Mede8er announces "MED500X2" out now!

[3kb6vs9b1]

So we read positive first critics fom MPClub http://www.mpcclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27047

[Maasbommel]

For those who are curious....

Mede8er 500X2 Preview video

Cheers,
Maasbommel

[the-osiris]

.. and that's what I'm talking about  

http://www.mede8erforum.com/index.php/topic,5153.0.html

[jer1956]

You'll have to excuse future replies to problems if they include "that dosn't happen with the X2".

On the surface it looks the same, with a different GUI. I don't care if the box is the same and you can't tell from 6 feet it isn't different as the name is then to small to read. Underneath it uses a much better chip and is better for it.

Crucially it supports IPTV keyboard/mice for the internet functions. Using a screen based keyboard and the remote is far too frustrating. You won't end up with two controllers though. The IPTV keyboard can act as a wifi remote replacing the normal infra red remote for most common functions.

It also supports DNLA DMR (Digital Media Renderer). That means you can now use it with a host of third party applets from a PC. So "Play To" on Windows 7 now works.  So you can add your Med500X2 hosted music files to WMP12 as a library, and then use PlayTo to Play them on the Med500x2 under the control of your PC or laptop. OK the music is coming from the Med to the PC, and then back - but who's going to notice!


Those with fancy phones should check out what DNLA DMR might mean for them.
http://kb.promise.com/KnowledgebaseArticle10226.aspx

[copyer]

Hey, The new one can be used with 3 TB disks. i gues it has an other FW. or is it chip related? I hope there is an last FW for the 'old' med, so we can use also 3 TB.

[jer1956]

Hey, The new one can be used with 3 TB disks. i gues it has an other FW. or is it chip related? I hope there is an last FW for the 'old' med, so we can use also 3 TB.

It depends on how it's implemented. To keep Windows XP happy (as it's still populer) drive makers have to make 3TB drives which are compatible without using GPT. WD use a hardware based solution requiring new controller chips on a plug in board. Seagate introduced Smartalign which works with ordinary controllers.  The WD approach would mean the 1185 has a differnt controller to the 500x chip.

[majnu]

I might be buying this to test the waters. Great job Mede8er. But there are so many other streamers out there and HTPC's like the Boxee are more affordable now and fall within the same price bracket. Decisions, Decisions...

[jer1956]

I might be buying this to test the waters. Great job Mede8er. But there are so many other streamers out there and HTPC's like the Boxee are more affordable now and fall within the same price bracket. Decisions, Decisions...

You have to ask the same questions ad before, What do you want it to do, and how well to you want it to do it? The spec helps you with the first, but the second depends upon your personal aspirations and tolerences. There are people who expect perfection at little cost and are easily disappointed as a result.  

Those who have issues with the 500x should make themselves a list, and then get clarification the x2 solves them. The forum will be the best place for that as I doubt Reviews are going to go into 500x problems like losing the first 0.5-2 seconds of music, which so far it hasn't done for me.

Others used to having to change their former sigma based players every 6 months may just upgrade anyway!  

 

[Lupissimo]

  Could it be that there will be no more firmware updates to solve all the bugs in the "old" Med 500x??
And as long as there is no firmware feature comparison ( like user definable starting screen, support of multi genre files etc.) and a list which of the 500X bugs (like no video after pausing a DTSHD file, audio startup delay,etc.) are solved, I see no reason to buy the new one.

[jer1956]

Could it be that there will be no more firmware updates to solve all the bugs in the "old" Med 500x??
And as long as there is no firmware feature comparison ( like user definable starting screen, support of multi genre files etc.) and a list which of the 500X bugs (like no video after pausing a DTSHD file, audio startup delay,etc.) are solved, I see no reason to buy the new one.

I'm surprised that realtek have got away with 1073 for so long. Bugs which can't get solved with firmware changes start to build up and the only solution is a new chip design to fix them. Sigma have a 6 month cycle as a result.

[Maasbommel]

Those with fancy phones should check out what DNLA DMR might mean for them.
http://kb.promise.com/KnowledgebaseArticle10226.aspx

Just a tip for those Android and Apple phone users, try iMediaShare
It can be used both ways, with Upnp to your phone from mede8er side, and with a push from your phone to start on your mede8er.

[ipodmusicman]

Now will the X2 firmware be made available for the 500X?

[jer1956]

Now will the X2 firmware be made available for the 500X?

It would make sense for maintenance reasons to have as much commonality between the models as possible. But many of the improvements will be due to the new hardware, not just the firmware.  The Med500X may be too slow to run some of the IPTV functions at an acceptable rate.  There is also the issue of realtek support. They want to shift new chips and may be concentrating their efforts on the 1185, putting fixing issues with older chips on the back burner. Sigma are the same.

[majnu]

It would make sense for maintenance reasons to have as much commonality between the models as possible. But many of the improvements will be due to the new hardware, not just the firmware.  The Med500X may be too slow to run some of the IPTV functions at an acceptable rate.  There is also the issue of realtek support. They want to shift new chips and may be concentrating their efforts on the 1185, putting fixing issues with older chips on the back burner. Sigma are the same.

I can't remember if it was you who said that Torrents would never work with the Mede8er but the X2 now has torrent support.

[jer1956]

I can't remember if it was you who said that Torrents would never work with the Mede8er but the X2 now has torrent support.

It's easy to add the function. It's when users expect the box to play anything and everything they download, as happens with a PC, that problems arise. If that's what your expecting then, no Torrent is not supported even with X2. Those who plan ahead will continue to download using a PC as it's quicker and easier to fix problems that way. Do you really want to copy a 15GB MKV downloaded onto the med using torrent to a PC at 8.5 mb/s, fix it to play, and then copy it back? Just becuase a function is in the X2 dosn't mean the X2 will do that function as well a device optimised for it, be it NAS, or PC.  Over expectation is the quickest route to dissapointment.

The Med has always been about giving users "options". The 500x has three differnt ways of playing files over a network, when they could have just implented one. So the X2 has a whole load of new "options" which some may  find useful, others not. What are useful, and what are not, will vary from user to user.