We love Western Digital’s WD TV “direct connect” media player. The simplicity of a tiny (two cigarette case size) box packed with every imaginable video codec, with USB connections for connecting an external hard drive and HDMI, component and S-video outs to connect to your tv, all controllable from a cool little remote via a nifty menu system – and ALL for around $100, is just super cool.
Today, life got a little cooler. Enter Viewsonic’s VMP70 1080p media player. What do we get? We get all the functionality of the WD TV. PLUS we get 1080p HD resolution (versus the WD TV’s 720p resolution) , for UNDER $100 ($98.99 according to the Inquisitr).
Life is good.
Here’s the back end – couldn’t be simpler…
From Viewsonic’s site:
With the Viewsonic® VMP70 1080p digital media player, you can enjoy any digital collection of movies and video on any home entertainment system.
- Sharing music, video and photos that are stored on your computer has never been easier
- Connects to either HDMI, component or the composite port in full stereo, supporting DTS, Dolby® Digital and SP/DIF interfaces
- Offers the most complete video and audio formats including MPEG1/2/4, DivX/Xvid, H.264, VC1, RM/RMVB, WMA, MP3, DTS, Dolby digital, OGG, AAC and many more
- Access multiple content sources simultaneously and preview digital collections easier
The VMP70 offers the best digital connectivity to Full HD entertainment.
Connect to home entertainment systems with HDMI, Component, Composite, SPDIF and two USB 2.0 ports all in full stereo
1080p Full HD video playback
Change audio, subtitle, aspect ratio and more with the remote control
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One correction – the WDTV does do 1080p. Also, the new WDTV-live does it as well. It is the WDTV-mini that does not do it, and tops out at 720p. Also the mini costs $79.
The specs look good. let’s see how good they are about firmware updates and responding to community requests. That’s what put WDTV on the map.
I read that does not suport MKV files playback
I read that it does support MKV. “Pros: I came across this by accident searching for something completely unrelated and I’m so glad I did because it made the perfect gift which I’ll explain later.
It’s so new though that it was difficult to find accurate info, even after calling Viewsonic’s tech support! So here’s the low down on it’s features why I love this device.
Very simple UI with all the right options for both novice and advanced user.
Has it’s own OS that boots in under 4 seconds. No PC or Mac required.
Instantly recognized an NTFS formatted 1tb hard drive and all folders and files on it.
Played 5 different MKVs of varying compressions, audio tacks and and resolutions (720& 1080). Even played an older AVI.
When browsing the directory listing, a preview window plays the movie when you click it’s filename.
Doesn’t heat up.
No dropped frames or audio desync even after skipping around through the movie quickly at random points.
Comes with it’s own HDMI cable.
Looks stylish.” from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882597036