Setup Comparison

Both players were a dream to set up. The Mvix detected my wireless connection settings within seconds of entering my WEP key, and my shared folders were immediately available. I took a moment to throw in a hard drive and I was watching HD recordings on it within minutes. The Rapsody was just as easy. I installed the NDAS software on my computer and after a painless setup and a quick hard drive installation, I was also watching my test HD files on it within a few minutes.

I was surprised by the ease of setup. I have reviewed quite a few network media players and until now I had more than my fair share of setup problems on every one. Updating to the latest firmware was also a breeze with the players. Both manufacturers seem to be working actively to keep their players up to date with regular updates and the firmware in both cases was easy to find, download and install.

Interface Comparison

Once you determine that a player can meet your needs by way of playback options and performance it's important to consider the user interface. After all, you'll be using the interface to locate and play your files every time you use the player - if you hate it, you're stuck with it. It's been my experience that most network media players have poorly designed user interfaces. The ones that I have used so far are almost universally ugly, cumbersome and unpleasant to use. Sadly, both the Rapsody and the Mvix are typical in this regard.

The Mvix and the Rapsody seem to be trying to emulate a computer file explorer interface. Sure it's gets the job done, but it's boring! Where's the style? I generally buy new electronics 80% for what they can do for me and 20% to show them off. Sure it's shallow and materialistic but that hasn't stopped me yet.

Both players are sure to impress in both looks and functionality ...until you turn them on. After that they're a bit of a hard sell. I'm not saying that I want the interface to be flashy or overly colorful, but I do want something that looks like some time was spent in its design. Both players seem to be cut from a cookie cutter mold; at least offer up a little originality! A blue background with a light blue box containing a bunch of benign yellow folders is not my idea of a visually interesting UI. Looks aside, both user interfaces were easy to use and I didn't have any trouble locating and playing any of my test files.

The Mvix user interface

The Rapsody user interface