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Emtec's Movie Cube-R, an All-In-One Video Recorder, DVD Player and Hi-Fi SystemEverything you might expect from an advanced recorder...and more |
By Alex Vochin, Technology Editor
29th of August 2007, 16:31 GMT
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Everyone's talking nowadays about the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray formats, about what's going to happen with home entertainment on the future, etc. However, even if the optical data storage formats will most likely live on, at least for a while, the Internet is slowly becoming one of the most important content delivery systems around and this is the reason why an increasingly higher number of manufacturers are launching standalone multimedia players capable of taking Internet-downloaded content beyond the limits of a
computer. And that's exactly the type of device we'll talk about as follows, namely the Movie Cube-R, just announced by the Emtec company, a device capable of playing back just about any type of file one might throw at it.
The device provides an enhanced level of video functionality, supporting direct live recording from a TV and time-shifted recording from set-top boxes. Moreover, the Cube-R can automatically determine the quality of the recording including high-quality resolution, so a TV programme will be of standard quality, whereas an HD film will be recorded in high quality.
The device also provides a very intuitive and user-friendly control system, as it sports touch sensitive, illuminated buttons that deliver all the functionality for recording, watching, copying which can also be accessed via the infrared remote control. Moreover, a virtual keyboard allows users to name/rename their recorded files in order to store favorites in an organized fashion.
Another important selling point of the Movie Cube-R is represented by the huge storage capacities it can provide, as the device is available in 160 - 500 GB models. Moreover, it is compatible with the most popular multimedia formats around, including here MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG audio files, MPEG 2 & 4, AVI, VOB, DAT, MP4, XVID video files and even JPG, JPEG, BMP photos, which can be accessed either via the USB interface or via the built-in memory card reader.
As any state of the art multimedia player should, the device comes packed with a wide array of audio/video connectivity options, as for example SPDIF, RCA, Composite via RCA or Component Y/U/V (up to 720P/1080i). However, strangely enough, the device doesn't have a HDMI connector, which is quite a serious minus, especially in our HD-obsessed world.
The Movie Cube-R from Emtec will be available via Amazon starting with September 2007 starting at around 300 US dollars (the 160 GB version), which is a bit pricey, especially if we take into consideration the lack of HDMI.
We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is  .
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Fair (2.7/5) |
7 vote(s) so far |
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User opinions: |
| Comment #1 by: Ian Powell on 26 Feb 2008, 07:11 GMT |  reply to this comment | Great Device but I find the interface / system software some what could do with a firware update. But still a great machine. I own the 500MB version. 8/10 |
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