February 12, 2010 at 21:52He lost everything!
Dune recently announced two new multimedia players. Due to the fact that on a cold winter day the new player was within reach of a meter-long HDMI cable from my TV, I want to share with you a new review.
The device at the same time surprised, struck and caused attacks of nostalgia. In short, carefully, under cat traffic.
This is, like, the third review of a device of the “multimedia player” class - before that there was Popcorn and O! Play ...
This seems to be the fifth review of a device capable of performing NAS functions - before that there were two Thecus, and one NETGEAR and Synology each ... .
This is already (I remember exactly!) The second device, with the form factor of the “old murdered dividend” - the first was the media center from HIPER ...
Oh! So this is newDune HD Base 3.0 ! :) What are we pulling !?
The box is large enough, but very light - you can’t even say that it contains some kind of equipment. They give out only color glossy pictures and lists of key features.
Inside it turned out:
- Dune HD Base 3.0 media player ;
- Remote control + 2xAAA;
- Power cord;
- HDMI cable;
- Audio-video cable;
- Quick start guide + CD + miniCD.
There is no network adapter (as one of the ends of the power cord hinted at) and this is good. The quick guide describes the necessary minimum that the user will need - everything else is on the miniCD. On a regular disc there is a selection of cute HD trailers from Apple's website (Yes !!!).
I insert the batteries into the remote control - it’s better right away than to lose.
The device with all its appearance resembles DVD players of the recent past - a large parallelepiped (430x270x50 mm) with sharp corners, the glossy front of which is decorated with metal buttons and a small display - no, well, definitely a "dividend"! )
On the front side, which, as I said, is glossy (there are almost no prints on it, but dust due to static electricity appears around the buttons) is divided into three sections: on the first is the power button and a small single-line VFD display:
... to the right - a compartment for the hard drive and beyond - five buttons.
Buttons are metal, with neat chamfers - they are pressed easily, but, in my opinion, there is no need for them at all. The most interesting is the hard drive bay; as in many network devices, it is inserted inside and closed by a lid. As for the display - it is single-line and with all its appearance returns to the past, in the era of fashionable VHS / DVD players and bulky music centers - I don’t know about you, but I just pushed for everything)
The back side came out especially fruitful - it has all a range of standard audio-video connectors (coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, analog stereo output, component and composite video outputs, multi-channel 7.1 analog audio output), a network connector (RJ-45) and two USB ports, one eSATA and a power connector.
The matte metal cover of the player is decorated with “gills” of air vents and a stamped DUNE inscription (which is available on almost all models of the company), the lower one has the same openings and 4 rubber legs.
There is a 40mm cooler on the left side behind the grill, and another USB port on the right.
The remote control, despite its compact size, is crammed with many buttons that are divided into functional sections. The buttons are rubberized and squeeze with a pleasant tactile sensation, but in the dark it was difficult to understand them because they were not used to it (they didn’t light up) - I had to highlight them with a mobile) English letters are written on numbers 0-9, which allows you to enter text. Unlike some other devices, you can use Russian letters (switching the layout with the AUDIO button), but since they are not applied to the buttons, this will be problematic. But on the whole, everything is neat and nothing more.
The reverse side of the remote control is made of soft-touch and has three recesses for the fingers.
With good batteries, you can shoot the remote control almost anywhere - the receiver sensitivity is very good: well, in general, the remote control is very convenient.
The device cover rests on six screws and on top tightly abuts the brushed aluminum part of the front panel.
It turned out that I lost the guarantee for good reason)
In fact, there is nothing for an ordinary ordinary user to do inside - for the device to work, you only need to install a 3.5 '' drive (SATA), but if you get inside, you can increase the device’s functionality quite well. Firstly, there is a small USB hub hidden in which there are two available USB ports.
In one, you can insert a regular USB flash drive (for the full operation of interactive Blu-ray discs), and in the second - for example, a wireless adapter to save the device from another wire. Officially, the manufacturer declares support for the D-Link DWA-140 802.11n adapter(The B1 version is available immediately, and B2 in the new firmware). A wireless player is, of course, super, but why it was impossible to insert a Wi-Fi keychain initially is not clear.
Secondly, there is a second SATA connector (the drive from the front panel is inserted into the first one), which eventually turns into eSATA on the rear panel. If the free space (in the rack) is really bad, then another disk can be hidden inside :) A crazy idea, but it has the right to life - there is enough space inside for free circulation of warm air. There is nothing to pump it, except for the 40-mm cooler, but in general, the system components are practically not heated (what can we say about the top cover).
The hard drive is mounted on rubber legs that dampen spurious vibrations, simultaneously reducing noise.
