Sumvision Cyclone Micro 2 Media Player

Low cost is good providing it does what you want it to and you're prepared to overlook a couple of issues because of that low cost.

That's the way I look at this player.

The good things: cheap; plays every format you can almost think of (see the list of compatible formats) - it actually includes FLV files which I've found useful on a couple of occasions; images look crisp and sharp; it plays the files it says it can and it does it cheaply (did I mentiuon it's cheap?); it's compatible with NTFS USB devices (so you won't have to reformat a drive to use it and can use files larger than 4GB); it can power *some* USB hard-drives - anything that has no problem with a single USB port (my iomega drive works perfectly with it); it's cheap. It's also reassuringly solidly built.

The OK: the user interface is adequate, although the volume resets to 20 (out of a maximum 30) whenever the device is powered off; also no upgrades to the firmware are possible as far as I've been able to determine. My tv says that the device's audio output is not up to scratch, and throws up a warning, but it plays and sounds fine - it's probably just the Sony TV being picky - which they are - and the reason I had to buy something like this in the first place (Sony are terrible at playing a diverse range of formats and strict in what they will work with within a particular format - very unforgiving).

The bad: the remote control: is not particularly good, which for a device whose sole means of operation is the remote, is pretty poor show. The buttons are sometimes unresponsive and the layout is retarded: a tiny play/pause button on the lower left with MASSIVE FF/RW buttons in the middle: there's no way to easily move your thumb between FF/RW and play and infortunately the middle button (the OK button~) does not double as play/pause. They really did no user testing on this thing. The remote uses a large coin battery - which should provide good efficiency - but it's not as convenient as slapping in a couple of rechargeable AAAs. Also the text on the top rows of buttons is in dark blue, on a black remote, which means seeing what the function is requires bright light or a good memory - stupid for a device that will likely be used in a darkened room: like I say, they really did no user testing with this thing.

So, should you get it, despite all this? I'm pretty happy with it, and that's largely for three reasons: one, it's cheap and that means I can be a little forgiving for its shortcomings; two, despite the crappy remote, I usually just press play and occasionally pause once I've started to watch a video, so, I can like with the badly designed remote for the most part (besides - I've just seen a spare remote is for sale on Amazon with a better design - as long as it's compatible with the cyclone 2 ... it looks like a good investment) and finaly, three, it plays a wide range of video formats, and HD ones at that, well, cleanly and crisply.

Despite the poor-quality remote, I'm pretty happy with this little thing: it gets the job done and for a low price.

[UPDATE 2012-05-05] I just recently bought a Logitech Harmony remote and the device is compatible with the Cyclone 2. It makes the device actually usable without frustration. There are no lags & no problems registering key presses. The Cyclone is now a pleasure to use! You might not want to spend another £20 to make this device work like it should have in the first place, but it'll solve all frustrations with this device.

My Xbox recently died and as I use it primarily as a media player this seemed like a good substitute. Arguably it does what it says on the tin; plays media files off a USB stick. It just doesn't do it in a very nice manner. The User Interface is cumbersome; you select what you want to play such as media file, music etc, then where it is, such as USB stick or SD card (no auto detect even if only one plugged in). Then the drive letter assigned based on the number of partitions detected, naturally every USB stick I have only has one. Then you get to choose your file and finally you can turn up the volume from the very low default and potentially adjust the video size being played; stretch, full screen etc.

The remote on this thing is horrific, I had one replancement as the first was completely dead. The second worked fine but only within 12 to 18 inches of the device. Now imagine kneeling in front of your SumVision going through the above User Interface with a poor quality remote. I also replaced the battery as well but this didn't help.

The Apple TV remote uses the same button cell batteries as the SumVision and has no issues with transmission distances.

I would say that you get what you pay for. That said in I have a £40 Kazuki device in another room that plays everything you throw at it in any format on either DVD or USB stick and it's very small as well. The SumVision actually stopped playing a couple of files at a point where there was a glitch. Meanwhile the same file on the PC or the Kazuki and you simply see a glitch and they carry on playing unphased.

This device is already in the loft and I opted to pay about the same to get the Xbox repaired!

I bought this player because it is small and can replace the media player I currently own. A bonus is that it can handle more file types. However, when I read the manual which is supplied on a mini-CD, I accidently stumbled upon something I was not expecting. The manual says that firmware updates are provided on-line but does not give a URL, so I did a Google search and found that the unit supplied to me through Amazon by the firm Dealtastic is not genuine. At first glance, it looks like a Sumvision unit, but it is actually called TurnMeOn2. As far as I can tell, it performs all of the same functions and I have not had any problems with it, but the Google search results seem to indicate that I am being lucky! Reported problems are picture freeze, video scene skipping, audio break-up and inability to play beyond a certain time limit e.g. 30 minutes.
I shall keep my unit because it was cheap and it works, but this is not the first time I have had a suspect deal from Dealtastic, so be wary.