revolution34

So, after 2 years of tinkering and messing about, I’ve decided to ditch the TViX. It’s been great, allowing me to pack away my DVD and CD collection and having it all available on my TV and through my hi-fi, all controlled with one remote. However, it does have a number of quirks which I have been tolerating.

• •The file-system based navigation is kind of clunky and I have realised I have been listening to lots of bands whose name falls in the early part of the alphabet just because it’s a ballache to scroll down any further.
• •There’s no option for playlists or shuffling by artist or genre
• •The TV Tuner takes over the box completely, so I can’t record a TV show and listen to music (if I have people come round, for example)
• •The last firmware update broke internet radio stations and there are no plans for any further updates to fix it
• •There’s a bug in the TV recording which means that ffwd/rewind don’t always work correctly

As I say, these are annoyances which I currently live with. They bother me sometimes (especially the last one), but generally I think it’s a great little box. However, K doesn’t get on with the box at all. We’ve been together 2 years now and she still can’t work out how to put on the TV or play some music; there are too many menu commands and special button presses to get there. In her words, it’s not very ‘joined-up’.

Also, the 2 years since I bought it have seen a huge increase in the number of online services which I’d like to be able to take advantage of – iPlayer, Hulu, Joost, Spotify, iTunes Movie Rentals – and none of these are possible through the TViX. We have even occasionally found ourselves dragging a DVD player out of the cupboard to watch a film that we have borrowed. Not ideal at all.

So, the requirements are: a small form factor device with plenty of storage, capable of playing a variety of audio and video formats, a user-friendly interface and remote, a (preferably dual) TV Tuner with PVR capabilities, a DVD player and access to online content. It should also be able to handle HD when I finally get a big telly (the TViX is standard def only). Not too much to ask, surely?