Television-connected media players from pretty much any company outside a Fortune 500 technology player are hit and miss some get popularized via hype and excellent marketing campaigns, while others are half-assed devices which get the job done but are beyond frustrating to use. The Masscool MP-1371RS Media Player may have a very generic name, and look like it probably falls into the half-assed category, but I assure you, it does not. ThinkComputers reviews this sleeper contender and gives it rave reviews.
Special thanks to Masscool for providing us with the MP-1371RS Media Player for review.
Features and Specifications
- Support internal 2.5″ SATA HDD
- Support BT download and network sharing
- Dolby and DTS ready
- Full-HD 1080P video playback on your TV system
Exterior Interfaces
Video Output
Composite Out * 1
HDMI 1.3 Out * 1, Support up to 1920*1080p
Audio Output
Audio L/R Out * 1
SPDIF (Optical) * 1
File Transfer Port
USB 2.0 Host Port * 2 (Type A)
Data Transfer With PC
USB Mini Port * 1
Ethernet
10/100Mbps RJ45 * 1
SATA Data and Power
Multi-Media Support
Video Decoding (Movie)
DivX 3/4/5/6, Xvid: AVI/MKV Support up to 1080P
H.264, AVC: TS/AVI/MKV/MOV/M2TS Support up to 1080p
MPEG-1: MPG/MPEG/DAT Support up to 1080p
MPEG-2: MPG/MPEG/VOB/ISO/IFO/TS/TP/M2TS Support up to 1080p
MPEG-4: MP4/AVI/MOV Support up to 1080p
WMV9: WMV Support up to 1080p
FLV: FLV Support up to 1080p
Real Video 8/9/10: RM/RMVB Support up to 720p
Audio Decoding (Movie)
Dolby Digital AC3, DTS (Not Pass through)
MPEG-1 Layer 1/2/3, MPEG-II layer 1/2 Real Audio,AAC,WMA,LPCM
HDMI RAW/SPDIF RAW output for Amplifier decoding 5.1/7.1 audio channels
Audio Decoding (Music)
WMA,MP3,Real Audio (RA), WAV,OGG,AAC,FLAC
Picture Format
JPEG,BMP,PNG
Packaging
Multimedia box Unit *1
DC Power Adapter *1
AV Cable *1
USB Cable *1
Remote Control *1
User Manual *1
Screw Package
Packaging
Billed as a “media home theatre”, this Masscool Media Player comes in a small white box which is simply teeming with every home theatre buzzword which can fit on it: “high definition”, “Supports BT download and network sharing”, “Dolby and DTS ready”, “1080P”, “HDMI”, etc. I remained skeptical as I opened the box, thinking this is just another media player which is cheap and frustrating.
The media player comes with composite a/v cables, a power adapter, USB cable, remote control, manual, and screws.
Pros: Can play many medi formats. Former owner of IOdata avelink player and this is a vast improvement. Plays the mkv files that I purchased I for and much more. Hard drive installation was quick and easy. The fan on my unit was not loud, but have read that some others have noticed it as being noisy.
Cons: It did not include a HDMI cable. Support from masscool is non-existent. Forums are non-existent. Firmware updates are non-existent, at least from masscool. User guide is poor.
No info on the “transcode server” that you install on your pc.
Currently the network aspect of it does not work/has issues with windows7.
Other Thoughts: There is hope:) Patriot's “Office Box” is the same device with a different label. Patriot has pages of support, forums, firmware, noisy fan replacement, directions, Q+A. Google it. The good side is that you most likely can use all of the firmware offered by Patriot in the masscool box..all but maybe the fan replacement.
Nelson thanks for the comments, we will looking into getting the unit from Patriot as well…
And it was never heard of again..
The community maketh and it doth taketh away.
WHy this ? and Not a WD TV HD live? A known and very capable player.
And it was never heard of again..
The community maketh and it doth taketh away.
WHy this ? and Not a WD TV HD live? A known and very capable player.