Micca Slim-HD: 1080p In Your Pocket
by Vivek Gowri on November 23, 2010 1:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Micca
- Slim-HD
- Media Player
Micca Slim-HD - Conclusion
And so we arrive at the conclusion. As we said in the conclusion from the WD TV Live Plus, this class of SoC-based media players and streamers lag pretty far behind dedicated HTPCs in both versatility and picture quality. This continues to be true, but we’ll see if that changes when some of the really high end media boxes launch - the Netgear NTV 550, for example. But this portable media drive is quite far from that level.
Micca’s Slim-HD is an interesting proposition. The internal 2.5” drive sets it apart from the Live Plus and the GoFlex, which don’t have internal hard drives but do allow for USB drive connections (as does the Slim-HD, in addition to the internal HDD). The Live Hub is a bit better, but much more costly and does not have the USB host functionality. It’s nice to have your media stored locally, and Micca recognizes that.
Unfortunately, the flip side of this coin is that without a drive or any local media, the Slim-HD is almost useless, while the Live Plus and the GoFlex are both capable as Netflix and Youtube streaming devices. But here’s the most concerning part - both of those are available for less than $100 on the street (Buy.com has the Live Plus for $80), so the price difference is close to negligible. With those, you get a much more polished interface along with the internet streaming capabilities. I’d say that the video compatibility is pretty close - what you gain in absolute versatility with the Slim-HD, you basically give back with the choppiness of the admittedly uncommon high bitrate and frame rate x264 videos.
But really, it all comes down to portability. For the majority of people, I’d say go for one of the media streamers and add a portable USB hard drive. That way you get the HDMI connection and streaming capabilities, along with the portability of your local media (to play off a computer). However, the Micca Slim-HD does nicely fit the bill for people that would like to have a media drive that they can connect via HDMI on the go, which I suppose fulfills its raison d'être. Just don’t expect it to replace your full time HTPC or media streamer and you’ll be happy with it.
Update: Micca has informed us that it will be dropping the price of the Slim-HD to $59.95 on Cyber Monday through the end of the year as a holiday special. This is actually a pretty sweet deal, since it puts the HD only $10 over the price of the regular Slim and really brings price into the equation when compared to the WDTV and the Seagate GoFlex TV. It's a lot easier to recommend the Slim-HD at this reduced price, as it offers an attractive solution for portable 1080p media playback.
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Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 - link
Why dont you create a media player since you have all those test files? lol. Anyway, one important thing to me in a media player is how fast it can navigate through a directory with over 100 files. Also, can the usb port be used to stream video off a flash drive, without a hard drive installed?jack@micca - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 - link
Hi,There is no delay in navigating the folders of a drive. The simple interface means navigation overhead is very low. However, for the sake of being able to find a file easily, it's not recommended that you keep over 100 files in the same folder - you'll have to do a lot of scrolling.
The USB port can be used to play videos from a flash drive or an external USB hard drive, up to 2TB in size. And the flash card reader can be used to play videos from a SD/SDHC card.
You do not need to install a hard drive in this player. Many of our customers buy one to keep in their car (there is a car power adapter available) and use it with their in-car video systems to play videos/cartoons from a flash drive.
Jack
Sufo - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 - link
In its defence, 60fps 1080p h.264 would give even reasonably fast processors a run for their money. It's a pretty uncommon configuration outside of the 3D world, and personally, I wouldn't hold the fact that it struggles with it against a device like this. :3chomlee - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 - link
I dont know about anyone else but the no iso support is a deal breaker for me. It is just so much easier to be able to rip dvds into one file. The other thing is that this device really doesn't offer much that isn't already out there. I have a Patriot Box Office which allows room for a notebook drive and it plays anything you throw at it, and is on sale at newegg from time to time for 59.00 with rebate. The UI on the PBO is probably similar to the Micca but also offers network support so you can stream from a home server.Personally, I would wait for the Boxee Box to come down in price and iron out their bugs before I get anything else.
therealnickdanger - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 - link
True, but the Boxee Box doesn't fit in your pocket.jack@micca - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 - link
You can rip DVDs into one file using something like MakeMKV. You would not have any of the DVD menus or extras, but you would have a smaller file and retain all of the original audio tracks, chapters, subtitles, and etc.Full size players like the Pariot Box Office are great if portability is not a concern. The Slim-HD is idea for those that would like to be able to take the player with them. Many people have a portable USB hard drive anyway, why not have one that also plays 1080p videos?
Jack
Milleman - Wednesday, November 24, 2010 - link
Saw that Amazon is selling the unit for $79, which is really a good price for a portable harddisk container that also will play HD movies, music and photos as a bonus. I've actually been waiting for something like this!The0ne - Monday, November 29, 2010 - link
Someone like me that takes his media everywhere :) My family loves it as we can watch anything at any time without any hassle. Same when we travel and stay at relatives home.But I can see this not being so attractive to someone that doesn't have/enjoy the things I have. Good price too.
Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, November 24, 2010 - link
I do like ISOs, but if you're going to rip it into an ISO, why not go the extra step and convert it to something less than 4-20GB?jack@micca - Thursday, November 25, 2010 - link
That's very true. I know you'll loose some quality, but you can get a very good conversion into H.264 and get a movie down to 1/3 or even 1/4 its original size.Jack