We had a good two weeks with the Noontec Media Player MovieHome V8. It’s a totally new media player to me but having used and played with a lot of similar ones before, it was fairly easy to familiarize myself with the device. Check out our full review after the jump.
There are a number of models in the Noontec line-up and the MovieHome V8 NAS is the newest of the lot (launched back in June with a local distributor bringing the unit to the Philippines just this month).
The manufacturer (Noontec) is based in Shenzen, China and has been making a lot of media players for years including a recently launched Android Gingerbread-based Smart TV HD Player.
The player looks like a cross between one of those black and slim DVD players and the PS3 with its combination of glossy and sand-paper finish.
The Noontec V8 houses an internal storage using a 2.5″ or 3.5″ HDD with capacities of up to 3TB. You can transfer movies into the drive via a USB 3.0 cable or directly download files straight into the client. The drive bay can be easily opened from the front when you install a HDD (no need to unscrew any of the metal panels).
That somewhat justifies the larger than usual size of the player compared to the ones we used before.
You can also connect an external drive, NAS, or SD card on any of the ports built into the player. There’s a single HDMI port at the back to connect to your TV or, if you have an analog display, use the S-Video sockets.
The SD card reader is on the right side and can read media card with up to 8GB in capacity (not sure why it’s limited to that size but it could probably be fixed with a firmware update).
There’s a Gigabit LAN port as well to connect the player to the network although an optional WiFi dongle can be hooked to one of the USB 2.0 ports if you want wireless connection. The LED display up front also provides helpful info about the media you are currently playing.
The Noontec V8 reads just about any of the more common file for movies (including Bluray ISO), music and photos. And the HDD doesn’t need any special formatting as it supports FAT32 and NTFS.
Video decoding: MPEG 1/2/4, Xvid, H.264,VC-1, RM/RMVB
Video formats: AVI, MPG,TS/M2TS/TP/TRP, ISO, IFO, VOB, DAT, MP4, FLV, WMV, MKV, MOV, RM/RMVB
Audio formats: APE, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG, FLAC, Dolby Digital, DTS Digital
Audio codec: MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC, LPCM, FLAC, AC3
Photo file format: JPG, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, GIF
One issue I had was that the manual that came with it is all in Chinese. Luckily, you can download a copy of the English Manual from their website.
The UI is very simple and easy to understand and use. It’s fast and responsive even when the list of titles on the catalog is quite long. It’s a minor feature but I really liked the idea of having a background wallpaper that you can customize on the screen.
Setting up the device to the network was pretty easy and straightforward via the LAN port. I haven’t tried the WiFi since it will need the optional, dedicated dongle to go with it. The Gigabit connection (1,000Mbps) is a huge plus factor when you’re transferring large files across your network. If not, you can still use the USB 3.0 port for really fast file transfers.
The Noontec V8 also comes with a Bittorent client so you can download movies straight into the internal HDD. The interface of the client needs a little bit more work though — it’s not that user-friendly (I keep coming back to the Chinese manual). In any case, it does the work as expected and as long as it can download torrents on its own, that’s fine by me.
Movie playback is fast and smooth with support for full HD 1080p videos. No lags or noticeable choking of video streams. Video output is great and the player renders them without any degradation (tried it on a 42-inch LCD TV and worked flawlessly).
The LED display in the front does help in providing media information of the file I am playing (as well as the elapsed time).
The remote control looks good, has a solid build and easy to use and operate. I wish they added backlit keys so one can use them even in the dark.
The Noontec Media Player MovieHome V8 has a suggested retail price of Php7,799 but they’re offering it for Php6,999 as an introductory price (HDD sold separately).
Not a bad price for a pretty capable device — biggest advantage is the USB 3.0, Gigabit LAN and Bittorent client.
Don’t know which stores carry these players but you can email [email protected] for inquiries (will update once I get them).
Wait, there’s more!
I asked the local distributor if I can give away this review unit and they gladly agreed. Let’s make this very easy and simple, just the way we do giveaways around here.
All you need to do is this — complete this sentence:
I’m excited to watch the < name of movie > on the Noontec MovieHome V8 Media Player. Want one? Grab one free from YugaTech — http://yugatech.ph/pKdxNy
Leave a comment below with a link to your entry and answer this question — what’s you all-time favorite movie and why?
Hit the comments with your answer. We’ll randomly pick a winner by October 24.
