Customer Reviews

Mustek PVRA1 Personal Media Center

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was toying with buying a "Video Now" or "Juice Box" like device for my mature and soon to be twelve year old girl, but was unhappy with their proprietary media and associated high cost. I was looking for other options and happened across the Mustek PVR-A1. The price varies significantly from seller to seller, and I located it for $129. It seemed like an inexpensive alternative, so I opened the box and played with it to be sure it met my expectations before giving it to her.

Before I get critical, I want to summarize that I am overall impressed by this compact piece of technology. It does everything it says in the ads, and the 2.5 inch screen is adequate. Its capability to expand its memory with cheap SD/MMC cards is a great feature. I located a 512M card for the device for around $25 (with rebate) and according to the directions my daughter will be able to record over four hours of video. Better yet, she'll be able to delete them or transfer them to computer, making room for new ones. Try that with a "Video Now!"

The PVR-A1 appears very close in features and form factor to the Audiovox PVR1000. Perhaps the same unit? I bring this up because Audiovox says their unit will take a 1 Gig. (twice the size of 512M) memory card. Mustek says the unit is "only tested to 512M." So, perhaps some larger 1 Gig. cards will work.

So, the first thing you need to know about recording programs, etc., is that you need "VIDEO OUT" jacks to do so. Easy access to "VIDEO OUT" jacks will make your life easier. The three little hook ups on the front of your TV or VCR are usually "VIDEO IN" and won't work. If you have a portable DVD player or laptop DVD with "VIDEO OUT", then your job will be much easier. In summary, if you've never hooked up a VCR or DVD player and don't understand the basics, this unit may not be for you.

One of the easier solutions is to run cables from Video Out jacks on back of a VCR, then the PVR-A1 unit will be able to record both TV from the VCR tuner and video cassette tapes. If the jacks are already occupied, you can get "two into one" adapters at RAdio Shack.

I first experimented with recording a DVD. As mentioned above, I crawled to the back of my stereo cabinet and plugged in the PVR-A1 jacks. The PVR was set up to record in LP mode, which conserves memory by recording lower quality video. Barely adequate, as the image was frequently pixelized (visual blocks of color). But after going into the unit's set-up and changing it to SP, the image was clear - just some of the text in the credits had rough edges. The image I recorded was wide screen, and I noticed some of the screen pixels in the first line at the top and unused by the video, were white, not black. Minorly annoying imperfection, and not there when something is recorded in full screen.

The buttons take some getting used to but function OK. The On-Off button is small - so small I can't use my thumb to turn it on. And it seems I have to hold some buttons down a second or two longer than I anticipate to get the function to work - as though there's a slight delay.

The menus for each individual feature (video player, MP3 player, etc) are a little difficult to access and master the interface. The up side is these are probably items you won't have to access often - for example, changing SP speed to LP in the video set-up or the equalizer settings in the MP3 player. The volume and fast forward-rewind are the same lever, and you need to toggle the two functions by pushing another button. I sometimes found myself fast-forwarding an MP3 when I really wanted to adjust the volume.

The MP3 player sounds OK. The games are probably useless to most. The clock and calendar have little functionality, and are probably onboard only for scheduling recording times. Yes, you can set up the PVR to record at a certain time.

So, consider the price! I think it's a great trade-off for some of its shortcomings. And if you have a way to easily hook up a video source for recording, you'll definitely make good use of the device.

I looked the Internet over for a review before purchasing the device and couldn't find any. I hope you find this useful.

Bill L.

This is an excellent Multimedia device. If your looking for a GENERAL Video/Audio player/recorder you just cant beat the price! I purchased it with a Lexar 1GB card and it works great. There are only two complaints that I have to this otherwise great device.

1. PVRA1 Only displays 8 character format names(ABCDEF~1.MP3) and auto sorts them?! :(

2. PVRA1 Doesnt handle PlayLists!

3. PVRA1 requires supplied video encoding software. (Cant use DrDiVX and just copy it over.)

These are simple fixes that will require some MAJOR complaining to the VP's over at mustek to get it addressed!

