This is an awesome little box that plays divx, mp3, and picture files from a USB storage device (flash drive or external hard drive). It cost me a little less than $40 with shipping and all. It has recently been listed on Amazon for $29.99 with no shipping charge. (Feel Free to click my amazon affiliate link if you want to buy this device. It costs nothing extra to you and it will help me out a little…)

Sony SMPU10 USB Media Player (Black)

I took that picture. As you can see, the remote is rather well laid out. The box itself is quite small so it will leave a very small footprint in your video system set up.

Here’s a look at the back of the device (I borrowed this picture):

As you can see, its only long enough to accommodate the outputs it has. To the left is HDMI, then the Green-Blue-Red Component video outs, then the Red-White audio outs, then the Yellow composite video out, then the orange digital audio out. Finally, there is the DC Power input.

The device is very easy to set up. Simply plug in the power cable and the video cable of your choice. Then power on the device either using the power button on the box or the remote. It will lead through a very simple set up process and then it is ready to play. You supply a USB device that has video or audio or picture files on it. I tested it using some video files I have (legally acquired, of course *nudge wink*) and it worked perfectly. I have read that it doesn’t play a wide range of video file types. However, most of the stuff I have is encoded with XviD, which is the open source version of DiVX and it completely compatible.

I am using an older TV with which I have to use an RF modulator to even get A/V cables connected to it. So….my set up is not the best to test the quality of video this outputs. However, I can report that it looks about the same as the output of DiVX/XviD files from the Xbox360 using the same RF modulator. It is said to up-convert to 1080p so if anyone has a 1080p TV they would loan me for testing, that would be great! ;)

Pros:

  • Very small footprint

  • ability to work with Hi-Def as well as standard def TVs
  • simple, yet complete remote
  • does one thing and does it well: Plays divx files

Cons:

  • Menu system. It is functional but not eloquent. Looks like something from a VCR from 10-15 years ago.

  • Lack of file type support. If your content is not in xvid or divx, it will have to be re-encoded.

Pro/Con, depending on your use:

  • Only USB port is in the front.
    • If you plan on using this with a USB flash drive and changing content regularly, having the USB port on the front is handy for convenient access.

    • If you plan on using it with an external drive and leaving it as a more permanent set up, having the cable coming out of the front is less than appealing.

All in all, I would recommend this device if you have the need for it. There are other devices out there that will play divx files and do other things as well (such as streaming video from Netflix, etc.) but they are generally more expensive than this box. At $30, I didn’t know what to expect from this one. I was very pleasantly surprised. It is simple, and it does what it does well: play divx files.

As always, you can follow me on twitter ( @lukenova ) for more info on my day-to-day life and perhaps more technology I find interesting. (Be sure to hover your mouse over the @lukenova to see the cool new twitter @anywhere feature I just implemented!)

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