It is a pity that the manufacturer did not foresee the possibility of installing 2.5 '' disks - when buying even the simplest SSD-drive (content on which could be downloaded via the network or from an external drive before the session), the system would be practically silent. However, she is already really very quiet.
The power supply is not shielded, all wires from it are carefully tightened with clamps. Looking at the printed circuit board, I thought for a long time about the need for a second (after the drive) noise source - a 40mm cooler in the side wall.
In theory, it’s very far from the radiator on power transistors, and it’s unlikely to get any further ... I think if you wish you can soundless the filling, the other question is how long it will last after that) Okay, let it work. Board
with processor ( SMP8642 fromSigma Designs ) contains a 128 MB flash memory module and four RAM chips with a total capacity of 512 MB.
As you can see, free space is not spent very economically - it seems that in the near future we can expect the appearance of devices on the same platform, but with much more modest dimensions.
In general, all this reminded me of my media center, which I have been working for, it seems, for the second year - there, however, much more was crammed into approximately the same volume (430x310x53 mm) . But there are other temperatures + noises, and there is no HDMI;)
Life begins with the press of the leftmost button on the front panel of the player - immediately after it the noise from the device’s operation becomes clear (for the most part it is composed only of the hard drive). There are two modes of operation (when the device is turned on) - when it displays an image and when it is in standby mode (it is turned on by pressing the POWER button on the remote control and exits from it, as well). The standby mode is interesting in that the device continues to work, which means it is accessible over the network. In addition, the red button in the settings can be reprogrammed to completely turn off the device.
I connected immediately via HDMI and did not try any other connection methods. After a short time, the main menu of the player appears - 6 large icons on the background of blue sand dunes (I wonder why they chose them sand?)).
It is unlikely that the hard disk will initially be in the file system needed for the player (EXT2), so the device will helpfully offer to do this (through a convenient menu, you can format both the partition and the entire disk).
After some time, the device was completely ready for use. If you insert a USB flash drive or an external hard drive, the drive almost immediately appears in the main menu as a separate item - conveniently.
First, of course, in the settings. There are 8 items available - “General”, “Video”, “Audio”, “Network”, “Applications”, “Design”, “Other” and “Information”.
General
Here you can choose the interface language (6 languages are initially available, more in firmware) and the interval in minutes after which the splash screen will appear - the inscription DUNE (although it would be better to DUNE + at least the clock)
Video
At this stage, the type of video output, the desired video mode (all the necessary spectrum is available) and the aspect ratio (auto, 16: 9, 16:10, 4: 3 and 5: 4) are selected.
Outside of the settings, there is a function for quickly changing the video mode (so as not to tinker with the settings) - for this, on the remote control, press the MODE button and then the number 1-5. This will give:
1. Composite / component, PAL
2. Composite / component, NTSC
3. HDMI, 480i, 60Hz
4. HDMI, 720p, 60Hz
5. HDMI, 1080i, 60Hz
Audio
You can change the operation mode of the digital audio outputs - either PCM or PCM (forced conversion), or Bitstream (original). In the first case, the original sound
the track (Dolby Digital or DTS) is converted into a pulse-code form, the support of which is provided in decoders of almost any modern audio equipment. It is useful if the AV receiver does not support full decoding of multi-channel sound, or if only a TV is connected to the player “by digital”. In the second option, the original audio tracks are transmitted to an external decoder in its original digital form.
It is also possible in (s) to turn on the sound via HDMI and adjust the sound from Blu-ray.
Network
Everything is simple - either the IP address is obtained via DHCP, or is specified manually (with a gateway and two DNS servers). If you insert a Wi-Fi adapter (mentioned above), you can configure the wireless settings.
Applications
Here you can activate (initially this has already been done) applications that will be displayed in the main menu. About them a little later.
Design
On this tab, you can change the display mode of the elements (main screen, folders and settings) from icons to list. Additionally, you can remove the settings icon from the main menu (from children's playful pens) and make the network folders appear at the very end.
Information
The last paragraph contains information about the firmware version, serial number, IP and MAC address, the status of the system drive (what is inserted into the internal USB port), and also something else.
Other
Mmm, a very powerful settings section) It contains 6 subsections - “Encodings”, “Optical Drive”, “Time Synchronization”, “System”, “Playback” and “Advanced”.
In the first subsection, you can specify the encodings for Ext2 / Ext3, NFS, FTP, playlists, subtitles and tags in MP3 files - great.
In the subsection about the optical drive, you can configure autorun for three types of media - DVD-Video, Blu-ray and CD-Audio.
In the chapter on time synchronization, you can specify (select) the required server, the synchronization interval, time zone and daylight saving time. Useful, but I wanted even more hours in the form of a screensaver.
The system section contains five enhancers - quick access to disk, quick access via SMB, improved Blu-ray and Bitstream playback for Blu-ray, and also allows you to activate experimental support for a gigabit network (I have a 100-megabyte network, so I don’t have anything changed).
