Falcon MVIX MX780HD review

Falcon streamer nearly flies

Falcon MVIX MX780HD
This HD media server is also networkable

TechRadar Verdict

There's plenty to like here, but this device hasn't reached its full potential yet

Pros

  • +

    Widespread file compatability

  • +

    Impressive connectivity

Cons

  • -

    Prone to crashing

  • -

    Dodgy Wi-Fi connectivity

  • -

    Noisy fan

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An HD Ready media player, the compact Linux-based MX-780HD can store media locally on a self-installed HDD.

This isn't included, but FAT32/NTFS-formatted drives of up to 1 terabyte in size are supported.

Networked storage

After the drive is installed, the box can be plugged into a PC via USB; it's then recognised as an external drive and your media can be copied to it.

However, the MX-780HD is also a networkable media player - built-in are wi-fi and a 100Mbps Ethernet port. It doesn't support UPNP/DLNA compliant servers (instead it seeks out shared folders on a network PC).

Media content is categorised - music, movies and photos - with a friendly handset-driven menu system.

It works reasonably well - the video and audio performance can be quite good - and edges us a step closer to the 'ideal' media player. But we're not quite there yet...

Highs

The Falcon offers plenty of AV connectivity - component, HDMI, composite, S-video, analogue stereo and coaxial/optical digital - plus three USB 2.0 ports, two of which operate in 'host' mode (for playback from external memory devices). Media support is wide, including MPEG-2 video, MP3, WMA, DivX, XviD and JPEG. HD WMV/MPEG-2/DivX/XviD content (up to 720p, plus 1080i MPEG-2) can also be played. The digital audio outputs have a 'pass-through' mode for Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 soundtracks.

Lows

Wi-fi capability is poor. You have to enter details manually as opposed to displaying a list of available connections. The unit also crashes from time to time, and the cooling fan rumbles a bit.