Posted Sep 7, 2004 - Upon first opening the box, I have to say I was expecting a larger, heavier unit…the thing is only 9" x 1.5" x 5.25" and weighs 1.5 lbs. While the outputs are reasonable including both composite (rca) and s--video, as well as a digital coaxial output for sound, it would have been nice to include component video. The remote is faily straight-forward offering cell-phonesque numeric-key text entry. The layout of the select button should however be switched with the menu button (the menu button is located below the directional pad that you use for navigating and the select is off the left side which is quite annoying and a thumb's stretch away).
I installed the latest software on my laptop after downloading it from Prismiq's web site. The install went smoothly but it is frustratingly simple in it's ability to use and modify existing folders with media content and takes some time to scan all of your media files. You tell it which folders to "watch" and it scans them for content…so essentially it's "folders" are shortcuts to your existing folders. It's compatible with just about any media file type or playlist format which makes it quite adaptable; I have a large number of varying files and I have yet to stump the prismiq with any file type.
After that initial setup, I simply plugged in the box, turned it on, and that was it. I had immediate access to all of my files (well, the ones I picked anyway), internet radio stations, weather and all advertised features. The gui is fairly simple and easy to navigate. A little less color would tone down it's appearance a little, but it's tolerable as it stands. The home page is useful as it displays your local weather (it finds out where you live and adjusts accordingly) with temperature and satellite weather map, top news headlines (that if clicked on will give you the full story) and a stock ticker (you select the stocks you want to watch). The web feature is useful too, as it's not as quick as sitting at your computer it's convenient to quickly check email, or do a quick search. The local area features are quite useful as they will quickly give you movie times and locations, and restaurants in your area as well as a few other features (yellow pages, etc.), all you have to enter is your zip code and search radius (# of miles). When playing back video it will open a small window over the top of your selected playlist and may be toggled between full screen by pressing a button on the remote. It does a good job of "stretching" the content but being able to manipulate the actual size of the video would be useful for viewing lower quality files.
My first attempt at a firmware update failed…although I can't blame that entirely on the unit, (because the firmware is included as part of the latest software for your pc, it simply pulls the firmware from your pc, however, it must have dropped a packet coming across my network). It would not startup if I had it plugged into the network, so I called their tech help number and got a hold of a reasonably competent tech rep. After a few restarts and a basic checklist he determined that I would need to reflash the unit but needed the optional keyboard to do it (I purchased this but had not received it yet). He sent me an email with instructions and software to flash. Uncontent with not being able to use my toy the first night I got it, I continued to play around with it and finally got it to reboot by unplugging the network connection and plugging it back in about 2/3's of the way through the boot process. At this point, I tried another firmware update and it worked perfectly. I believe the first updat failure was a fluke due to network conditions at the time; the unit is working perfectly now.
I have to say that it is an easy to use product with useful features that even the not-so-tech-savy individual could setup and use with minimal problems. It streams audio and video almost flawlessly over both wired and wireless networks (I've tried it both ways) with only a minor hiccup every now and then and connects to it's web features with tolerable internet speed.
Overall it's a great product with useful features. The prismiq mediaplayer is a simple and affordable solution for playing all of your pc-based media in any other room of the house. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.
96% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?
Rated 
I bought this media player to replace my pc I had ...
Comment about this review
I read a review prior to buying this that said "Go ...
Comments - Post a comment