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New KWORLD Media Player M101 - Similar to WDTV

post #1 of 16
4/24/09 at 6:22am
Thread Starter 
Anybody have any experience with this 720p USB streaming device? If you are newsletter subscriber with Newegg you can pick it up for $50 w/free shipping (of course its missing the Golden Key...ethernet port for NAS):


Digital Entertainment on the Bigger Screen
Tired of watching those movies and videos from the internet on your PC? Setup your Media Player M101 beside your TV in the living room, for better comfort and seating arrangement, and enjoy your digital entertainment conveniently stored in your portable hard disk or USB thumb drive on the bigger screen.

Playback in Multi-Format (Video: Mpeg 1/2, AVI, DIVX, XVID, RMVB, RM, DAT, VOB; Audio: MP3, WMA; Photo: JPEG, BMP, PNG)
It doesn't matter if you downloaded a MP3 or a video file, you can enjoy all of those entertainment on a single device! Media Player M101 supports digital media playback in multi-formats. For RMVB/RM file, the dock supports streaming up to 1600 KB/s for smooth, uninterrupted entertainment. Media Player M101 transforms your TV into an entertainment center and a digital photo frame.

Supports YPbPr Output at 720p (VGA 1024 x 768)
Is your sofa more comfortable then your desk chair? Is your LCD monitor too small and hurts your eyes? Just plug any Memory Card/USB storage device into your Media Player M101, playback and enjoy the videos you have collected in maximum resolution of 720p!

Bonus: ArcSoft Media Converter 2.5
Instead of looking for converting softwares to download, KWorld has included a bonus software from ArcSoft. With ArcSoft Media Converter 2.5, available in 13 languages, which supports AVI, DivX, MOV, MP4, RM, WMV, AAC, MP3, RA, JPG, and TIF, you may not only maximize the use of KWorld Media Player M101, but also directly upload songs into your iPod without using iTunes or videos into YouTube without launching Internet Explorer.

Specifications
Ports In USB 2.0 Storage Device
SD/SDHC/MS/MMC Card
Ports Out YPbPr Output
VGA Output
Composite A/V Output
Stereo Audio Output
Packaging
Package Contents Media Player (Model No# M101)
Multi-Cable
YPbPr Cable
AV Cable
AC100-240V 50/60Hz 5V 2A
Arcsoft Mediaconverter 2.5 software CD
Remote Control
Battery
User Manual
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post #2 of 16
4/24/09 at 7:14am
1024 x 768, so it's not HD. Not in the same ballpark as WD TV.

-Mod
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post #3 of 16
4/26/09 at 5:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMod View Post

1024 x 768, so it's not HD. Not in the same ballpark as WD TV.

-Mod

mrMod,

You know if this device could output to old tube TV aka NTCS 480p or so, I plan to buy this device for just watching .AVI/DVD content on an old tube TV.
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post #4 of 16
4/27/09 at 2:17pm
many peoples tvs only go up to 720p. im curious to know what kind of compatibility and features you would get for this price though.
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post #5 of 16
4/27/09 at 3:35pm
Hmm, no mkv and only 480 output. At this price I would be tempted to buy a Philips DVP series to have the added dvd player functionality but I could see how this would be a good option for someone wanting to be mobile.
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post #6 of 16
4/27/09 at 5:29pm
One of the major benefits of the WD TV-HD is the powerful Sigma Designs chip it is based on, the same chip used by many Blu-Ray players, and other media players / NMTs that cost at least twice as much. Not only is this chip pretty powerful and can handle 1080p HD material at the highest bitrates, the picture quality is excellent also. So even if you don't have a brand new 1080p capable TV, you should benefit from the excellent pq as long as your TV is decent and has a HDMI input.

Other devices in the same price league usually have (considerably) inferior hardware.
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post #7 of 16
5/2/09 at 2:01pm
It seems to work well, however I am experiencing some voice lag where the voices are not matching up correctly. They do through the pc, but not with the m101. Any suggestions?
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post #8 of 16
8/9/09 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMod View Post

1024 x 768, so it's not HD. Not in the same ballpark as WD TV.

-Mod

720p is HDTV - it's not 1080p, but it's still HDTV by all definitions I've ever seen. Most people can't tell the difference in real life.
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post #9 of 16
8/9/09 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by abced123 View Post

mrMod,

You know if this device could output to old tube TV aka NTCS 480p or so, I plan to buy this device for just watching .AVI/DVD content on an old tube TV.

Yes, it has composite out which is what you need. Will work with any TV. Also has a VGA/D-Sub so will work with a computer monitor as well including the old CRT type as well as the new LCD type.
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post #10 of 16
8/9/09 at 7:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cutthatcity View Post

many peoples tvs only go up to 720p. im curious to know what kind of compatibility and features you would get for this price though.

Lots of compatibility (including RM and RMVB), few features. Very basic, ugly interface, but it works.
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post #11 of 16
8/9/09 at 7:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bisha View Post

Hmm, no mkv and only 480 output. At this price I would be tempted to buy a Philips DVP series to have the added dvd player functionality but I could see how this would be a good option for someone wanting to be mobile.

