ALDI Media Player 69.99 Sunday

dowtchaboy

Media Player each €69.99
Enhance your viewing and listening quality in an instant: connects to your TV (by HDMI or analogue socket) to give images of HD clarity, connects to your Hi-Fi system for ultimate sound reproduction.

Supports all common video formats (including H264 and MKV)
Remote control
2 USB interfaces
Integrated card reader
Network compatible

---

There's no internal memory - you have to add USB or SD card, and presumably it will read big USB drives (like the 500G one they have for €65)

FredH3ad

Link?

mayordenis

type aldi into google and it fairly easy to find

http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/2827_11758.htm

ErinGoBrath

It's a bit hideous looking compared to the WDTV. Wonder how the performance compares?

long_b

'Network compatible' - ethernet or what does anyone know ?

dowtchaboy

It looks like a Medion model e85015.
If so the manual is here:

http://download.medion.com/downloads/anleitungen/bda86162uk.pdf

It shows RJ45 connector (ie normal Ethernet).

pinksoir

Cheaper, similar items:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-micro-hdmi-1080p-upscaling-media-converter-and-player-mte-01004_retail-boxed.html

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-enclosure-player-mte063_retail-boxed.html

And one with a 500G drive already in it for a similar price:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-player-with-500gb-hard-drive-mte072_retail-boxed.html

dowtchaboy

pinksoir wrote: »

Cheaper, similar items:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-micro-hdmi-1080p-upscaling-media-converter-and-player-mte-01004_retail-boxed.html

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-enclosure-player-mte063_retail-boxed.html

And one with a 500G drive already in it for a similar price:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-player-with-500gb-hard-drive-mte072_retail-boxed.html

You are buying stuff from the St Vincent de Paul?:)

ronaneire

pinksoir wrote: »

Cheaper, similar items:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-micro-hdmi-1080p-upscaling-media-converter-and-player-mte-01004_retail-boxed.html

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-enclosure-player-mte063_retail-boxed.html

And one with a 500G drive already in it for a similar price:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-player-with-500gb-hard-drive-mte072_retail-boxed.html

They don't seem to have any HDMI connections?

pinksoir

dowtchaboy wrote: »

You are buying stuff from the St Vincent de Paul?:)

Yep

ronaneire wrote: »

They don't seem to have any HDMI connections?

Oops, yeah, the second two don't. The first, cheapest one does. However, it's currently out of stock, but I'm sure a search on amazon would find it...

EDIT: Yup:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sumvision-Cyclone-Micro-Upscaling-Player/dp/B002BC662G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264203950&sr=8-2

And the full HD one with youtube and BBC iPlayer:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sumvision-Cyclone-Adaptor-Supports-firmware/dp/B002U2SJC2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264203950&sr=8-3

Richard Dower

How does this compare to the WD Live?.....can anyone recomend a media player that will player NEWER encoded .mkv files?

In the last couple of months .mkv files are being encoded with a codec and as such my LG Blu-Ray player will play the files and chewed up and pixalated. I think it's due to the newer MPEG 4 AV codec being used.

So, what media player can handle these newer codecs?

Richard Dower

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-181-4486.html&ei=lThXS_m_HaOI0wSEpdz7BA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-181-4486.html%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26hs%3DxZe

mink_man

bargain..FACT!

Richard Dower

^ why?

markirish22

Think would be better off with this: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=497997&view=detailed#ProductTabs

witnessmenow

this popped up on DX too

jenno86

I thinking of getting one of these, or would I be better off going for a WDTV?

jd83

Looks good, but its not much of a bargin when you get to the store and find out that each store only has 2 or 3 in stock.

opr

Tech spec

http://www.iboum.com/pr/med85015.php

opr

Can someone explain what not having DTS support means for the end user ? I see it mentioned in a couple of places but still not sure what impact it has.

JHMEG

The Aldi player has network, HDMI, and plays HD MKV files.

Stop comparing it to cheaper players that are missing some or all of the above!

It is a Realtek-based device, broadly similar to these ones:
http://www.iboum.com/sort/media-players-filter-realtek.php

At that price it is excellent value for money, but firmware updates would be a worry as there are Realtek SDKs in use, and all are buggy.

zod

will it deffo play files from an external hard disk thats usb powered, similar to the 500GB thats also for sale ?

opr

zod wrote: »

will it deffo play files from an external hard disk thats usb powered, similar to the 500GB thats also for sale ?

It definitely will but on another forum someone said that alot of files you download are mkv files encoded with DTS and since this players doesn't support DTS then it won't play sound. This is why I asked for more info on DTS as if that's true it would be a big drawback for what most people would be using it for.

Richard Dower

I picked up one this morning, from Aldi on the Roxboro road...it was mad!, there was 60 people waiting for the shop to open, mad dash...VERY limited stock. I think they only had about 10 of the media player in stock.

There was only four people ahead of me, but a few bought 2 of them and the USB hard drives, some buying the Laptop....twas gas!

