Emprex ME1 Hi Def Media Player and Recorder

SUPPORT AND UPGRADING OF FIRMWARE:-
Firstly it is well worth the trouble of visiting the Emprex web site and downloading one or both of the firmware upgrades. There is information for each in a pdf file. I downloaded both and applied the one named MEB_S2.08.K1 USB_InstallAP.zip first then the one called MEB_P1.08.K1.b1.zip. I am not sure if the order is important but doing it that way worked. The upgrade allows for the scheduling of recordings and also allows the automatic preview, which can slow things down, to be turned off.

THE REMOTE:-
The remote can be a bit awkward in use and some of my other remote controllers seem to cause the device to stop recording. I am assuming they share the same signal. This may account for some problems other user's have with missed recordings.
The interface is a little unrefined but so far it runs very well and I am happy with it.

THE DISK DRIVE:-
Fitting an IDE 3.5" drive (in my case 320 GB) to the enclosure is very easy. The device will tend to run a little hot but I would suggest this is normal. Do allow the device to be well ventilated and the small, almost noiseless fan to be unobstructed.

A possible PROBLEM:-
On 7/8/2008 disaster struck and I lost the 65 entries (127GB) I had recorded. The recordings were held, in an area of the device invisible to Windows users, as one large file with a ..vro extension. This is the way the device works even if each recording is made separately. The trouble is that if for any reason, such as loss of power, a corruption occurs the entire file can become corrupted.
The device may then be unable to play previous recordings, make new ones or delete previous ones. In short nothing involving the .vro file works very well. The solution to this is to reformat the disk using the format option from the menu system. Note that everything is then lost including the contents of the fat32 partition.

A possible SOLUTION:-
It is better to use the maximum fat32 partition during the formatting. This is because it is best to copy the recordings to the fat32 area of the disk as soon as possible after recording because each recording is then held as an individual file and much less likely to get corrupted.
After coping the original can be deleted to keep the size of the .vro file to a minimum, thus avoiding the data loss of a corruption.
In the event of the .vro file becoming corrupted the media file area will still be usable and your recordings can be downloaded to computer BEFORE you use the utility on the menu system to reformat the disk.
Unfortunately there seems to be no way to delete the corrupted .vro file without also formatting the disk and so losing everything in the fat32 partition.

Using the device with UBUNTU/Linux:-
I originally used the device with UBUNTU/Linux and made the FAT32 partition the minimum size possible. UBUNTU can see the other disk partition so files can in theory be copied to computer directly, without first coping to the FAT32 partition, using the USB port. Due to the way the device stores recordings this turned out to be a bad idea. So use the method above to keep the files on a large fat32 partition.

If connecting this device to a computer running UBUNTU only access the fat32 partition if you want to copy files between the device and the computer. When you are finished unmounted the fat32 partition then unplug the USB cable. DO NOT unmount the other partitions on the disk as UBUNTU appears to corrupt them when it unmounts them. In any case these partitions should have been unmodified by you.

BEST FORMATS:-
Recording using LP works quite well in UBUNTU and the files can then be viewed using VLC media player or Movie Player simply by coping the files from the fat32 partition of the device to disk.
If it is required to generate .avi files these files can be read into Avidemux and saved.
The following settings seem to work well in general and also for burning to a DVD to be played in most modern DVD players.
Video :- MPEG-4 (lavc)
Audio :- MP3 (LAME)
Format :- AVI

SCART to RGB:-
As the input to the device is using RGB you may have to use a SCART to RGB converter. The best type has a switch which should be set to OUT if you are using the SCART socket of a freeview box, DVD player, ect. Also remember to check that you have set the device with the SCART socket to output an RGB signal within the SCART. This may require you to use the setup menu on the freeview box or DVD player depending on the model.

An additional note about the device stopping recording :-

The device will at times stop recording for no apparent reason. I have no idea why but if you playback a recording as you record a new one then this fixes the problem.

SUMMARY:-.
It should be a much better and more cost effective option than the DVD Recorder/ Re-Writeable DVDs I was previously using. The loss of about one months recording was a bit annoying as I tend to record things I really wanted to watch when I have time. The only disadvantage to this method is like a PC if you lose the disk it is all lost! Regular backups might be a good idea.
It would also help if the software on the device would allow a new .vro file to be created without the need to reformat the fat32 partition. Also one .vro file for each recording might offer a more fault tolerant design.

Introduction
The ME1 performs two core functions well (recording and playing) without problems. If you have looked at the market place in detail some of the more popular devices do not even achieve one of these without problems and cost over twice the price.

Playing Media
I have now digitised some of my DVDs to a PC as ISO files on a windows share and this plays them perfectly - no drop outs, no pauses, no problems. I have a decent wired network. It may sound obvious, but playing media from the network will only work on a proper UNC or windows share. So if you have a NAS where additional software was needed to view the share (not just to administer the NAS) the ME1 will not be able to view files on the NAS. For example Linkstations work fine - the Negear SC101 does not. Files can be played from an attached USB drive (FAT32) but I haven't tried this.

Recording
The ME1 records from the source i.e. whatever your Sky / Virgin / Freeview box is playing - it has no tuner. It uses disk space at about 8 GB / hour but I have it on the highest quality. It has one touch recording that just works and you just click the button again and it increments the recording time by 30 minutes.

Support.
There is new firmware for the ME1 (released 12.08) and this is worth getting from the Emprex forum. This adds a 7 day recording scheduler, useful interface enhancements, and much more. The forum is treated seriously by the manufacturers and has some very helpful, knowledgeable people.

Additional equipment needed to be up and running.
What you need and isn't included is two SCART to PHONO Switchable adapters with a bit of cable on them (the cables supplied are short). A reasonably sized IDE Drive of your choice (A few people have reported compatibility issues so please check yours). I already had a spare 160 GB Samsung Spinpoint drive which worked fine. Set the IDE drive to Master for reliable operation. There is NO SATA converter with the ME1 but Emprex state that one is available - so check before buying.

Archiving Recordings and acting as a Network Attached Storage device (NAS)
A USB external drive can be attached to the ME1 to copy files from it, they are in MPG format. A Telnet server is included (username root - no password) and the implementation is busybox with a reduced command set. So if you know a few Linux commands you can copy recordings from the ME1 to a mounted networked device. Its primary function is not to be a NAS - so don't expect it to be out the box. That said it can be as it can run SAMBA or FTP server but you have to know what you are doing or be willing and able to learn, to install and set these functions up.

Bad points.
If you are picky the remote is line of sight, but not as bad as some devices out there. Other remotes can affect the ME1 - one of mine seems to switch the ME1 on. The fan is a little intrusive at quiet moments in a film. You do have to have a bit of knowledge to get the best out of the ME1.

Conclusion.
Good device, a lot of promise and stable firmware - well worth the risk at the price - you can easily spend 2 -3 times this price and end up with a right lamer.

I bought one of these and installed a 500gb drive for plenty of storage, was going to go for a normal external hard drive, but spotted these media players that can serve both as a hard drive and a media player for my lounge. Ive had no problems with it yet, apart from remote being very directional. Ive wired it up to my surround av amp in the lounge to play my extensive music collection and its great for that. photos look good through the hi-def output. all in all very happy