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Review The EN306TV-S Media Player
The EN306TV-S represents another category of media player designed for the slightly more tech savvy user. The user has to install their own harddrive. It’s also meant for the more budget conscious user, as you’ll typically find it priced below $60.
You’d think that with its variety of plugs in the back for S-Video, component, Y/Pb/Pr and an adapter for VGA, ability to playback multiple formats and subtitles, that it represented a pretty good value. Unfortunately, the saying that you get what you pay for rings ever so true in this case. Put bluntly, what you’re getting is an overpriced external harddrive enclosure.
The EN306TV-S comes with all the necessary cables, and a mini-CD of drivers and a trial app. This is great considering how many companies try to cut their costs by not including certain cables. Regarding the mini-CD, the drivers are only really useful for Windows 98 users. Also, the trial app. was for converting Real Video files to AVI container format.. A real sampler since the trial version will only transcode up to half of the Real Video file.
Opening up the EN306TV-S was a breeze. Just unscrewing four screws on either side of the player. Although the harddrive (EIDE, there’s a version for SATA drives) fits snugly, the power and IDE cable are just long enough to accommodate the installation with any hassles.
While attached via its USB cable, the EN306TV-S functions as an external harddrive. Period. I noticed that the front side LCD display was blank, in spite of being powered on. That changed once the media player was disconnected. While I didn’t get a chance to test interoperability with a Mac. The player had no problem being recognized as an external drive under Debian (2.6 kernel).
First problem: the harddrive needs to be formatted as either FAT32 or NTFS. If you’re buying a new hard drive today, there’s no way you’ll be able to use its full capacity formatted as FAT32, due to its limitations. Both in terms of file and partition size. Formatting the drive as NTFS under Windows is pretty much your only option, unless if you’ve got an older spare 30 GB or smaller hard drive on hand.
Second problem: a limitation. The USB plug on the EN306TV-S itself is one of those mini ones, like on a digital camera. So connecting an external USB optical drive wasn’t going to happen.
At this point in time, limitations of the unit were what I’d expect from a budget media player. However, the real test came with the playback on the EN306TV-S. It was really hit and miss.
First complaint: the substandard remote control. At first I though that the batteries I had were simply dead. But it turned out that the remote control seemed to work about half the time.
Second problem: what I originally thought was an unresponsive remote, was at times the fault of the media player itself. It reminded me of the old fights I had with unresponsive Windows computers that would slow down to a crawl. The watching videos on the EN306TV-S was comparable to running Photoshop with a Pentium II CPU.
Third problem: a feature that would be desirable if the EN306TV-S weren’t so SLOW, is it’s automatic preview function while navigating the file system. While browsing through a list of video files, it automatically generates a preview for each selected file. The same happens with MP3s.
Fourth problem: inconsistent playback of video files. Sometimes it would recognize and playback, and other times it wouldn’t. Sometimes the issue was resolved after the media player had been left on for several hours. Part of the reason, may revolve around it’s ability to index the files on the hard drive itself. Or its inability to do playback may have to do with the embedded OS and version of DivX player it uses.
When it was able to do playback, sometimes the audio or video would get jittery or simply stop playing part way through.
This leads me to another issue with the EN306TV-S: partition format. Formatting in FAT32 seems to allow for read/write access to files. For example, deleting an unwanted video file.
The only area in which the EN306TV-S shines is its ability to do slideshows and show JPEGs.
The sixth problem didn’t come up until recently with the dry weather. Fed up with the remote, I used the controls on the player itself. Just before physically touching it, I heard a small static electric charge. This effectively rebooted the player. This is a definite cause for concern even if you’re using it as an external harddrive, and have it on its small plastic stand.
The seventh problem: a near absence of online information, and no support site. Virtually all of the useful information about the EN306TV-S appears in forums. No support site also meant no way of upgrading the player’s firmware, in spite of it being mentioned in its spartan manual.
In the end, one would be hard pressed to recommend the EN306TV-S as a media player. Until the nameless Chinese company that made it begins to produce some documentation online, has firmware upgrades or someone hacks it. In the meantime, its better off standing next to your computer as an external harddrive.
