Jørgen Sundgot drools over Acer's new Media Gateway MG-3001P, a media extender which tackles Windows Media Audio and Video formats as well as it does good old MPEG.
If there's one market that hasn't even begun to realize its full potential, it's media extenders - of that I'm convinced. What could be simpler than having a powerful server deliver content around the home on-demand? Alas, current extender solutions are plagued by the lack of proper content delivery mechanisms, caused not only by the lack of support for the flurry of formats available but also the apprehensiveness displayed by providers in delivering content to devices that do not closely resemble a miniature of Fort Knox.
Acer's new Media Gateway MG-3001P goes at least part way in addressing this issue, as it not only supports the formats one would expect to be present in a brand new media extender, but also adds the most popular Windows Media formats to the mix - although sadly, with the exception of DRM enabled versions.
Powered by Linux, the stereo component size extender measures in at 430 x 287 x 48 mm - oddly enough, larger than Acer's Aspire L250 Media Center PC which was also recently unveiled. Void of local storage and any sort of optical drive, the MG-3001P relies entirely on its 10/100 Ethernet and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g connectivity to stream media from a PC, although it also includes a USB 2.0 port for connecting USB Host compatible devices such as digital cameras or portable hard drives.
As indicated above, the MG-3001P supports a broad number of formats, which in the audio department amounts to LPCM, WAV, MP3 and Windows Media Audio 7, 8 and 9; MPEG 1, 2 and 4 are on the slate in the video department to allow for playback of DivX, XviD and Quicktime MPEG4 content in resolutions up to 720p, as well as MPEG2 video in up to 1080i resolution and Windows Media Video 9 - like MPEG4 content in resolutions up to 720p.
Also moonlighting as a photo viewer, the MG-3001P supports JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF and PNG formats, is compatible with M3U and PLS playlist formats, and is capable of drawing live content over the Internet from the Live365 service. Conformant with UPnP, INMPR and DLNA, the extender should fit right into most existing setups, and should also be tolerably future-proof.
The task of actually delivering audio and video to ones home entertainment setup is also one for which the MG-3001P is well suited. For video, the extender harbours SCART with support for CVBS, RGB and S-Video, as well as dedicated Composite, S-Video and Component video ports. Also present is SPDIF coaxial for the delivery of digital audio, nicely rounding out an impressive feature set which should be compatible with most any setup; the only thing I'd prefer thrown in is DVI - HDMI wouldn't be of any use as the lack of DRM support for video formats is absent (not to mention my personal distaste for technologies which exhibit strong sadomasochistic tendencies).
Controlled by means of a bundled Infrared remote, the Acer Media Gateway MG-3001P is scheduled to be available in time for Christmas in Europe, where it will retail for the very comfortable price of €250 EUR.
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