HDX BD-1 Part 1

Ok, I am done for Dune Prime 3.0, it should have arrived in Singapore safely and may be my brother is enjoying the high definition movies with it now. But there are still 2 gadgets eagerly waiting for exposure after Dune, let's continue with one of them first...

The HDX BD-1 bluray media player.

This box should have reached my table 4 months ago. Damn! There's an incident which I can't reveal until I settle it. Never mind, let's unbox what I have now in hands...

The manual, remote controller, the player, HDMI cable and the power brick. So the first noticeable difference is that this player has a power brick compare to Dune which is built in. And from the manual...

Support Bluray profile 2.0? Sound promising.

I also made a quick comparison before the Dune went to the island...

BD-1 is much smaller but the RC is a little longer. It still fits into the palm and fingers perfectly due to its well designed contour and curve...

Not only that, it is also an illuminated RC...

I like this useful feature very much. Imagine you're watching movie in the dark.

Now look at the metal box itself...

Nothing at the front panel except a red/blue LED indicator and a transparent window for RC infrared sensor. It's matte metal built. Solid feel but it feels hollow and with some metal squeaking noise when you shake it. This is because of this...

Slide the cover on one side, you expose the hollow stomach for an 3.5" internal HDD with the SATA cable hanging in there. If you are going to use this player for other functions like BT download, you will need an internal HDD. Notice the upside down text "Produced in HK"? Since it's Hong Kong product, I hope this is sorta the "guarantee" that this player would unconditionally support Chinese characters, unlike the case I had with Dune Prime.

Now turn to the backside...

Left to right and top to bottom sequence: reset button, power connector, Gigabit ready LAN and 2 x USB 2.0, e-SATA, HDMI 1.3, composite AV and component, coaxial and Toslink SPDIF audio out. The compact design is incapable of hosting 7.1 analog audio Dune Prime does. It support downmix (from 7.1 or 5.1 to L-R stereo) though.

Last, it's worth to mention the power adapter...

Since this player is compact in design and without any LED screen on the front panel. The LED indicator on the power brick is useful during troubleshooting and diagnostic time.

Stop for now. To be continued...