Today for review I have another hard drive enclosure from our friends at Vizo, but this one is a bit different, it features the Sigma Designs chipset that allows for full audio and video playback of your files when hooked up to your TV/Stereo. It can also be used as a standard hard drive enclosure to transfer data from one place to another, but the thing I found cool was the ability to essentially take all of you movies and music with you to play at your friends house or wherever you wished. It does include a remote control as well, so that does make it a bit like a mini-HTPC system actually. So read on to learn more about the Vizo Milano Portable HDD Enclosure and Multimedia Player…
Vizo Milano3.5" Portable HDD Enclosure & Multimedia Player
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: Vizo
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
MIP-100
3.5" PORTABLE HDD ENCLOSURE &
MULTIMEDIA PLAYER
SIGMA DESIGNS CHIPSET:
FULLY SUPPORT DVD IFO & ISO FILE FORMAT
PLAY FULL HIGH DEFINITION FILES UP TO 1080i
MOVIE . PHOTO . MUSIC. STORAGE . ALL IN ONE
DESCRIPTION:
VIZO MIP-100, 3.5 PORTABLE HDD ENCLOSURE & MULTIMEDIA PLAYER, is no longer just an external storage, but also a music/movie theater for you. MIP-100 features the high performance Sigma Designs Chipset which supports the present artery multimedia format and supports hard disks with up to 500GB capacity, which is enough to save 500 films, exceed 150,000 MP3 music, or 1,000,000 pieces high distinctive digital photos. With all-in-one design and easy-to-use wizard interface, you can enjoy movie, photo and music with a touch the remote control, moreover, back up and transfer your data storage for your needs.
FEATURES:
Sigma Designs chipset
Support JPEG/MP3/WMA/OGG, MPEG1/2/4 and Divx multimedia format
Provide high speed USB2.0interface, optical transfer, the HDTV high distinctive output technology which is up to 1080i
Support front panel control and remote control (IR)
Digital Multimedia Player via TV
USB 2.0 External Storage via PC( FAT32/NTFS )
Audio – Stereo, Digital AC3 5.X CH. Surround Sound
Video – Composite, HD Component 480p, 720p, 1080i
DVD Manager – Playback of DVD File same as Original DVD Title ( IFO/ISO)
Support Languages : English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
SPECIFICATIONS:
Interface : 480Mbps USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 Compatible)
HDD Type : 3.5" IDE HDD
Maximum Capacity up to 500G
HDD Format Support : FAT32/NTFS
TV Type : NTSC / PAL
Power Supply : AC/DC Power Adapter
( AC input : 100~240 Vac, DC output : +5V/+12V )
Weight : 395 g (without HDD)
Dimensions : 202.5(L) x 115(W) x 36.5(H) mm
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SUPPORTED FORMAT:
Movie:
MPEG-1(.AVI; .MPG.DAT)
MPEG-2(.AVI; .VOB; .IFO; .ISO)
MPEG-4(.AVI; .DIVX3.11; .DIVX4.XX;.DIVX5.XX; DIVX VOD; XVID)
Music:
MP3, MP2, WAV, WMA, AC3, AAC, OGG VORBIS, DTS pass through
Photo: JPG/JPEG up to 8 Mega pixel (baseline and progressive)
Available OS: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista
PACKAGE INCLUDES:
3.5 IDE HDD Player ( Enclosure only )
AV Cable
USB Cable
Power Adapter
Power Cord
S-video/YPbPr Cable
Remote Control ( w/ AAA Battery 2 )
Screw Package
Stand
User Manual
**NOTE : Driver needed for Windows 98/98SE
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A Better Look at Things
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The box is very big for the Milano, and a bit different than the usual flashy boxes from Vizo. The back of the box lists all the specs and features as on would expect.
Opening it up we find different compartments housing the various parts, with the actual Milano enclosure wrapped in plastic and protected by styrofoam.
The box is big because there is a lot of stuff in there… Along with the Milano itself we find, the power supply, audio/video cables, installation screws, plastic caps, remote control, user guide and a plastic stand.
The remote is fairly basic, but Vizo did include a set of batteries which was rather nice.
On the top half of the remote we find the basic audio/video controls, navigation, and a button for setup.
On the bottom half are more buttons with various functions, I’m not going to go in depth, if you have a DVD player, you know what they mean.
Of course on the bottom is where the batteries would be installed.
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A Better Look at Things
Continued:
On the outside the Vizo Milano looks pretty much like a standard hard drive enclosure.
Both of the sides have ventilation holes to keeps things cool inside, but no real active cooling, so I don’t think you’ll want to stuff this inside you entertainment center without adequate ventilation.
The right side, if looking from the front has four holes, these are are part of the installation process, and Vizo included rubber covers to hide them. Both sides have the Vizo log and the Milano logo as well.
The Front of the Milano is where you’ll find the main power button, which does light up blue, the infrared sensor and a set of buttons in case you loose the remote. The buttons are a basic set for Play, Stop, Navigation, Music and Setup.
On the back of the Vizo Milano is where we find the connections for USB, Optical Audio, YPbPr, Audio Video and the main power connection.
Overall the Milano seems very well made with quite a few options for your viewing and listening pleasure.
