HTC Media Link HD quick review

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AndroidInsanity

AndroidInsanity

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Jan 15, 2012
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The medialink HD arrived this morning, as it was a free gift courtesy of phones4u. I played around with it for 2 hours, and this is what I think:

It was incredibly easy to set up and use, it even came with a stand so you can stick it on top of your HDTV. So that is a nice little bonus!
The actual product itself is MUCH smaller than I thought it would be, I thought it would be at least the size of the One X, but no, it's pretty damn small!

One thing I noticed, is that when playing an intense game like Blood and glory, it stutters for the for 2 minutes of gameplay, then it seems to run like a hot knife through butter, I found this was the same with web browsing too!

HD content and games overall look amazing, HTC actually got something right first time for once! I really recommend this product to ANYONE with a One X! Any questions more than welcome of course :)
 
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mickfitz

mickfitz

Senior Member
Oct 3, 2011
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Is it connected through Bluetooth or wifi?
What sort of range does it have before you get too far away from the TV?
 
J

jaspabt

Senior Member
Mar 29, 2012
50
13
St Helens
Hi, Got mine this morning so thought I would add my own review.

Agree with OP, much smaller than I expected, making it very portable. Will upload some pictures shortly. Its made of plastic, but has a good weight to it, to make it not feel cheap. The box it came in was rubbish though!

To clarify questions I originally had -
It needs a WiFi connection to work
It needs to be plugged in to a power supply. Cable Provided
It uses HDMI. Cable provided
Minor lag after initial start up, but then ok.
Quick Buffer rates.

At the minute (I've only played around with it for an hour or so) but my feelings are its OK. I'm not blown away by it just yet and here is why.

Didn't want to connect initially despite me following the 5 simple steps to the letter. They really are simple so might say something about me! To the point I was going to send it back. Eventually though it worked, although i did exactly what I had originally. (Thinking it through it may be due to me having several broadband connections in my house, it may have switched midway through pairing)

As OP said, the first minute or 2 you experience random lag for 1, maybe 2 seconds at a time, after that its all good.

If I am playing a video, i cant see it on the phone as the image freezes on the first film image, although it plays fine on the TV.
It didn't want to work with MX PLayer, so had to use stock for viewing recordings and downloaded videos.

I don't have any "True" HD content on my phone yet (700mb stuff ;P), but this highlights the lack of quality that you don't originally see on the phones screen. Netflix for example, although picture is good on the phone, it is clearly a "stream" on the TV as the image is pixelated slightly. ESPN goals is the same (although on phone its not great, on TV is clearly worst).
If the phone content is in HD, games etc (I assume same with films), it looks sweet, and ignoring the start up lag it works really well for games.

In summary (and I don't want this to sound like im knocking it), I think it is more of a party piece, rather than a day to day item you would use. Great for sharing pictures or videos you have taken with family/friends rather than them passing your phone around the room.
Its very quick, images/video buffer very fast and play within seconds. Apart from MX Player, everything I have asked it to display on the TV it has, so there are no copyright restrictions that I can see at this stage, unlike AppleTV.
A perfect accessory for those that travel alot or spend a lot of time in hotel rooms.
 
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AndroidInsanity

AndroidInsanity

Senior Member
Jan 15, 2012
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300
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jaspabt said:
Hi, Got mine this morning so thought I would add my own review.

Agree with OP, much smaller than I expected, making it very portable. Will upload some pictures shortly. Its made of plastic, but has a good weight to it, to make it not feel cheap. The box it came in was rubbish though!

To clarify questions I originally had -
It needs a WiFi connection to work
It needs to be plugged in to a power supply. Cable Provided
It uses HDMI. Cable provided
Minor lag after initial start up, but then ok.
Quick Buffer rates.

At the minute (I've only played around with it for an hour or so) but my feelings are its OK. I'm not blown away by it just yet and here is why.

Didn't want to connect initially despite me following the 5 simple steps to the letter. They really are simple so might say something about me! To the point I was going to send it back. Eventually though it worked, although i did exactly what I had originally. (Thinking it through it may be due to me having several broadband connections in my house, it may have switched midway through pairing)

As OP said, the first minute or 2 you experience random lag for 1, maybe 2 seconds at a time, after that its all good.

If I am playing a video, i cant see it on the phone as the image freezes on the first film image, although it plays fine on the TV.
It didn't want to work with MX PLayer, so had to use stock for viewing recordings and downloaded videos.

