Since I've just got one unit of the HDPro Media Player from bro yangxi in this forum, I think I'll start this official thread so that all owners of this player can share their experience (good, bad and ugly; problems and solutions) all in one place for easy reference. My main purpose of getting this player is to view my HD 1920x1080, 60p videos taken with my Sanyo HD2000 camcorder and must now confirm that these can play without any problem on the HDPro. They could not be played on the PS3 and the older WDTV player (not sure about the WDTV Live, could not test). I suppose these 60p videos can also play on all media players using the same Realtek 1073DD chip. Anyway, this is just to start off as there are many other new features on the HDPro which I don't know how to use yet. So fellow owners of the HDPro, please chip in to make this your thread!

This post has been edited by ronaldkwok: Mar 10 2010, 06:25 PM

One of the new features in the HDPro is the Ken Burns effect for viewing photos under the Misc setup screen. It is less boring that watching your photos in a static slide show even with the transition effects on. This is good for showing off your photos on a HDTV as they fill the wide-screen and slowly zoom and pan like a slow video. This is not for the purists since your photos will be zoomed and cropped; how else can you fit a 4:3 photo in a 16:9 screen?

This post has been edited by ronaldkwok: Mar 16 2010, 09:30 AM

How do you check the firmware date or version in the HDPro?

My HDPro firmware is also dated 2 March but I can turn the HDPro on and off with my remote. My batch is the one just before yours so maybe this problem is only in the latest batch. (or just your unit?) BTW, some of the remote buttons also affect my ceiling fan, so have to point closer to my HDPro. So now I have a spare remote for my fan!

This post has been edited by ronaldkwok: Mar 19 2010, 07:19 AM

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Added on March 19, 2010, 5:22 pmWah, very good idea! Just for fun I tried but alas, I cannot have a spare remote for my HDPro. Only one button works and it always bring up the file copy screen, so it is useless.
Anyway, no need for another remote in emergency since the HDPro has the front panel buttons for the basic functions. See below.

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Added on March 19, 2010, 5:27 pmTo my touch, the front panel buttons are quite sensitive and they work. This is one of the reasons I chose the HDPro since you can have all the basic functions in case your remote dies or get misplaced.

This post has been edited by ronaldkwok: Mar 19 2010, 05:32 PM

Go to Setup. Select MISC. Under this you can set Slide Show Timing from 2seconds to 2minutes, the Transition Effects and Ken Burns effect on or off. Try with the Ken Burns effect on for your slide show, quite cool.

I believe if your PC has two USB ports, you can connect both the HDPro to each of the USB ports. Your PC should see them as two differenct Hard Drives and you can then copy the files across.

Of course you must make sure your wireless signal strength is OK. So best to test next to your wireless router before moving further away. Generally if your laptop WiFi works in that spot, the dongle for the HDPro should also work there.

I have just tried playing some .mpg files from home movies that I made using Corel Video Studio 12 and videos shot with my Sanyo HD2000. They play smoothly and sound was OK and in sync. The original videos from the camcorder were .mp4 and then edited and saved as AVCHD .mpg and also mpeg2 .mpg movies. The HDPro plays both types without problem. Which version firmware is your HDPro using?

Please confirm that this can also be used for my HDPro bought in early March or is it only for HDPro+? Tks.

It all depends on how much is your budget for the media player and the features you want. Generally, three broad categories - low budget @RM200 and below, middle range RM200-RM500 and high-end above RM500. You pay more for additional features but should not pay more for the same features. For mid-range, the HDPro+ is very good value for money. Of course lah, since this is the HDPro thread.
Read my HD Media Player Blog to get a general idea. Hope it helps.
All LCD TV should work when conneting using HDMI cable to the media player.

This post has been edited by ronaldkwok: Nov 12 2010, 08:32 AM

A basic branded 5.1 AVR will cost you maybe starting from RM1000 and if you want HD audio (DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD), probably RM1300 and above. Popular brands are Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha and Pioneer. You can check the AVR threads here in this forum to get some ideas. The high end models will cost RM10K and above.

You can connect your media player to any amplifier or AVR to get better sound, the type of connection will depend on the available output/input ports. The best quality will be using the HDMI ports, next comes the digital audio ports (coaxial or optical) and the last is the RCA (the common red/white cable) ports.

Tried playing the same file on my HDPro R1055. Same result as that on the 1073DD, file can play but with plenty of pizelation. Failed.

If you don't need networking, go for R1055. It has a newer chip, is cheaper, smaller, runs cooler and functions similar to the HDPro+ (except for no networking.)