First of, we need to know that this is a multimedia player. Consider this an iPod for your living room. You transfer your digital files (audio, video, and pictures) from your computer to the TVIX’s built in hard drive, and then you connect it to a TV and speakers, press play, and presto: enjoy your digital content on your high end speakers and wide screen TV. Sounds simple? We could only be so lucky.

Many video and music players support a limited number of file formats. Any unsupported format

If you prefer, instead of copying files into the TVIX, you can use the TVIX to play files from your personal computer by setting up a network connection between the TVIX and your PC.

The TVIX HD M-4100SH, which manufacturers call a digital jukebox, is a little black box measuring  183 x 139 x 75 mm. It is controlled by a 9-buttons in front of the box laid out in three circles: the center has the OK button, the middle circle controls the up-down-left-right navigation functions, and the outer circle holds the on/off, setup, stop, and function buttons arranged at an angle in relation to the up-down-left-right buttons. If that sounds confusing, that’s because it is.  In this case, you might be better off using the remote control that comes packaged with the TVIX. The remote is similar to a typical TV / video player / stereo remote with dedicated buttons for power, mute, quick access to video, audio, and photo. There are the 4-way navigation buttons, play/pause, stop, and volume up, and volume down.

The front panel also holds a window that displays the track number and the elapsed time of the file you are playing.

A good thing about the TVIX is that it has the latest chipsets installed and allows for several connection options through various ports on the back panel. You can choose from composite/S-video, A/V jacks, optical out, and coaxial to connect the TVIX to a TV and/or stereo amplifiers. An HDMI port is also available for high definition output.

You can connect the TVIX to a personal computer using any of the two USB ports, or to an IP router or hub via a LAN port. An A/V cable and a USB cable come with the product. Neither an HDMI nor a LAN cable come packaged.

The cornucopia of file formats the TVIX HD M-4100SH supports and the variety of connectivity options it offers lend to the theory that this product was created in the future and brought here in a time machine. In any case, the needlessly complicated user’s manual looks like it was written by space aliens. Despite detailed instructions, TVIX HD M-4100SH isn’t the easiest thing to set up.

Using the TVIX for the first time requires you to connect it to a computer using a USB cable (just like an ordinary external hard drive). You then have to click open the drive on your PC and create folders for video, audio, and photos. While these are simple steps to take, you’ll wonder why the setup wasn’t done at the assembly line. Once you’ve created the folders, you may then copy files into the TVIX hard disk just as you would transfer files into between folders in your computer. You may rename your folders in the TVIX drive to make it easy for you to navigate your files when you connect the TVIX to the TV.

After you connect the TVIX to a TV, you should see the TVIX menu appear on the video channel. The menu will show your files. Navigate to the folders and files you wish to play and press play on the remote. For fully functional DVD playback, click on either the IFO or ISO files.

Connecting to a PC network using a LAN cable is not so hard. Helpful diagrams show where to connect the LAN cable. Setting up the network configuration for a PC running Windows (we don’t know if it will work with a Mac) is another thing altogether. The instructions take up eight pages of the user’s manual. Given the complexity of the instructions, you may want to seek from the Martians who wrote the manual.

Audio and video quality should be as good as your files, your TV, and your amplifiers. It’s still far simpler to stick a DVD into a player. The advantage the TVIX holds is that it should support numerous file formats that most other players won’t recognize. This product might appeal to people who have downloaded or copied digital content into their computers but would like to view and listen to that content on their TV and amplifiers. The TVIX HD M-4100SH is a product that will complement your home entertainment system or to make your life, assuming you get past the complicated set up requirements.