Archos is calling the 32 an Android tablet, but I have trouble convincing myself that anything with a 3.2in screen is really a tablet so it makes far more sense to review it as a touchscreen media player.
Archos may call the 32 a tablet, but it’s really a PMP
Slim, sleek and light as a good PMP should be, the 32 is a well made and handsome gadget and though made entirely of plastic the silver-grey case feels reassuringly solid.
Unlike the front of the Archos 43, which is almost all screen, here the four standard Android buttons and a pair of touch-sensitive volume controls sit below the 240 x 400 LCD so there is a lot more in the way of bezel. Read the rest of this entry »
The Eminent 7195 is a monster of a media player. It towers above diddy streaming clients like the Apple TV and WDTV models, and would doubtless win a brawl with its HDD media player Netherlands neighbour A.C.Ryan.
All-encompassing: Eminent’s EM7195 HD server
To emphasise its size, compatibility badges are writ large and loud across its substantial aluminium casing. But then it does have a reason to shout. It’s extremely well specified. Not only is the EM7195 a media player/server, it has two integrated DVB-T terrestrial TV tuners on-board, as well as some nicely thought out file management and web services. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s almost a year since we reviewed the Foxsat-HDR from Humax, which was one of the first Freesat+ recorders to appear in the UK. Since then, there’s been more of a steady trickle, rather than a flood of Freesat gear coming on stream. To drum up a bit more interest in the satellite service, Freesat itself had a bit of a publicity push for its adoption of the BBC iPlayer and HD broadcasts for recent sporting events such as the Winter Olympics. Getting in on the act is Grundig’s with its Freesat+ HD DVR, the inelegantly named GUFSDTR500HD.
Grundig’s GUFSDTR500HD: the Freesat competition hots up at last
Equipped with a 500GB hard disk – that can store about 300 hours of SD programmes or 125 hours of HD – a 320GB model is also available for about £20 cheaper, so not much of a saving really. Incidentally, this Grundig recorder is virtually identical to the Goodmans 500GB Freesat+ HD DTR launched at the same time for the same price. Grundig and Goodmans are both owned by the same parent company, so they’ve effectively launched own-brand versions of the same product.
The Grundig GUFSDTR500HD is compact and solidly built, about the size of a small pizza box. It’s equipped with twin tuners, allowing you to record two programmes simultaneously. We were initially surprised to see a third satellite connector sticking out the back, although closer inspection revealed a little label next to this saying that it doesn’t actually do anything. Curious.
There’s an HDMI connector plus cable, two Scarts for older TVs and both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs for hooking the unit up to a surroundsound speaker system. The Ethernet port is labelled ‘for future use’. What wonders await remains to be seen. Read the rest of this entry »
There is no denying that the idea of one-box Blu-ray player, media streamer and HDD storage is a good one but, to date, we have not come across an example we could wholeheartedly recommend. Popcorn Hour’s C-200 Media Tank came close, but the price – which doesn’t actually include a Blu-ray player – the slight whiff of DIY and the persistent on-line chatter about firmware problems, all stacked up against it.
Mixed media: HDI’s Dune BD Prime 3.0
American manufacturer HDI has now taken up the baton with its BD Prime 3 Blu-ray media player. The essential idea is the same as the C-200 but HDI supplies a Blu-ray drive already installed. The machine is also being pitched as a media hub for everyman, rather than the technically accomplished hobbyist.
Certainly, the Prime looks the part and resembles many other pieces of low-to-mid-range AV kit from Japan or Korea with its black brushed aluminium and plastic case, discreet fluorescent display on the left of the fascia and a slimline footprint of 420 x 262 x 50 mm.
We say low-to-mid-range, because the disc tray and door actions aren’t the most refined we have encountered and the drive makes a fair old racket until the disc has settled down to play. Fascia controls are limited to basic media navigation buttons, the disc tray control and an on/off switch. Read the rest of this entry »
This time last year, there was only one Freesat recorder available, from Humax. Now there are several, of which the Sagem DTR94500S HD is one of the latest.
Sagem’s DTR94500S HD: the front panel doesn’t exude quality
It’s a slim unit, around the size of three external hard drive enclosures put side to side – a size that’s partly achieved at the cost of having an external power supply. There’s a USB port on the front, but it’s unused.
