Mediagate MG-350HD: Multi-talented but multi-buggy

2. Ports And Connectors

The MG-350HD really shines when it comes to AV port options. The rear of the unit is covered with all sorts of ways to connect it to your display of choice. The included DVI video connector is the logical choice for digital video output. DVI can be easily converted to HDMI with an inexpensive adapter cable. (Most modern HDTVs are either equipped with DVI or HDMI connectors). For those with televisions that use component video, appropriate connectors are also included in the MG-350HD's bag of tricks. Last, (and definately least), there's the standard analog composite (CVBS) and S-Video connectors, which can be used to connect the MG-350HD to older standard definition televisions. The MG-350HD is equipped with RCA-style composite stereo audio connectors for those with older audio equipment and optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs for fans of digital surround sound.

The MG-350HD is capable of connecting to both wired, and wireless networks via a 10/100 LAN interface and an 802.11g wireless interface. It ships with a nice 7.5" (190.5mm) 5 dBi external wireless antenna. (dBi refers to the antenna's strength in decibels.) It also has 2 USB connectors. One connects the MG-350HD to your PC directly for data transfers; and one can be used to host an additional external storage drive such as a flash drive or external HDD.

The right side panel is held in place by 4 decorative thumbscrews. Inside, there is a white plastic hard drive tray designed to house a standard 3.5" hard drive. The lack of serial ATA connections might discourage some of our more performance conscious readers, but considering that the MG-350HD uses USB 2.0, 10/100 LAN, and 802.11g to transfer data back and forth; a parallel ATA interface has plenty of bandwidth to handle that sort of traffic.

I should mention that adding a hard drive to your MG-350HD is not necessary. It can function quite well as a digital media adapter by streaming media from a PC on your network. However, there are several benefits to including a hard drive in the system. The MG-350HD was designed to be multifunctional. It is capable of acting independently as a NAS (network attached storage) device through the wired and wireless interfaces. Network attached storage devices act roughly like a mini self-contained file server. Using the included software, the hard drive in the MG-350HD can be mounted to any computer in your network.

The MG-350HD can also be connected directly to a PC with a standard USB cable and act as an external USB 2.0 drive. This versatility definitely warrants the extra cost of a hard drive upgrade. Not to mention that with a hard drive installed, you aren't confined to the limits of your network. With a HDD fill of media files, the MG-350HD becomes a self-contained portable media player.

Underneath the hard drive tray is the system board. With so much video functionality, I half expected to find a nano-itx PC whirring away under the tray, but I found a rather simple looking board containing a few recognizable chips. There were some Hynix 16 Mbit x 16 DDR1 200 MHz memory modules that I assume assist with the video functions as they are commonly found on graphics accelerator cards.

The wireless functionality is supplied by a generic mini PCI wireless card that has been soldered into place. And finally, the main decoding chip is a Sigma Designs EM8621. The EM8621 gives the MG-350HD the ability to decode all sorts of video formats including DivX, WMV, Xvid, MPEG 1, MPEG 2, and high definition transport streams. (more on file formats later)

The included remote with the MG-350HD is rather cramped at approximately 5 inches long, 2 inches wide, and 3/8 inches thick (127 X 50.8 X 9.5 mm) due to it's slim design, the remote requires a three volt watch battery to function. The use of non-standard batteries in remotes has always bothered me. A dead battery in your remote should never be a chore to replace. Even if the appropriate 3V watch battery is readily available at your local grocery store, it's not something that you're likely to have lying around the house in the event of a remote control failure.

The MG-350HD remote is also a mediocre performer. It's very finicky about direct line of sight and I found that I often had to press a button more than once at different angles to get the MG-350HD to respond. It has a decent range as far as distance goes, but the remote must be aimed carefully to get a response. Sometimes, even when the remote is perfectly aligned response by the MG-350HD can be sketchy.

Beyond the standard video playback buttons, the remote allows you to select the video source and control a few DVD specific functions such as angle and language. There are a few debatably useful filtering buttons that allow you to filter the media in any given folder my movie, music, and photo files. I don't know anyone who just tosses all of their multimedia files into one folder, but if that's what you like to do, these buttons will serve you well.

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