The player does what it advertises. The Video & Sound quality is great, the supplied case was a nice pluss, and being a SOLID STATE device unlike most other (portable MP4/DiVX) players you wont have to worry about the hard disk failing down the road bad sectors. 4/5!

[...] PROS: First this is a very small light player. Construction and finish are excellent. The blue front and back are metal. The "Mustek" logo is brushed metal. Conrtrolls are very fast and easy. Just plug it into your TV, VCR, DVD player, and record. You can't do that with the PSP and I don't believe you can do that with the Archos Gemini. Picture is sharp and clear. MP3 sound is clean. Sound recorder- distance from subject is critical, but, I recorded my friend playing classical guitar with the on-board mike and the sound was very good (more so with better earbuds). Very nice case, with 2 pockets for SD cards. (I got a 1G card for $60 after rebates at Office Max. Just watch for sales.) For your photos, the slide show option is very nice with each of your pictures materializing in a different way. I like the callendar...what can I say? CONS: A movie in full screen looks fine. A movie in wide screen is only 7/8 inch tall, but is still clear. Here's the big problem with this thing. When you directly record from a DVD, a TV show or a VHS tape that came with a movie on it, there is a static sound in the video's audio- not enough to ruin the movie, just enough to be anoying. I tried recording from different sources, even new electronics in stores, but the noise was always there. I'm certain that if you ripped a DVD to hard drive, and converted it, the sound would be perfect... but I don't even want to mess with that. I suspect a $500 Archos that can record directly like the PVR1 would have the same problem, I don't know..) Here's the good news. If you record a TV show onto VHS and record that with your PVR, the playback sound will be acceptable. The menu icon on the PVR for video record is a VHS tape- maybe they are trying to tell us something? I recorded Raiders of the Lost Ark off TV a few years ago- not only is the sound ok, it's naturaly in FULL screen, which is what you want with this player. ..But "I want to watch my "Hidalgo" DVD, and AMC isn't going to show it for a few years yet". What you can do is record it off your TV with a camcorder. You can pan, zoom and have full screen or not, or even close ups! Then run the camcorder into the front of your vcr, and record to the PVR out the back. Picture will be degraded, (in some ways, enhanced) but bigger and -It's like a movie you shot...kinda. It's fun! Don't even think about playing the two dumb games the PVRA1 has. MP3 sound is good, but you can't get the volume WAY loud. There is no mega-bass eq setting. There is a "bass" option, but it just lowers the highs. TIPS- When the red LED light goes out, the battery is not fully charged. Charge it overnight. Fully charged this way, I got 2 hours and 15 minutes of continuous video play. When the screen gets greasy, put a little water (not spit) on a clean finger and wipe it on the screen. Dry your finger on clean clothes, then wipe more water off the screen, dry finger and repeat. I wouldn't use any kind of paper or cloth. Clean FLESH won't scratch anything. Record movies in sections. They flow together seamlessly and you'll get thumbnails so you can go to any number of scenes, like a chapter menu.

I just got my new Mustek last night and I really like it.

Let me start out by saying that I think the packaging was excellent. The device was secure in the box, the quickstart guide was easy to find and very descriptive, and the myriad of cables were out of the way in the lower section.

The menus are easy to understand, the menu icons are readable, the mini-icons (loop, delete one, delete all, etc.) are understandable.

The vid quality is very good - providing you input good source files. It is viewable in daylight and too-bright office conditions.

The screen is big enough for two people to watch a show, especially if you are cozy - or on a plane.

I really appreciate the ability to record from TV (well, TiVo), played with it last night and was impressed with the quality as well as the compression (38 megs for a 22 minute TV show).

The sound quality is proportional to your speakers. The built-in speaker sounds a tiny bit mushy, but I'll give it kudos for being loud enough to hear in a crowded room. The provided earbud headphones are OK but you do get nice sound from a decent quality full-size headphone. Both videos and MP3s sounded fine.

The case is well designed, although I'd like a little more assurance the device isn't going to slip sideways out of the case. Even an elastic strap would be better than nothing. Oh, I'd also suggest they add extra fabric flap in between card storage and the device. I'm concerned the hard plastic SD/MMC cards will scratch the case finish or LCD. I'll be gluing a flap.

