Amlogic 8626H based Media Players

[heynownow]

Hi Guys would anyone have any idea how good these players are. as mentioned in this page here :

http://www.iboum.com/net-media-play...ar=&ppp=40&bd=&dvd=&netflix=&pg=1&rp=camlogic


You'd notice, that devices based on this chipset are far cheaper than the ones based on the Sigmatel 85xx,86xx. But apparently it also has a 400Mhz CPU which is not too shoddy, and does 1080p & DTS downmix. SOme reviewers stated that the folder access was pretty snappy. Unlike the 1st generation WD TV HD which used teh Sigmatel 83xx chips.

I have my eyes set on a Micca MPlay HD, so wanted to know opinions of current owners.

 

[venkatcr]

Amlogic is a Chinese company and cannot match the expertise of processors such as Realtek or Sigma. Best avoided.

Cheers

 

[heynownow]

Yeah but at the same time if they give equivalent performance of a >$100 device at the $50 price level, it also cannot be ignored. Even the WD TV Mini uses a low end Amlogic DSP.

 

[venkatcr]

There is a minimum cost involved in bringing certain technology into the market. Most of the R&D is done in the Silicon Valley, and like it or not, the standards for technology is also set there. Chinese companies can only copy technology and will always be one step behind. In addition since they do not understand the technology they are 'creating', you cannot expect any support, drivers, updates etc.

You have to take your choice between acceptable quality and price. It is your call.

Cheers

 

[heynownow]

Well how do you define quality? Its a subjective term. The chipset might be chinese, but the companies making or peddling the devices them incorporate them are often American (case in point Western Digital, Micca). And there ARE professionally managed Chinese companies like Huawei, Edifier, Foxconn - contract manufacturers of Apple products, who are at par, if not ahead of the tech curve of their silicon valley counterparts. So I think any reviews / opinions that we spew out in this forum should be objective in nature, instead of dismissing capable products just on the biased basis of the their country of origin.

 

[venkatcr]

You are missing the point completely.

First quality is not subjective. Quality usually refers to a set of measurable standards that are set by the designer which the product has to follow.

Second, we are not talking about quality of manufacture. I am only questioning China's capability to deign a chip that can come any where near what a Realtek or a Sigma can do. Forget about China, show me a single other country that can match the Silicon Valley in innovation and design. Believe me, even if Japan, Germany and other countries attempt, they will not be able to do it. This has nothing to do with geography or a nation. It has to do with the culture in the valley, the vast knowledge available there, the concept of VC funding, the adventurous risk taking of entrepreneurs, and a host of other factors. I have taken completely crazy ideas there, and I have had serious discussions who were ready to bet millions of dollars in the bat of an eyelid.

This can never be duplicated anywhere else.

Read this article to understand what I am talking about.

 

[NetFreak]

chip (Specifically SOC) is a very commoditized market.

If you want a chip with:

RAM modules + GPS + Decoder modules + ARM CPU module

It can be done easily and is no longer exotic. And Chinese are more than capable of doing that (up to 90nm). And in some cases design is "outsourced" to firms in First World and Fabrication is outsourced to Malaysia.

I deal with them and one of the ways of looking at is "You quote the price, I will quote the Quality". E.g. They can make same plastic casing in various qualities at various price points.

 

[heynownow]

Yeah..and btw Realtek happens to be a Taiwanese company...just like Asus, MSI and Gigabyte...not too far from the chinese

 

[Kamlesh D]

There is a minimum cost involved in bringing certain technology into the market. Most of the R&D is done in the Silicon Valley, and like it or not, the standards for technology is also set there. Chinese companies can only copy technology and will always be one step behind. In addition since they do not understand the technology they are 'creating', you cannot expect any support, drivers, updates etc.

You have to take your choice between acceptable quality and price. It is your call.

Cheers

Fully agree.

KD

 

[heynownow]

I got the micca some time back, apart from the fact the remote has to be pointed in a near 90 degree line of sight (not the chipset's fault) the amlogic plays all formats without a hiccup. PQ is the same as sigmatel/realtek based ones. So my leap of faith did pay off and I got a very functional player for $50

 

[m8002]

I got the micca some time back, apart from the fact the remote has to be pointed in a near 90 degree line of sight (not the chipset's fault) the amlogic plays all formats without a hiccup. PQ is the same as sigmatel/realtek based ones. So my leap of faith did pay off and I got a very functional player for $50

Did you buy this in bangalore? if yes, where? the price seems very tempting.

 

[NetFreak]

I got the micca some time back, apart from the fact the remote has to be pointed in a near 90 degree line of sight (not the chipset's fault) the amlogic plays all formats without a hiccup. PQ is the same as sigmatel/realtek based ones. So my leap of faith did pay off and I got a very functional player for $50

Good to know. Does it handle HD audio too?

 

[rololo88]

I bought this product last week powered by a 8626 chip.
DealExtreme: $73.19 Inphic I9 1080P Full HD TV H.264 Network Media Player (HDMI/USB/LAN/Optical/Coaxial)

There's good and bad point:
The bad point is there's some bugs in the interface but that's all, but i'm sure
they will correct this in a future firmware update.

The good point, actually there's several, multi languages interface support of
NTFS (for HD files it's a must have). Video output HDMI but also composite,
remote control, very good decoding quality in any HD format (720p&1080p)
support of almost evry format of video files, 2 USB port, network support
so no need to connect hard drive or usb stick, you can directly play movie
from your computer and so on.... :clapping:

 

[arifi]

Amlogic is a Chinese company and cannot match the expertise of processors such as Realtek or Sigma. Best avoided.

Cheers

Obviously you havent got a clue what youre talking about.Can you enlighten us why its best to avoid Amlogic media players besides the fact that its Chinese?Realtek is Chinese too.So must be avoid players with that chip too?

 

[arifi]

There is a minimum cost involved in bringing certain technology into the market. Most of the R&D is done in the Silicon Valley, and like it or not, the standards for technology is also set there. Chinese companies can only copy technology and will always be one step behind. In addition since they do not understand the technology they are 'creating', you cannot expect any support, drivers, updates etc.

You have to take your choice between acceptable quality and price. It is your call.

Cheers

Reading youre comment you come over as a nationalist.silicon valley is mostly pc based technology and google etc.When we look at random technology,China is one of the leading developers in the world together with Korea and Japan.The center of technology is wether you like it or not,Asia.Especialy countries like China,Japan,Korea,Taiwan(is part of China).
China is on its way to be the leading center of world technology.At this moment the universities over there are attracting 1000s of students from america in the hopes of gaining a leg up in the job environment back home.

 

[nandac]

Reading youre comment you come over as a nationalist.silicon valley is mostly pc based technology and google etc.When we look at random technology,China is one of the leading developers in the world together with Korea and Japan.The center of technology is wether you like it or not,Asia.Especialy countries like China,Japan,Korea,Taiwan(is part of China).
China is on its way to be the leading center of world technology.At this moment the universities over there are attracting 1000s of students from america in the hopes of gaining a leg up in the job environment back home.

can you list 3 well known technological innovations from china in the last 10 years that changed the way we do things. something the world didn't have previously and that which they introduced totally new?

>random technology

is this some "random definition"? the devil is often in the specifics.