I don't have any "True" HD content on my phone yet (700mb stuff ;P), but this highlights the lack of quality that you don't originally see on the phones screen. Netflix for example, although picture is good on the phone, it is clearly a "stream" on the TV as the image is pixelated slightly. ESPN goals is the same (although on phone its not great, on TV is clearly worst).
If the phone content is in HD, games etc (I assume same with films), it looks sweet, and ignoring the start up lag it works really well for games.

In summary (and I don't want this to sound like im knocking it), I think it is more of a party piece, rather than a day to day item you would use. Great for sharing pictures or videos you have taken with family/friends rather than them passing your phone around the room.
Its very quick, images/video buffer very fast and play within seconds. Apart from MX Player, everything I have asked it to display on the TV it has, so there are no copyright restrictions that I can see at this stage, unlike AppleTV.
A perfect accessory for those that travel alot or spend a lot of time in hotel rooms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse


AGREED! although mine connected fine, no worries, I have a picture here :) excellent review btw!
 

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jonas2295

jonas2295

Senior Member
Jan 4, 2010
5,128
2,787
Bavaria
anyone got an amazon link for me or ebay ? :D
serial?!
would like to get the right one and not an old one ....
 
J

jonstatt

Senior Member
Mar 17, 2008
721
108
There is about 0.2 second lag if you are using it for hardcore gaming. I just thought I would point that out.

It is a fantastic concept and well executed....other than the horrible shiny black casing that comes slightly marked and gets further marked by breathing on it.

It uses your Wi-Fi network. The phone somehow informs the media link of your WiFi network and password. I am not sure how it achieves this. After doing so, the Media link has an IP address. It will automatically update its firmware when you are not using it. So further improvements for some of the hesitancy that some of reported may come.

But it truly is plug and play.
 
AndroidInsanity

AndroidInsanity

Senior Member
Jan 15, 2012
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Huddersfield
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jonstatt said:
There is about 0.2 second lag if you are using it for hardcore gaming. I just thought I would point that out.

It is a fantastic concept and well executed....other than the horrible shiny black casing that comes slightly marked and gets further marked by breathing on it.

It uses your Wi-Fi network. The phone somehow informs the media link of your WiFi network and password. I am not sure how it achieves this. After doing so, the Media link has an IP address. It will automatically update its firmware when you are not using it. So further improvements for some of the hesitancy that some of reported may come.

But it truly is plug and play.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Your Wifi speed is obviously faster than mine then as Blood and Glory lags for me for the first 2 minutes :)
 
J

jonstatt

Senior Member
Mar 17, 2008
721
108
technostein said:
Your Wifi speed is obviously faster than mine then as Blood and Glory lags for me for the first 2 minutes :)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I have a high-end Wifi solution (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz 450Mbps per frequency) and the medialink is reporting using my 5Ghz frequency, which is nice and clear from interference. That probably helps.
 
AndroidInsanity

AndroidInsanity

Senior Member
Jan 15, 2012
1,432
300
Huddersfield
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jonstatt said:
I have a high-end Wifi solution (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz 450Mbps per frequency) and the medialink is reporting using my 5Ghz frequency, which is nice and clear from interference. That probably helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

And it knows your WiFi password and stuff due to the fact it is only transmitting the One X display to the TV, if it did need a password you would surely need a HDTV with internet capabilities too. :)
 
N

Nos0x

Senior Member
Apr 25, 2006
292
26
Staffs
Received mine from dialaphone today. Very easy to set up but seems to be quite laggy for me, might experiment with different frequencies in case its interfering with my WiFi.
 
W

welshand

New member
Apr 29, 2008
4
0
The problem i seem to have with this is that when i am playing a movie i am supposed to be able to leave the movie running and use my phone as normal,
This does not happen it justs says screen locked on my phone any button i press like home or running apps stops the movie playing
 
A

azazin

Senior Member
Jun 16, 2010
217
24
I have a problem with my Media Link HD, my phone doesn't seem to be able to configure, it keeps getting stuck 3/4 during the configuring process, I am running Leedroids 5.0 and have activated Multicast on my Virgin Media superhub (it says multicast should be activated in the manual) any ideas guys on how to connect them?
 
AndroidInsanity

AndroidInsanity

Senior Member
Jan 15, 2012
1,432
300
Huddersfield
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azazin said:
I have a problem with my Media Link HD, my phone doesn't seem to be able to configure, it keeps getting stuck 3/4 during the configuring process, I am running Leedroids 5.0 and have activated Multicast on my Virgin Media superhub (it says multicast should be activated in the manual) any ideas guys on how to connect them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I am guessing stock ROM works best. :)
 
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  • 4
    AndroidInsanity
    AndroidInsanity
    The medialink HD arrived this morning, as it was a free gift courtesy of phones4u. I played around with it for 2 hours, and this is what I think:

    It was incredibly easy to set up and use, it even came with a stand so you can stick it on top of your HDTV. So that is a nice little bonus!
    The actual product itself is MUCH smaller than I thought it would be, I thought it would be at least the size of the One X, but no, it's pretty damn small!