Posted by toshiya on Dec 02 2007 under Hardware, Toshiya's Blog |
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December 21st, 2007 at 5:03 am
I am hadnt trouble with that EN306TV-S machine with vista. I was just wondering how you get it to work? Where can I find driver for it? Vista keep saying unknown device. And The Driver in the CD is for Win98 it wont even install. How can I get it to work with vista I just brought it.
Thank you for your time
David
December 22nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Hi David. I don’t have a PC with Vista. A Vista driver shouldn’t be necessary. It should just be recognized as an extra hard drive by your PC. Also, the Windows 98 driver is the only driver I know of for it.
1. Check the jumper setting on the back of your hard drive. Try setting it to “CS” aka Cable Select. Otherwise try setting it to Master.
2. Have you gotten it to play videos at all? Make sure that both the wide IDE cable and smaller molex power cable are properly attached to the hard drive.
3. Was the hard drive already partitioned and formatted using a file system other than NTFS or FAT32?
4. Make sure you power off the device before attaching it to your PC via the USB cable. Once you’ve logged in to Vista, then turn the EN306TV-S on.
Under XP, if the hard drive hasn’t been formatted yet ( NTFS or FAT32 ) go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management. Then right click on what looks like a new hard drive in order to begin formatting it.
4. Finally, make sure your hard drive actually works.
Hope this helps.
December 23rd, 2007 at 4:06 am
I try to plug into my brother computer who is using Windows XP work great. The Drive detect and show in my computer. I try to set it to Cable Select but still dont work on my vista machine. Well after that I put some movies and mp3 files onto the drive to test it but when I use the Yellow Red and White connector doesnt seem to show anything on my TV. Than I use the S-Video connector instead of the Yellow but the picture quality suck. Doesnt even show it clear. Show alot of line on the screen. There was no sound for the movie. The mp3 files work. Well this Drive seem to give me more headace than it look. DOnt know what to do maybe I’ll return it. What you think? Well I dont have a HDD TV to test it out maybe only work will with HDD TV. So confuse. Please help me out
Thank you for your time
David
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:23 am
I loaded a bunch of files on that same player for a friend. They were all MP3 files. I couldn’t be bothered to wait for the index to load. I think it’s completely unusable and people would be better off shelling out the extra bucks for a Mediagate (which actually works) or eUreka / LX350HD. I hear the new one even records TV. If I had cable, I’d actually care.
I hate it when companies put out junk like this. I went to a computer store to buy a second Mediagate the other day and the salesperson was pushing the EN306TV-S. It should be scrapped for the junk that it is or just used as a hard drive enclosure. The one my friend bought wouldn’t even fit the hard drive properly so it’s not even good for that really.
I format my hard drives on my mac in something called DOS file system. I think it’s FAT32 and I’ve never had problems with the Mediagate MG-35. OSX won’t write to NTFS drives which is a bit of a pain in the ass.
This was a good review. It should help a lot of people from making the wrong purchasing decision.
Here are some links to the other two players I mentioned:
http://www.ziocanada.ca/products/pEurekalx350hd.php
http://www.mediagateusa.com/html/mg35ndas.html
December 23rd, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Hi again.
Sounds like you’ve got two problems.
1. Vista. Your brother’s XP computer recognizes the EN306TV-S.
2. I never had the same problem with the A/V connectors. Didn’t try the S-Video though.
You may just want to return it. Sounds like you got a defective one. I also exchanged the model I reviewed and had some better luck with the replacement. Still, it’s better suited as a picture viewer or as an external harddrive enclosure. Also, as Nick mentioned, the thing takes forever to index when it boots. Personally, the fact that it has to be NTFS or FAT32 is a major limitation for someone who’d prefer ResierFS or Ext3.
I would take a serious look at spending the extra money on the MediaGate MG-35 from MediaSonic. At least, the company has a web site where you can download the manual in advance.
The MediaGate MG-35 doesn’t need a hard drive. It has a network plug in the back so you can just plug it into your router or switch. Set it up to view the files in shared folders on your PC.
I think you can configure it using your web browser, once it’s plugged in to your network. As an alternative to the USB connection to your PC.
I tried it at a friend’s place. The remote control doesn’t look or feel like a toy. It’s much more responsive. Doesn’t seem to have the underpowered shortcomings of the EN306TV-S.
For the more tech savvy, you can even assign it an IP address or leave it at DHCP.