- #VIEWSONIC VMP75 1080P NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER TRIAL#
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- #VIEWSONIC VMP75 1080P NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER FREE#
The search bar is insanely tiny, and involves punching through numbers to get the proper letters you need. After that, we sort of became frustrated trying to navigate through clips. We checked out a great looking clip from the new animated movie, Despicable Me.
#VIEWSONIC VMP75 1080P NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER SERIES#
Using the click wheel was difficult, since it uses a series of clicks and presses, instead of swipes. You can zoom and adjust font sizes, but it’s a lot of work. It looks exactly like the computer-based interface, but those words looked itty-bitty, even on our big screen. Many of the stations do require a Live365 account, but there are also plenty of freebies, which sounded surprisingly great. You can also scroll and pick radio stations by genre.
#VIEWSONIC VMP75 1080P NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER FREE#
Just some include My Presets, Recommendations, Editor’s Picks and Free Stations. Under Live365, you’ll find a slew of options. Next, we tried our hand at iMediam which offers four services: Live365, YouTube, SHOUTcast Radio, and Flickr. Still, the colors and textures on each title were decent, and we appreciated the instant gratification.
Why these are not available in HD is a question for Netflix. Even some of our non-HD selections, such as Zombieland, UP and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, all looked awesome. However, on some of the titles, the volume was a bit low. The images and the streaming quality were nothing short of stellar. While not all Netflix selections are available in HD, we did find more than a few to test out the quality, including episodes of 30 Rock, the ’80s comedy Caddyshack, and the mini-film Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder. Within seconds, we had our streaming Netflix queue on screen.
#VIEWSONIC VMP75 1080P NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER TRIAL#
However, Netflix does offer a free trial to get you hooked. To use this option, you must have a streaming account, which starts at $8.99 per month. Also, if you don’t have it, you’re going to get it, because it’s pretty addicting. That’s not to say that it doesn’t have other nice features, but this is the biggie. Basically, if you don’t have Netflix, we would be surprised that you’d buy this box. Using the wheel, you can click through options such as Network Shared Folders, UPnP (DLNA) devices, a removable device, Netflix, a Web browser, the RSS reader, favorites, iMedia, and setup.įirst, we punched up a few selections from Netflix. Upon the first use, we immediately received our local forecast, as well as menu options. Within seconds, we had our cables connected and our initial menu on-screen. The remote is fairly straightforward, with 39 hard buttons and one click wheel. Everything you want to do and everything you need to do will be done from the VMP75’s remote control. The VMP75 box itself has absolutely no controls - not even a power button. The Web is your key to content, which includes YouTube, Live365, ShoutCast internet radio, Flickr, RSS feeds, and Netflix (subscription required). Without it, well… you just have another pretty little box in your A/V cabinet. One was not supplied for this review, so we went with our old Ethernet connection. At press time, ViewSonic did not offer its own wireless adapter for this setup, but recommends compatible adapters from Edimax, Azio, and Intellinet, which you can pick up for about $20 on the Web. It can do wireless, but it will cost you a little extra for an adapter. The one thing that this box is missing is built-in Wi-Fi. However, the company isn’t making that too easy. It’s easy, it’s clean, and it helps deliver ViewSonic’s promise of streaming 1080p content. To make things simple, we went with the HDMI connection. The back has very few ports, including composite A/V jacks, optical audio, HDMI, USB, a combined eSATA and USB port, Ethernet, and the DC power port. Features and DesignĪt under half a pound, this unit should be a fleck inside your A/V cabinet. You should be up and enjoying alternate entertainment in minutes. Aside from the actual media player, you’ll find an HDMI cable, an A/V composite cable, the power adapter, a Quick Start guide, and a remote with batteries. There’s not too much packaged with the VMP75, which we actually appreciate. It’s just as easy to add those entertainment options in with a teeny box like the ViewSonic NexTV VMP75. However, if you missed the boat and aren’t quite ready to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars on a new device, don’t fret.
Now, many TVs, Blu-ray players and other boxes feature a plethora of third-party entertainment. You are no longer limited to what’s on the hundreds of channels offered up by your cable or satellite provider.