4. Many Menus For Optimal Film Enjoyment

After we equipped the HD-3510 with a hard disk, we were able begin using it as an external hard disk and video player. We just had to connect the external hard disk to the PC via the USB 2.0 cable to start the feed. Using Windows (98 SE or more recent) the new storage medium is automatically recognized as an external hard disk. The HD-3510's IDE interface supports disks of up to 2 teraBytes in size, which means that all current hard disks are supported, and the unit should be able to handle new drives for the foreseeable future. Our test disk was connected, and we wrote to it without any problems. The small display on the HD-3510 remained dark during the feed, coming back on only when we disconnected the drive from the PC.

After a short initialization phase, the first image appeared on the display and on the connected playback device. After pressing the N/P button several times we got a reasonable picture on the infrared remote control via the TV card, which we used to save screen shots.

The player's main menu is arranged very clearly, with only a few symbols. This makes it easier for you to get started quickly. Many player settings can be changed using the setup menu. But before getting into that, let's take a closer look at the individual submenus - we had high expectations for the HD-3510 in this area.

After pressing the OK button on the remote control we arrive at the Video menu. The film files and even the subdirectories were displayed very clearly, and long file names are no problem for the HD-3510. In another subdirectory we set up several DVD films, which were copied over 1:1. According to the instructions, the player should recognize the individual DVDs as such and play them like a DVD player with all its functions. In other words, with the DVD menu, subtitles and all of the available languages are options.

Navigation using the remote control is simple. By pressing the OK button you're always taken one step further. Two dots will alert you to the fact that you're in a subdirectory; selecting this allows you to return to the parent directory (those who work a lot with Total Commander may recognize this function). After switching to one of the DVD directories, nothing happened at first. So we went back and checked out the other menu points. AVI files or MP3 files were easily selected and then played after pressing the OK button. In doing so, we found that we quickly forgot that this isn't a DVD player with DivX and MP3 support but actually an external USB box. To be able to use all functions correctly, we still had to make our way to the setup menu.