Mediagate Mg350 Or Tvix M-5000u

[dbb]

I really need to get some sort of media streamer ... and I don't really want to wait any longer.

So, sorry if this has been covered before, but :

Is the extra price premium of the TViX M-5000U worth paying over the MediaGate MG-350?

I'm not too worried about file compatability, since those issues can be fixed with firmware updates (I assume).

But, in terms of quality of output / ability to play large files / ability to play VOBS without juddering or freezing / quality of unit / connectivity etc. is it worth paying the extra for the M-5000 unit?

[null_pointer]

I am not sure if you will find someone with both devices that can give you a direct comparison but I have the MG-350HD and I think it is very good, check the following thread for how I am using it and what I have found:

http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.php?showtopic=6844

Overall the MG-350HD is a little slow to navigate but I love its output quality playing back my TS-Mux captures from WebScheduler, I can now no longer tell the difference between the Set top box DVD player or the MG-350HD when watching live or recorded stuff. I was using a VIA M-10000 EPIA board and it had a slightly fizzy output. The MG-350HD via the s-video output is very clear and crisp.

[whoisit1998]

Ok, I am just about to buy the mediagate 350HD, but the most important thing I want to know, is altech states that it is a DMA (Digital Media Adapter) and that you could configure it to for instance stream Internet tv straight to the pc, eg maybe bigpondtv, reeltime, etc etc...

My question is, has anyone ever used it this way, and how is it done? Because there seem to be IPTV media gateways out there, that would do the trick.. and you could just add a usb h/d to them to have it act like the MG350HD

Thanks

[timjbray]

Is the extra price premium of the TViX M-5000U worth paying over the MediaGate MG-350?

<snip>

But, in terms of quality of output / ability to play large files / ability to play VOBS without juddering or freezing / quality of unit / connectivity etc. is it worth paying the extra for the M-5000 unit?

I have both devices, and whilst the m-5000 is probably more polished (better remote, display, nicer menus, better build quality etc), functionally they are very similar and perform well - video quality is very good either via DVI or component.

Both have little bugs show up from time to time - eg. m-5000 stopped paying ISO files last night & i've had a similar issue on download tv shows from the MG-350 - after a quick reboot, both player were back in action.

So, from an actual 'playing video' standpoint i don't believe the premium is worth it, but if you have the extra cash - you can see where it's going....

[dbb]

Thanks, I went and bought the m-5000 anyway, with a 400 GB Samsung IDE hard drive.

Hopefully it arrives in the next few days ...

[dogsrus]

Ok, I am just about to buy the mediagate 350HD, but the most important thing I want to know, is altech states that it is a DMA (Digital Media Adapter) and that you could configure it to for instance stream Internet tv straight to the pc, eg maybe bigpondtv, reeltime, etc etc...

My question is, has anyone ever used it this way, and how is it done? Because there seem to be IPTV media gateways out there, that would do the trick.. and you could just add a usb h/d to them to have it act like the MG350HD

Thanks

Any examples of IPTV gateways available in Oz???

[dbb]

My M-5000A arrived yesterday. Along with a 400 GB Samsung IDE drive I found for a good price at the same website that shipped the media jukebox.

A lot smaller than I thought it would be. I knew the dimensions, I just wasn't ready for the size of it when it came out the box. It is a nice solid little unit, seems well constructed, and has a great remote control design.

Hard drive was a piece of cake to insert into the unit. When I connected it via USB to my laptop, I was able to format the hard drive to NTFS no problems.

Then I went to upgrade the firmware -> their download site was down all day yesterday. It's up today, and the firmware is currently updating on the unit.

Problem # 1 : Without the firmware upgrade, I couldn't FTP my media to the jukebox, so I was stuck with copying via USB 2.0. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but all my media is on external hard drives that also use USB 2.0. That also wouldn't be a problem as I have enough ports on my laptop.

But - when the M-5000A was plugged in via USB, no other media device would work. The file systems would unmount and the device would become "not recognised". Rebooting and other stuffing around didn't fix it.

I didn't want to copy files from the external drives to my laptop then onto the media player, as that just seemed too hard and I did have a day job to do.

So I pulled the hard drive out of the media player and placed it into a hard drive enclosure. I could now see all my external hard drives when plugged in. So I copied the files across, and when finished, I moved the hard drive back into the media player.

