LG HXF1 Portable Theatre
Turn your 2.5″ portable Hard Drive into your movies Jukebox as well
You find lots of travelers carrying a 2.5″ hard drive in their bags. The high capacity and the small size of such devices allows you to carry lots of extra data, or even a backup of your data with you all the time. LG decided to be a little more innovative with their 500GB 2.5″ drive and the result was LG HXF1 Portable Theatre.
Packaged in a nice little box, the HXF1 comes bundled with a USB cable and a composite cable. Unfortunately, you’ll have to spend extra on getting an HDMI cable if you want to get Hi-Def output. Along with these cables, LG includes a carrying pouch and a CD with application and drives. Finally, a remote is also included to allow you to use the unit from a distance.
The HXF1 is more or less a 2.5″ hard drive that is a bit bigger in size and offers audio/video output. You connect it to your computer like any other external drive- through a USB 2.0 connection and it appears as a drive on your desktop. Then all you do is copy your data or your videos/photos/music on it and thats about it.
With an HDMI as well as composite connectors, the XF1 can connect to almost all kinds televisions. you do need to power the device with the included adapter and you can then watch your movies/photos or listen to your music stored on the player. Its really as simple as that and LG makes the user interface quite easy as well. The following video demonstrates the interface.
The HXF1 has navigation buttons on the unit itself and for your convenience, LG also provides a small remote along with a carrying pouch so you don’t lose anything. I tested quite a few different kinds of videos with it and at the moment, standard divx files and MPEG1/2/4 play well however you cannot watch x264 encoded files or high-definition MKV files even though the the unit supports 720p/1080i output. The good thing is that its firmware is upgradable so LG could add decoding of these file types later on.
The HXF1 is certainly an interesting idea- I can see copying my four-year old’s videos to take on a vacation for some peace-time for myself. hopefully LG will upgrade the firmware to support more video types later on. Priced at AED 899, the XF1 is a bit on the pricey side but it does offer the convenience of carrying lots of your movies with you in a small form factor.
Zune HD > XF1
Different devices- somewhat different purposes. I’d compare Zune to the iPod Touch whereas the HXF1 has 500GB of storage acting as your backup/docs drive as well.
There are much better products on the market. Namely the AppleTV. For me, a MAC user, this is a waste of money. Just bought one. Cannot stream TV through it so that means I cannot us it to record. Doesn’t support USB input so you cannot make it wifi compatible. It has no ethernet, so no chance of getting it online either.
When you plug the USB cables (2 are necessary) it switches off both the AV and HDMI outputs. That means you cannot see if files are uploaded – you have to unplug the computer and then plug in the TV cables. Seeing at the computer cable acts as a power source, you have to forcefully unplug it – cannot gracefully switch it off as there is no visual response for you to know what is happening!
Then, to make things worse, you get a tiny CD. As with ALL LG products, they supply mini-CDs. Not good if you have a slit-based DVD player, such as all Macs have. So ….. you cannot load drivers etc….
When you plug the HDMI cable/AV outputs, MAC computers cannot see the HD. I think this is a LG limitation.
Finally, to add salt to injury, when I finally got the damn thing to appear on my MAC (OS x !0.5 …. Snow leopard) …. I can open the HDD but cannot transfer files! What is the point of this beast of a machine? AND …. Thanks LG for have zero support on this product. No driver downloads, no FAQ, troubleshooting …. nothing. Their site doesn’t even have this product listed! Totally rubbish. Do not waste your cash guys … get something else.
@ Mims Talsi
It’s your own falut, not the devices, as you went buying MAC. And do add salt, MAC is a “daddy’s toy” for “12-o-clock flashers”
And AppleTV better? maybe. But there are products that are far better than that PoS that don’t lock you to into (sh)itunes.
There’s a reason why MAC doesnht have more than 2-3% of the market… Make your guess why…
Just got one of these and I love it. I used to have all my media saved on HD and would plug my laptop into my HDTV to watch them. With this little gizmo I save all my media on the portable HD, keep my HDMI cable and Power hooked up and BANG! Complete seasons and movie collections in SECONDS! The Interface is simple but simple is easy and I had no problems with it. Does not come with much paperwork as far as install and how to but if you have basic computer know how its flawless.
This is a must get if your a movie buff and use a bit torrent’s, + the A/V output is clutch if you have any non HD tv’s.
Its not a bells and whistles attached POS, but it does just what it says and does it simply and fast!
8/10 id say (no hdmi included is so stupid to0, like a printer with no usb?? wtf)
how do you copy the movies or dvd to the device
Great little device for Avi files. Picture quality was okay. But, after less than a month it died!! I would like to replace but, I’m wondering if this is a soft ware glitch or hardware failure. I haven’t been able to find any firmware on the web so, I guess I’ll send it in.
Awesome external HD/ multimedia player. 500 gig for $99.00 at Best Buy. Can’t beat it. The only downside I see is the cheesy little remote that comes with it. Hard to believe they would pair such a nice unit with such a cheap remote.
Where can I buy this item in the USA?
I purchased mine at Best Buy. Nobody quite knew how it got there. It was the only one on the shelf and had been marked down from $199 to $99. They accepted a coupon on it so I took it home for $74.99! For that price I can definately overlook some of the odd 'features' of the OS in it. Great for hiding on the shelf that my TV retracts into.
I bought one and it simply does not exist anywhere on LGs website. So much for updating the firmware.
Try on LG europe site. I downloaded firmware update from Portugal site.
I bought one and it simply does not exist anywhere on LGs website. So much for updating the firmware.
Hey,
I am using the LG Mutimedia HDD and since a couple of months it's been making problems. Videos stop while playing. If you restart the system the video stops at the exact same second. On my Laptop videos are playing perfectly fine.
Does anybody know what the problem might be? I would appreciate your help.
regards,
Patrick
I´m having the same problem Patrick, it played ok when first used but now every video I try and watch freezes.
Anyone out there know how to stop this happenimg? I would be grateful for any help,
cheers Mike