The “Playback” section contains 8 settings:
Well, the last subsection, “Advanced” - settings for the Play and Enter buttons in different situations), as well as the function of hiding system files. Here you can configure the function of the Eject button (ejecting a disk from a potential drive or taking a screenshot from the screen) - thanks a lot for this function! In everyday use, no one will click the screens, but to write a review, this is what you need - you do not need to take a crooked picture and process it) You can also choose the image format - PNG or BMP; Screenshots are saved to a folder on the disk, from where it is easiest to get them over the network. Nuance - only the interface and any subtitles are removed, the player can not take pictures of the video file.
Playing video content is the trump card of this device. There is no problem with him) Well, that is, not at all - whether it's 600-megabyte movies or multi-gigabyte BD-rips - playback goes without any delay. In order not to be unfounded, I launched on the player all the files that were in the HDTV Test 1.6 archive - everything worked, including subtitles.
The only thing I had to stop at was 00019.m2ts (Interlace), where for the normal perception of the picture I had to press one of the remote control buttons, which was responsible for the parameters of the built-in system for converting interlaced scanning to progressive (3 modes are available - “motion adaptive”, “bob”, “Constant blend” and “off”). The codecs MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, XviD, DivX, H.264, WMV9, AVCHD, VC1 and files in the formats MKV, AVI, WMV, ISO, VOB, MOV, ASF, TS, M2TS, MP4 are supported - this set is enough even for the most seasoned lovers ofnaked aunts of all kinds of films!
If there are any other wishes and suggestions that can be applied for more objective and visual testing of various devices - write in the comments or in PM.
After I copied the entire Video folder from the main computer (while I have a modest 190GB), I once again became convinced of the omnivorous player - already by the example of playing DVD images that were not in the test above.
The folder with the contents of the disc in the player can be either simply opened or completely lost - with all sorts of scene selections and other bonuses. Scrolling without brakes, up to 32x. Great, pleasantly surprised.
Working with music files let us down - you can run tracks individually, with a whole folder (with subfolders) or from playlists (M3U, PLS) - everything works fine, but ... but on the screen there is frank melancholy - at best, the file name and information from the tag. Neither the cover, nor the lyrics - nothing (but I really wanted to!). A solid set of formats is supported - AAC, WMA, FLAC, MP3, WAV, PCM, M4A and AC3, and the first three formats support decoding of 5.1 streams and output in multi-channel mode. As for audio codecs, the list looks like this - AC3 (Dolby Digital), DTS, MPEG, AAC, LPCM, WMA, WMAPro, EAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), Dolby True HD, DTS HD High Resolution Audio, DTS HD Master Audio , FLAC, FLAC multicanal. Here.
In general, music plays, but very beloved - it remains to hope that the firmware will do its job (according to unofficial data, work on the GUI of the audio player is actively underway). While the situation is somewhat improved by a well-programmed remote control, the buttons of which in almost all modes have different functionality - whether it is rewinding, searching for a fragment, slowing down playback, or something else.
Well, one more skill of the player - viewing photos. Supported formats are JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG. A simple 12-megapixel photo opens in 3 seconds, and in a slide show, the next frame is loaded at the time of viewing the current one.
The slide show has several customizable transition effects - when guests do not leave for a long time, you can charge photos from a wedding with special charm)) Smaller pictures open much faster. Of the additional functions when viewing - turn in different directions, as well as zoom and "in a mess." You can call up some file information from the remote control, but there is no EXIF information.
I would like to mention the file browser as a separate paragraph - they did a great job there too. It responds very quickly to the button presses of the remote control — it displays the contents of folders easily and easily) After pressing the “Popup menu” button, oddly enough, a menu appears through which files can be marked-copy-paste-cut-delete-move — this was found in all players, but nowhere it was so convenient.
A couple more delicious functions;) The
device can listen to radio stations that are broadcast on the network using the HTTP protocol. As an example, the site has a selection of radio stations that miraculously earned immediately without any problems. First you need to activate this item in the settings (so that the radio appears in the main menu), and then copy the downloaded folder to the root of the disk from external media. All.
Encoding is fixable:
Beautiful icons and a certain freedom in customization. If you dig deeper, you can see that all these radio stations (more precisely, the paths to their mp3-recordings) are written in text documents. Accordingly, they can be edited to your taste (stations themselves, their number, icons, etc.). It’s only a pity that practically nothing is displayed on the screen during the production :(
Accordingly, with IPTV everything is not so bad - since something is already displayed there) For example, happy (oh?) Users of Corbin, for whom on the site laid outchannel settings. And since I am not like that (my provider does not officially have IP-television), I could not verify the functionality of the function. But in general, everything is the same there (in text files), except that instead of mp3s over HTTP protocol there will be UDP multicast (raw-UDP or RTP-over-UDP). Well, it seems like there is a possibility of recording them too. On the expanses of the local forum, I found from one enthusiast such a playlist (in fact, is this iptv?) With channels, the quality of which, compared to a conventional antenna, is heaven and earth ... but somehow I haven’t attached it to the player yet came out. Maybe someone already has blanks in which you just need to change the IP address? :) With a bow to the earth I will accept a gift.
