Mvix Intros "Most"-Format 1080p Networked Media Player

[zjohnr]

Mvix Intros "Most"-Format 1080p Networked Media Player

I suppose the biggest problem I have with press releases is that I can't seem to read them in the context of past experience. For some reason I always read their claims and naively (hopefully?) assume that everything will "just work".

Oh, well.

A number of things sounded real good to me in this announcement. The number of media formats supposedly supported and the open ended promise to make the "entire source code available".

So ..... what am I not seeing? Does anyone have any experience with previous products from this company? Was it as bad as I fear it might be?

It's hard for me to get a feel for the media player market. There is just so much stuff out there ... Is what they are offering really all that different from what currently exists?

-irrational john

 

[zjohnr]

OK, this is a tad wierd ...

While poking around with Google I came across the site www.mvix.net as opposed to www.mvixusa.com from where the Mvix Ultio (MX-800HD) is offered. The other site is ostensibly for "Unicorn Korea". It currently leads with the following announcement.

Mvix Ultio is not made by Unicorn Korea

Unfortunately MvixUSA - Unicorn partner in USA for the last few years has recently announced their new device - the so called "Mvix Ultio (MX-800HD)". This announcement is to clarify to all that device is not a Unicorn product, nor it will be supported by Unicorn now or in the future in anyway.

According to initial Unicorn Investigations to the subject matter, the device is an independent unauthorized OEM initiative made by MVIXUSA and originated from other vendor. The use of the mvix name brand on any product or publication without the advance explicit authorization or permission of Unicorn Korea was reported to the legal department of the company with a clear instructions to take all necessary steps to protect Unicorn rights without delay.

Please note : Any dealer or an e-tailer worldwide offering the sale or distribution of any Mvix devices without explicit authorization in advance from Unicorn Korea will be held liable for infringing Unicorn rights and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent allowed by the law.

Mvix Korea Official site is www.mvix.net​

​

I'm confused. Anybody know what is up with this? It doesn't help that the Korean Unicorn site apparently has their own version of a MX-800HD (aka Mvix800HD?).

(Note: I tried to insert a link to their info about their Mvix800HD, but couldn't get the link to work. The Korean site appears to be based on Adobe flash player. FWIW, I prefer the MvixUSA site. Does that make it the better product? )

-irrational john

 

[pooneh]

Quite evidently, this looks like a fallout from earlier this year when MvixUSA canceled the contract with Unicorn. Unicorn was supposed to reimburse MvixUSA for all the financial damage due to product quality mishaps.

Last year, there were reports that MvixUSA was dissatisfied with the quality of products supplied by Unicorn.

Seems like Unicorn is feeling the pain and bleeding and wants a shoulder.

Obviously Mvix is a registered trademark of MvixUSA

USPTO says so:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77038184

 

[zjohnr]

Thanks for the added info

Last year, there were reports that MvixUSA was dissatisfied with the quality of products supplied by Unicorn.

Thanks for the added info. Sounds like a potential "watch this space for further developments" sort of thing. Not that I'd get one of these without first seeing some sort of review of it first ...

Not that it I expect it would mean anything to me, but does anyone know anything about whoever is making new MvixUSA products such as the MX-800HD?

-irrational john

 

[zjohnr]

Don't blame me, I'm just an enabler ...

One of the continuing problems with the Internet is the difficulty in finding rumors and allegations. The link below might be a step towards changing this.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1158205

And for those of you searching for a childish and petty retort that is also obscurely geeky in a dead language sort of way, try this. This new MvixUSA product is named the "Ultio", no?
Latin Phrase For Punishment » Ultio Ultionis

Apparently "multimedia" is just another way of saying "techie blood feud" ... Who knew?

-irrational john

 

[pooneh]

Q: What is "Ultio"? Who is making it?
A: Mvix Ultio is a 1080p-capable, HDD-based media player which supports hundreds of formats allowing users to have a digital video library in their living rooms. It is made by renowned developers in partnership with Mvix(USA), Inc. a US-corporation, based near Washington DC. MvixUSA has been the pioneer of Mvix HDD-based Media Centers and a producer of well-known brand across the world.

Q: Will "Ultio" be sold worldwide? Who will support it?
A: Yes, Mvix Ultio is being introduced for worldwide distribution. It will be sold across the world through am established network of distributors and resellers. MvixUSA will also ship directly to its international customers via its online store.

MvixUSA provides a comprehensive support from its SUPPORT CENTER to all its customers, worldwide. It offers three-pronged support: via a direct dial toll-free number, Online support via ticketing system and a very comprehensive Knowledge base article database.
MvixUSA stands behind its products and has a 100% satisfaction guarantee for its worldwide customers.

Q: Who owns the "Mvix" Brand?
A: "Mvix" is a registered trademark of Mvix(USA), Inc. The brand name was registered with the US Patent and Trademark office in 2006 and it continues to be a significant part of MvixUSA's marketing operation. For the past several years, MvixUSA continues to invest in building this brand and making it the symbol of quality as it stands today. MvixUSA will continue to build its network of resellers and distributors to support its customers.

 

[zoom_me]

Mvix Ultio has a Simple set up - takes 2 minutes to hook up a ac power, HDMI cable (included in package), and it's ready to play. Internal HDD makes it easy to store all my media files in ONE location. Unlike one of my friends who had to buy a 15feet USB cable on his WDTV to connect to his PC (for transfering files)! Duh! I feel bad for the poor guy.

