Product Review: Mvix Ultio 1080p Bit Torrent Media Player

As I was looking at disgust at my rising cable bill, I was wondering if there was a way to save money on entertainment. I enjoy watching a movie or tv series as much as the next guy. But what solution is there that costs less than $45 a month. Oh yah, there are those satellite companies who claim low prices, but I have found that there is always a catch.

I first noticed digital media players on an electronics website, but it was so limited on what types of media it could play, that I almost cried. Then, one day while I was browsing the web site thinkgeek.com, I encountered a miracle amount digital media players.  The Mvix device was a dream come true and I had to have it. After convincing the wife, we promptly ordered it.

When the media box came, I was super excited! I opened the box and putting the device together was very easy. I do not yet own an HDTV (and probably won't for a while yet), so I used the color coded cables that came with it to hook up. Also included was an HDMI cable for easy on cable hookup when I do get my HDTV.

This version of the box does not come with a build in hard drive, BUT there is a place were you can install up to a 1.5 TB 3.5" SATA hard drive (your standard desktop hard drive). The 2 USB ports on the back allow you to hook up any external hard drive and a USB cable is included so you can hook it up to your computer to update the box's software.

The interface to use the box once you have a hard drive hooked up is very easy. No trouble with using it and the 4 different data formats I have for the video formats I had including the annoying yet useful MKV format (it is a pain to find codecs for it, but the quality and size of the files is amazing!). The remote allows you to control the volume of the file or you can control the volume from your normal TV remote. If you need to stop mid show, there is a memory option so that when you return, it will start at the point you left off. It asks you if you would like to use this option and if you say no, the movie or show will start from the beginning. The fast forward option works wonderfully, much like a DVD play. If you have MKV files, then you can skip chapters, other wise, you are stuck with fast forward. The rewind is not so good, but that is really the only problem I have found with the box.

There is also options for stored photos, music etc, but I really don't need to use those options since I have my iPod and speaker system, but they do work very well.

One of the very nice things that this little beauty has it the option to upgrade the software so you can torrent directly to the box (rather than downloading to a computer then moving it to a hard drive). Also, you can install and update for a samba server with UPnP implementation. This allows you to watch streaming video on sites like youtube and hulu. The network port allows you to connect to the web if your router is close, or you can buy a wifi add-on either from thinkgeek.com or the Mvix website (see the link below).

Depending on the web site you buy the box from, you can spend as little as $159.99 plus shipping to as much as $199.99. Your best bet is to go to the Mvix website and compare prices. They were nice enough to post all the websites they sell the box at. There are many other media devices that Mvix offers and from their track record, they all could be great!

The warranty is one year, but you can buy an extended two year warranty for around $35, which I think is worth it.

As for specs, I have already mentioned the gorgeous video play back, but here is the hard numbers.

Model No:

Mvix Ultio (MX-800HD ) HD UPnP Media Player

HDD Compatibility:

Supports 3.5 SATA hard disk
(up to 2.0TB), HDD not included

HDD Format:

FAT32, EXT3 or NTFS

External Storage:

Via USB Host
(for external DVD Drives / Portable HDD / USB storage)

Video Resolution:

H.264, MKV, WMV9, MOV, RM/RMVB, TS and HD Divx
upto 1920x1080p

TV System Compatibility:

PAL, NTSC, Auto

Networking:

LAN RJ45 10/100M or Wi-Fi 802.11G/N (via USB dongle, not included)

Network Protocols:

Embedded UPnP Client, Samba Client, Samba Server

Video Playback:

Codec: H.264, MKV, WMV9, MPEG 1/2/4, HD Divx , Xvid, FLV, RM/RMVB Container: mkv, ts, m2ts, mts, tp, trp, wmv, Ifo, iso, vob, dat, avi, mpg, mp4, mov, rm, rmvb, divx, xvid, flv{...more...}

Audio Playback:

Codec: MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC, LPCM, FLAC, AC3 Container: WAV [.wav, .pcm], ADIF, ADTS [.aac], M4A [.m4a], OGG [.ogg], ASF/WMA [.asf, .wma], FLAC [.flac]

External Storage:

Via USB Host
(for external DVD Drives / Portable HDD / USB storage)

Image Playback:

JPG, JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF

Subtitle Playback:

sub, smi, ssa, srt, idx + sub

Audio/Video Out:

Audio Video Out HDMI1.3 (digital video and audio signals), Component (YPbPr), Composite Video output , Optical (5.1Ch Dolby Digital), Stereo audio output (Audio R/L)

I/O Ports:

USB2.0 Host (for connecting external CD ROM / DVD ROM / Portable HDD / USB storage / USB WIFI), USB2.0 Slave to transfer Media from PC. 10/100Mbps Ethernet port (Media Transfer and Sharing across network

File Management:

File Management HDD Format, Copy, Delete, Rename, File Transfer via hand-held Remote

Power Input:

Universal AC 100 ~230V 50Hz, DC

Power Consumption:

Power Consumption DC 12V 2A, 30-W

Language:

Language English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Hebrew

(The "...more..." links will take you to a spec sheet for the device.)

The key to buying a media box is making sure it will work with the files you have. It doesn't matter how cheap the media box is, if it does not work, it is not worth it. Use caution when you buy. Make sure the company is reputable and will back their warranty. In the end, quality and price tend to go hand in hand.

It appears that Mvix no longer makes this particular model but does make and sell the updated version which is called the Mvix Ultio Pro. My understanding is the user interface is much better now and there are more bells and whistle including Netflix streaming. My only issue is you have to buy the wi-fi extension where as many media devices and bluray players now include that built in.