Follow us on Twitter, Google+ or add us up on Facebook for more updates and contests.
I want to watch the movie Transformer 3, because of very good visual effects and the new sexy leading lady of Witwicky, Rosie Huntington-Whitely.
My Entry:
https://plus.google.com/1087011*****337070972/posts/HoyeTER9r8w
what’s you all-time favorite movie and why?
a: Gladiator because of the action scenes and the cinematography of the film
http://twitter.com/#!/alfranzgallegos/status/124294116443045890
My all-time favorite movie series is the Fast & Furious franchise. And now with this new Noontec player, I can watch the latest installment which Fast Five. Fast & Furious is my favorite because of the action, tire screehing scenes, and races.
I’m excited to watch the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on the Noontec MovieHome V8 Media Player because the concept, and the cinematorgraphy totally amazes me. I also want to watch The Matrix trilogy on it.
https://www.facebook.com/ajax/sharer/?s=99&appid=2309869772&p%5B0%5D=1569907641&p%5B1%5D=253926644654329
I like to watch the shawshank redemption for its twists. Very nice movie. How the main character cope up with his wife’s infidelity and all the hardships he experienced.
My all time favorite movie is Fight club,The movie shows the shallow things that man wants and the things that he doesn’t need.. “the things you own end up owning you”
50 First Dates. Perfect mix of romance and comedy.
https://plus.google.com/117749747045536*****7/posts/jk3t18VKNmg
https://plus.google.com/u/0/1023513*****496647501/posts/2dEEWBmwbQS
My all time favorite movie is “Taken.” This movie has a very simple story and yet it was made very action-packed and exciting.
https://twitter.com/#!/patrickstar88/status/1241082058*****024
Titanic pa din, kahit ilang beses na mapanood maganda pa din ang story. :)
http://www.facebook.com/iusamata/posts/23036914*****53
My movie of all time is The Three Idiots. This movie gives a lot of moral lesson about friendship, life, and can it make you a better human being.
“All is well”.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/1000343*****762398959/posts/7oo1wBjwRua
My all time favorite movie is Equilibrium. The concept was amazing, it was actually common but expressed in a very elaborate way. Gun kata freakin awesome! I recommend you guys watch this one
https://www.facebook.com/aidfrancisco/posts/186982558043041
My all-time favorite movie is Harry Potter (film series) because it’s magically entertained us from the start till the end of the series.
I’m excited to watch the Drive on the Noontec MovieHome V8 Media Player. Want one? Grab one free from YugaTech — http://yugatech.ph/pKdxNy
My all-time favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption cause it has an art and great story. Plus it has morgan freeman.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/11074365*****46023410/posts/FNFTbb4FhXN
My All-Time Favorite Movie is Avatar because the film cinematography are great, the story too… also the Titanic and can’t wait to see it in 3D by April2012.
http://twitter.com/#!/itsmekikoy
My all-time favorite movie is Avatar because it was just amazing!
https://www.facebook.com/schuchz/posts/259170747459681
http://www.facebook.com/atrillano/posts/1032631*****317
My favorite movie of all-time is The devil’s advocate because it shows how a man’s ambition can overthrow his belief and how morality can kick in and remind him of his social responsibility as a person.
http://twitter.com/#!/bearicrok
https://plus.google.com/1062383*****654791637/posts/7ZoTdnK4STS
My favorite movie of all-time is The Godfather II because it has a lot of insight on how a gangster or the old mafia gets to sleep in a mansion and have even the most powerful people fear them.
http://twitter.com/#!/ValenBarcinal/status/1237815049743*****
I’m excited to watch the Transformers: Dark of the Moon on the Noontec MovieHome V8 Media Player.
Q: what’s you all-time favorite movie and why?
A: Taken because its the best action movie of all time
My favorite all-time movie is Bruce Almighty coz it has that comedic and sensible story that would always make you think “that’s why” or “what if”
I’m excited to watch Transformers Dark of the Moon on the Noontec MovieHome V8 Media Player. Want one? Grab one free from YugaTech — http://yugatech.ph/pKdxNy
http://twitter.com/#!/nikkolorenzo/status/1237235015919*****
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2071644*****301&id=1000001*****169¬if_t=like
my all time favorite movie is the transformers sequel trilogy! I love this movie because it teaches us the value of faith and leadership. As to what Optimus Prime says “you may lose your faith on us, but never on yourself!”