Also, if you create an M3U / PLS file with an http link to any content, the player will lose it very well without first downloading to disk.
As for torrents, there is a primitive rocking chair that starts its dirty work after the Enter button from the remote control to any * .torrent file in the wilds of the disk. You can see the name of the torrent (you can see the contents), download percentage, download and upload speed. After downloading, the distribution continues to be distributed. Actually, there is nothing more to add on this item.
Using the SMB and NFS protocols, you can connect a network drive (NAS) to the player, or even several. To do this, in the root folder of the browser you need to create a new network folder and enter the appropriate settings.
The player itself can be accessed via SMB and FTP, and in both cases not only the hard drive of the device, but also the external drives connected to it will be available.
Since I’ve started talking about “& Co”, I’ll add a few words about regular discs. Apparently, any USB-drive that makes it possible to play CD / DVD / BD is suitable - one more item will still appear in the main menu. But, unfortunately, even installing an external Blu-ray drive (which is 5-6 thousand rubles) will not allow you to fully enjoy the content - the player will not be able to play discs with AACS protection (and this is all commercial BD releases!). But then everything else can be played (with support for functions such as menus, subtitles, BD-J, Bonus View and BD Live) Full-time hardware support for any Blu-ray discs is in the older version of the player - Dune HD Prime 3.0, which is even more expensive)
Regarding firmware - after the one that was installed in the player initially, two new versions with huge changelogs have already been released . In addition to fixing bugs, new functionality is slowly being added and something tells me that there is still a lot of interesting things.
On average, the firmware weighs 80MB - all you need is to write it to the drive and run it from a file browser. After a reboot, with a successful set of circumstances, there will be happiness.
Specs table
* - a trifle | *** - never a trifle
Cons :
* Marked front side;
* Does not draw thumbnails of pictures, only icons;
* The ability to upgrade from the menu will be in the next firmware, but so far it’s not there - only from a flash drive;
* The remote control smells of some kind of chemical substance (s) :) And it’s also unusual to type Russian letters on it;
** Frankly primitive player of audio files;
** No wireless module;
*** High price.
Eh, the remote control buttons would glow in the dark ...
Pros :
* Good equipment;
** Almost silent operation;
** The ability to "hot" replace the disk;
** Stylish design, metal case, excellent build quality;
*** Fast response of the interface, convenient menus and remote control, many settings;
*** Real multimedia omnivorous;
*** Torrent client, IPTV, radio, photos;
*** Support for multi-channel sound;
*** New firmware is already coming out;
*** 5xUSB, 2xSATAb HDMI 1.3;
* Display availability.
Regarding the sizes - it would be possible to consider them as a minus, since the player is really quite large (in comparison with close analogues), but in general the sizes are very standard and familiar to many. And if you consider that this is not a stationary device than a portable one (which allows the components to heat up less and makes it possible to hide the stash inside too), then the dimensions can be considered a plus to some extent.
But inside is more than spacious - you can insert an additional disk, network adapter or something else. And if all this warms up, at least there will be somewhere warm air to circulate. And to put in a rack - just right. It’s a pity that there is no “out of the box” wireless networks - I don’t want to pay another thousand for the receiver (and another 5-6 for an external drive).
All other disadvantages, in fact, are removable programmatically - the site already has a “ vote for new features ” - the list is huge and I think you can imagine from it what to expect in the future.
Speaking about the "high price" I meant the figure " from 13,490 rubles " for the version without a hard drive. Big brother Dune BD Prime 3.0(with built-in Blu-ray drive) will cost about three and a half thousand more expensive. I agree, thousands are considerable - in fact, they are practically "head to head" with the price of a nettop on the Ion platform (without a remote control). But here it’s worth it to decide - either basic computer capabilities with full-fledged hassle, or a full-fledged multimedia player with multi-channel sound and other amenities (the number of which grows as new firmware releases). Here.
Well, what can I say) Judging by the forums, many people are already aware of the level and quality of Dune products - I justposted an announcement that told me more or less in detail about their new product. And honestly, I’m even surprised that the company makes such wonderful pieces of iron.
If hard drives are teeming with movies, there is a hefty panel with a bunch of satellites, viewing time and pieces of paper with the words "1000 rubles" in the amount of 15-16 pieces, then I recommend this device - I think I will not be testing anything from this class soon then more perfect.
