Mede8er 500x2 Internet Media Player

The technology today has been widely rising, getting more sophisticated, much mobile, easily gets upgraded or updated, and more eye-catching. Talk about user-friendliness, if you're new to these technologies or used to old behaviors and interface, you might say that it's much confusing to use and navigate.

Just a few years back, I was already so glad and happy for having a Home Theater and LCD TV which lessens the space occupied in my bedroom but having much bigger and brighter screen. Then I thought, what else could be re-developed for Televisions and media players except for new codecs and screen resolutions/sizes? Then one by one, came new updates for these digital entertainment system from USB-reading capability which was first introduced to media players, and was also embedded on TVs and computer monitors. A few more months and the TV-monitor in-one came rushing to the market, a few more months and the internet TV came out.

Again I wondered, what else can be done? Is it already the end of embedding new technologically-advanced features for the entertainment appliances?

The answer came last August 27, 2011 during the homey-atmosphere product launching of one of the new but promising digital entertainment system - an Internet Media Player from Mede8er (sounds as "mediator").

Who would think a decade earlier that enjoying a movie with your family can be enjoyed not just in your entertainment room but also simultaneously anywhere in your house? (take note of the word "simultaneous").

Mede8er is relatively an unknown brand, specially here in the Philippines. But their latest among their media players, the Med500x2, is one that can boast of a lot of features packed in a small, mobile box. It is developed by Sanji Electronics from South Africa, using the technology capabilities of Realtek (which you will also find mostly from our PC motherboards).

Mede8er MED500x2 is a High-Definition Internet Media Player (HD-IMP), which has been designed for good solid media playback from a hard drive, USB device, SD Card, Internet or Local Network source. It is also equipped with advanced features like Fast Gigabit Port and Super Fast USB 3.0 Slave port and is upgrade-ready for the fast PCIe WiFi kit that will be available as an optional aftermarket upgrade kit. The Mede8er fully supports the very latest video codec's such as MKV-H264, BDMV, BDISO, M2TS for seamless playback of all supported media files. You can now pass full HD Audio streams via HDMI to your amplifier for a full 7.1 surround sound experience.

The demo box sporting a 1TB Samsung SATA Harddrive

The MED500X2 is one of the first Media Players on the market to support the very latest 3TB Sata Hard Drives. The built-in Hard Drive format utility will format the hard drive without the need for a PC.

The MED500X2 also supports Online Media Streams, so now you can launch YouTube XL and browse or search the online videos of your choice. X2 will also stream Video Podcasts such as World News, US News, Technology, Entertainment, and Sports from all over the world. You can also browse the Internet or listen to Internet Radio or just enjoy Social Media like Facebook and Twitter. For correct system operation we recommend the use of an optional external wireless keyboard when using the Internet Browser.

How's that for the features? Don't get overloaded yet as it has more to offer than I could write here in this post. You can view more of these features and specifications from Mede8er MED500x2 Product Page or you may also browse the Med8er MED500x2 User's Manual.

More photos from the Product Launch below:

Front Panel Controls

Back Panel Connectivity

USB 2.0 and 3.0 Ports

The Media Library Explained

Med500x2 Network setup screen

Internet Media, Podcasts and Social Network Library

Med500x2 Music Search screen

General Specifications:
• Internal Hard Drive Up to 3TB (SATA2) (HDD not included unless stated otherwise on the packaging)
• Hard Drive Spin Down Function
• Built In View Manager (5 Custom Views)
• Built In Favourites Manager
• Movie XML Med Data in Media Library
• JukeBox XML Search Function
• Alpha Search in Media Library
• Internet Media Streams
• Social Media
• Built in Web Browser
• Mac HFS+ compatible
• Low Noise Fan with TPE mounts
• Metal chassis - solid design
• Video Wall with full Metadata Search (available on Firmware update v1.0.4)
• Full Parental Control on Folders
• Watched Indicator
• Network - Ethernet 10/100/1000* Mbps port
• Optional Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n up to 300Mbps)
• Optional PCIe Wi-Fi
• Samba server - NAS storage
• Internet Radio (SHOUTcast)
• Photo Grid Picture View
• SD Card slot / Sony Pro Duo Card Slot
• Photo slide show with background music
• Subtitle: SRT, SSA, SUB, SMI format
• Plasma Mode - Prevent screen burn in