Customer Reviews

MviX (4000U) Multimedia Center / HTPC

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The reason I bought this device is so that I could back up all my kids' DVDs in one place. Once I placed the order, I grabbed a 250 GB hard drive, put it in my PC, formatted it, and copied about 60 DVDs. I used DVD Shrink to save it in ISO format. I prefer ISO images because it's just 1 file. Once I got my Mvix, I popped in the hard drive. However, the Mvix would not play the ISO files. I found that the firmware was not the latest, so I downloaded the latest from the Mvix website. Once installed, the Mvix has worked flawlessly, never crashing or freezing. Navigation is pretty quick, and the movies start playing right away.

I have the Mvix hooked up to a standard definition 36 inch CRT TV using the included S-video cable, and the picture quality is just like DVD quality. I've never experienced any stuttering or audio problem. It's just like watching a DVD, but more convenient. I haven't tried any formats other than DVD, such as DivX, because it takes too long to encode in these MPEG4 formats.

The Mvix is barely larger than the hard drive, and hence fits anywhere. The unit does make a humming noise, which is probably from the fan and vibration of the hard drive. As soon as the movie starts playing, any sound from the movie will drown out the noise. I do think the fan is essential in cooling the hard drive. I have experience with prior PC hard drive enclosures without fans. Those units can get very hot after the hard drive has been spinning for over a couple hours. And hot hard drives can lead to early failure.

Overall, the Mvix is highly rated.

I've had the Mvix for over a month now, and it has proved to be a great addition, if not replacement, to my home theater equipment. I've stored all my divxs, mpegs, and other video files on here along with my mp3 collection, and it performs wonderfully, even on the 100" projector screen.
Think of it as a big mp3 & portable video player that you can hook up to any screen, its amazing. For less than the cost of a new Ipod I have 250 Gigs of space and the ability to hook it up to a big screen!
Its an all in one solution for digital multimedia. Definitely recommended.

I bought this unit about 2 months ago. I am using it with a 400GB Harddrive. It is so great to have all my divx movies and mp3 music on one unit. Very user friendly and inexpensive.

I also received some A+++ service from the US distributor.

I can strongly reccomend this unit to anyone.

I would certainly buy again from this seller.

David

I recently picked up the 4000U and I couldn't be happier. I loaded a bunch of photos, mp3s and a couple movies onto it and it works like a champ. I've been looking at a media solution for quite some time and this product is exactly what I was looking for. The only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars is because the interface is a little hokey. The firmware upgrade from 1.3 to 1.36 is a big improvement, but I would like to see some area to put CD or DVD cover art so you could just click on the picture and it would launch the media.

I received this unit last week and had already bought a 250GB WD hard drive at BB - it took me 10 minutes to install it and another 30 minutes to figure out that i needed to format the hard drive before hooking up the unit to my TV! As always I should have read the manual. I connected per USB to my desktop and formatted the drive as per the manual. I then copied my DVD collection to the drive as well as some music (MP3) and turned on the TV. The unit was on and I could not see anything - I had to read the manual to find out that the unit wont work while it is hooked up to the Desktop in hard drive mode... again maybe I should learn and read the manual.
I disconnected the drive and now it worked! I set the video to component 720P out and the picture is as good as my high end DVD player! Music was great too.
The remote is easy to use - no issues with anything else either. I already had the latest firmware and the CD that came with it only had a Windows 98 driver (people still use that???) and an electronic copy of the manual (a nice printed version was included). Both are also available on the manufacturer's website so no big deal. The site is actually very useful if you have any issues or just want to see some pictures of the various units.
Overall I am very satisfied with the ease of use and quality of the product. There were some minor scratches on the unit but that did not bother me. Also, I did purchase an extra power cord so that I can have one installed near my main tv and one near my PC so I do not have to keep on dragging them from one room to another. I have not tried the ethernet/network connection - usb 2.0 transfer is good enough for me.
I do plan on buying their high end unit in the future but for now I am very happy with my purchase.

The MVIX 4000U is a great product for the price. I wasn't sure what to expect from it when I received it in the mail. Inside the box includes Unicorn's latest version of the remote, a set of RCA cables, a power cord, a USB 2 cable and of course--the MVIX 4000U.

The MVIX, itself, is quite sturdy. If you have any experience at all with computers, you will easily be able to install a hard drive into it. I bought a 400 Gigabyte Seagate hard drive and was able to put it in with relative ease. Actually the hardest thing about the installation was opening up the case to put in the hard drive. Once I figured it out though, installation was a breeze. I then proceeded to hook up the hard drive to my computer and format the disc. This also was not very difficult and there are nice directions in the manual for those technologically challenged.

