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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iurie - Sunday, November 28, 2010 - link
Can you please confirm that this device can play the 1080p60 M2TS files produced with Panasonic HTC TM700 camcorder?I see that it is mentioned that it plays 1080p60.AVC.AAC.MP4
The Panasonic 700 camcorders stream M2TS files 59.94 fps, H.264/AVC (1920x1080), audio AC3 (5.1, 48000Hz)
If it plays smooth the 1080p60 files from Panasonic 700, this will help the owners of this type of camcorder, as there till now there are no devices that can play these 1080p60 files, except the camcorder.
Can you please try playing this file that was shot with Panasonic TM700 at 1080p60?: http://www.vimeo.com/17273401
You can download it if you have or create a vimeo account.
snail3 - Monday, November 29, 2010 - link
It's Cyber Monday now but I dont see this player has a special price (at least in Micca Store) as mentioned in the article. Anyone able to find this player at $59.95 somewhere?ganeshts - Monday, November 29, 2010 - link
The link to the deal has been updated in the article.http://www.miccastore.com/micca-slimhd-1080p-fullh...
snail3 - Monday, November 29, 2010 - link
Yes, after I emailed their support, they updated their store site. Also found out this special will only be available via their official store and not Amazon.davmat787 - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
I don't have a use for this device unfortunately, but I just wanted to point out the fact that a representative of Micca is taking the time to answer questions and take feedback.I will certainly lookup Micca in the future.
jeffMS - Friday, December 17, 2010 - link
Jack,First off, thank you for taking the time to answer all of these questions. That is top notch customer support. I am looking for a media player that I can use in a haunted house attraction. It will have two movies on it...One is a video of a still picture, the second is that same picture, but it has motion. The idea is that when a customer walks up to the static image, a sensor is tripped which skips the media player to the next movie, which moves. For example, you can have a picture of a guy, but when the customer approaches the picture, the guy jumps out of his chair.
The problem that I have been having with dvd players, and the media players that I have tested display text and graphics on the screen when the Skip track button is pressed. Does the Micca Slim do this, and is there any way to suppress it? I was hoping that you could just pull up a pin on the F16 chip or something simple, but I fear that this would require a firmware modification.
djsilence - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Thanks Jack for the time you spend answering questions. Does this player require a mini-HDMI cable or full-size? Thanks...djsilence - Sunday, December 26, 2010 - link
Nevermind, I just received my slim-hd and its a full-sized HDMI cable. So far the player is awesome. I mostly play .mkv and .avi files and they're playing great. Thanks for the reviews...djsilence - Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - link
Recently, some .mkv files will not play on my player. They transfer to the slim-hd successfully but when I choose to play them it skips right over them. Most of the files I put on it are .mkv files and they play just fine. What would cause some to play and some not? Also, none of the LED indicators on the front illuminate, ever. My hard drive is sometimes not recognized by the player or my computer.iplocker - Saturday, March 2, 2013 - link
Hello.Does anyone know how to reflash the device , from micca store they told me to send it and they will do it for 25$ , but to send it from Greece to Usa cost mores than to buy a new one .
So does anyone knows how to reflash it ?
I have extract the placket but dont see any reset button or something.
Thanks