Cheap 1080p Media Players

psychotropic

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All of us looking at the Xtreamer and WDTV Live can also have a look at the following options, which are cheaper (The WDTV Live is about 7000 bucks on 20north).

Brite-View BV6000p - similar to the original WDTV but with full remote for Rs. 4830 on 20north - Shop in the US from India @ 20North - Brite-View BV-6000P 1080p HD Multimedia Player with RM / RMVB & DTS, Black : Electronics

Brite-view BV5005HD - similar to the WDTV Live but also a torrent downloader and full remote for Rs. 5980 on 20north - Shop in the US from India @ 20North - Brite-View BV-5005HD "CinemaTube" 3-in-1 1080p Full HD Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader, Black : Electronics

Asus O!Play - similar to the WDTV Live for Rs. 6558 on 20north - Shop in the US from India @ 20North - Brite-View BV-5005HD "CinemaTube" 3-in-1 1080p Full HD Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader, Black : Electronics

Has anyone tried these players?
 
All of these are based on Realtek 1073 - a SoC designed for VFM segment. The advantage of this processor is wide format support and lower cost. Main disadvantage is speed and ugly interface.

Brite-Views have few plus points compared to other 1073 products viz. built-in bittorrent client, component out, full remote, RMVB support etc. If somebody is looking at below 6k solution, these are good choices but they are not without their negative points.

Both Xtreamer & WDTV Live has faster processor & good community support. Choice rests with the buyer.
 
hey dolfin, what chipset does the WDTV Live and Xtreamer use? how is it better than the realtek one you refer to?

All of these are based on Realtek 1073 - a SoC designed for VFM segment. The advantage of this processor is wide format support and lower cost. Main disadvantage is speed and ugly interface.

Brite-Views have few plus points compared to other 1073 products viz. built-in bittorrent client, component out, full remote, RMVB support etc. If somebody is looking at below 6k solution, these are good choices but they are not without their negative points.

Both Xtreamer & WDTV Live has faster processor & good community support. Choice rests with the buyer.
 
hi,
Ive got a best solution for the media players HD & its working really amazing ,i just bought it from USK Electronics Hyderabad & its Cheaper than Realtek MP
The contact no:9396556197 Mr.Chandra shekar Director of USK.
 
hi,
Ive got a best solution for the media players HD & its working really amazing ,i just bought it from USK Electronics Hyderabad & its Cheaper than Realtek MP
The contact no:9396556197 Mr.Chandra shekar Director of USK.


Hi Mahesh
if u have found something please share the details in the open forum, along with your review and feedback on the same. Provide details regarding the product, model no, performance etc.

Please don't provide contact information which is of no use without the above information to the members.
 
hey dolfin, what chipset does the WDTV Live and Xtreamer use? how is it better than the realtek one you refer to?

Xtreamer uses Realtek 1283x. Its a custom version of Realtek 1283. Other players based on 1283 chipset are DivCo TivX 6600 & HMB Media Palace. Stock speed of 1073/1283 is 400 mhz whereas 1283x runs at 450 mhz. There is no specific info available as to what customization Realtek has done for Xtreamer.

WDTV Live & WDTV Ver 2 uses Sigma 8655. This chip runs at 500 mhz. Other players using this chipset are Datastor Media Player (TBR) & Eminent EM7075.

Memory capacity of each player is as follows:

WDTV Live - 1gb (512mb RAM + 512mb Flash ROM)
WDTV Ver 2 - 1gb (512mb RAM + 512mb Flash ROM)
Xtreamer - 288mb (256mb DDR SDRAM + 32mb Flash ROM)
Brite-View 5005HD - 384mb (128mb DDR2 RAM + 256mb Flash ROM)
Asus O!Play - unknown
 
hey dolfin thanks a bunch for your very informative posts. So would you say the WDTV Live is the best option around these days? Or is there something else that you would consider?
 
hey dolfin thanks a bunch for your very informative posts. So would you say the WDTV Live is the best option around these days? Or is there something else that you would consider?

Hi, every device has its own plus and minus points and finally there is a cost which defines your buying. If you ask me for best of the best, I would say PCH C-200 but at its price one can buy PS3!

Xtreamer for e.g. is very capable device. But its overclocked, therefore not sure about its life. Also due to limitations of SDK, interface of all Realtek chips is very poor. Realtek positions these chips in VFM segment therefore there strategy seems to be right.

Sigma, for a long time developed for high-end market. With 8655, they are entering into budget segment to give direct competition to Realtek.

In the world of media players, firmware matter as high as (or even more than) hardware. The hardware may be top end but if the firmware is poorly designed, it will spoil the entire experience. The device dies it own death if the manufacturer quits bringing updates to the firmware. This is precisely the risk with selecting a device from low profile / less known manufacturers.

IMO one should look at following points while selecting a media player:

1. Brand reputation & support history (if available)
2. Community support (on the net)
3. Hardware capability
4. Features (which are important to you)

The above points are in the order of importance. The last point is user dependent. All devices will have some features or other. Its important that it has "most" of the feature you want. No device is going to have all the features under the sun (or its cost is going to be astronomically high like C-200).

After spending a month on searching various sits on the web, I finally narrowed down to WD TV Live because...

1. It comes from Western Digital - a reputed brand and they have a good support history for WDTV (Of course they have not given everything on the wishlist but same is true for other brands as well)

2. There is a good community support on the net. You also have option for homebrew (custom) firmware. So If WD stops developing firmware, I can go for custom firmware.

3. Hardware is good (if not the best)

4. It comes in my budget (I got for 6.8K from 20north after applying a coupon)

There are people who swear by Xtreamer. Its a good device. But when I compare it against WD especially at the price of 6.8K, the choice is clear...

The last point is also worth looking at... The SoC manufacturers (Realtek / Sigma) bring newer chips after every 2-3 years. Once new chip is released, a bunch of new devices come up. Eventually the device manufacturers stop supporting old device and you are forced to upgrade (unless you want to stick with outdated device). In a nutshell, life of such device is not greater than 4 years. Its not like PS3 where you can expect a life of at least 7-8 years. Therefore it does not make any sense to spend upwards of 10K (this is my personal PoV) on such device.
 
Viewsonic has launched a player for 89.9$, check frys website for details. Not read any reviews though.
-Manish
 
hi,
Ive got a best solution for the media players HD & its working really amazing ,i just bought it from USK Electronics Hyderabad & its Cheaper than Realtek MP
The contact no:9396556197 Mr.Chandra shekar Director of USK.

what is the solution you got, explain...
 
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