congrats doc mel, the long wait is finally over 
nice one bro mel .. merry na xmas pa 
Thanks sa wakas nakabit na din!
Here's my initial non-professional review:
Box Contents
The box has the usual unit, quick start guide, component video cables, USB cable, another USB cable extender for the Wifi adapter (not included), power adapter, analog audio & video cables, a carrying bag and an
HDMI cable!
Front
On initial look at the unit, it really looks like a small HK AVR. In the front, there are buttons...YES!!! There are buttons for Enter, Return, Stop, TV Out, Up, Down, Left and Right for easy menu navigation without a remote. It would be better though if there was a display in the front like a DVD player to show the status of the player without using the OSD.
Back
At the back, connectivity is also versatile. There is component video out, composite video, analog left & right audio, HDMI, optical and coaxial audio out. There is also a LAN port where you can attach to a wired network. There is an option of attaching a wifi adapter in one of the USB ports for wireless networking but sad to say the adapter didn't come in the box. You can also find the cooling fan here.
Internal StorageYou can attach an internal 3.5" HDD inside which I don't have at the moment so I just relied on my external drives as sources.
External Storage
Additional external storage connections are found at the side with an SD card reader (for direct access from your camera's memory card), 1 slave USB port (for attaching the Mede8er to your PC for management and transfer of files in your internal HDD) and of course 2 USB slots for your external HDDs.
Personally, I would prefer the USB ports at the back. I just don't want to see some cables coming from the sides in any of my AV equipment.
Remote
The remote is the best I've seen and held. Feels like the remote and size of a branded DVD player not the usual small remotes of NMTs. Personally, I find the buttons strategically laid out and very easy to navigate even without looking at the remote.
I laid my HTPC to rest for awhile and replaced it with the Mede8er. Attaching it to my Onkyo 705 via HDMI and a coaxial cable from the unit to my AVR.
GUI (These pics were only borrowed from the net. I find a hard time taking sharp pictures from my PJ)
The GUI for me is impressive. I haven't timed the loading of the startup screen but I think it was faster than my Xtreamer.
I downloaded and installed right away the latest firmware from the Mede8er website. Installation was a breeze.
Here you can calibrate your screen size. There are red lines on all sides and you just have to press the directional keys until the red lines on the sides disappear.
After clicking on Media Library, you can choose your source from this screen. I did choose USB to access my external HDDs.
Very much like the Xtreamer, you can zoom it vertically or horizontally and you can also adjust the top/bottom and side margins in increments of 5% if you want to eliminate the black bars of the movie you're watching.
The thing I missed though is the reset option which I found in the xtreamer to bring it back to the default size after adjusting the image size. In the Mede8er you have to push the up,down,left,right buttons manually to bring it back to default.
The movie is divided by Mede8er into small chapters for easy access to certain scenes of the movie. While viewing the movie, just type in a number and it just jumps to that scene. You can also manually input the exact time in the movie where you want to go to by just pressing the Goto button in your remote and inputting the data.
In terms of subtitles, you can choose the size, color, position etc. of your subtitles. You can also download and attach .srt files in the movie folder to add more subs.
If you have some cover art in .jpg in your movie folder, it will show while scrolling on the titles you want to watch. If you are scrolling too fast, the covers won't show. Pause for a second then the cover will show.
You can also download some movie info from the net i.e. if you are connected via LAN or Wifi to your router. I don't have any internet connection in my HT so my cover arts will do.
Image QualityIQ is good when I hooked it to my plasma. Probably on par with my Xtreamer. When I hooked it to my PJ, my HTPC still is better in terms of sharpness as compared to the Mede8er. Don't get me wrong, my mkvs are still sharp and clear using the Mede8er but I was just used to watching before using my HTPC that's why I noticed the slight difference.
PlayabilityIt played everything I tossed at it so far and there was no lag or any hiccups on my 1080p files.
This is just my initial review and hopefully will be able to add as I am still enjoying and experimenting this new toy of mine.
I highly recommend this product! The looks, connectivity, GUI and performance explains it all.
