CNET editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Mediocre
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 06/28/2006
- Released on: 05/24/2006
Measuring approximately 1 by 6.5 by 5.5 inches (HWD), the diminutive Wireless MediaMVP is devoid of front-panel controls and buttons, and it doesn't have an integrated display, which means you'll have to rely on the remote and a connected TV to interface with the unit. The front panel is punctuated by only a swiveling Wi-Fi antenna and a status-indicator light that shines through the translucent plastic. Around back, you'll find an Ethernet jack for wired networks, composite-video and S-Video outputs, and analog stereo (red and white) RCA jacks, as well as a coaxial digital audio output. The unit doesn't have component-video or HDMI jacks. That's because, unlike the HD-capable D-Link DSM-520, the Hauppauge is strictly limited to standard-definition video streaming.
The Wireless MediaMVP's main menu is spartan but easy to navigate. Click one of the five big onscreen buttons--videos, pictures, music, radio, and settings--and you'll get appropriate submenus where you can navigate the respective media files, Internet radio stations, or system settings. You access media files through the directories and subdirectories in which they're stored on your networked PC. Although that's standard practice for video and still-image files, it's a shame that the unit doesn't let you more conveniently navigate music by ID3-based categories, such as artist, title, genre, and album.
The full-size, 43-button remote control includes a four-way keypad. It's used in conjunction with the center-mounted select button and the Back button to intuitively navigate lists and menu levels. The remote also has videos, music, radio, and pictures buttons that shortcut directly to the main navigation screens. Play, pause, track skip, track scan, and stop buttons provide DVD-player-like control of video.
Setting up the Hauppauge Wireless MediaMVP is simple. You connect it to your TV--and your home stereo system, if you'd prefer something better than your TV's speakers--then install the included server software on your PC, power the unit on, and step through a few screens, configuring it to work with your Wi-Fi network. The system supports 64- and 128-bit WEP encryption but not WPA--not uncommon but always annoying when you have to ratchet down your wireless network's security just to gain compatibility with a media device. The MediaMVP offers 16:9 and 4:3 display settings, but on several TVs, the user interface filled only approximately 85 percent of the screen, leaving black borders on all sides. Hauppauge's included PC application can be used to make files and folders available for playback over the Wireless MediaMVP, or you can grab the remote control and achieve the same results through the unit's settings menus. Our test unit came preconfigured to play only one Internet radio station, but adding more selections from Shoutcast was easy enough. It's worth noting that the device can't play Live365 stations, to which Live365 doesn't provide direct links (URLs), as required by the device.
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