TViX Jukebox
A clever idea in one small package
TViX is a portable digital media player that doesn't stop at just music. This little device can play back MP3s, WMA and other music file formats with ease and plays back other media types as well, including video. The TViX flagship model is the TViX HD M-5000U that features a DVI connector for digital HD video capable of up to 1080i or 1280X720 resolutions. This cylindrical media player will play back .tp and .ts files captured from HD camcorders. TViX players can also play back MPEGs 1, 2 and 4, DivX, and even your backed-up DVD movies in .iso format as if you had the DVD in the drive.
The unit can decode AC3/Dolby Digital, DTS pass-through or down-mixing. Video outputs include DVI or component video for HD and also S-Video, Composite or SCART.
For audio outputs you can choose from either Coax or Optical digital outputs, or analogue stereo outs. The TViX can be connected to a PC using USB or wired directly to your LAN. There is no wireless wi-fi or Bluetooth feature included. However, using an optional add-on TV tuner you can use the TViX just like a PVR to record shows from TV in full HD. Storage is a snap. Compatible with any IDE hard drive up to 400G, it's a no-brainer approach to inexpensive expandable storage any digital media player would do well to imitate. This quiet device is cooled with a 40mm brushless fan but probably won't offer the kind of acoustic quality of the Cambridge Audio's media player, the Azur 480H.
The TViX is one of those rare new devices that seems to do everything right. For an inexpensive package, costing just less than the current crop of HTPC's, it does just about everything a fully functional HTPC might do for your home entertainment system. The fact that it's expandable with IDE hard drives is a huge savings from those systems that either have only one static storage device or require you to buy their proprietary expansion drives.
The TViX is exactly what's needed to catapult any home entertainment system from the 1997 reality of silver disc media players into the 21st century of shared files accessible from remote control. You can free yourself from shelves of CD and DVD cases in your living-room with the new generation of digital media players and TViX seems to be leading the way with convenience and affordability in one clever device.