The twitter link is securely hidden in the profile)
Success!
The device at the same time surprised, struck and caused attacks of nostalgia. In short, carefully, under cat traffic.
This is, like, the third review of a device of the “multimedia player” class - before that there was Popcorn and O! Play ...
This seems to be the fifth review of a device capable of performing NAS functions - before that there were two Thecus, and one NETGEAR and Synology each ... .
This is already (I remember exactly!) The second device, with the form factor of the “old murdered dividend” - the first was the media center from HIPER ...
Oh! So this is newDune HD Base 3.0 ! :) What are we pulling !?
Equipment
The box is large enough, but very light - you can’t even say that it contains some kind of equipment. They give out only color glossy pictures and lists of key features.
Inside it turned out:
- Dune HD Base 3.0 media player ;
- Remote control + 2xAAA;
- Power cord;
- HDMI cable;
- Audio-video cable;
- Quick start guide + CD + miniCD.
There is no network adapter (as one of the ends of the power cord hinted at) and this is good. The quick guide describes the necessary minimum that the user will need - everything else is on the miniCD. On a regular disc there is a selection of cute HD trailers from Apple's website (Yes !!!).
I insert the batteries into the remote control - it’s better right away than to lose.
Appearance
The device with all its appearance resembles DVD players of the recent past - a large parallelepiped (430x270x50 mm) with sharp corners, the glossy front of which is decorated with metal buttons and a small display - no, well, definitely a "dividend"! )
On the front side, which, as I said, is glossy (there are almost no prints on it, but dust due to static electricity appears around the buttons) is divided into three sections: on the first is the power button and a small single-line VFD display:
... to the right - a compartment for the hard drive and beyond - five buttons.
Buttons are metal, with neat chamfers - they are pressed easily, but, in my opinion, there is no need for them at all. The most interesting is the hard drive bay; as in many network devices, it is inserted inside and closed by a lid. As for the display - it is single-line and with all its appearance returns to the past, in the era of fashionable VHS / DVD players and bulky music centers - I don’t know about you, but I just pushed for everything)
The back side came out especially fruitful - it has all a range of standard audio-video connectors (coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, analog stereo output, component and composite video outputs, multi-channel 7.1 analog audio output), a network connector (RJ-45) and two USB ports, one eSATA and a power connector.
The matte metal cover of the player is decorated with “gills” of air vents and a stamped DUNE inscription (which is available on almost all models of the company), the lower one has the same openings and 4 rubber legs.
There is a 40mm cooler on the left side behind the grill, and another USB port on the right.
The remote control, despite its compact size, is crammed with many buttons that are divided into functional sections. The buttons are rubberized and squeeze with a pleasant tactile sensation, but in the dark it was difficult to understand them because they were not used to it (they didn’t light up) - I had to highlight them with a mobile) English letters are written on numbers 0-9, which allows you to enter text. Unlike some other devices, you can use Russian letters (switching the layout with the AUDIO button), but since they are not applied to the buttons, this will be problematic. But on the whole, everything is neat and nothing more.
The reverse side of the remote control is made of soft-touch and has three recesses for the fingers.
With good batteries, you can shoot the remote control almost anywhere - the receiver sensitivity is very good: well, in general, the remote control is very convenient.
Inside
The device cover rests on six screws and on top tightly abuts the brushed aluminum part of the front panel.
It turned out that I lost the guarantee for good reason)
In fact, there is nothing for an ordinary ordinary user to do inside - for the device to work, you only need to install a 3.5 '' drive (SATA), but if you get inside, you can increase the device’s functionality quite well. Firstly, there is a small USB hub hidden in which there are two available USB ports.
In one, you can insert a regular USB flash drive (for the full operation of interactive Blu-ray discs), and in the second - for example, a wireless adapter to save the device from another wire. Officially, the manufacturer declares support for the D-Link DWA-140 802.11n adapter(The B1 version is available immediately, and B2 in the new firmware). A wireless player is, of course, super, but why it was impossible to insert a Wi-Fi keychain initially is not clear.
Secondly, there is a second SATA connector (the drive from the front panel is inserted into the first one), which eventually turns into eSATA on the rear panel. If the free space (in the rack) is really bad, then another disk can be hidden inside :) A crazy idea, but it has the right to life - there is enough space inside for free circulation of warm air. There is nothing to pump it, except for the 40-mm cooler, but in general, the system components are practically not heated (what can we say about the top cover).
The hard drive is mounted on rubber legs that dampen spurious vibrations, simultaneously reducing noise.
It is a pity that the manufacturer did not foresee the possibility of installing 2.5 '' disks - when buying even the simplest SSD-drive (content on which could be downloaded via the network or from an external drive before the session), the system would be practically silent. However, she is already really very quiet.