I'm not as impressed with the converter software on the PC (Win XP). It does have the ability to do multiple files at once, and multiple file types, but that's the highpoint. The actual conversion doesn't ever tell you when it's done moving files. Once the little progress bars are full it doesn't go away and you can only click Cancel (which seems counterintuitive). It also doesn't show you the files you just converted and dropped. I would also like the ability to pre-convert video files without the device being connected, like while I'm at work. Then when I get home I'd use File Manager and move everything over manually.

Remember to let it charge for at least three hours before you play with it!

It is a good thing it comes with a rechargable battery, because the compartment door is kind of flimsy. I wish it were a little stronger, I occasionally travel overseas and would like to bring extra batteries for the flight.

Five out of five stars, and I'm showing it off to everyone at work today. In my opinion it comes off very well indeed when you compare it to some of the high end devices on the market - especially when you consider it is 1/6th (or more) of the price of the competition (cough - Archos).

Mustek PVRA1 is a great addition to your gadget collection

I think this device is absolutly brilliant! It has everything it said it would have, for a very good price. When you get this the best thing to do would be to get a SD memory card, and if you get a 512mb memory card you can store over 3 and a half hours of videos! Thats enough for most movies and an episode of your favourite sitcom. Its small and light, and fits into your pocket easily. Menu is extremely easy to use, and the MP3's have great quality, (if you upgrade your earphones, you can get even better quality, think Ipod...) 5 stars!

I got the product shipped to me pretty soon!!! I am amazed with the flexibilty of the product. I have bought a Lexar 1 GB SD card as well so that I can have more storage space. The little concern for me is that I have to charge atleast twice a day. If I can know the compatable batteries then I will probably go for it. I am giving this product 5 stars, it is worth more than the price!!!In the beginning I was little hesitant to buy uncommon brand products, but I am impressed with this Mustek product now!!! If I can get the specification for the comapatible long life batteries then I will be grateful.

Excellent picture and sound when using head phones. It doesn't come with very much onboard memory, but you can easily buy expandable memory for it. It's easy to use and works great on Windows XP (I can't speak for any other OS). The screen is pretty big and viewable. The menu is user-friendly. I would highly recommend this product because it is worth every penny!

I've recently purchased the Mustek PVRA1 Personal Media Center, and I wasn't dissapointed, the item work as stated, you can record your favorite TV show, record from a DVD player or download files from a PC, display your pictures, play MP3, it even has a calendar. There are many things to like about this item, with only a few negative, but the PVR is worth every penny. The Best part has to be the way you can record your TV shows or movies from a DVD player ( Granted you have a high memory SD/MMC card). You simply connect the PVR to your DVD player with the included cable and that's it. I've recorded a whole hour of " Law and Order" on one 128mb SD card. I've just ordered a 1Gig SD card so I can have more space ...........Downloading a movie file from a PC, is much slower,((As one user has stated)) but why do that, when you can easily record straight from your TV or DVD player....All in all this is a great product, highly recommended.

I would have rated it 5 stars if it can do a little bit more. But for the price, this is what we will get. Here are some of the pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Get audio, video and photo players for as little as $100.

2. The quality of playback is good.

3. Small speaker that is good.

Cons:

1. Bad document.

2. Cannot convert video files other than AVI even though they say it can do.

4. Cannot create play list.

5. Can display just 8 characters of songs.

Some of the customers have mentioned here that they cannot use the convertor software without connecting the PVR. What I found is if the PVR is not connected, it will display an error message. If we press OK, it will say that the media will be stored in a temporary directory which we can download it later.

Another thing is only for video we need the convertor software for audio and photos we can directly copy using the disk drive mode. I usually copy to the SD card directly using my card reader which I found is much faster.

I bought this PVR mainly to record from my helmet cam while I was riding my motorcycle. I don't really care to much about the other features, although they are cool. For recording, I wish that the FPS and res were higher, but what can I expect for $90. I was attracted mainly because it is a solid state recorder. The PVRs are just becoming popular, and hopefully in a few months a better one will be available. For my purpose, this PVRA1 is somewhat useful, but could be better.