 

[gauchers]

Quality Control?

Here's my experience with the Mvix Ultio so far - I received my unit last week. I ordered it with a 1TB harddrive. Well, I was busy with work so I didn't get a chance to open it up until last night. All I can say is that my experience has been appalling. I removed the unit from the box and it literally fell apart in my hands. This is how I discovered that there was no HD installed at all (even though they put a sticker on the box indicating the HD was pre-installed). After looking over the parts, I realized that someone had just snapped the unit together without putting the screws in. Needless to say, I fired off an angry email to their customer support and am waiting for their reply...

 

[Jamara_Amir]

My experience..

I bought an Mvix Ultio package last 2 weeks and I am very happy with its capabilities. I bought it for just about $260 and I find it worth the price. Oh no, it exudes its price of course.

With all it’s built in functions of this Mvix Ultio, I wonder how they’ve developed this kind of product. Well, talking about products, I have been using different brand of HD until last week. I find the other one good though but I found this one cooler.

My Mvix Ultio package arrived last week from its delivery period of 1 week. And until now, I feel very satisfied with its internet capabilities and other functions. I recommend this product to all of you.

 

[khaila]

satisfaction

So far I'm happy with my purchase of Mvix Ultio for a week. I have no trouble with the internet connections and plays flawlessly even Dvix, ISO, FLAC and MKV. The USB HDD allows me to easily transfer and stream files but more over I can easily switch HDDs in and out.

Actually a friend of mine is also planning to get his own since he saw my satisfaction with this awesome device!

 

[krazypoloc]

I preorderd this unit and at this point for my intents and purposes I am very let down.

The interface is very attractive and snappy, and the software package is very good as it has command line telnet support right out of the box (or with the addition of a HDD should you not have purchased one with the unit). It really does play everything that I have just as long as you don't try and play super high bitrate files over the network.

I also have a device from eGreat that runs NMT to give you a little background.

I run a fileserver at my house that I host all my content from. 10.5 TB raid 5 aray with 8 1.5TB Seagates running server 2003 x32.

Here's tha bad news.....

When trying to play high bitrate 9000+ Mbps content the playback stutters and freezes and the device just can't quite cope with it. BUT when copying the video to the local HDD on the device it plays perfectly. This is not a limitation of the 100MB LAN connection as my NMT device also has a 100MB connection and plays everything flawlessly.

Another HUGE gripe for me is that lack of HD audio support. This unit can neither decode nor do passthrough of the new D-TrueHD and DTS-HDMA audio codecs. Of my 700 HD movie collection I would say about 70-80 of them have HD audio and nothing else (I stripped the DTS or AC3 core to save space) and the unit will play the video but no audio.

SO bottom line....if you will be using the internal HDD to playback all your content then this is a great buy....and if you will be using a NAS or storage server (as I would assume given the domain this is being posted on ) then stay very far away.

 

[kangaroo]

Undoubtedly the most comprehensive Media player out there

Received my Mvix Ultio about 10 days back and having played with it literally everyday for over 2-3hrs a days, I have to contend that it is the most comprehensive player yet.

No - this is not a replacement of a $800-1000 Home theater PC system. Neither will it wash your laundry. For the price-feature-quality bundle, you just cannot get anything better. The bottomline with these devices is that if you are realistic about your requirements, you can really leverage and enjoy all features. If you a AppleTV fan - you will not like Ultio. If you are a high bitrate audio junkie... buy a sonos or squeezebox instead. Ultio is a video media center. Has some really nice features (NAS, Bittorrent, Samba, Remote-based File editing, UPnP, wireless etc..) and it does it really well. The small window preview feature rocks. Highlight any file and it displays a small preview in a side window along with file specs/info. etc. Its a very useful feature.

In the past year, I have been fortunate to try WDTV, NMT, PCH, and some a lot of random brand media players in the market. Each one of these had its ups and downs. Some sucked outright. Some sucked after a week of usage. So far Ultio seems to be capable of most of features of a media center.

The Bittorrent works really well... the interface is blah! - but the speed is phenomenal. (You decide which is important for you).
Their implementation of Samba client and server system allows you a near-PC experience. Drag and drop files from your PC. Stream content from your PC or other Mvix Ultio on your network etc. All works fine and reliably.

Format support is by far the best I have seen in these devices. It literally plays everything that i have thrown at it. I have a 6TB server in my basement - and I have been able to stream MKV and M2TS files over CAt5 - and it doesnt even flinch. 1080p is crisp. Looks fabulous on my Samsung LN52A860 ... but sucks on my Toshiba Regza 42HL167. Not sure what is going on!? (Guess - its time to convince the wife to replace the regza). I play FLAC and MP3s on Ultio via my Onkyo - and the family has not complained so far. I am not a audioholic.

The UPnP implementation on Ultio is a step in the right direction - but there's a lot of potential in improving it. I have been successful in playing Hulu, Netflix etc. via PlayON. I just wish the GUI was better. Since I dont use Netflix (or old TV episodes) as much - I dont think thats a deal breaker for me. If you do BT - who wants Netflix anyways. Wife likes Hulu - so far it has been working well for her.

Overall, I like the device. Honestly, with the price point, there is not much not to like about it. Have placed another pre-order for the next lot - this one will be for the kids room. Not sure who does forecasting at this company - but these guys suck in demand estimation - as they keep running out of inventory every few weeks. For the basement theater, I will continue to use my HTPC running Win-7 media center (its a no brainer!!).