Iomega ScreenPlay HD Media Player

HD Media Players are now more or less known as single-function-devices with the continuous rise of gaming consoles and 3D Blu-Ray Media Players, which offer much more in terms of features and functionality. Iomega recently launched the Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link DX HD Media Player for video playback, browsing and streaming, but can it hold its own in this plethora of multi functional media players and devices? Read on to find out.

The top view

Design and Build Quality

The Iomega ScreenPlay Media Player has a pretty attractive jet-black design and seems to have no drawbacks whatsoever, as far as the build of the main unit is concerned. The player has a glossy finish that might tend to draw a few fingerprints here and there, but it’s definitely not something to complain about. It consists of two USB slots and a power indication LED on its front panel. The back panel consists of a DC 12V adaptor input, composite RGB cable slots, an HDMI slot, an optical out, an Ethernet port and the third USB slot.  The unit comes bundled with a remote, a Wi-Fi USB drive, an adaptor and a CD user manual.

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The front panel

While we have no qualms about the build of the player, the same cannot be said for the remote control. It has an extremely innovative design that looks like a wireless controller for a console, but with the whole QWERTY keyboard packed in, the usage gets a little complicated.

Features

The design was impressive, but the features weren’t really among the best, out there. No support for 3D, limited compatibility for 1080p videos (the M2TS format didn’t work for one of our samples) and no Flash support for the Internet browser might just break the deal for some. Besides those drawbacks, this tiny piece of hardware performs pretty well with the features it has. First up, DLNA access – which means users having DLNA-enabled devices can wirelessly stream content on to their TVs. Another important feature is media sharing with devices that are in the same workgroup. The Media Player also has a few in-built apps for streaming videos via the Internet. 

The User Interface

User Interface

The Iomega uses its simplicity as its USP. The whole UI is extremely simple, but simple does not mean plain and boring. It was easy to use without any complications, whatsoever. Five separate tabs with drop down menus and simple colour schemes are definitely better than a mix-mash of settings and options on the home screen. The user Interface was impressive and is an integral part of the whole classy look the Iomega Media Player provides. 

Iomega’s controller-style remote

Performance

The two most important features – DLNA and media sharing were the first to go through our testing. Guess what? The Media Player passed with flying colours. We tried pairing a Samsung Galaxy S and the connection and playback via DLNA was seamless. The device performed the media sharing feature impressively, too. We could easily access all hard disks connected to the player wirelessly over a network. Also, using the player to wirelessly browse content on other devices over the same network worked perfectly as well. However, there is no option to view documents, pdfs or text files. We couldn’t manage to upgrade the player’s firmware over our network for some odd reason. The integrated apps are fast, quick and allow easy streaming of videos over the Internet. Besides the remote being a problem during Internet browsing, the performance of the Media Player was excellent.

Unit with the Wi-Fi USB Drive plugged in

Verdict

The Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link DX HD Media Player retails for Rs. 8,999. It might not be on the cheaper side, but with the looks, quality and features, this just might be the budget media player you’re looking for to complement your TV.