Not used it yet, DTS down mixing is an issue, as say movies are ripped with DTS, but i *think* most tv shows are AC3 5.1 or Dolby Digital...which is fine.

I just wanted to try it out, i might take it back after testing :-)

My main issue is support and firmware upgrades, the Medion website don't even have the media player listed on the website!, i suspect firmwre updates will be non existant.

One should consider this before purchasing, btw...the 500GB USB HDD needs two USB ports, one data one power.

Richard Dower

rpo wrote: »

It definitely will but on another forum someone said that alot of files you download are mkv files encoded with DTS and since this players doesn't support DTS then it won't play sound. This is why I asked for more info on DTS as if that's true it would be a big drawback for what most people would be using it for.

It uses a Realtek 1073DA chip, not the newer 1073DD...which supports DTS downmix and passthrough, passthrough means you can output the audio to an external decoder/amplifer.

Apparently the GUI is based on an early Realtek firmware, i'll check the firmware myself and post.

Black_Knight

pinksoir wrote: »

Cheaper, similar items:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-micro-hdmi-1080p-upscaling-media-converter-and-player-mte-01004_retail-boxed.html

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-enclosure-player-mte063_retail-boxed.html

And one with a 500G drive already in it for a similar price:

http://www.svp.co.uk/electrical/av-home-cinema/sumvision-cyclone-multimedia-player-with-500gb-hard-drive-mte072_retail-boxed.html

They dont play .mkv files. Ive the first one you linked to, and it was just a waste of money.

Are these selling like hot cakes?? Stupid Dungarvan with only stupid Lidl and not stupid Aldi. Grrr

dowtchaboy

For anybody in Cork - there's an ALDI on the old road near CARRIGTWOHILL that a lot of people don't seem to know about, and another at Skehard Road in Blackrock (just about) where it might be worth checking. In all ALDIs it's always worth asking - often there will be some in the Managers office.

Black_Knight

Apparently anything near Athlone is sold out of them. Clonmel, Tipp (i think), Limerick, Gort, Galway. Here I come!

enfant terrible

rpo wrote: »

It definitely will but on another forum someone said that alot of files you download are mkv files encoded with DTS and since this players doesn't support DTS then it won't play sound. This is why I asked for more info on DTS as if that's true it would be a big drawback for what most people would be using it for.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PopCorn_MKV_AudioConverter

Will convert DTS to Dolby Digital 5.1 or stereo

turly

Lack of DTS decode isn't that much of a problem. My telly (a Samsung B650 series) will play MKVs directly off a USB stick or hard drive but won't demux DTS so any DTS-only MKV files need a few minutes extra processing before being copied to the USB stick.

Downmixing the audio and remuxing a 2 hour MKV movie is a 10-minute job on my 3-year-old PC - plenty of tools already exist to do just that. See here for more details, but in a nutshell:

PCs have a nice tool for this - Heartware's Popcorn MKV Converter. (So called because the first versions of the Popcorn Hour media player also didn't handle DTS - I don't use mine much anymore since I got the telly.)

Linux, OS X or cygwin users could do worse than use Jake Wharton's mkvdts2ac3 script. OS X users might like to look here for installation hints!

OK, it's a disadvantage that the player won't downmix DTS - but it's not the end of the world :-)

opr

enfant terrible wrote: »

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PopCorn_MKV_AudioConverter

Will convert DTS to Dolby Digital 5.1 or stereo

Yeah but its a tonne of messing for every file I want to play that's encoded in DTS. I have no idea why someone would buy this over WDTV Live.

turly

Umm, 50 euros more expensive? Just a guess, mind you.

BostonB

Richard Dower wrote: »

...One should consider this before purchasing, btw...the 500GB USB HDD needs two USB ports, one data one power.

I think it depends on the specific drive, and/or the USB ports of the device. Either might be out of spec slightly.

I bought a cheapo Dane-Elec 500GB 2.5 external. €79 from Reads, and it works on one USB, on everything I've tried including my Philips DVD player. But it comes with a Y cable if you need to use a 2nd USB cable.

enfant terrible

rpo wrote: »

Yeah but its a tonne of messing for every file I want to play that's encoded in DTS. I have no idea why someone would buy this over WDTV Live.

No its easy just select file and where to store it and your done

cramp

Thought i would give a quick review of this..

Picked one up with a 500gb hdd drive...

Iam very VERY impressed with this...

I bought this to add to my PopcornHour110 and NMT Istar HD

I have to say this but this little thing is as Good if not better....than my popcorn hour!!!

(ok Popcorn hour has huge amount more features including DTS decoder on board)

Ok 1st off this has NO DTS decoder on board!!!
For DTS u need a separate decoder ...

Audio is sent stereo through HDMI....(or u can connect to amp for /dts/dd)

Anyway i bought this for playing MKVs...
Any MKV i have thrown into plays 100% , 720/1080 no problem...

I used MKV rip of Batman the Dark Knight 1080p....for testing this to the max as this never played properly in my NMT ISTAR or my Popcornhour 110...and i originally had issues playing this on a HTPC

But plays perfectly in this 69euro device....

