Micca MPLAY-HD 1080p Full-HD Digital Media Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I chose this little box over the NBox and other comparable media players, mainly because it has a wider array of audio/video ports, and it pretty much splits the difference price-wise. I am using the HDMI port for my plasma screen, and the digital coaxial port for my receiver. I am beholden to Western Digital My Passport Essential USB drives, and I couldn't be happier with the results. The HD picture looks fantastic, and the booming 5.1 surround sound far exceeds what I could get out of my laptop. It browses reasonably fast through your files, folders, and sub-folders, and it offers continuous playback of your media. It played AVI, MPG, MP4, VOB, MKV, and pictures with no problems. The box is packed with composite cables and a short component video cable. It has two USB ports, and you can supposedly copy/paste/delete between the two, and apparently you can play a photo slideshow and music simultaneously, neither of which I have tried yet.
However, it does have it's shortcomings. Like most remotes, this one is a little user un-friendly, and doesn't seem to work when you're more than 10 feet away. The manual is scrawny and somewhat disorganized, so read it carefully. It wouldn't cooperate with one of my drives for some reason, and it also wouldn't play any of my Flash videos, not that I ever save them anyway. I put a movie on pause for a few minutes; when I resumed play the audio became out of sync, and I had to cue backwards to align it again. Still, the pros far outweigh the cons--I doubt I'll burn a DVD ever again.
Some tips: if you hook this up and turn it on and get no picture, repeatedly push the "TV Out" button on your remote first, the menu should soon come up in sharp full-color form. I recommend powering down the unit using the on/off switch on the back, rather than using the remote. It's supposed to go into "standby", but it seems to me that it still uses too much power for being inactive, and I'm more comfortable shutting the player down completely before I remove the USB cable. If your movie file is encoded with AC3 audio and you're using a hi-fi, set the digital out to "RAW" so your receiver can decode the Dolby Digital/DTS soundtrack, otherwise you'll just get 2-channel stereo.
All in all, a remarkably versatile little gadget that should round out any home theater, whether you're running out of storage space for your DVDs and CDs, or if you want a convenient way to move your PC experience to the living room. I just hope it's as durable as it performs.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Micca MPLAY-HD 1080p Full-HD Digital Media Player

Micca makes 1080p video playback affordable with the compact and convenient MPLAY-HD stand-alone digital media player. Just connect it to your TV or HDTV as you would a DVD player and enjoy your videos, music, and photos from a USB drive or flash memory card. Convenience The MPLAY-HD is small, matte black, and completely noiseless. It starts up in less than 2 seconds and has an intuitive and responsive interface, making it effortless to enjoy all your media content without the need for a computer. The full size IR remote provides easy access to all playback controls. Performance The MPLAY-HD is a true next generation digital video device with broad video/audio codec and file format support at up to 1080p and 40-80mbps. The following is a brief summary, please search for "Micca MPLAY-HD Specifications" for full details: - Video Files: MKV, AVI, MP4, MOV, XVID, TS, M2TS, RM, RMVB, DAT, MPG, MPEG, VOB - Video Codecs: H.264/AVC BP/MP/HiP L4.1,MPEG1/2/4, DivX/Xvid, Real Video - Audio Files: MP3, WMA, WAV, RM, OGG, AAC, M4A, FLAC, APE - Audio Codecs: MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC, FLAC, APE, PCM, DTS, AC3, RA, AMR - Photo Files: JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF - Subtitle: SUB, ASS, SRT, SSA, SMI, IDX+SUB - Other: DVD VIDEO_TS with menu Compatibility The MPLAY-HD can be used with all TVs, HDTVs as well as home theater systems with its extensive connectivity: - Video: HDMI 1.3, CVBS/Composite - Resolution: NTSC, PAL, 480i/p, 576i/p, 720p, 1080i/p - Audio: SPDIF coaxial, analog stereo - Storage Interface: Dual USB 2.0 Host ports, SD/SDHC/MS flash memory card reader - File System: FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ (No Journaling) What's Included - Micca MPLAY-HD - IR Remote - AV cable - 100-240V AC adapter

Get 40% OFF

Click here for more information about Micca MPLAY-HD 1080p Full-HD Digital Media Player

Read More...