The power supply is not shielded, all wires from it are carefully tightened with clamps. Looking at the printed circuit board, I thought for a long time about the need for a second (after the drive) noise source - a 40mm cooler in the side wall.
In theory, it’s very far from the radiator on power transistors, and it’s unlikely to get any further ... I think if you wish you can soundless the filling, the other question is how long it will last after that) Okay, let it work. Board
with processor ( SMP8642 fromSigma Designs ) contains a 128 MB flash memory module and four RAM chips with a total capacity of 512 MB.
As you can see, free space is not spent very economically - it seems that in the near future we can expect the appearance of devices on the same platform, but with much more modest dimensions.
In general, all this reminded me of my media center, which I have been working for, it seems, for the second year - there, however, much more was crammed into approximately the same volume (430x310x53 mm) . But there are other temperatures + noises, and there is no HDMI;)
Go-go-go!
Life begins with the press of the leftmost button on the front panel of the player - immediately after it the noise from the device’s operation becomes clear (for the most part it is composed only of the hard drive). There are two modes of operation (when the device is turned on) - when it displays an image and when it is in standby mode (it is turned on by pressing the POWER button on the remote control and exits from it, as well). The standby mode is interesting in that the device continues to work, which means it is accessible over the network. In addition, the red button in the settings can be reprogrammed to completely turn off the device.
I connected immediately via HDMI and did not try any other connection methods. After a short time, the main menu of the player appears - 6 large icons on the background of blue sand dunes (I wonder why they chose them sand?)).
It is unlikely that the hard disk will initially be in the file system needed for the player (EXT2), so the device will helpfully offer to do this (through a convenient menu, you can format both the partition and the entire disk).
After some time, the device was completely ready for use. If you insert a USB flash drive or an external hard drive, the drive almost immediately appears in the main menu as a separate item - conveniently.
First, of course, in the settings. There are 8 items available - “General”, “Video”, “Audio”, “Network”, “Applications”, “Design”, “Other” and “Information”.
General
Here you can choose the interface language (6 languages are initially available, more in firmware) and the interval in minutes after which the splash screen will appear - the inscription DUNE (although it would be better to DUNE + at least the clock)
Video
At this stage, the type of video output, the desired video mode (all the necessary spectrum is available) and the aspect ratio (auto, 16: 9, 16:10, 4: 3 and 5: 4) are selected.
Outside of the settings, there is a function for quickly changing the video mode (so as not to tinker with the settings) - for this, on the remote control, press the MODE button and then the number 1-5. This will give:
1. Composite / component, PAL
2. Composite / component, NTSC
3. HDMI, 480i, 60Hz
4. HDMI, 720p, 60Hz
5. HDMI, 1080i, 60Hz
Audio
You can change the operation mode of the digital audio outputs - either PCM or PCM (forced conversion), or Bitstream (original). In the first case, the original sound
the track (Dolby Digital or DTS) is converted into a pulse-code form, the support of which is provided in decoders of almost any modern audio equipment. It is useful if the AV receiver does not support full decoding of multi-channel sound, or if only a TV is connected to the player “by digital”. In the second option, the original audio tracks are transmitted to an external decoder in its original digital form.
It is also possible in (s) to turn on the sound via HDMI and adjust the sound from Blu-ray.
Network
Everything is simple - either the IP address is obtained via DHCP, or is specified manually (with a gateway and two DNS servers). If you insert a Wi-Fi adapter (mentioned above), you can configure the wireless settings.
Applications
Here you can activate (initially this has already been done) applications that will be displayed in the main menu. About them a little later.
Design
On this tab, you can change the display mode of the elements (main screen, folders and settings) from icons to list. Additionally, you can remove the settings icon from the main menu (from children's playful pens) and make the network folders appear at the very end.
Information
The last paragraph contains information about the firmware version, serial number, IP and MAC address, the status of the system drive (what is inserted into the internal USB port), and also something else.
Other
Mmm, a very powerful settings section) It contains 6 subsections - “Encodings”, “Optical Drive”, “Time Synchronization”, “System”, “Playback” and “Advanced”.
In the first subsection, you can specify the encodings for Ext2 / Ext3, NFS, FTP, playlists, subtitles and tags in MP3 files - great.
In the subsection about the optical drive, you can configure autorun for three types of media - DVD-Video, Blu-ray and CD-Audio.
In the chapter on time synchronization, you can specify (select) the required server, the synchronization interval, time zone and daylight saving time. Useful, but I wanted even more hours in the form of a screensaver.
The system section contains five enhancers - quick access to disk, quick access via SMB, improved Blu-ray and Bitstream playback for Blu-ray, and also allows you to activate experimental support for a gigabit network (I have a 100-megabyte network, so I don’t have anything changed).