    One thing I noticed, is that when playing an intense game like Blood and glory, it stutters for the for 2 minutes of gameplay, then it seems to run like a hot knife through butter, I found this was the same with web browsing too!

    HD content and games overall look amazing, HTC actually got something right first time for once! I really recommend this product to ANYONE with a One X! Any questions more than welcome of course :)
    View
    2
    T
    twe69
    I have noticed when using the on-board video player, pressing the power button it still streams to the media link hd, which is good as you want to turn the screen off on the HOX anyway.... If I do the same with a third party one like BS Player it will cut off. Am on the 1.28 rom still.... Also picture quality was better through the HOX video player than BS player.
    View
    2
    keedog
    keedog
    Anyone get there media link to update. Everytime mines try, it times out and says try again later.
    I bought a second one to make sure the 1st one wasn't defective and now the second one won't update neither.

    1st one says on the main screen: VERSION 1.57.789.0
    while trying to update from phone it says: Current Version M2.5.57

    2nd one says on the main screen: VERSION 1.56.789.0
    while trying to update from phone it says: Current Version M2.5.56

    If anyone has gotten it to update can you please post the current version

    ---------- Post added at 12:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 AM ----------
    keedog said:
    Anyone get there media link to update. Everytime mines try, it times out and says try again later.
    I bought a second one to make sure the 1st one wasn't defective and now the second one won't update neither.

    1st one says on the main screen: VERSION 1.57.789.0
    while trying to update from phone it says: Current Version M2.5.57

    2nd one says on the main screen: VERSION 1.56.789.0
    while trying to update from phone it says: Current Version M2.5.56

    If anyone has gotten it to update can you please post the current version
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Been working on getting this thing to update for 3 days. And today I went out and bought the second one. Well after 991 tries, it updated just now.

    now the 1st one says on the main TV screen: VERSION: 1.71.103.0
    and on the phone it says: Current Version M2.5.71

    One other noticeable difference is after the update, you will see the "wifi" symbol on your tv at the media link HD's main screen. I've done lots of research and I've noticed that on most of the youtube videos that were released after this years MWC everyone had this wifi signal shown where's mine didn't.

    (to anyone wondering, I restarted my phone (EVO LTE) and resetted the media link HD. I also turned off the security password on my wireless router. Don't know what happen this time, cause i did all that several times before, with no such luck. But anyways, I guess I can return the 2nd one now) :0)

    FYI I even wrote a email to HTC expressing my dislike for how the Media Link HD worked. Everything has to work thru the phone? Why not connect it to the router and then any HTC One (or similiar) in the network could connect faster. Hopefully they update this thing and get the many bugs out.

    I was 2 seconds from giving them both of our (my wifes and mines) EVO LTE back and going with the SIII. Thats blasphemous for us, as much as we've supported HTC since it's UT Starcom days.
    View
    2
    A
    akhil8377
    mrdey said:
    Jep, works well on OrDroid 7.1.0 too.

    Anyone figured out how to send video stream to MediaLink from PC? Is it possible?
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Yes, Right click on your media file and there would an option of "Play To". You can select any DMR available on your network- HTC Media link should be one of them. Till the time you can see HTC Media Link as one of DMR in your "PC Network", you can play the content on TV through Media link.

    Good luck
    View
    2
    D
    djtaylor
    I got mine today, I *was* pleased with it right up until I came to watch a film from HTC Watch, a rented film.

    I can play all other media, mirror the display but it just would not stream a rented film.

    I phoned HTC only to be told that it will stream if you've purchased the film but not if it's rented!!! Utter balls.

    If I wanted to do that, i'd buy the DVD proper and rip it and watch it rights free on any device I own, not take up fixed space on the phone or have to keep downloading it over and over. I thought the whole point of HDMI was to preserve the DRM so are they saying that they've screwed it up and can't protect a rented film?

    Nowhere in the documentation, sales site or HTC site does it place this restriction on the use of the device.

    I quite like the HTC watch film library, particulary the 5p weekend specials but this ridiculous undocumented limitation is a major step back as I had hoped to avoid using the MHI cable.
    View

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