- Full HD 1080P video playback via HDMI 1.3
- SD/SDHC/MMC/Memory Stick cardreader
- Movie, Video, Music, MP3, Photo Playback
- RealVideo 10 RMVB Support
- DTS digital Surround Support
The next bad thing is that there is no easy way to change the screen resolution on the fly during play back, other similar product from chinese manufacturer has that feature. It is very useful to swap between 4:3 vs 16:9 material. There are also some files has no sound when play and it does have sound on the computer. That is the reason why I only give it 3 star.
It is great that my parents can plug in the SD card directly from the Digital Camera and see everything on TV, photo and movie.I have the WD HDTV. This MG-M2TV beats pretty much every aspect one can think of.
MG-M2TV has RGB component out for older HD TVs out, WD HDTV does not.
MG-M2TV has build-in SD flash memory reader, WD HDTV does not.
MG-M2TV has a HW on/off switch, WD HDTV does not.
MG-M2TV has an active cooling fan, WD HDTV does not. The fan is noisy however. It tuns out better not to have one. :)
MG-M2TV has both coaxial and optical digital out, WD HDTV only has optical.
MG-M2TV has a cover on USB ports, WD HDTV does not. I know not a big deal.
WD HDTV remote is higher responsive than MG-M2TV, use AAA rather than button lithium on MG-M2TV.
MG-M2TV remote however has more functions like zoom, slow, volume...
MG-M2TV has a richer menu with preview file copy, which however makes MG-M2TV a bit more complicated to use for grandma.
MG-M2TV can decode DTS-HD. WD HDTV will give you an unsupported audio stream message.
MG-M2TV can play RMVB, WD HDTV cannot.
There may be a few more but I think it is a K.O. already.
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Update:
It turns out there is a plastic protection cover on the remote receiver. Once removed remote is much more sensitive now.
Te little fan in the back is loud, as loud as a hair dryer.Pros:
Great Picture Quality
More video formats than other boxes
full DTS support
EXT3 support
If you are looking at reviews and vendor offers for this device, be sure to note whether the item in question is the older "M2TV" or the new "M2TVD". The "D" stands for full DTS support, which was lacking in the M2TV and the fan got quieter, even though not quiet enough. As a rough time mark: if the review is before mid-September 2009, it will be about the older unit. My review is for the M2TVD
The box simply works as advertised, even though there are still some rough edges (see cons). So far, it has digested each and any video format I have thrown at it, including HD MPEG2, DVD ISO Images, MKV, AVI, DiVx and more. The picture over component and HDMI is both superb, Video output is adjustable (480p to 1080p, 50Hz/60Hz). Audio via TOS-Link to my Yamaha DSP-A1 works flawlessly.
On the USB-side: even though not in the docs, the box supports EXT3 filesystems, which is a big plus for Linux-people like me.
Cons:
The fan is still too loud
Box hangs after "Standby" from Remote Control
Many small rough edges, see below.
OK, the fan is not as loud as the reviews for the M2TV imply. But it is still quite audible during low-volume parts of a movie from 15 feet away. Bearable, but still not good.
After you shut down the box from the remote, it will hang when you try to turn it on again. You need to turn it off/on at the box itself.
Subtitles mostly default to "On". Not a big deal, but an annoyance to turn them off all the time.
On a few files, bringing up the audio or subtitle menu you will cause a video glitch after which your audio is out of sync (several seconds). Rewinding for a few seconds will resync the audio.
For DVD navigation, there does not seem to be a key equivalent to the "Menu" key on a DVD-Player. This is quite annoying.
Summary: a good box, even a steal at the price. If the firmware gets more mature, a great media player.
Update (a year later): I have changed my rating from four to two stars. Why? Because firmware support by this company is virtually non-existent. Over that year, a single firmware update came out (when they brought out the WLAN module for it) which changed a lot and did not address many bugs while introducing new ones.
Here are some of the more annoying unfixed problems:
Still does not reliable recover from standby, requiring a hard power-cycle
does not reliably support compressed MKV streams (no picture with some files)
sometimes crashes on preview of ISO files while navigating the files on disk
has trouble with some XVID files ("unsupported GOP")
For these reasons, I would suggest you spend your money on another player. The M²TVD could have been great, but time showed that the company doesn't stand behind it.Been waiting for a product like this for sometime. It's simple to set up and plays every format that I use. If you're like me and download obscure videos to watch later, this is the ticket. Don't care so much about the quality of the picture and sound, so I can't really comment on the high end HD aspect. Plus my plasma doesn't have an HDMI input, I'm running the component through my receiver then to the TV. Prior to receiving this unit I was streaming my downloads to my DirectTV HR-21 through TVersity and it worked fine, but there was no way to stop and resume, ff or rewind a program, so you to make sure you were ready to watch whatever you downloaded. Or if your connection got interrupted, you had to start all over. Not so with this little unit.
Tried avi's on a thumb drive. No problem. Hooked up a 500 gig HDD via USB and plays multiple formats no problem. SDHC card no problem
The thing to consider with this is what you plan on using it for. If you are a total videophile and hyper analyze everything piece of equipment then this is probably not for you. There are higher end models with internal drives that are probably more suited for that type of person.
This is portable, easy and plays nearly everything. Has Composite, Component and HDMI outputs for nearly every situation. Very impressed.
To my surprise this is a GREAT PRODUCT!
It is Super easy to use. I have an older HDTV without HDMI and through component output I can do 1080i 60hz. Bluray rips looks amazing on my TV. It plays everything I have thrown at it.
The fan is not loud at all. Having a fan is a good thing so it will not overheat.
SD card slot is convenient for showing pictures to friends and family of trips.
The unit itself is very small and very portable. Great for bringing on trips or to a friends house.
The only bad thing about the unit is the remote is not great. But on most new electronics the remote stinks so it is not that important.
I give it 4/5 and its a definitely buy for people who want to watch HD content easily!
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Edit after 1 year and 2 months, the remote stopped working. I was really feed up with this company. The player had a huge problem turning on and off, and sometimes would freeze.
It was basically cheap crap.
DO yourself a Favor and buy the WDTV Live Plus, Will not be disappointed.
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