It has component 720p output! That's HDTV. Much better than 480p for source files that have the res.
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post #12 of 16
8/9/09 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by high_definitely View Post

One of the major benefits of the WD TV-HD is the powerful Sigma Designs chip it is based on, the same chip used by many Blu-Ray players, and other media players / NMTs that cost at least twice as much. Not only is this chip pretty powerful and can handle 1080p HD material at the highest bitrates, the picture quality is excellent also. So even if you don't have a brand new 1080p capable TV, you should benefit from the excellent pq as long as your TV is decent and has a HDMI input.

Other devices in the same price league usually have (considerably) inferior hardware.

Yes, the WD TV is a much better unit. But if you can find this at the $45-50 price, it's a nice portable travel gadget (very tiny and light).
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post #13 of 16
8/9/09 at 7:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rackrunner View Post

It seems to work well, however I am experiencing some voice lag where the voices are not matching up correctly. They do through the pc, but not with the m101. Any suggestions?

I've seen these sorts of problems with lots of the different players I've used. PC's are much more forgiving. Usually, re-encoding the source (you can use the supplied Arcsoft Media Converter software or whatever you prefer) will fix the problem.

Sometimes if you 'pause' and restart the playback it will sync up, too.

Most files play fine, but some I had to re-encode.
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post #14 of 16
8/9/09 at 8:05pm
This device if bought for $45-50 is a decent value. The remote is terrible, response a bit sluggish and it has a weak IR output, so won't work from too far away. The interface is about as basic as it gets and quite ugly. But it works.

The unit is tiny and very portable, a great travel gadget. It has a decent assortment of output ports and does what it claims to do reasonably well. It's far from the quality for the WD TV, but at half the price it might be a good deal for some.

I like that I can grab it and hook it up to just about anything, including the many monitors I have around (it has VGA/DSUB port). No HDMI, though. That's not an issue for me, but may be for some.

Has an SD card slot plus the USB port. Can get some high capacity SD cards fairly cheap now, so that's a nice feature (also for photos). Can play background music during your photo slideshow. Fairly quick at displaying the photos. Nothing fancy, though.

Has nice aspect control. One button on remote will cycle through various 4:3 and 16:9 settings including ZOOM and I was able to get all the videos I've tried so far to display properly. Decent FFW and REW speeds, OSD button will display an On Screen Display of controls for playback (or just use buttons on remote). Decent quality, but not much, if any, post-processing other than scaling that I could tell. Has copy and delete functions, file browser, and text file display on screen - readable. Not sure how much anyone would use it, but maybe you put a text file in folders describing the material there? Might be useful sometimes.

No playlists, though, no shuffle for mp3's, just repeat. Typical crummy manual. Not mentioned in manual, but apparently you should stop playing files before going into standby or can sometimes hang unit. But only happened a couple of times.

Not a good choice for main player by any stretch, but a decent 'gadget' for travel and fooling around. Basically works if you can live with limitations.
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post #15 of 16
11/3/10 at 8:52am
bron/others
I read an old post/review by you on Kworld M101 media player.
I am thinking of purchasing one and wanted to ask you a question or two - hope you will be able to guide me.....

My purpose to purchase this device is to connect it to a spare 19inch LCD monitor and use the setup purely as a Digital picture frame - and since this is the only media player that i could find that have a vga output for direct connection to monitor - this is my first choice.

How is the picture quality and colors displayed, in Picture mode (i am concerned about picture mode only and wont be playing any videos)

Are the colors tweakable while in picture mode?

Is there an option to play Random pictures? or do they play in serial order only?

How would you rate this player for picture display?

Thanks
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post #16 of 16
11/4/10 at 12:13am
As I recall, the colors and quality of the photos displayed were fine. I was pretty happy with the photo display speed and quality, though I did not do any critical tests of any kind.

There are no tweaks for contrast, color, or anything else. It does have controls to rotate photos, but no auto-rotate. It searches for and displays photos in serial order - no random or shuffle feature. It does have various transition styles, you can select one or choose random transitions mode. If you mix mp3's and photos, it will play the music while playing the photos. But no control over either as far as order. It plays them in serial order based on how it "finds" them during its search. (Actually based on entry position in FAT directory structure is my guess.)

It's a very basic device. It works and the display quality is good for the price, but very few features and a very ugly, limited user menu/interface. It's small size, portability, main formats supported, and cheap price are what make it interesting (to some). Depends on your needs, but if your expectations are reasonable, it's a good value, though the mini-WDTV can now be had for as little as $40 sometimes and might be a better option for some purposes.

I bought three of these things, in total, just because they are so small I can pack them in my bags and take them anywhere. And I find the fact it supports a great number of input devices (e.g. XD, SD/SDHC Card, USB 2.0, etc.) and output devices (S-video, composite, component, VGA-Dsub, etc.) makes it very flexible and means that I am always finding new uses for it.

Should work for the purposes you intend. Your best results might require you to pre-process the photos to get best quality (i.e. contrast, color, etc.), but, as I recall, I've never had to do so. Max VGA rez is 1024x768. If I get time, I'll pull mine out and try this out again and give you any further feedback I may have...but may be awhile as I'm pretty busy at the moment.

Good luck!
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