Problem # 2 - the remote control uses the same spectrum as my Topfield PVR!!! I'd be doing things on the media player, and the Topfield is also doing things ... I still need to work out what to do about it.

Otherwise : it is great. It has played everything I have thrown at it - anime, vobs, oggs, mp3s, ripped tv commercials, xvids, divxs, wmv files etc ... Video quality is superb @ 1080i on my Sony X series LCD (HDMI connection). Audio Quality on the mp3s and oggs is also really good.

It can forward through my videos smoothly, pause, rewind and screen capture. I can set wallpaper for each individual folder.

I'm currently very happy with the purchase.

edit : firmware update complete. All my saved settings were reset and I had to save them again.

1080p is now an option, but I can't use it, as the X series shows the image, with these strange

yellow horizontal static lines that litter the screen. The 1080i image is still crystal clear.

[divinewrite]

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if you someone could give me a little guidance on the MG-350. I've been considering getting the Mvix MV5000U, but I've just found out that its playlists are folder specific (i.e. playlists can only include files from within the folder that the playlists file itself lives in).

I spoke to the Australian distributor of the MG-350, and he said that playlists are created in the unit (rather than in something like WinAmp as for the MV5000U), and that the songs within a playlist can come from any folder in the system. Can anyone confirm this?

And how hard is it to create and edit playlists?

Also, can you skip back and forward between songs in a playlist once it's actually playing?

And are there any other really big problems that I should know about?

Thanks greatly in advance!

Cheers.

[dbb]

As far as playing media on the M5000u goes, the device will play the songs/videos in the folder only.

If you copy 20 albums to the audio folder, and keep them in separate subdirectories, then it will play a selected album then stop.

If you want to create a party mix to last a few hours, then create a playlist (with the device hooked up to your computer) by simply creating a new folder and dumping 4 or 5 hours worth of your desired songs in that folder.

It isn't as flexible as something like iTunes, but you can overcome the limitations by a bit of planning.

edit : and you can skip back and forwards between songs whilst playing, or move up and back folders, or select individual songs.

I'm still massively happy with the unit. I amazed at the quality of a 800 MB divx encode of a movie, when played through this unit at 1080i onto my Bravia X series.

[divinewrite]

Thanks dbb. That's what I thought about the MV5000U. Appreciate your feedback.

Can anyone supply this sort of info on the Mediagate MG-350? And further to that, I'm also considering the Sarotech DVP-570HD and the Noontec MP35. Unfortunately, despite much searching, I can't find any info on whether they support playlists that refer to files in multiple folders. The Sarotech DVP-570HD claims to support M3U playlists, but so does the Mvix MV5000U, and it only supports them in the same folder. So I wonder if the Sarotech really supports them at all.

Cheers.

Edited February 10, 2007 by divinewrite

[divinewrite]

Can anyone supply this sort of info on the Mediagate MG-350?

For anyone who's interested, I've since re-contacted the Australian distributor of this product, and have learnt that it doesn't support multiple playlists. Apparently only supports one permanent playlist. Not quite sure of the ins and outs, but there's enough doubt for me to pass on it.

Still investigating the Sarotech DVP-570HD and a couple of cheaper units (which I don't hold out much hope for). Also investigating a streaming unit which looks like it'll probably be the ultimate solution.

Will post my findings when I have them.

Cheers.

[whiteknightoz]

I heard that the ViX M-5010 will be out in about 5 weeks, this one apparently comes standard with built in HDTV tuner and can play internet streamed radio via the LAN connection. Thats the one i am waiting for although I am not sure on prices yet.

What sort of prices are people getting there M-5000 for and where from?

[Ted1503559509]

there is a new version of firmware out for the Sarotech 570HD. 1.12.

Be careful! I can no longer run some TS and AVI files!! Also, the lack of sound on some files still exists.

Now on a 'lockup' you need to turn the unit off rather than press STOP.

Follow the manual rather than the instuctions on the web page for installing.

http://www.sarotech.com/english/cgi/main.cgi?cmd=030100

It claims to do 66 bug fixes.

There is also a program to download that checks if your files will run and will also convert them.

Now I want to go back 1.05.

[divinewrite]

For anyone who's interested, I've since re-contacted the Australian distributor of this product, and have learnt that it doesn't support multiple playlists. Apparently only supports one permanent playlist. Not quite sure of the ins and outs, but there's enough doubt for me to pass on it.