The “Playback” section contains 8 settings:
Well, the last subsection, “Advanced” - settings for the Play and Enter buttons in different situations), as well as the function of hiding system files. Here you can configure the function of the Eject button (ejecting a disk from a potential drive or taking a screenshot from the screen) - thanks a lot for this function! In everyday use, no one will click the screens, but to write a review, this is what you need - you do not need to take a crooked picture and process it) You can also choose the image format - PNG or BMP; Screenshots are saved to a folder on the disk, from where it is easiest to get them over the network. Nuance - only the interface and any subtitles are removed, the player can not take pictures of the video file.
Oooh the song dragged on! )
Playing video content is the trump card of this device. There is no problem with him) Well, that is, not at all - whether it's 600-megabyte movies or multi-gigabyte BD-rips - playback goes without any delay. In order not to be unfounded, I launched on the player all the files that were in the HDTV Test 1.6 archive - everything worked, including subtitles.
The only thing I had to stop at was 00019.m2ts (Interlace), where for the normal perception of the picture I had to press one of the remote control buttons, which was responsible for the parameters of the built-in system for converting interlaced scanning to progressive (3 modes are available - “motion adaptive”, “bob”, “Constant blend” and “off”). The codecs MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, XviD, DivX, H.264, WMV9, AVCHD, VC1 and files in the formats MKV, AVI, WMV, ISO, VOB, MOV, ASF, TS, M2TS, MP4 are supported - this set is enough even for the most seasoned lovers of
If there are any other wishes and suggestions that can be applied for more objective and visual testing of various devices - write in the comments or in PM.
After I copied the entire Video folder from the main computer (while I have a modest 190GB), I once again became convinced of the omnivorous player - already by the example of playing DVD images that were not in the test above.
The folder with the contents of the disc in the player can be either simply opened or completely lost - with all sorts of scene selections and other bonuses. Scrolling without brakes, up to 32x. Great, pleasantly surprised.
Working with music files let us down - you can run tracks individually, with a whole folder (with subfolders) or from playlists (M3U, PLS) - everything works fine, but ... but on the screen there is frank melancholy - at best, the file name and information from the tag. Neither the cover, nor the lyrics - nothing (but I really wanted to!). A solid set of formats is supported - AAC, WMA, FLAC, MP3, WAV, PCM, M4A and AC3, and the first three formats support decoding of 5.1 streams and output in multi-channel mode. As for audio codecs, the list looks like this - AC3 (Dolby Digital), DTS, MPEG, AAC, LPCM, WMA, WMAPro, EAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), Dolby True HD, DTS HD High Resolution Audio, DTS HD Master Audio , FLAC, FLAC multicanal. Here.
In general, music plays, but very beloved - it remains to hope that the firmware will do its job (according to unofficial data, work on the GUI of the audio player is actively underway). While the situation is somewhat improved by a well-programmed remote control, the buttons of which in almost all modes have different functionality - whether it is rewinding, searching for a fragment, slowing down playback, or something else.
Well, one more skill of the player - viewing photos. Supported formats are JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG. A simple 12-megapixel photo opens in 3 seconds, and in a slide show, the next frame is loaded at the time of viewing the current one.
The slide show has several customizable transition effects - when guests do not leave for a long time, you can charge photos from a wedding with special charm)) Smaller pictures open much faster. Of the additional functions when viewing - turn in different directions, as well as zoom and "in a mess." You can call up some file information from the remote control, but there is no EXIF information.
I would like to mention the file browser as a separate paragraph - they did a great job there too. It responds very quickly to the button presses of the remote control — it displays the contents of folders easily and easily) After pressing the “Popup menu” button, oddly enough, a menu appears through which files can be marked-copy-paste-cut-delete-move — this was found in all players, but nowhere it was so convenient.
IPTV, Radio, Torrents & Co
A couple more delicious functions;) The
device can listen to radio stations that are broadcast on the network using the HTTP protocol. As an example, the site has a selection of radio stations that miraculously earned immediately without any problems. First you need to activate this item in the settings (so that the radio appears in the main menu), and then copy the downloaded folder to the root of the disk from external media. All.
Encoding is fixable:
Beautiful icons and a certain freedom in customization. If you dig deeper, you can see that all these radio stations (more precisely, the paths to their mp3-recordings) are written in text documents. Accordingly, they can be edited to your taste (stations themselves, their number, icons, etc.). It’s only a pity that practically nothing is displayed on the screen during the production :(
Accordingly, with IPTV everything is not so bad - since something is already displayed there) For example, happy (oh?) Users of Corbin, for whom on the site laid outchannel settings. And since I am not like that (my provider does not officially have IP-television), I could not verify the functionality of the function. But in general, everything is the same there (in text files), except that instead of mp3s over HTTP protocol there will be UDP multicast (raw-UDP or RTP-over-UDP). Well, it seems like there is a possibility of recording them too. On the expanses of the local forum, I found from one enthusiast such a playlist (in fact, is this iptv?) With channels, the quality of which, compared to a conventional antenna, is heaven and earth ... but somehow I haven’t attached it to the player yet came out. Maybe someone already has blanks in which you just need to change the IP address? :) With a bow to the earth I will accept a gift.
