Cheap Media centre (videos, music and photos direct to your TV) (Envizage MZ3)

Member Name: wyvern9lb

Product:	Envizage MZ3
Date:	17/06/09 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Just plug and play into your TV, No more converting to DVD's using nero

Disadvantages: I have had a few problems which have quickly been sorted out (hence only 3 stars)

I have just purchased one of these only a couple of months ago. I was looking for a media centre with 1TB memory storage for all my pictures, music and videos, as my computer is getting quite full. I wanted a device that would be easy to transfer my files and watch them on my TV and that just what this little baby does. The site I bought it from was http://www.envizage.com for £110.96 and £6.95 postage and packaging (total £117.91). Just looking at the site now, they have reduced the price to £91.95 and have brought out a new 1.5Tb version (true for June 2009). The bonus about buying from this site is not only are they the cheapest, but they offer a "Lifetime technical support via email or our local rate 0845 299 0393 number from a titanium registered power seller company." (Quoted from their site). The postage was rather quick; I received mine in 2 days from purchasing it. I would recommend that you buy the device with the hard disk if you are uncomfortable with technical stuff, as it does look complicated to install. There are easy to follow instruction in the manual if you decide you would like to install your own (size supported is 3.5 inch SATA type)

* Appearance*

The first thing I noticed about the device is that it is quite heavy, weighing approximately 1kg (0.62kg without hard disk) so not ideal for an every day portable hard disk. Luckily that is not the reason I wanted this for. The appearance of the device is quite attractive, if very simple. Just the power button on the front, no others, and the infrared receiver with LED indicator (red off / orange on). The colour of the device is a matt black (no need to worry about fingerprints all over it). As you can see from the picture, the device comes with a stand. Underneath the stand is a compartment for you to put the remote control when transporting.

* The remote control *

This device is very simple to use, hence a very simple remote control. The remote itself is very thin (only measuring 5mm thick). Unlike the device, the remote control is extremely light. The battery is 3V lithium (CR2025). The controls are very basic, much like a normal DVD remote really. You have you navigation buttons, usual DVD play/pause, Rew/FF, Prev/Next.

* Connecting the MZ3 to your computer*.

The great thing about the MZ3 is the simplicity of it. Before you start to transfer files, you must format the disk first. Now don't be scared this is very easy to do (the instructions in the manual are extremely helpful and break it down step by step: Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS). The MZ3 does use power from USB, so there is no need to use the power cable (I tend to just in case though). Just simply connect the USB lead provided to USB port at the back of the MZ3 and your computer. There is no need to upload any software as your computer instantly recognizes the MZ3 as a new HDD (hard disk device). Once you have formatted the disk, you just transfer your files just as you would normally do (The MZ3 appears as a removable device in "My computer" just like an MP3 player or a Pen drive does). The speed of transfer depends on your computer speed (mine transfers 4 GB of data in under 7 minutes, which I don't think is too bad). As for the sound, the MZ3 makes it not too loud. You can hear the disk spinning as you transfer, and you can hear the fan. Considering most external hard drives tend to make noise, I don't think it is much of an issue. For all you who know a lot about computer the MZ3 support both FAT32 and NTFS file systems (don't ask me why this is important, maybe one of you intelligent dooyooers maybe able to shed some light on why)

* Connection to the TV *

Not being a very technical person myself, I was extremely happy how simple this was to do.

1) The device comes with a composite AV cable (yellow, white and red), which you just connect to your TV.
2) Plug the other end into the back of your device.
3) Plug in the power adapter and switch the power on and that's all there is to it.

You then need to turn the device on with the remote control. A screen will pop up on your TV telling you that the device is loading (this doesn't take long at all, only a few seconds with 300gb of data which I have transferred so far). Then there is the satisfying "Ping" to let you know it's up and running and the start menu screen appears.

* Navigating the startup Menu*

Once you have connected the MZ3 with your TV (as shown above), the menu screen appears. This is very easy to navigate using the arrow buttons on your remote controls. There are six options to choose from:

- Photo -
(Files supported are JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF)
Fantastic for viewing all my photos and with 1TB of space, this will last me a long time. When you select the photo icon on the menu screen, all your photos will be displayed as thumbnails (a small copy of your photo). Use the arrow buttons on your remote to select a photo you wish to see (can take a long time depending on how many photos' you have). The only problem is that all your photos are shown and not in files you have created, (to look at a specific photo folder I suggest you use the file icon on the start up menu). There are options for you to zoom, rotate your photo if you require to do so. You can also set up a slide show and watch your photo with a choice of background music from your music files.