Again for anyone who's interested, I ended up buying an Australian product, the Zensonic Z500 DVD player & media streamer. Obviously, it's a little different to the Mediagate product in that it's designed to stream, but it's supposed to properly support m3u playlists, and that was the sticking point with most of the other devices I researched. For the record, I looked in a far amount of detail (called manufacturers & distributors where possible, and did a lot of forum and site surfing) at the following, and none of them supported multiple, permanent m3u playlists referencing files in multiple folders:

- DGM USB2 Movie World HDC-DX3536

- tvix-m3000u

- Snazio SZ1310

- modded xbox

- Mediagate MG-25

- Mediagate MG-35

- Mediagate MG-350HD

- Neuston Virtuoso - Obsolete (they have a new product coming out in a month or so that is supposed to support playlists)

- Noontec GigaView MP35 HDD Media Player WEST AUS

- Mvix MV5000U

- Sarotech DVP-570HD

- D-link DSM-320RD (Promo material doesn't say anything about playlists. I didn't actually call the manufacturers and distributors nor surf forums on this one.)

Some notes on the Zensonic's handling of playlists:

- Zensonic support tell me that playlists must be contained in the root music folder

- Zensonic support tell me that it plays them in the order that it displays them (which may be different to your intended order)

- Another user reports that the Zensonic order is a little bodgy (e.g. it displays track 11 immediately following track 1)

Bear in mind that I'm no expert on all this stuff, but to the best of my knowledge, the above is correct.

Now I'm awaiting delivery, then I have to try the Zensonic out to see if it lives up to its promise. As with all of these devices, it has its critics. Guess I'll just have to wait 'n see. So far, though, my experience with them has been good. I'm in Australia and the product is built and supported in Australia. It's the first product of all those that I researched that has had excellent phone sales and tech support (I got to speak at length with tech support even though I didn't yet own one).

Cheers.

Edited February 12, 2007 by divinewrite

[Lindsay1503559500]

Divinewrite,

Best of luck with your new/old Z500! Old because there seems to be a runout on the Dodgy OLD Z500 in prep for the new model expected in April.

I hope you are aware of the http://www.ziova.com/forum/ and have been visiting there often.

If you haven't been, I'm sure you will most certainly become a regular there. Be prepared for lots of frustration and abuse from the forum regulars there. They don't seem to tolerate newbys who are experiencing issues with their new toys. And don't dare speak out in frustration with the z500. Any dissent will get you banned!

[divinewrite]

Thanks Lindsay. Yeah, I'm not expecting it to be a walk in the park. But then again, they all appear to have their issues. I haven't researched any that had 100% or even more than 50% favourable feedback. Over and above that, it's really the only one that does what I need it to. Fortunately, I won't be doing too much with video, so hopefully that'll mean I avoid most of the issues... Fingers crossed anyway.

And thanks also for the headsup on the forum. I have visited it, and I'm sure I'll make use of it.

Cheers.

[Lindsay1503559500]

Thanks Lindsay. Yeah, I'm not expecting it to be a walk in the park. But then again, they all appear to have their issues. I haven't researched any that had 100% or even more than 50% favourable feedback. Over and above that, it's really the only one that does what I need it to. Fortunately, I won't be doing too much with video, so hopefully that'll mean I avoid most of the issues... Fingers crossed anyway.

And thanks also for the headsup on the forum. I have visited it, and I'm sure I'll make use of it.

Cheers.

Hi again.

Just wondering how you are enjoying your new Z500. Actually I suspect you are having issues if this is any indication.

Note: I am only posting this to highlight the demonstrated shonkiness of this product. I have followed the product since the time it was first promised by Zensonic. On paper it sounds fantastic. In reality it is pure s***.

[divinewrite]

Hi again.

Just wondering how you are enjoying your new Z500. Actually I suspect you are having issues if this is any indication.

Note: I am only posting this to highlight the demonstrated shonkiness of this product. I have followed the product since the time it was first promised by Zensonic. On paper it sounds fantastic. In reality it is pure s***.

Hi Lindsay,

Overall, I loved the unit... until it stopped working. My only complaints with the working unit were that it was quite slow to navigate through the unit's menus (especially exiting back to the main menu), and it takes a full minute to power up. But I s'pose those are compromises you make when you don't invest in a $1500-$2000 media center PC!