Also, if you create an M3U / PLS file with an http link to any content, the player will lose it very well without first downloading to disk.
As for torrents, there is a primitive rocking chair that starts its dirty work after the Enter button from the remote control to any * .torrent file in the wilds of the disk. You can see the name of the torrent (you can see the contents), download percentage, download and upload speed. After downloading, the distribution continues to be distributed. Actually, there is nothing more to add on this item.
Using the SMB and NFS protocols, you can connect a network drive (NAS) to the player, or even several. To do this, in the root folder of the browser you need to create a new network folder and enter the appropriate settings.
The player itself can be accessed via SMB and FTP, and in both cases not only the hard drive of the device, but also the external drives connected to it will be available.
Since I’ve started talking about “& Co”, I’ll add a few words about regular discs. Apparently, any USB-drive that makes it possible to play CD / DVD / BD is suitable - one more item will still appear in the main menu. But, unfortunately, even installing an external Blu-ray drive (which is 5-6 thousand rubles) will not allow you to fully enjoy the content - the player will not be able to play discs with AACS protection (and this is all commercial BD releases!). But then everything else can be played (with support for functions such as menus, subtitles, BD-J, Bonus View and BD Live) Full-time hardware support for any Blu-ray discs is in the older version of the player - Dune HD Prime 3.0, which is even more expensive)
Regarding firmware - after the one that was installed in the player initially, two new versions with huge changelogs have already been released . In addition to fixing bugs, new functionality is slowly being added and something tells me that there is still a lot of interesting things.
On average, the firmware weighs 80MB - all you need is to write it to the drive and run it from a file browser. After a reboot, with a successful set of circumstances, there will be happiness.
Specs table
Control weighing
* - a trifle | *** - never a trifle
Cons :
* Marked front side;
* Does not draw thumbnails of pictures, only icons;
* The ability to upgrade from the menu will be in the next firmware, but so far it’s not there - only from a flash drive;
* The remote control smells of some kind of chemical substance (s) :) And it’s also unusual to type Russian letters on it;
** Frankly primitive player of audio files;
** No wireless module;
*** High price.
Eh, the remote control buttons would glow in the dark ...
Pros :
* Good equipment;
** Almost silent operation;
** The ability to "hot" replace the disk;
** Stylish design, metal case, excellent build quality;
*** Fast response of the interface, convenient menus and remote control, many settings;
*** Real multimedia omnivorous;
*** Torrent client, IPTV, radio, photos;
*** Support for multi-channel sound;
*** New firmware is already coming out;
*** 5xUSB, 2xSATAb HDMI 1.3;
* Display availability.
Regarding the sizes - it would be possible to consider them as a minus, since the player is really quite large (in comparison with close analogues), but in general the sizes are very standard and familiar to many. And if you consider that this is not a stationary device than a portable one (which allows the components to heat up less and makes it possible to hide the stash inside too), then the dimensions can be considered a plus to some extent.
But inside is more than spacious - you can insert an additional disk, network adapter or something else. And if all this warms up, at least there will be somewhere warm air to circulate. And to put in a rack - just right. It’s a pity that there is no “out of the box” wireless networks - I don’t want to pay another thousand for the receiver (and another 5-6 for an external drive).
All other disadvantages, in fact, are removable programmatically - the site already has a “ vote for new features ” - the list is huge and I think you can imagine from it what to expect in the future.
Speaking about the "high price" I meant the figure " from 13,490 rubles " for the version without a hard drive. Big brother Dune BD Prime 3.0(with built-in Blu-ray drive) will cost about three and a half thousand more expensive. I agree, thousands are considerable - in fact, they are practically "head to head" with the price of a nettop on the Ion platform (without a remote control). But here it’s worth it to decide - either basic computer capabilities with full-fledged hassle, or a full-fledged multimedia player with multi-channel sound and other amenities (the number of which grows as new firmware releases). Here.
conclusions
Well, what can I say) Judging by the forums, many people are already aware of the level and quality of Dune products - I just
If hard drives are teeming with movies, there is a hefty panel with a bunch of satellites, viewing time and pieces of paper with the words "1000 rubles" in the amount of 15-16 pieces, then I recommend this device - I think I will not be testing anything from this class soon then more perfect.
Success!