MvixUSA Launches Ultra Portable HDD-based Hi-Def Media Player

Mvix (USA), Inc., a leader in HDD-based, portable media playback solutions, announces the launch of yet another hi-def media decoder now in ultra small size. The new Mvix MV-2500U supports the small 2.5-inchhard drive, but boasts of most of the key features of its predecessors like MX-780HD or MX-760. It can support HDDs as large as250GB hard disk, enough to carry 100 DVD quality movie titles.

Fairfax, VA (PRWEB) May 1, 2008 — Mvix (USA), Inc., a leader in HDD-based, portable media playback solutions, announces the launch of yet another hi-def media decoder now in ultra small size. The new Mvix MV-2500U supports the small 2.5-inch hard drive, but boasts of most of the key features of its predecessors like MX-780HD or MX-760. It can support HDDs as large as250GB hard disk, enough to carry 100 DVD- quality movie titles.

Introducing this next generation portable gadget in MvixUSA's corporate office in Fairfax, VA, Mike Mallon, the Business Development Manager of MvixUSA commented, "MvixMV-2500U is the perfect companion for the people on the move. People, who enjoy traveling on RVs or boats, can virtually carry their entire home theater collection in this tiny marvel, and enjoy the same hi-def video quality. What differentiates our product from other portable video devices are the quality of video output and versatility in terms of video and audio formats support."

Extremely competitively priced, this black beauty fits everyone's pocket, both in terms of size and dollars
MV-2500U comes in a stunning black look and just measures under 5x3x0.5 inches in dimension, almost the size of a PDA. "Extremely competitively priced, this black beauty fits everyone's pocket, both in terms of size and dollars," commented Mike.

Mvix MV-2500U uses a 2.5" PATA / IDE HDD and supports large-sized hard drives (250GB). When connected to the PC, it works just like an external USB 2.0 hard drive. It comes with a highly functional and ergonomically-designed IR remote control. It is capable of storing and decoding hours of standard or high definition digital video (480p, 720p, 1080i) in over a dozen file formats. Video file formats supported include files encoded in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, DVD (VOB, IFO), DivX ® (3/4/5/6), Xvid, BivX ®, VCD (DAT) for both PAL and NTSC systems.

The news of Mvix MV-2500U comes within three months of launch of MvixUSA's flagship model MX-780HD (introduced during CES in January). MvixUSA foresees a very positive response for MV-2500U from the market, particularly in mobile entertainment segment. "MV-2500U is our exclusive product for the mobile community, who wants to maintain the quality of their digital lifestyle, even when they are on the move. We continue to innovate in products and features, catering to different markets and supporting our customers with our unmatched technical support platform," Mike added.

The two ships, the MV Hounslow and MT Ann, were rounded up back in February by the UAE police and coastguard after Reliance Globalcom, the parent company of Flag Telecoms, whose snapped cables they were, provided satellite pictures of shipping in the area of the cables at the time they were severed.

The Korean ship was allowed to go over the weekend, having paid a rather large fine (thought to be around $60,000) to Flag Telecom, whose customers suffered two weeks of disruption to their internet services. Meanwhile, two crew members of the Iraqi boat have been arrested, and their boat looks nowhere closer to being released. [The Economic Times via National Terror Alert—thanks Mike Wahlman]

See, one of the reasons I liked Windows Home Server so much is that after dealing with many NAS products from the storage companies and networking hardware makers, the MediaSmart server was easier to setup and had a lot of useful apps ready to go at the start. Maybe you like a clean drive, an empty warehouse on your network, but it's nice when some of the initiative is taken for you.

That's why I was relieved (though a bit startled) that the 500GB Media Vault—again half the price of the 500GB MediaSmart Server—was ready to do so much right out of the box.

I plugged it in, ran the Windows-only set up, and was immediately able to back stuff up, either using the super-simple screen for music, movies, etc., or the more comprehensive tool, where you can tell it what you want to back up and when you want it done.I did it on both Vista and XP machines, and was happy to be able to check out my contents afterwards on the PCs and even on my Mac. (WHS only lets you see your backups via a tedious drive emulator, one that obviously doesn't run on Macs.)Even though the $299 version comes with just one fixed 500GB drive, it also has a bay so you can add another 3.5" SATA drive. I powered down the unit, dropped in a 500GB on that I had lying around, and fired it up again. The LED went purple to show that it saw the drive but needed a format. I went to the Media Vault control center, picked the drive, formatted it (as a RAID 1 mirror of the first drive) and voila, in minutes, we were set and, on the unit itself, Drive 2's LED had turned blue.I haven't done any HD video streaming or anything like that yet, but with a gigabit ethernet connection, I don't think I'll have a problem. In fact, though HP says that the Media Vault can't do multiple simultaneous video streams like the WHS, I can't really figure out what I, personally, would miss if I kissed the WHS goodbye and stuck with the Media Vault. (Update: Contrary to original comments, HP now says you can do multiple video streams, so one less advantage for WHS.) Here's how the comparison plays out:

What's not as good as MediaSmart Windows Home Server:
• Won't do multiple streams of video like WHS
• Only two drive bays (a fixed and a spare) instead of four
• Lets you backup multiple PCs, but only one at at time from the PC itself, not through a WHS-style master control

What's the same as MediaSmart Windows Home Server:
• iTunes music aggregation
&bull Photo webshare
• Remote access and web-based file browsing (1-year free)
• Connect via Mac for basic use as a shared drive

What's better than MediaSmart Windows Home Server:
• Web-based remote controls work great on Macs
• Quieter, with less drive noise on a regular basis
• Easy to back-up the server itself to a USB drive
• Easier to access Windows backups, especially from a Mac
• Probably does not share the same data corruption bug as WHS

In the end, this product isn't just another NAS, but a bold statement that HP is making, that it doesn't have to be saddled by the rough riders of Redmond when it can build (license?) its own practically identical box at a lower cost. Now I know that there are some things that you can only do with a PC-like server running a full OS, but honestly, what are they? I mean, do most people, even die-hard server-needers, give a crap? I want to know from you folks: Why bother with Windows Home Server when the Linux-based alternatives are on the surface equally friendly, equally powerful and—oh yeah—half the cost? [HP]

First it's taking Korea, then we hope it will hit our shores—and soon. Samsung's latest HD media center, the MV65, is a rather gorgeous-looking beast. Bright white, it boasts an integrated, hybrid analog/HDTV tuner with EPG and HD PVR functions. There's an electronic program guide, 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a 512MB GeForce 7650 GS video card. Add to that a wireless keyboard and mouse and remote control, it looks pretty snazzerama. $1,505 are the magic numbers. – Ad Dugdale

Samsung MV65 HD Media Center PC is stylish [New Launches]

Well whatever this nonsense is, you can now watch it in semi-HD with this upscaling combination VHS/DVD-recorder from JVC. It will upscale VHS to 1080i that will likely look mediocre at best, especially if home movies are being watched. Also, if you feel so intrigued, the player can record your crappy VHS recordings of The Golden Girls onto DVD. But, easily the coolest aspect of this $270 player is the fact that you can now tell people that you watched your Jurrasic Park VHS through HDMI. – Travis Hudson

VCR lets you upscale VHS to HD; no one cares [SCI FI]

The MV55 has a 3.2GHz Pentium D940, a GeForce 7600GT and a bunch of nifty card-reader and USB ports in the front. The most notable item is, of course, the Blu-ray burning capabilities. So instead of imagining a new world of detail, we'll be imagining an empty wallet when we have to pay $20 for a 25GB write-once blank disc. – Jason Chen

MagicStation MV55 the BluRay Inside Desktop from Samsung [Akihabara News]