Hauppauge MediaMVP Digital Multimedia Receiver - 1000
NTSC, PAL

I have two of these units and use them with SageTV to provide the front end to my TV. Although it is analog signals the picture quality is great. The basic software that ships with unit is not that great but when used with SageTv or BeyondTv the product really shines. The best part is that the unit is basically a unix server and the software resides on your PC and is loaded when the unit is turned on. It has a very fast start up time and the built in decoder streams your movies from your pc very fast without putting a load on your pc.
 
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This little box does a better job than a full PC to play back my media and it is so small you will forget it is there.
 
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I use the mvp with the free GPPVR software. This software works with the MVP to make photo, music and video content on my PC available thru my TV. Used in conjunction with a Hauppauge PVR-150 tv tuner/recorder card and I have a very nice and low cost personal video recorder and free (no subscription) program guide. Video quality for live and recorded TV is great on my standard definition tv. Looks like I am watching a DVD. Could not be happier.
 
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The Media MVP is surprisingly very very good. Honestly I was not expecting this kind of performance and was very sceptical. I am using a wireless bridge and hence the MVP is not connected via wires, and even then the performance and clarity is very good. I must warn that its better to always use mpeg files so that the computer does not have to go about decoding the file before it is sent over the wire/wireless. Any compressed format AVI/DivX will have problems and its not worth it. And no amount of network speed will be enough, as its the CPU that would have to do the work of decoding. I have not yet tested this with conroe. I am sure the DivX should also work fine when conroe is entrusted with the decoding job. But still the CPU needs to do some work. Therefore I am not converting my recording that I want to play on TV via the MVP. Really a neat product. I already had a wireless bridge so this was a good deal as I dont have to go for the wireless version.
 
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I've recently built my first pvr using BeyondPC 4.4 and purchased the MediaMVP as a front-end device for my main TV. Out of the box, the interface is generic and not much to be excited about. However, I quickly learned that the product is built on Linux and has an open source following with skins that have been developed specifically for BeyondPC and others. After installing the software that is included with the product, go to snapstream's web site and search for MediaMVP. Your search will locate an article that will guide your installation of the BeyondTV skin which will only take about 5-10 minutes to complete. After a quick reboot of the MediaMVP unit you will have a new interface that looks like BeyondTV including a live tv option and your local weather forcast. The quality is excellent and the unit is small and compact with a decent remote control. There are a few bugs with the skin but the functionality is worth the few resets that may be required. The best feature is that this product is open and software updates can be developed on a continual basis. Also, if you switch your PVR back-end software (Sage TV,etc) you can apply their skin so you are not locked into one vendors product.
 
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I own 2 of these units. I have Beyond TV 4.2 and used the BTV 3.5 overlay. Only some of the BTV features worked for me. I then tried Sage TV which directly supports the MVP. The MVP works great with Sage TV. Everything that you see on Sage TV on the PC - can be seen on the TV (live TV, programming etc.). The video ouput is far superior to what I get out of my S-Video output on my video card on my computer. Some units appear to have a brightness issue. The brightness is a little lower than live tv through the cable box. However, if you feed the MVP video out through a VCR etc- it seems top restore the video to what it should be.
 
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I own 4 of these. Two are hooked up to cheap Belkin wireless routers in access point mode. 2 are wired. All connect to the same central PC server which has a Hauppauge PVR-250, Dvico HDTV tuner and runs Snapstream's BeyondTV. I use the replacement overlay another reviewer mentioned so the MediaMVP menu looks nicer and has more functionality. You can get it on sourceforge.net. You can't go wrong for the price. I even am in the process of converting my entire DVD collection to MPG's, which this unit plays perfectly. Just a tip: Buy.com sells the Philips PM625S learning remote. This is a multi-device remote that can learn the commands of the MediaMVP remote so you can consolidate all your remotes into one. It's the only learning remote I've found that has enough memory to learn the entire Hauppauge remote. And it's cheap! Throw one of those in your cart if you buy this device.
 
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This product does everything its designed to do. Plays MPEG1/2 movies perfectly, shows pics, plays mp3/wma and internet radio stations. It plays DiVx movies but you need a fast PC hosting the server software as the DiVx movies are 'transcoded' on the fly. For everything else you should be able to use a plain vanilla 800Mhz+ pc. I use mine in my family room(2nd floor) connected to a USRobotics wireless "G" gaming adapter wireless to my Linksys "G" WRT54G wireless router(on the 1st floor). The WiFi works great, absolutely 0 issues. I have loaded in the Snapstream BTV 3.5 'skin' so it looks/feels just like my BeyondTV PVR setup on my pc. In addition I've created some simple webpages showing weather, news, etc. My 6 year old has no problem with it. To get the best peformance you will need to load the latest beta server software on the Haupp site. The stock software works but the menus are very slow. I just ordered a second one for my den.
 
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Unhappy with lack of ability to process DivX or any other codec other than MPG, but with that being my only complaint, i'm going to just convert all my files to MPG2.
 
