Final Thoughts
There are a few things I don’t like about the unit. First of all, it doesn’t have a real name. Masscool’s line of media players is so generic that they have only the model number to use. This is a failure of Masscool’s marketing department. I really think that an easily spoken name could help the popularity of all of their media players. Second, the menu is slick but I want it to be slicker. I want menu items to fade in and out, I want the loading graphic to be smoothly rotating, and I want to see that playback title occlusion fixed. I think all of this could be fixed in a firmware update. The device is certainly powerful enough, seeing as though it can handle 1080p network video playback.
Since 500 GB 2.5″ hard drives can be found for under $100, I think that it’s not a bad idea to drop a hard drive in the unit and carry media with you if you’re the mobile type. It would be great for business people who are on the road often and find themselves wanting to watch a movie in their hotel room, or even use the unit to give a pre-recorded presentation (in HD, even!).
If you are a looking for an inexpensive way to watch high quality video on your TV from the network, you should certainly consider the Masscool Media Player. Its UPNP feature is incredibly useful and doesn’t require a hard drive to function. I used the Twonkymedia UPNP server built into my QNAP TS-809 Pro NAS and it was a most pleasing experience, but any UPNP server should work.
ThinkComputers gives the Masscool MP-1371RS Media Player a 9 out of 10 score and our Editor’s Choice Award.
Pros:
- Incredible video quality
- Petite enclosure easily hidden in home theatre cabinet
- UPNP playback makes setup a cinch
- Hard drive for long trips away from the network
- Inexpensive (~$100)
Cons:
- Menus are slick but could be slicker
- Menus have weird graphical bugs ever now and then
- No HDMI cable included in the box
- No network cable included in the box
