but has additional components to runs embedded
Linux to view media on a TV. The Mvisto Player is not much bigger
than a Notebook hard-drive enclosure. It measures 132x80x17mm. The
test unit I received has a 40GB 2.5" HDD built-in. Enclosed in
a brushed aluminum case the Mvisto makes a solid impression. The
back side has the USB, AV and Digital Audio plugs. The front panel
hides the Power LED and IR receiver for the remote control.
|
|
|
The Mvisto DivX player comes with
video cable, slim remote, USB cable, digital Audio cable and
power adapter. |
Back to why I love this device. It
solves my problem of playing hi-res DivX encoded TV Shows on my TV
in the living room. The DivX videos have a resolution of 512x384 and
30fps. I had a Hauppauge MediaMVP (see
review)
in place for enabling this, but it does not work reliably and it
takes up all CPU power on the streaming computer when watching DivX
videos. As mentioned in the
review
Hauppauge plans to release a DivX onboard encoding solution in the
future. It is just easier and more robust solution for me at this
point to use a player like the Mvisto to playback videos on my TV
than dealing with network issues or CPU power needs.
Now the Mvisto does much more than what I need. One important
feature to highlight that many sure find exciting: The Mvisto can
play ISO files. This means users can copy a full DVD onto the Mvisto
and play it back including all DVD features (menus, subtitles,
etc.). MacPower recommends
dvddecrypter or dvdshrink
software to copy DVDs to the Mvisto drive (of course keep in line
with copyright regulations).
Mvisto supports also the DivX VOD (Video
on Demand) format. More details on VOD at
DivX.com.
|
 |
|
Copy media files onto the external
drive. Watch media on TV or Computer monitors. |
Usage
The Mvisto connects via USB 2.0 as external
storage. USB is also the power supply for the drive. Only when using
the drive without a computer it needs the power adapter that plugs
into the mini-USB plug. Audio, video and photos are organized in
different folders. The folder structure can be freely changed and
the folders also appear in the on-screen menu on the TV. The Mvisto
player can be connected in many ways to TVs, monitors and audio
systems. I connected mine via Composite to my TV. The On-screen menu
looks nice with the black and yellow design. No manual needed here.
The remote control and the on-screen menu are straight forward. See
more TV screen-shots in the
gallery.
The playback quality is great and I did not hit any snag there. It
supports both PAL and NTSC, which does not make a difference for me
as my TV supports both. In the settings screen the output formats
can be chosen, including HDTV with 1080i. Playing music or viewing
photos is also easy. The Audio player supports OGG, WMA and MP3 (see
specifications below). Photos need to be jpeg format (up to 8MB).
|
 |
|
SPDIF Audio plag, AV and USB. |
|
|
Pvisto Quick Look
MacPower also sent us another product called
Pvisto that is a card-reader with TV-Out to view photos on a TV.
This device also comes with a small remote control and can view JPEG
and Avi files on a TV. It accepts CF, Microdrive, SM, MS, MS-Pro, SD
and MMC cards.
|
|
|
Pvisto Card Reader with TV-Out for
Photo Viewing on TVs. |
Conclusion
The Mvisto Pocket Media Player is an
impressive gadget supporting a wide range of formats and standards.
It's high resolution support (HDTV: 480p, 720p and 1080i), Dolby
Digital 5.1 and digital audio-out makes it also at home in high-end
home theaters. The small size on the other limits the storage-size
to what
2.5" hard-drives can support these days (<120GB). Larger media
players like the TVIX
can offer more storage but are by far not as portable.
How to Buy
MacPower is selling the
Mvisto through distributors.
Contact MacPower
to find out the nearest distributor for you.
The MSRP is 250 Euros (~$325) with a 40GB hard-drive.
More Photos
Hi-Res Photos in the
Mvisto Pocket DivX Player Gallery
Specification of Mvisto DivX Pocket Player
|
Model No. |
MV-U2UGS |
|
Color |
Silver
(other colors available on request) |
|
Case Material |
Brushed Aluminum |
|
Application |
Any 2.5" Parallel ATA Hard Drive
(Notebook size HDD up to 9.5mm) |
|
Playback Media Formats |
- Video:
MPEG-1 (AVI, MPG)
MPEG-2 (AVI, VOB), ISO *
MPEG-4 (AVI, DivX, DivX VOD, XviD) ***
- DivX Subtitle:
SUB, SRT, Embedded Multiple Subtitle support
- Audio:
WAV, MP3, MPEG-4 (AAC) ****, WMA,
AC3, OGG Vorbis
- Photo:
JPG baseline and progressive up to 8 mega pixel
|
|
Supported Filesystem |
|
|
Operating System |
Embedded Linux (v2.4 ucLinux) |
|
Bus Interface |
USB 2.0 High Speed (USB1.1 backwards
compatible) |
|
Output Interfaces |
- Video: NTSC/PAL Composite
Video, S-Video, Analog YPbPr Video, SCART RGB, VGA, HDTV
(480p, 720p, 1080i)
- Audio: Dual Stereo Analog
Audio supporting compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS pass
through
|
|
System Requirements |
- Windows 98SE, Win2000, WinME,
WinXP
- Mac OS 9.2 or higher
- Your hardware device must have
proper port or PCI card
|
|
Power Supply |
- External Power Adapter
universal auto-switching (UL, cUL)
Input: AC 100-240V, 0.4A, 50-60Hz
Output: DC +5V/2A
- USB Bus Power
|
|
Enclosure Size |
13.2cm x 8.0cm x 1.7cm |
|
Packing Contents
Optional Accessories
(click here) |
- Mvisto (no HDD included)
- USB 2.0 cable, AV cable, SPDIF
Coaxial Cable
- Infrared Remote Control
- Power Adapter
- Manual, screw package, driver
CD
- **
|
|
Carton/Packing |
- Retail Box Size: 28.5cm x
19.5cm x 7.2cm
- Carton Size: 60.0cm x 41.0cm x
38.5cm within 20pcs retail box
- G.W. 19.5kg
|
| Remark |
* ISO = One image file backup of
the complete DVD. 'Mvisto' will play the ISO file exactly the
same as if it was running from the original DVD!
**
Additional accessories available on request
*** Official DivX Certified™
product. Plays DivX® 5, DivX® 4, DivX® 3 and DivX® VOD video
content (in compliance with DivX Cerfitied™ technical
requirements)
**** AAC stands for "Adaptive
Audio Coding" and does not support AAC files created by
iTunes! |
|