MEDIAGATE MG-350HD Wireless High-Definition MPEG4 Netplayer

[Pardus]

MEDIAGATE MG-350HD Wireless High-Definition MPEG4 Netplayer / Media Player / Media Center - Retail

$214 - coupon code of "D30MG350H" = $184 shipped - linky

The MG-350HD is primarily intended to be an entertainment hub for your video, music and picture files. The first challenge here is getting the files onto the unit; this can be done either via Ethernet or streamed via 802.11b wireless. The MG-350HD can also read media files directly off USB flash drives; our only caveat here is that the placement of the USB connector is quite near both the wireless antenna and DVI port, so some drives might find it a bit of a squeeze fitting in.

Once you've got your data over to the MG-350HD, there's the question of file type support. The MG-350HD natively supports MPG, MPEG, AVI, M2V, DAT, WM9 and VOB files -- so you could potentially dump entire unencoded DVDs onto the unit and they'd play back natively. There's also support inbuilt for a number of high-definition video formats, including HD MP2, MP4 and WMV9. Xvid is also supported, although GMC-encoded Xvid files won't play back. On the music side, MP3, WMA and Ogg Vorbis are supported, while the MG-350's picture capabilities encompass JPG, BMP, GIF and PNG files.

Features

* Has one 10/100 LAN port
* Supports USB2.0 host/slave
* 3.5-inch HDD is user-installable
* Supports HD MP2, MP4 and WMV9
* Supports MP1/2@HL (720p/1,080i), MP4@L5 (720p) and WMV9 MP@ML (720p)
* Supports composite, S-video, component video outputs
* Supports stereo L/R, optical/coaxial digital audio, analog 5.1 channels
* Supports JPEG/BMP/GIF/PNG still picture Enables file surfing from multiple sources on TV using a remote controller
* PCs in the network
* USB devices attached

Specifications

* Product Name: MEDIAGATE MG-350HD
* HDD Capacity "recommended up to 750GB"
* Network: IEEE802.3 (Ethernet)
* Antenna: 2.5 dBi
* Power: DC 5V, 12V
* Weight: 250g (Without a HDD)
* Dimension: 57 x 150 x 185 mm
* Working Temperature: 0-50
* Working Humidity: 10%-75%

Interface & Other

* Operating Systems: Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP, MAC 9.0 higher Linux 2.4 higher
* PC Inerface: USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 compatible)
* HDD Type: 3.5" IDE HDD
* HDD File System: FAT32, NTFS
* TV Type: PAL, NTSC
* Supported Formats: Movie: MPEG 1, 2, 4 (MPG, MPEG, AVI, M2V, DAT, VOB, etc) , XviD (Except GMC, Qpel option applied)
* Music: MP3, OGG Vorbis, WMA
* Photo: JPG

Video Out

* Composite: 1Ch : 1.0Vp-p (75 load)
* Component: Y : 1.0Vp-p (75 load)
* Pr : 0.70Vp-p (75 load)
* Pb : 0.70Vp-p (75 load)
* S-Video: Color Signal : 1.0Vp-p (75 load) Luminance Signal : 0.286Vp-p (75 load)

Audio Out

* Stereo 2Ch: Left (1/L), Right (2/R)
* Digital Out (Coaxial): 0.5 Vp-p(75 )
* Audio Sampling Rate: 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96KHz
* S/N (Signal to Noise) Ratio: 99dB
* Dynamic Range: 92dB
* Harmonic Frequency Distortion: 0.01%

 

[nomadh]

These things are a great concept but every time I look into it I am turned off. A friend had an older highly rated Buffalo media player that worked for over 2 years for him because he generated content for the unit he knew worked. Now he has an ipod and although his unit works with vc1 it naturally won't do H.264 even though it can do wma-HD and 10 other formats. I try it out to see if I might buy it off him and I find that even though it can do wma-HD it can't do plain old wma 7 or 8 or 9. Well I have 2 years of beyondTV wma files. I then find it only plays 75% of my AVI files. On some formats it FF/RW well others not at all.
What I'm getting at is I am doubting any little box will ever be able to play my content. It will take a PC. When laptops and desktop PCs are $300 where does a highly limited soon abandoned $200 media player fit in? It seems retrofit your old PC with a $120 Fry's motherboard/ C2D combo , stick it behind the PC and don't worry about it for 4-6 years. Am I off here?
Sorry not a thread crap just a general questioning of the concept, mostly to myself.

