3. AV Connections On The Players

A view of the rear ports of the Rapsody N35

A view of the rear ports of the Mvix MX-760 HD

Video

Standard composite RCA-style analog connections for legacy devices SVideo Component HD DVI (DVI and HDMI connections are closely related. The DVI connection can be converted easily to HDMI with an inexpensive converter cable.)

Audio

Standard composite RCA-style analog connections for legacy devices Coaxial for digital audio Optical for digital audio

Both players include the option to internally house a Parallel ATA (IDE) hard drive internally. Depending on the size of the hard drive used, it's possible to store hundreds of videos and thousands of songs and pictures on the players locally. I should mention that neither player requires a hard drive to function. They are both designed to play media files that are stored on your computer's hard drive over a network. However, the option to store the files directly onto the player adds convenience to an already versatile device. For example, you can transfer a recorded TV show directly to the player's hard drive and take it over to a friend's house to watch.

Thanks to their wide varieth of connection options, both players can be connected to almost any display, from legacy analog monitors to high resolution HDTVs. This kind of flexibility along with the relatively small size of the players allow them to be easily transported from place to place.

Mvix MX-760 HD With a hard drive installed

Rapsody N35 with a hard drive installed

Both players house a VIA USB host controller that can host up to two USB storage devices. The host controller is able to power flash-based thumb drives and some card readers, but if you're planning on using external hard drives, they need to be self powered to function. The ability to attach two extra hard drives to the players via the USB host controller becomes a very useful feature when you're planning on locally storing a lot of high definition content.