Plays all other formats no prob....
but has the same issue as with all other multi codec players with WMV files

Correct me if iam wrong... it plays WMV 9 and no others!!!

Watch out for them next time they are for sale!

NordicDiver

They have updated the WDTV with dts now. No need to buy the more expensive WDTV Live for dts, just make sure you get v2 of it before u buy it.

Should say dts in the spec sheet.

the-ging

Hey, the Hisense 1080p Media Player got a good review from Engadget, could be an option for someone looking for a media player.
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/05/review_media_player_hisense_1080p/
£61 or €82 (i.e.buy in sterling) from expansys.

If someone has one want to give a review?

madmoe

cramp wrote: »

Thought i would give a quick review of this..

Picked one up with a 500gb hdd drive...

Iam very VERY impressed with this...

I bought this to add to my PopcornHour110 and NMT Istar HD

I have to say this but this little thing is as Good if not better....than my popcorn hour!!!

(ok Popcorn hour has huge amount more features including DTS decoder on board)

Ok 1st off this has NO DTS decoder on board!!!
For DTS u need a separate decoder ...

Audio is sent stereo through HDMI....(or u can connect to amp for /dts/dd)

Anyway i bought this for playing MKVs...
Any MKV i have thrown into plays 100% , 720/1080 no problem...

I used MKV rip of Batman the Dark Knight 1080p....for testing this to the max as this never played properly in my NMT ISTAR or my Popcornhour 110...and i originally had issues playing this on a HTPC

But plays perfectly in this 69euro device....

Plays all other formats no prob....
but has the same issue as with all other multi codec players with WMV files

Correct me if iam wrong... it plays WMV 9 and no others!!!

Watch out for them next time they are for sale!

I have a Sony amp that I think can decode DTS. Does this Medion player have an optical out that I can connect to the optical in on my receiver\amp?

If so, now to find one of them ;-)

JHMEG

I have the Hisense, but considering this thread is about the Aldi player, which is cheaper, I don't see anything to recommend the Hisense over the Aldi. If I didn't have the Hisense I'd buy the Aldi in a shot.

funkyjebus

Does it even play ac3 audio? I don't see it listed as an audio format.

Also it says it will play mkv, but will it play x264 mkv, which is what we will all no doubt be playing (99% of HD mkv downlaoded are x264), I mean it specifies h264?

richardw001

Anyone know of a reasonably priced one of these that can access a network drive wirelessly ?

In terms of this being a good deal - I ordered one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sumvision-Cyclone-Micro-Upscaling-Player/dp/B002BZCE2Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264414091&sr=8-1

- approx 30 euros including the super saver delivery - not sure that it covers all the bases in terms of formats - however I reckon that for 30 euros you cant go wrong.
Anyone know - what the shortcommings of the above are relative to the aldi offer ?

JHMEG

richardw001 wrote: »

Anyone know - what the shortcommings of the above are relative to the aldi offer ?

Not the same class of machine at all. No network and no HD.

richardw001

Is there a harddisk included in the aldi one for the 70 euro ?

In terms of network - presumably its a wired connection ? - If I plugged in into my home net - would it see a network drive ?

Black_Knight

cyclone MKV FTW, because I couldnt get the Aldi one.

richardw001

JHMEG wrote: »

Not the same class of machine at all. No network and no HD.

Thats a fair enough comment - regarding the network connection (although neither have a HD from what I can see ?)

- only thing I would say though is 90% of people are only going to be plugging in a usb drive directly - so they wouldnt need the network connection. I'm hoping the cyclone one that I ordered does the trick - for that.

Black_Knight

richardw001 wrote: »

I'm hoping the cyclone one that I ordered does the trick - for that.

It wont play .mkv files, so it basically wont play HD rips, as they are 99% of the time .mkv. I bought one following a thread here in bargain alerts, id of sold you my one for cheaper. Im gonna get the cyclone mkv off ebay one of these days. Need to get a HDMI 4 port splitter too, all the better if I can find on with an audio out on it too!

madmoe

Network could be handy as its a real pain having to plug in HDD to laptop every time u want to put stuff on it.

I had the original WD HD TV and got rid of it once I heard there was one coming out with network support.

I don't use my 1TB HDD for anything else but storing movies etc so having it plugged in all the time and the fact its not USB powered is essential for me.

nice1franko

Would this be a contender? http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/3084050/art/memup/mediadisk-lx-lan-500-gb-m.html

madmoe

My brother just got me the last one in Claremorris, happy days! Lets hope its able to play all the MKV's I have.....

degsie

nice1franko wrote: »

Would this be a contender? http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/3084050/art/memup/mediadisk-lx-lan-500-gb-m.html

Looks like this doesn't support MKV and other codecs nativly. You have to run some s/w on your PC and then stream to the device. I'd be weary, well that's my 2'c.

nice1franko

Ok maybe this looks like a winner? : http://www.envizage.com/products/mkve---1000-cyclone-1000gb-1tb-mkv--lan--hdmi--upnp-media-player.html