The HD media players with internal storage just offer an extremely good value for money package. It is basically two devices in one- an HD media upscaler and an external drive to store movies on. Iomega’s ScreenPlay Director dabbled with that idea a couple of years back, but it was really the WD Live Hub that brought a lot of sleekness and visual prowess to that idea. Iomega have hit back, with the ScreenPlay DX. Let us see how good it actually is. And please forgive us if we end up comparing this device with the WD Live Hub, but then again, we believe the comparisons are inevitable!

Look and Feel
Before we get down to describing the device, we must say that the ScreenPlay DX’s box pack comes with an HDMI cable and a Wi-Fi adapter as a part of the package. This cannot be said for the likes of the WD Live Hub, or for that matter, most other media players.

In the looks department, the ScreenPlay DX has a muscular look to it. The chunky design holds a 1TB (or a 2TB) hard drive in it. Glossy black coloured finish throughout. There are some hints of curves around the edges and the top panel. The front panel has 2 USB ports, while the side panels are completely clean. The rear panel is the business end, with the HDMI out, optical audio out, composite and component video and another USB port, useful if you are indeed using the Wi-Fi adapter. Or if you are not, then 3 USB ports to connect multiple hard drives to, one more than what the WD Live Hub offers.

The DX is much thicker than the WD Live Hub, but has relatively the same width. The Live Hub has a matte black finish, while the glossy DX makes for a maintenance routine, regularly.

What we really appreciate is the extra USB port, irrespective of whether we are using the dongle or not. That makes it for a total of a maximum of four connected storage devices it can access at any point of time, simultaneously. Add a media server as well, and the sky is the limit!

Features
Where Iomega immediately gets an advantage is the fact that the DX’s retail package includes an HDMI cable and a Wi-Fi adapter. While the HDMI cable may not cost more than Rs 400, including it in the retail package just helps with the ‘ready to use straight out of the box’ routine. And so does the wireless adapter. It is a surprise, and an irritant, why some of the other HD media player manufacturers don’t really do this.

The device has most high-end features- media server capability, access to online services, handles all video formats and audio containers perfectly, but misses out on the torrent client, something that could definitely have been there. Even the rival WD Live Hub doesn’t have that feature too, but we expected that in the DX, since this costs more as well.

WD Live Hub review- click here

The remote is possibly the most interesting bit on this one! The form factor and the layout are definitely like something you wouldn’t have seen before. However, the practicality is retained, and this one actually works well. Key layout may take some time getting used to, but once you do, using it is a delight.

We have seen both ends of the User Interface types- the good and the bad. The WD Live Hub, with the unique Mochi UI definitely stands out, miles above the rest of the media players out there. The DX, and it gives us immense pleasure to say this, comes very close to that quality. The interface is clean, functionality is well managed, and it looks good as well. While we had scraped all movies with the posters etc., it didn’t show up some when browsing the library in the thumbnail mode. What the DX misses out on is the ability to pull movie info from various sources online, like the WD Live Hub does very well. And the WD Live Hub also shows the movie info and fan art in the background, something the DX misses out on. Even little things like weather updates on the top right corner on the WD Live Hub may be a very small thing, but is a real value add.

Read on to know about the performance & the price of the Iomega ScreenPlay DX, and what we think about the device...