Articles

CONCLUSION

   Almost 3 years ago i predicted that standalone hardware/network media players would replace everything we knew so far including DVD players, Blu-Ray players and HTPC systems mainly because of their increasing features, picture quality, small size and ease of use. Today i feel i was right on the spot not only because most TV screens come ready with built-in network media players (basic functionality models) and even the cheapest DVB-T MPEG4 decoders also offer basic media playback but also because most people i know have sold their HTPC systems and have replaced them with network media players paired with NAS devices for more flexibility. Certainly one can never know what the future holds and i do hope that one day we can have full holographic projection in our houses from matchbox sized devices but right now network media players are the way to go if you are really into watching movies and the TV-303D by Dune HD is amongst a handful of such devices I’d currently choose to place under my TV sets. Picture quality is superb (crisp with vibrant colors), it has a very friendly graphical user interface (GUI), Wi-Fi works without issues and is quite fast, has room for an 2.5" internal HDD and comes with the continuous support only Dune HD knows how to offer to consumers, need i say more?

   As we speak the Dune HD TV-303D Universal FullHD Network Media Player has a retail price tag of USD159 inside the USA and 159Euros inside the EU so i wouldn't call it expensive, quite the opposite. Now i was hoping that Dune HD would launch an DVB-T MPEG4 compatible network media player right from the box meaning without the use of an external USB dongle but to date at least that hasn't happen. You can of course purchase the extra DVB-T USB dongle but some people may not like the extra effort to get a feature that other players offer right from the box. Leaving the housing quality out (which is also the only thing i didn't like much) the TV-303D did meet and even exceed our expectations and because of that it easily gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Overall)
- Amazing Performance (Sigma Designs SMP8672)
- Easy/Hot-Swap 2.5" HDD Rack
- USB 3.0 Host Port
- SD/SDHC Card Reader
- Illuminated Remote Control
- Price (For Some)
- GUI
- Build-In Wi-Fi
- Product Support
- DVB-T Compatible
- 3D Video Compatible 

CONS

- Hard Plastic Exterior
- Lack Of Support For BDISO/FLV File Types