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Installation, Testing and Comparison
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Obviously the Milano does not come with a hard drive, you need to supply your own, up to 500 gigs. Installation of a hard drive is very simple and quick.
Removing the side cover allows access to the hard drive compartment, and we find the cover has screw holes that are reinforced with metal, brass I believe.
Inside we find a standard IDE connection and Molex connector just as you would find in any computer.
In the above picture you may have noticed a metal frame inside the enclosure, that actually slips out and is used to install the hard drive.
There are two sets of screws and the rubber plugs that are needed for installation, the silver screws are for mounting the hard drive while the black ones are for securing the enclosure.
After your hard drive is attached to the metal cage, you need to hook the IDE and Molex connector to your hard drive and set the setup inside the Milano, it will be secured with the screws from the outside actually.
The final part of the installation is to put the Milano in the stand and hook it up to your favorite television. The stand actually has small rubber nubs on the inside that hold it in place.
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Installation, Testing and Comparison Continued:
Of course I had to pull the Milano apart and ‘check under the hood’ as it were to see what was going on and find out exactly what Sigma Designs chipset the Milano was using.
It turns out to be a Sigma Designs Real Magic EM8511 multimedia processor, doing a bit of research I found that it is part of the Sigma Designs 8510 series of award winning chipsets. I couldn’t find much actual information or specs on the chip but I did learn this about the CPU and chipset:
Embedded CPU 200 MHz/ARM
Dedicated 64mb memory for the CPU and 16MB memory for the video
As for the actual Milano itself it is very easy to use, to get your stuff on it you utilize a standard USB connection, and the Milano is recognized as a storage device, from there you just drag and drop what you want.
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After plugging it into your television the main screen pops up which is a bland generic welcome screen, I didn’t notice any Vizo branding at all in there, so I assume it is just a generic setup overall. After a few seconds the welcome screen goes off and up pops a list of your videos on there for you to choose from. It is an explorer like interface that is easy to use and navigate.
Clicking the setup button on the remote takes you to the configuration screen, where the first option is you video settings, you can select the type of video out, aspect ratio, brightness, contrast, saturation and screen calibration. I couldn’t quite figure out the screen calibration settings though, and there wasn’t anything in the instructions about it.
The next screen would be for your audio settings, just basic settings with one called FM Transmit, but I couldn’t get that to work, so I’m not sure if it is available actually, in fact the manual mentions everything about the audio settings except the FM Transmit option.
Photo viewing settings are next, just a couple options there on how you want any photos to be displayed.
The next option menu is for the ‘skins’ of the interface, there are no choices though you are stuck with the default skin.
There is a Misc. menu next where you can select how you want various things setup like the language, size of subtitles etc.
The menu is for updating the firmware, the instruction manual does mention how to do this, but there wasn’t any available from the Vizo site to do anything with.
As for actual movie viewing, the Milano works great I didn’t have any problems with it. One of the options that is very cool is the ability to instantly change the aspect ratio, you can change widescreen to fit standard size screen. It does look a bit off, but the black bars are gone, and there is also a pan and scan option as well, but it cuts off a portion of the picture being viewed. Another cool option is the ability to fast forward up to 128x, you can zip though movies very quickly. I didn’t find any problems playing divx, xvid or mpg movies, but sometimes it seemed the transfer didn’t take and the movie would not play, I would have to delete it from the Milano and re-transfer the movie, then it would work fine.
The picture viewer is similar to the standard Windows picture viewer, pictures pop up on screen for you to see.
The mp3 player is a bit lacking, you can’t use folders for sorting, so you have to listen to everything or keep hitting next, or of course only add what you want to the Milanos hard drive.
I did have some problems with the actual player coming on from time to time, I would turn it on and it would power up but nothing would show on screen. I would have to cycle the power a couple times to get it to work, at first I thought this was a heat issue, but it would do it even after it sat for a couple days at ‘cold boot’. Don’t know what’s up with that, maybe a firmware update can fix it, but there isn’t any available just yet, honestly it is kind of annoying. You can’t use the remote to cycle the power when it gets froze like that, you have to get up and manually cycle the power off and on.
I did find that the chipset is very popular and many people have already hacked it to do various things and there are many firmware versions out there to use with the Sigma Designs EM8511 chipset. From what I read it is based off of a Linux Kernal, and there is quite a bit out there going on with hacking all of these types of devices.
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Summary:
Considering this is a fairly new product there are bound to be bugs in it, so hopefully Vizo will keep up with things and support it with newer versions of the firmware. Overall it is a very cool and useful device, it is very easy to use, and installation is a breeze. I do believe though that it would be nice to have a better instruction book to help explain things a bit more to people who aren’t that tech savvy. These devices are becoming more popular and this is but one of the choices you have in a portable multimedia enclosure, so depending on what options you need the Milano might be a good choice for you.
DIGG IT!DragonSteelMods gives the Vizo Milano a 4 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-More than just an HDD enclosure
-Very easy to use
-Looks great
-Easy installation
-Small and portable
-Based on award winning Sigma Designs Real Magic EM8510 series chipsets
Cons:
-No HDMI output
-Picky at times, sometimes it won’t come on (firmware problem?)
-No active cooling/ventilation
-No networking ability
-Instructions are lacking
I would like to thank Vizo for the chance to review the Milano and for their support of DSM.