Assuming all goes well with the repair and the unit doesn't fall over again any time soon, I'd still recommend it to anyone with similar needs to me.

Also, I would have preferred a replacement unit (rather than having mine repaired), but that was mostly because I didn't want to do without it for too long. Zensonic are pulling out all stops to get it repaired and back to me ASAP. I'll keep you updated...

Cheers.

[Lindsay1503559500]

Also, I would have preferred a replacement unit (rather than having mine repaired), but that was mostly because I didn't want to do without it for too long. Zensonic are pulling out all stops to get it repaired and back to me ASAP. I'll keep you updated...

Cheers.

Considering the number of users who have had very similar issues as you - I have lost count - I can only assume that their "Quality Control" is non existant, or the componentry is sweatshop quality.

The reliance on users to test the equipment on delivery, only to have it returned for repair, seems to me to be an amazing business practice. I would love to see the statistics.

By all means, keep us posted on your continuing experiences.

[Neon Kitten]

Overall, I loved the unit... until it stopped working. My only complaints with the working unit were that it was quite slow to navigate through the unit's menus (especially exiting back to the main menu), and it takes a full minute to power up. But I s'pose those are compromises you make when you don't invest in a $1500-$2000 media center PC!

I can't see any reason why the firmware and operating software in these devices can't be super-responsive, yet all I seem to read is reports of tediously slow menu response, slow file loading, slow power-up etc etc.

As a comparison, the various Digenius-based PVRs power up in about one second, and every key press on the remote is responded to *instantly* - absolutely zero lag or delay. That's how it should be, and until one of these media player manufacturers can get their act together enough to produce a unit that's actually responsive, I'll have to continue using the burn-the-xvid-file-to-disc method...

[divinewrite]

I can't see any reason why the firmware and operating software in these devices can't be super-responsive, yet all I seem to read is reports of tediously slow menu response, slow file loading, slow power-up etc etc.

Yeah, it'd be nice if it was faster, but for me, it's not really an issue. I like to have music playing in the background, and this is the best way to do it without repeating CDs or inserting new ones (it's a lot faster than doing that!).

For slide show, I don't really care if there's a bit of a pause between photos.

Startup's not a huge issue either, 'cos I don't do it that often. Once it's on, it tends to stay on. I've set up all the activities in my Harmony remote to have "Z500 is on" as part of their programming, so if I switch from Mp3 or slideshow to TV or video (yep, I still use video as some of my son's favourites are on vhs), the Z500 stays on. This means when I switch back, it's on and waiting for me.

Probably the biggest inconvenience for my particular needs is the long delay when you switch back to the root menu. My Harmony remote runs a lot of macros, and they all expect a common starting point (i.e. the root menu). So whenever I want to switch between, say, slideshow and mp3s, I have to wait 10 secs just to get back to the main menu, then another 5-10 or so to display the relevant folder on my PC.

[Capn Stoobie]

Slightly off topic, but...

If I store all my media on a MG-350 (on it's internal hard drive), can I then also view those files from my PC? or can I only view them through the Mediagate? For instance, if I want to view a particular file on my PC, not on my TV that has the Mediagate connected to it?

I guess what I'm asking is, once set-up, does the Mediagate act as a network attached storage device?

[GraveDilute]

Slightly off topic, but...

If I store all my media on a MG-350 (on it's internal hard drive), can I then also view those files from my PC? or can I only view them through the Mediagate? For instance, if I want to view a particular file on my PC, not on my TV that has the Mediagate connected to it?

I guess what I'm asking is, once set-up, does the Mediagate act as a network attached storage device?

Yes, although you will have issues with trying to stream an iso file or dvd grade material. May work with a sired connection.

Mediagate is an NDAS device.

[Neon Kitten]

One thing the Mediagate needs is a manual written in real English; some examples from the MG-350HD manual:

It shall not be compatible with any external USB device. There are so many external USB devices, and specific products should not be compatible. We does not guarantee all kind of external USB devices.

Firmware upgrade file is not concerned wherever the location is at external USB device, network connection PC. It is possible to upgrade if you can access the upgrade file.

MediaGate may have the possibility of radio waves cross, so not recommend to use the service related to human safety.

About the only thing missing is the standard bad-manual reference to "the dark place"!

[GraveDilute]

Yeah I agree it could be written better.

Then again, the customer who is buying this doesn't really need the manual.

Most of it is self explanatory.