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I plugged this sucker in and it worked, and I was impressed with the quality of the video. I had in place already a 100Mbps network, and was recording video with SnapStream's Beyond TV3. I use an ATI All-In-Wonder 128, which is pretty old, and the video is not impressive when played back on a computer. But it turns out that the quality is good enough for TV. Using the Media MVP makes it a joy.
 
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Bravo ! This product does EXACTLY what it says it will. It finds files over a network effortlessly. It updates its software effortlessly. It can be reconfigured to find more/other files effortlessly. Picture quality is superb. One tiny caveat - I could not get mine to work over Gigabit ethernet without stuttering, even with the registry patch, but it is flawless over standard 10/100 Fast Ethernet. In all fairness to Hauppauge, they do not endorse its use over Gigabit, and perhaps controllers other than mine would work fine.
 
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I have the MediaMVP and it works great! Had the choppy video problem discussed in the first review. Easily corrected by tuning the TCPIP setting in Windows. Check out the following link from the manufacturers website that will do it automatically for you.... http://hauppauge.lightpath.net/software/mediamvp/tcpip-optimization. Enjoy...
 
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I purchased this product because it looked like a great way to use all my mp3s, pictures, and videos I have one my computer in my office to my living room on my entertainment center. It did just that with ease and no issues. With the latest downloads from www.hauppage.com that optimized the network settings and the server app it works fantastic. I have all my family videos and DVDs ripped to MPEG-2 format which the player plays great on the TV (no need to get up to put a DVD in). I'm really impressed.
 
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This product rocks. I was primarily interested in streaming mpeg video files from my office PC to my two televisions, located in my great room and bedroom. Also, I wanted to play my mp3 collection, which of course resides on my office PC, through my Surround Sound System in my great room. I have two MVPs connected now, both streaming mpeg video flawlessly and playing mp3s perfectly. You can't touch this functionality for under $100 anywhere! This is one of the best-kept secrets around. I've seen other media adapters selling for $200 that can't even do video, just audio. What a joke! Why pay through the nose for TIVO services? HERE'S WHAT I DO: 1. Record TV on my PC using a Hauppauge PVR 250 and Snapstream. Of course, you must have a sat/cable connection available for your PC. The advantage here is that you can watch anything you want on your other TVs while recording anything you want on your PC. The quality is absolutely perfect, taking up about 2 gig per hour recorded. 2. Watch my recorded shows on any TV (that has a MediaMVP connected). You can even watch two different recorded shows (or the same show for that matter) on two different TVs simultaneously! PROS: 1. I can watch any show I record on any TV in the house. 2. I can burn any show I record to DVD. 3. I can manage my recorded shows easily through Windows Explorer. After all, each show is just an mpeg file. 3. Never pay monthly membership fees (or worse, pay a $300 lifetime membership fee) CONS: 1. Must have a sat/cable wire connected to your TV Tuner card in your PC 2. Must have a 100Mb-network in place 3. Each MVP must connect to the network. Most homes built in the last few years have CAT5 ran to every room. If you have no idea what this means – or if this scares you, call a friend who knows a little something about PC networking – or buy a TIVO. COSTS: 1. Hauppauge PVR 250, Snapstream, and IR Blaster - $220 2. Hauppauge MediaMVPs - 2 @ $85 = $170 Try and do what I do with TIVO! You cannot.
 
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I bought this device to tranfer MPG video files from my PC hard disk over ethernet wires to my TV. (I record TV using an ATI Wonder card on the PC.) The device looks like a small set top box. The enclosed remote has great feel and works well. The enclosed CD didn't read on my PC. I downloaded the software from Hauppauge website. Setup was easy. At first I had a gigbit ethernet card on my PC/server which caused jittery playback over my 100mbit network (buffer overruns?). After replacing the network card with a 100mbit card, playback was perfect. The video is sharp and smooth. Hauppauge has upgraded the software to allow better fast forward, 30 second skip, starting playback in middle (pressing 0-9) for each 1/10 of video. The best new feature is that any video can be stopped and resumed later where you left off. The ability to link many Media MVP's to one server has been added. Unpgrading software is a breeze. While there is a S-Video output, there are no digital audio outputs. The server only runs on Windows XP. It can access files on any other PC in your network. You can get nicer for about 3x the price of this. I prefer to have two of these for less than one of the nicer devices. Kids can watch their recorded shows while mom and dad can watch theirs in another room. After I get another, I plan to start a program in one room and finish it in another. You can wire every TV in your house to your network for one big virtual personal video recorder without the monthly fees. If you have a tuned ethernet at home, this device is great for video. The photo display works but the color on the TV doesn't match my PC monitor. The MPEG audio works well for no digital connection. Others complain about no ID tag reading. For me it sounds fine and is good enough.
 
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I had high hopes for the MediaMVP. I am a proud owner of the Hauppage PVR350 and love it. The setup for the MediaMVP was very simple. Digital pictures and MP3s played fine. My problem was with the video playback. The only ones that played well where shows recorded in VCD quality. Everything else was extremely choppy. I use snapstream and even using the lowest quality recording produced very choppy playback. Unfortunately, I had to return the unit.
 
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Computers > LCD Monitor & Projector > TV Tuner & Video Capture