ICY BOX IB-MP305A

On paper, the Icy Box IB-MP305 has some very attractive specs.  It promises to offer faultless handling of HD content, support for DTS audio, network compatibility and even an SDHC card reader.  But does that make it a good choice?  Let's take a look ...

Handling: interface and remote behind the times

The case, finished entirely in black brushed aluminium, is rather attractive.  There's no control screen at the front, so you'll have to switch your TV on even if you just want to listen to music.  Because it's only a multimedia gateway, you can't fit an internal hard drive: files are read either over the network or via the USB key.

Unfortunately though, its main weaknesses become apparent all too quickly.  First of all the remote control: its pocket-sized form factor isn't very comfortable to use.  Worse still, the buttons are very poorly laid out and don't make it easy to navigate through the menus.

And the menus themselves haven't been reworked either: they're the basic version provided by Realtek with no extras, and just the same as those on the Dvico Tvix 6632N.  Like the Emtec N200, the onscreen interface doesn't make the most of HD televisions, without the option to display your photos as thumbnails or create an video jukebox with the cover art for your favourite films and TV series.  A quick look at energy consumption: the IB-MP305 uses 9 W while in use and 0.7 W on standby.


Compatibility: careful with big files

As we mentioned above, the interface is like the one found on the N200, which is perfectly understandable because both manufactures use Realtek's affordable RTD10733DD HD chip.  It supports a very wide range of formants, but sometimes struggles with larger bitrates of 30 Mbps and above.

The list of file formats it can handle is still impressive though: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP (DivX, XviD), MPEG-4 AVC (H.264, x264) and VC-1 (WMV) all work in both standard and high definition.  Plenty of container formats are accessible, including AVI, DIVX, MP4, MKV, WMV and MOV as well as MTS and M2TS.  It's easy to manage multiple audio channels and subtitles.  You can't, however, adjust the size, position or synchronisation of the subtitles.  DVDs ripped as RIP or ISO are both supported.  For Blu-ray rips, only M2TS works, although subtitles disappear along the way.

Audio support is a little better, with support for MP3, AAC, WMA and OGG files.  Both DTS and Dolby Digital are well-handled with an effective stereo downmix: the device decodes the multichannel audio, transposes it to a stereo signal and sends it to the TV's speakers.  A bitstream mode is available to send the multichannel audio to an external amp.

Connectivity: SDHC, USB, Ethernet and optional WiFi

The connectivity options at the back are rather rich, with HDMI, composite and component video and optical audio.  Two USB host ports are also available: the first is at the front while a second is on the left-hand side.  Both allow you to connect USB keys and external hard drives to the IB-MP305.  An SDHC card reader is also available while network connectivity is provided by a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port.  Support for WiFi is optional, via a USB dongle.