- Music -
(Files supported are MP3 and WMA)
Ok, so you do have to convert your CD's into MP3 or WMA files, but you would generally do this if you were going to transfer to an MP3 player anyway. The sound quality depends on your set up at home. When you select the music icon from the start menu, your first track automatically plays. You can navigate through your songs using the arrow buttons from your remote. Your TV screen will show an equalizer when playing your music and you can change to different effects. Not really, into this so tend to just leave it; possibly, it would interest all you budding DJ's out there.

- Video -
(Files supported are MPEG 1/2, DivX 3.11,4.12,5,6, AVI, VOB, MPG, DAT, Xvid)
This is the main reason why I chose this as my camera records videos as AVI files. With this device I no longer need to convert them using Nero just to watch them on a DVD(sure I could leave some of them on my camera, but with so many videos I needed somewhere else to put them). As long as your DVD allows you to copy, you can transfer your DVD's onto the MZ3 as VOB files and it will play them (including the title screen). Only a few of my DVD's have allowed my to do this as most of them are copy protected.

- File -
This looks more like the directory of you computer (personally, I tend to use this icon, as it can take time trawling through all your photos, videos and music using the other icons). When you select the file icon, all your files appear in a list on the screen. All your folders are displayed. You can easily navigate through these just as if they were on your computer.

- Setup -
This is where you can change the setting of your MZ3 to suit your needs (just like you would with your TV setup). You can chose how you would like your photo slide show to appear (manually changing photos, changing the interval time for each picture or changing the transiition effects). You can also change how you would prefer the video display (4:3, 16:9 widescreen). If you are adventurous, you can also change your preferences (only advised if you know what you are doing)

- Device -
This is an option for all you techno wizards who know all about partitioning discs. As I know absolutely nothing about this, I find this option redundant to me


* Accessories *

Remote control
Composite AV cable (reasonable length 1m cable)
Component video extension cable (extremely short, not much use. since you don't really need it, who cares.)
Power adapter
Manual (extremely easy to follow in two languages English and French)
USB cable
Quick installation guide (for those of you that are impatient)

* Technical Specifications*

Dimensions: height 136.6mm, depth 207.5mm, width 44.3mm
Weight: 0.62kg (as I said before, quite heavy)
Audio: MP3 and WMA
Video: MPEG 1/2, DivX 3.11,4.12,5,6, AVI, VOB, MPG, DAT, Xvid
Picture: JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF
Subtitles: srt,sub, ssa, ass, psb.
remote: IR remote
Audio out: 2 channels stereo output
Video out: Component Y, Pb, Pr (support NTSC, PAL, NTSC progressive, PAL progressive, 720p)
Aspect Ratio: 4:3, 16:9
Extensibility: USB 2.0 device port.
HDD supported size 3.5" SATA type (FAT32 or NTFS)
Power adapter:
input:AC 100V-240V
output: DC +12V 2A
OSD Language: English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese Korean, Chinese.

* Technical support *

As with all new technology, I did come across a few teething problems with my first MZ3. First problem I had was that the remote control didn't work at all. So I emailed their support and quite surprised how quickly they responded (I had an email back within 10 minutes). I told them the problem, and a few emails of helpful suggestions as to what may be the problem, they agreed to send out a replacement remote control. This arrived 2 days later after my last email. The next problem I faced was the after transferring files over (maybe a corrupt file as it stopped half way through transferring) I was unable to get the start up Menu on my TV. So I emailed them again (still a very fast response to emails). They agreed to replace my MZ3 with anew one if I could send them my broken one back via the post (cost me £4.80 because of the weight). I wasn't keep long waiting when I got a neck from the postman with my replacement box. I am glad to say that so far my new MZ3 works perfectly. No problems at all and have transferred 300gb already.

* My Opinion *

Don't let the fact that I had a bumpy start with my first MZ3 put you off, I would still recommend this to my friends and you dooyooers out there. The technical service provided is a "Lifetime" which you don't get much of these days, and they are very quick to respond to any complaints. The overall simplicity is the great advantage of the MZ3 and the price is reasonable. This is almost itself a media centre, which can cost you well into £300 and more. This is a nice cheap alternative for £100, which is nearly what you would pay for an external 1TB hard drive without the capability to plug straight into you TV. Mostly I like that I can lie back on my bed and watch my videos, music and Photo without having to get up to change them.

Summary: An easy to use device for your photos, videos and music.

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