 

[razor2025]

Originally posted by: nomadh
These things are a great concept but every time I look into it I am turned off. A friend had an older highly rated Buffalo media player that worked for over 2 years for him because he generated content for the unit he knew worked. Now he has an ipod and although his unit works with vc1 it naturally won't do H.264 even though it can do wma-HD and 10 other formats. I try it out to see if I might buy it off him and I find that even though it can do wma-HD it can't do plain old wma 7 or 8 or 9. Well I have 2 years of beyondTV wma files. I then find it only plays 75% of my AVI files. On some formats it FF/RW well others not at all.
What I'm getting at is I am doubting any little box will ever be able to play my content. It will take a PC. When laptops and desktop PCs are $300 where does a highly limited soon abandoned $200 media player fit in? It seems retrofit your old PC with a $120 Fry's motherboard/ C2D combo , stick it behind the PC and don't worry about it for 4-6 years. Am I off here?
Sorry not a thread crap just a general questioning of the concept, mostly to myself.

It really depends on the execution of the concept. Some media players, like my D-link DSM-320 (and 520) uses the software in server-side to decode the media. I use TVersity to stream decoded media into my DSM-320 box upstairs. The codec pack with TVersity streaming software couldn't play some of the contents, so I uninstalled it, installed K-lite mega pack on my server, which in turn plays pretty much anything available. Check around on the net to find the player that fits you. Decoding done by the media box itself is definitely restrictive, as it require updates by the manufacture for any new codecs after product release (or wasn't included originally).

Also, be careful with the wireless part. My DSM320 has problems streaming higher-bit rate video files over wireless, the video seems to skip a good number of frames in regular interval. Streaming it via wired connection remedied the problem, but it defeats the "wireless" function. If my DSM320 chokes on high-rate SD video, it's probably impossible to get acceptable performance in anything remotely HD.

 

[Mitch101]

I have an IODATA linkplayer 2 which is probably the most mature of the devices when it comes to drivers and while its great its now old tech.

If your looking for the next generation for the same price look at this.
http://popcornhour.com/

Mine is supposed to ship in a few weeks and should replace my aging LinkPlayer. It does MKV, VC-1, and H.264 formats up to 1080P on top of what the previous generations did.

 

[kki000]

It does MKV, VC-1, and H.264 formats up to 1080P on top of what the previous generations did.

If it can do all that then I'm sold. Please report back on how it works.

 

[Mitch101]

kki000
Will have it on http://www.FreshScoop.Com when I get it and test it over a few days and post a blurb in here as well. I was able to order it last week and they estimated a January ship date around the 14th.

It was a tough call between the popcorn hour or a pc and I might still compare the two.

Need to try it on my $400 HD Projector too.

 

[imported_OrSin]

I have 2 of the older verison that doesn't do HD content. They work great. So much better then the buffulo and linsys stuff. The only problem is when trying to transfer data to a hard wirelessly or though the lan. It uses a NAS so you need software to do it its very slow. I found it fast to connect to my laptop through the USB cable and copy it that way. Also a groups a new firmware the lets you connect using an FTP client and its blazing that way too.

Really all in all it a piece of equipment and far better then most out thier. Now that the 360 can do Dixv, it mighty be the only one close to it in function and useablity. But you can't save stuff to the drive in the 360 so this is much better for take stuff with you as well.

 

[bond007taz]

So when buying a device like this you have to ask yourself a couple questions:

1. Do you want something that just shows you a list of files and that can play them?

or

2. Do you want something that is skinnable, has nice menus and graphics, can sort on different types of things like genre and title, which other perks like youtube and other plugins?

If you answer yes to #1 then the mediagate will probably work for you but it may not play all the files and the support is very limited and forget about asking for new features.

If you answer yes to #2 then stay away from these devices like these. The ONLY device that I have found that can do all I want is a modified XBOX. I know this really isnt option for most people so you have to be careful on what you want and what you expect from a box. If the box says it can do what you want to do then go ahead and buy it but if you buy a box thinking you can get the vendor to add the stuff you want then that may lead to dissappointment down the road.

I have owned a MVIX 760HD, XBOX (running XBMC), Netgear EVA8000 and a HTPC (running MediaPortal) and here is how I rank them:

1. XBOX (running XBMC) - great but limited hardware and eventhough HD is possible it is very limited. PERFECT for playing your DVD and MUSIC collection from a network share.
2. HTPC (running MediaPortal) - great software - skinnable - plays MANY formats and can do HD with the right PC hardware - plan on replacing my XBMC boxes with this setup
3. Netgear EVA8000 - great piece of hardware. The beta forums for this box is second to none. If you have a problem they will try to fix, unlike MVIX. You can post your wishlist and they try to incorporate them.
4. MVIX 760HD - perfect if you want a list view of all your files. it plays a lot of formats but it has some serious bugs that have yet to be addressed. This is due that the chipset is old is getting very little attention from the group that can fix it

 

[kki000]

1080p mkv (h264) file playback... thats the holy grail for me. I finally got those to play correctly on my pc, but I was hoping for an easy way to display them on my hdtvs.
I have an old xb fully modded that I havent booted up in a few years. If xbmc can now playback 1080p content, then I'm more than willing to dig up the xbox....