Micca Slim Portable Digital Media Player with HDMI and 2.5-Inch HDD Bay - Plays MPEG1/2/4, DivX, Xvid, RMVB, AVI, MOV, MP3, MP4 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I got my Micca Slim about a week ago and felt really compelled to write a review for this awesome gadget. HDD media players have been around a while but they have not been all that popular, most people bump into them while looking for an external HDD enclosure. Recently, HDD media players have gotten pretty powerful and newer models like the Micca is even equipped with an HDMI output.
The Micca's build quality is decent. The center frame is made from translucent purple plastic, and the top/bottom plates are made from black anodized brushed aluminum, which should be much better in terms of cooling than all-plastic enclosures. The main board spans the entire internal dimension of the player, and the HDD sits right against the main board. The whole assembly is held together with only 2 screws, but everything feels solid and flex/rattle free. Even with a 500GB HDD installed, the player is very light and feels like it's half empty. All of the player's connectors are on one end and the IR remote sensor is on the other end - a very logical layout that helps keep everything tidy and neat.
In my opinion, the HDMI is the "killer app" feature for HDD players because even though there are PMPs like Archos and various iPods with AV-out, they only have a composite video output, rendering whatever high quality video you may have essentially pointless. Having a built-in LCD sounds nice on paper but no one realizes just how silly a 4" or smaller screen is until they try to watch something longer than 10 minutes on one. I used to have an Archos 605, which has one of the biggest and nicest LCDs ever built into a PMP, but most of the time I was wishing that I could output the video onto a larger display like a TV or computer monitor while retaining the quality. The HDMI connection on the Micca allows this while also providing the added convenience of carrying both audio and video on one cable.
Also, due to the poor codec compatibility of the Archos 605 I owned, which is a common affliction of PMPs, I constantly had to recode videos just so they would play, which meant keeping two copies of the same video. In all it was just not an elegant solution.
My experience with the Micca Slim has been just the opposite. It handles just about all of my videos coded for playback on my notebook without issues. Other than a few H.264 videos, I didn't have to recode the videos for them to playback on the Micca Slim. And the playback quality was at least as good as from my notebook computer. So now I only have to keep one copy of videos on the Micca Slim, which can then be played back any which way I want. My coworkers gave me a blank stare when I showed them the Micca Slim, one remarked "this doesn't have a screen." But their faces lit up when I connected it to my 20" work monitor and they saw the quality of the playback. "Try that with your iPod Touch."
In the end, it's not just that the Micca does all these things, but that it does them so easily and unobtrusively. I need a portable hard disk drive anyway, and I need a large one to hold all of my media files. So a portable HDD that also plays back all of the media files stored on it is just such a natural function to have.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Micca Slim Portable Digital Media Player with HDMI and 2.5-Inch HDD Bay - Plays MPEG1/2/4, DivX, Xvid, RMVB, AVI, MOV, MP3, MP4

The Micca Slim digital media player provides convenient and portable playback of videos, music, and photos on any TV or HDTV! It has a 720P HDMI output for sending sharp and clear video and audio in pure digital format to HDTVs, as well as composite AV output for use with analog TVs. Small and sleek, the Micca Slim is a perfect entertainment source for vacations and business trips. Its aluminum exterior is tough enough to withstand the rigors of portable use. With the optional car power adapter (search Amazon.com), the Micca Slim can be used to play movies on in-car video system and keep everyone entertained on trips short and long. The Micca Slim is also popular as a simple digital signage device with its HDMI and Analog-AV interfaces and fault tolerant features such as auto power-on and resume, and multi-file continuous loop. Feature Highlight: - 720P high definition HDMI pure digital video and audio output - Internal 2.5" SATA HDD drive bay for up to 500GB of storage (not requried for use) - Play media files from external USB drives or SD/SDHC flash cards - Functions as portable USB hard drive with internal HDD installed - Compatible with all TVs and HDTVs, including CRT/LCD/Plasma/Projection - Download the latest User's Manual from Micca Store for more info Video Formats: - Files: AVI, MP4, MOV, VOB, MPG, DAT, RMVB - Codecs: MPEG1/2/4, DivX/Xvid, RealVideo 8/9/10 - Max Reslution: 720x576 - Subtitle: SRT for DivX/Xvid/AVI H.264/MKV and WMV not supported, please see the Micca Slim Video Recode Tutorial Audio Formats: - Codecs: MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, PCM, DMPCM, OGG - Bit Rate: 32Kbps ~ 384Kbps - ID3 Tag display for MP3 and WMA Image Formats: JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG What's Included: - Micca Slim Player - IR Remote Control - AV Out Cable - 110-240V AC Adapter

Get 29% OFF

Click here for more information about Micca Slim Portable Digital Media Player with HDMI and 2.5-Inch HDD Bay - Plays MPEG1/2/4, DivX, Xvid, RMVB, AVI, MOV, MP3, MP4

Read More...