DVICO TViX HD M-6500A review

Additionally, when you set up networking on the M-6500, you are asked to specify up to four connections. You have to enter the IP address of the PC sharing media. That's easy enough, but you have to 'mount' each share separately and they show up in the playback area as individual connections. It would be far easier to just select all the folders on the PC and have them show up as one giant media store.

We tested a full range of files with our M-6500A and were truly impressed by the picture quality. Apple.com's 1080p movie trailers looked fantastic, as did clips from TV shows in HD. Photo slideshows were good, too, which is handy if you want to use your TV as a giant photo frame.

One area in which the M-6500 triumphs over other similar products is the inclusion of HDMI v1.3, which means that HD audio can be passed to a compatible amp. Should the movie studios of the world start allowing DRM free, HD downloads, this feature would be brilliant. That said, if you rip movies from HD DVD or Blu-ray to store on a media drive, this machine should be able to cope with playing them back with their HD audio intact.

The user interface is quite beautiful, although it has some very minor usability options that make it slightly more complicated to use than it needs to be. For example, selecting the playback source isn't as easy as it should be. It's not dire, but when you start to use the machine, you realise that this could be improved.

Conclusion
As much as we love the TViX HD M-6500A, we can't help think it's too expensive. We'd suggest that you'd be better off buying a SATA hard disk yourself and installing it, as you'll save money that way. Still, with the Popcorn Hour A-100 now available in the UK for £155, the advantages of the M-6500 aren't significant enough to persuade us that it's the better buy. That's not to say that we didn't like it: anyone who does buy one will be very happy with it.

Edited by Shannon Doubleday