Home > Consumer Reviews > HD RM/RMVB Media Player With Free HDMI Cable - Watching High Quality Movies on Big TV Instead of Small Computer Screen

i used to use the Western digital hd media player it can play most of my online movies such as AVI, MPEG1(VCD), MPEG2(VOB), MPEG4(DIVX,XVID)etc. it works great. but the problems are more than half of my movies collection on my 320gb WD portable harddrive are in rm/rmvb format, all i have to is to use the bundling video convert software to convert it to divx/divx format to make it work on the wd media player, its just a big hassle & cost a lot of time to do it.

the Realmate hd media player is exactly what im looking for, it plays real media videos like a like a snap, it also works with most my others movie collection like AVI, MPEG1(VCD), MPEG2(VOB), MPEG4(DIVX,XVID). the qulity is pretty decent when use the hdmi connection & in this point i didn't see too much differents between the realmate media player (720p)& the WD one(1080p).

there's one thing sould be notice here: when first time i hooked up the Realmate media player with my 42' philips LCD TV with hdmi cable but found no signals, then i call the number found on invoice, the lady on other side of the phone worked with me step by step & finally found out the problem: the video standard was set to "composite" by default & all i need to is use the "video standard button" on the remote control to switch it to whatever you used for connection(composite/component or hdmi). after that, everything works great, i even tried the old composite connection & the video qulity is same good.

at the end of the conversation, she apologized for what happen & offered me a discount coupon. she also said they will put "attention" sticker on all future orders to avoid same things went on latter customers. thanks for the great customer services, now im start counting how many days still left for my sister's birthday(next month) lo:-)

is there anyway to get the latest rmvb, or avi supported? Some of my download rmvb, avi files are not in support format.

thanks

The good:
1.Great deal. $80 for a HDMI/720P RMVB player. Not even ebay have deals like this.
2. Handles most video format without the need of converting. Yes it works with more formats than the WD media player which is selling for $100.
3. Small and does not overheat like my other players.
4. simple interface, it is easy to understand and use.

The bad:
1. Had to change the Video settings. Originally was set as PAL by default so the device will play videos in black and white. Users need to be aware of this because unexperienced customers may think it is defective.
2. 720P instead of 1080P, does not support .wmv via it does support wma in audio format.

Other Thoughts:
Finally amazon got a device capable of playing RMVB files. Why RMVB? These files are smaller in size but great in resolution and audio. A full length movie with 720p HDresolution can fit in less than 700 mb of space. Other players can decode these files on the fly.

I have been researching and buying RMVB players online. non of them gave me that much value as this unit. I pay more than 100 dollars to acquire some RMVB HDD players on ebay and all of them end up overheating and dying eventually So I decided to get one without hard drive as this one. So far I am very happy and of course amazon always is a reliable seller.

I have a lot of rmvb files and this box plays them well, but occasionally I do have rmvb files which it could not recognise (this happens when the files are stored on my USB HDD, but was Ok if using USB thumbdrive). The box plays at 720p, RMVB playback was sharp, but short of being HD. Supports various formats like rmvb, Avi (xvid), mp4 etc. The xvid playback was a bit jerky if the file is not encoded properly, so make sure you repair them before playback. There is HDMI o/p which is fantastic for the price you are paying for. Navigation was easy and intuitive, and supports hot swapping of your USB devices, although I do not recommend that while playback is in progress. Box feels hot after prolonged play but seems perfectly normal and not overheated. The manual is very brief and does not state where or how to upgrade the firmware (tho' its mentioned to be firmware upgradeable).

Overall, this box is fantastic. You get what you paid for, and a tad little more...

Been looking for a device like this to play rm/rmvb videos directly from hard drive. This one works flawless! I was concerned that the package did not mention vob file format support, but it does (mpeg2). My ripped movies start quickly and go through scenes without any hesitation.

The unit comes with RCA, component, and HDMI ports to accommodate the various connectivity options a user has. I have it hooked up via the HDMI and the videos are crisp.The card reader input will be great for camcorder movies to preview.
Pros:
1) Free HDMI cable.
2) Easy to install.
3) User friendly interface, easy to navigate.
4) Wide range of file formats supported as advertised.
5) Two USB ports. Videos play smoothly from usb hard drive.

Other thought: just like the other review, first time user need to use the "video stardard" button on remote controll to switch your connection (RCA/Cmponent/HDMI), otherwise you might get "no signal" even you made the right connection & choose the right source from your TV.