I recommend setting up a file system on the hard drive itself for ease of navigation. I personally separated everything into different files. I made files for movies, music, and television shows. There is a button on the remote called the 'media' button that will separate out different file formats if you don't feel like doing that. I hardly even use that button because I created different files for all my varied formats.

It is a decent piece of equipment. Another great feature is when I fill up my hard drive, I can just replace the drive and put in a new one very easily.

The drive can play 5.1 surround sound with the proper cable. The casing is aesthetically pleasing to look at.

There are some problems with this unit. It does not play some of my AVI formats and it does not play some of my WMA formats. When I upgraded the firmware, it was easy, but it didn't fix all the problems that the MVIXUSA website said that it would. The 'Recycle Bin' extension is still on the menu which is a little annoying. When you flip through some video files, the sound will play but the picture won't catch up to the sound and suddenly it will just stop playing. I've had to restart the show that I was just watching and watch it from the beginning again.

The USB 2 is a little slow. That of course has been fixed with the higher models, where you can connect via network, or wirelessly. However since this is the lower version of this model, I did not expect it to do any of that.

The remote is a little difficult to use. I noticed in previous reviews that the remote that used to come with the unit was very small and awkward for people with big fingers to use. This remote does not have that problem. After some trial and error I figured out that the 'Page Up' and the 'Page down' button will flip through to the next movie on the drive. The skip button works like a chapter button and will skip ahead a few minutes in the movie.

Another problem with this product is the website touts how the product has resolutions of up to 1080p. It does, but annoyingly enough, the box does not include component cables for those HD minded. How unfortunate.

Finally, I put about six black and white JPEGs on the MVIX just to see how they would look for picture viewing. That experience I would soon forget. The pictures had this greenish tint to them and did not show up clearly on my televison. Ugh.

To sum it all up, for the price, the MVIX 4000U has the best bang for its buck. It works well for the file formats that it supports and after I bought component cables for my television, it looks great on my HDTV. While the USB 2 may be slow, it performs its function well enough, and you will be zooming through movies and music in no time at all. If you want the LCD screen though, and network access, I recommend that you buy the next step up or higher. The newest model broadcasts wirelessly over your network which is awesome.

There are those that are techno-geeks and then there's me, my friends call me a techno-goober. I was a little nervous when I decided to buy the Mvix 4000U for a personal Christmas present because it sounded like you needed some skills that maybe I didn't have.

But, every time I had an issue, I e-mailed the Mvix folks and the support was great - they responded promptly every time and were extremely patient. Boy were they ever patient - no question was too small and they were never condescending, not even to a goober like me.

So now I am good to go and this baby does every thing it is supposed to, and I am sure more for those who are the geeks. But watching my computer downloads on my 32" television screen is enough for me.

Have no doubts, get one and ask questions! Those guys will help you every step of the way.

This is a perfect product for me. I have 400+ dvds and they are all scattered around in 32 -72 pack cases. With a 300Gb HD and some patience I've copied most of the movies we regularly watch over for easy access as well as my music.
It works as advertised. The remote could be a little bigger/ergodynamic, but you get used to it quickly. Very satisfied and recommend it enough that I bought my parents one and have talked several others into buying with positive reviews from them as well.

The Mvix MV-4000U is a combination external hard drive enclosure/media player. You insert any 3.5" IDE hard drive into it, connect it via USB to your computer, and transfer over your music, photos and videos. Then you connect the stylish little device (it's less than 8 inches tall) to your TV or home theater system and enjoy all of your media in your living room or home theater without the need for a dedicated home theater PC.

The Mvix player supports JPG and MP3 files, of course (for photos and music), but it also supports pretty much all of the most popular video file formats including AVIs (with Divx or Xvid encoding), MPEG-1, MPEG2 and MPEG-4, as well as DVD rips (in both ISO and IFO format).

If you've got a growing collection of music, movies and photos on your computer, and you'd like the convenience and quality of being able to enjoy these on your home stereo, TV or home theater system, then check out the Mvix MV-4000U. Also worth consideration is its slightly more feature-packed sibling the MV-5000U which adds a small LCD display and support for wireless broadcast of your audio content over FM frequencies.

For a comprehensive review, check out www.bigpicturebigsound.com.

I bought the MVIX a couple of months ago. Although the unit has worked fine, it DOES NOT play MP4 files as indicated in the documentation. As a result I have had to convert ALL of my video files from MP4 to DivX, as one of the formats supported.

The documentation is a poor translation of what seems to be Korean language.