I want to buy a HDD-based multi-media player for me to have another place to store and play music, photos, and video. I also want it be a more convenient place for my little boys to playback their favorite DVDs on LCD. It can also be a place to backup my large volume of photos taken these few years. The following are three products in my watchlist.

• TVIX M3000U from DVICO — The Original Digital Jukebox — TVIX is a portable multimedia player for digital home entertainment that brings your movies, music and photos to your TV.
• TVIX HD M5000U from DVICO — The newest and most advanced HDD-based Divx player from DVICO.
• MediaMan HVX-3500 — Mediaman HVX-3500 is a versatile multi-media player that allows you to store a plenty of data, music, photos, and even complete movie collections and playback them on your AV systems.

The prices are reasonable: TVIX-M3000U costs around HK$ 1400, MediaMan HVX-3500 costs around HK$1900, and TVIX-M5000U is the most advanced and the most expensive (around HK$ 2600). I have saw the demo of the former two in Hong Kong consumer-electronic shops. The following are the main differences I can notice.

• Both TVIX HD M-5000U and MediaMan HVX-3500 supports DVI, Component, S-video, and Composite output for video, but TVIX M3000U does not support DVI.
• TViX HD M-5000U can be networked with a PC using its built-in LAN port. You can navigate to a file in a PC on and play the file from its original destination without having to first copy it onto the TViX HD.
• TViX HD M-5000U can display images in BMP format in addition to JPEG format.

Do you konw other similar gadgets that I can purchase in Hong Kong? I appreciate it if you can share with me what you know about HDD-based multi-media players suitable for small living room.

In my previous post, I expected that Nokia 770 should be available for sale in Hong Kong around the end of year 2005. I also predicted that its price should be around HK$3000. However, as of today, I cannot find it available in main consumer electronics stores in Hong Kong. In eXpansys Hong Kong it is now in pre-order status with price not announced.

After reading some user reviews collected in this weblog specific to news, reviews, links and opinions about Nokia 770, it seems that it still has some drawbacks and limitations. Should I think twice before I purchase one in Hong Kong? I am looking for a very handy (and economical) device that I can enter the Web instantly and conveniently via my home wireless router. It is time I look for some alternatives. Any suggestions?

V-Gear LANDISK enables you to store data through LAN and establish your own network storage easily. Features include

• Easy Set-up! Auto Configuration
• Trustful & Power-saving
• SAMBA & FTP, 2 Servers in 1
• Best Cooling Tech for 3.5″ HDD

It costs around HK$ 1500 including a 3.5″ 250 GB hard disk. View the LANDISK User Guide to learn more.

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet should be available for sale in Hong Kong around the end of this year. I hope it will not be priced too high (below HK$3000) in Hong Kong so that I can convince myself to buy one. Main features according to Nokia:

• Easy, broadband access over Wi-Fi.
• A truly portable, elegantly-sized tablet designed for effortless surfing.
• Impressive hi-resolution widescreen display and intuitive interface are optimized for online browsing.

The following lists a number of good product reviews:

1. jkOnTheRun (June 27, 2005)
2. Internet Tablet Talk
3. Nokia 770 Blog

I was very impressed by this gadget when I saw the demo in a computer shop at Mongkok. I then searched for information about it. Here comes some of them.

Product overview at iWantOneOfThose.com: TViX Storage Jukebox

Another overview: TVIX-M3000U Multimedia Jukebox: Amazing multimedia storage system.

One more at MacSense Australia: TVIX Multimedia Player - DVD Jukebox.

DVD JukeBox: Put all of your DVD titles into TViX and setup a DVD Jukebox in your living room. No more CDs and DVDs in your house any more.

Digital Photo Album: Still watch your photos on a small PC monitor? Now, enjoy your memories with you family on a big TV screen!!

Music Tank: You can store 20,000 mp3 music files in the TViX(80G). TViX is a mobile music tank for playing your full collection of MP3s and WAV files to a hi-fi system.

Portable storage: Backup all your important data. High-speed FIREWIRE interface.

Rimax TVix Connectivity Diagram

It is on my list of next gadget I want to buy.

Update: I start to be confused. Where is the originality of this product? Via here I learn that it is a product by DVico, which should be a Korea company. However, I also viewed the same product from rimax.net. Anyway, I still want one. It should cost around HK$ 1500 (hard disk not included).