 

[nomadh]

I have the old xbox and a new xbox 360. Maybe I should use one of those. Anyone care to suggest the best route to do that.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: kki000
1080p mkv (h264) file playback... thats the holy grail for me. I finally got those to play correctly on my pc, but I was hoping for an easy way to display them on my hdtvs.
I have an old xb fully modded that I havent booted up in a few years. If xbmc can now playback 1080p content, then I'm more than willing to dig up the xbox....

Xbox isn't even remotely powerful enough to do 1080p content. It can't even do 720p. XBMC is great for non-HD stuff, but the line is drawn there.

For 1080p, you really need one of the "next generation" type players such as the Popcorn Hour device mentioned above (mine has shipped and I'll hopefully have it tomorrow).

 

[Jaxidian]

SageTV released a great one of these around Dec. 10 of last year. Unfortunately, they sold out in about 3 days and won't have anymore until February or March. More info here. I'm buying one of these as soon as they go on sale again.

-Jax

 

[bond007taz]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: kki000
1080p mkv (h264) file playback... thats the holy grail for me. I finally got those to play correctly on my pc, but I was hoping for an easy way to display them on my hdtvs.
I have an old xb fully modded that I havent booted up in a few years. If xbmc can now playback 1080p content, then I'm more than willing to dig up the xbox....

Xbox isn't even remotely powerful enough to do 1080p content. It can't even do 720p. XBMC is great for non-HD stuff, but the line is drawn there.

For 1080p, you really need one of the "next generation" type players such as the Popcorn Hour device mentioned above (mine has shipped and I'll hopefully have it tomorrow).

XBMC CAN play 720p files - i do it every day with the component video adapter to my HD projector... It can output to a 1080i HDTV, but yes are right it can not play a native 1080i video... so if you acdtually have native 1080i files then yes you need to find something else.

Here is the link

720x480 pixel video output to 720p HDTV (1280x720 progressive) = OK! (eg upscaled).
720x480 pixel video output to 1080i HDTV (1920x1080 interlaced) = OK! (eg upscaled).

It does h264 and xvid .MKV files - but of course if the file is native 1080i then it wont play, but if it is 720 then it works like a charm

 

[Falloutboy]

Originally posted by: bond007taz

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: kki000
1080p mkv (h264) file playback... thats the holy grail for me. I finally got those to play correctly on my pc, but I was hoping for an easy way to display them on my hdtvs.
I have an old xb fully modded that I havent booted up in a few years. If xbmc can now playback 1080p content, then I'm more than willing to dig up the xbox....

Xbox isn't even remotely powerful enough to do 1080p content. It can't even do 720p. XBMC is great for non-HD stuff, but the line is drawn there.

For 1080p, you really need one of the "next generation" type players such as the Popcorn Hour device mentioned above (mine has shipped and I'll hopefully have it tomorrow).

XBMC CAN play 720p files - i do it every day with the component video adapter to my HD projector... It can output to a 1080i HDTV, but yes are right it can not play a native 1080i video... so if you acdtually have native 1080i files then yes you need to find something else.

Here is the link

720x480 pixel video output to 720p HDTV (1280x720 progressive) = OK! (eg upscaled).
720x480 pixel video output to 1080i HDTV (1920x1080 interlaced) = OK! (eg upscaled).

It does h264 and xvid .MKV files - but of course if the file is native 1080i then it wont play, but if it is 720 then it works like a charm

720x480 is not 720p its 480p
720p is 1280x720 which the xbox does choke on. the best you can get to play well on an xbox is 960x540 which looks pretty good

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: bond007taz

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: kki000
1080p mkv (h264) file playback... thats the holy grail for me. I finally got those to play correctly on my pc, but I was hoping for an easy way to display them on my hdtvs.
I have an old xb fully modded that I havent booted up in a few years. If xbmc can now playback 1080p content, then I'm more than willing to dig up the xbox....

Xbox isn't even remotely powerful enough to do 1080p content. It can't even do 720p. XBMC is great for non-HD stuff, but the line is drawn there.

For 1080p, you really need one of the "next generation" type players such as the Popcorn Hour device mentioned above (mine has shipped and I'll hopefully have it tomorrow).

XBMC CAN play 720p files - i do it every day with the component video adapter to my HD projector... It can output to a 1080i HDTV, but yes are right it can not play a native 1080i video... so if you acdtually have native 1080i files then yes you need to find something else.

Here is the link

720x480 pixel video output to 720p HDTV (1280x720 progressive) = OK! (eg upscaled).
720x480 pixel video output to 1080i HDTV (1920x1080 interlaced) = OK! (eg upscaled).

It does h264 and xvid .MKV files - but of course if the file is native 1080i then it wont play, but if it is 720 then it works like a charm

You realize 720x480 is 480p, not 720p right? The Xbox cannot handle 720p source material. You can play it, but it will be extremely choppy.