Storex StoryBox Ultimate

The Storex StoryBox Ultimate media centre is a digital HD recorder but with no internal hard drive. You're therefore entirely reliant on the USB connectivity, the SDHC and the network. An affordable model, is it a serious contender tp the best out there, or rather a product to forget? Answers in our test...

Design and build: nothing ventured here, standard

On the design side, we like the small white Storex box, both elegant and discreet. There's a small VFD which, however, is of hardly any use as you can't use it to navigate between the menus.

A media centre without a hard drive is supposed to be totally inaudible. Except that here, a noisy fan expels hot air. Not good! You need a remote to control the device - the remote is identical to the one used on several other of the brand's products. It sits well in your hand but the manufacturing quality is rather average.


Storex has also decided not to take any risks with the navigation interface which is the same as the one supplied with the decoding chip. As a result, it has no originality, with no work done on the interface design and even less on the advanced functions.


Therefore you can't display music album covers, visualize photos in mosaic form or create a video jukebox. No, here it's the strict minimum. Certain users will get used to it. It is however responsive and easy to get a handle on.

Compatibility: not bad, with DTS support

This machine can decode almost all current HD (and SD) video. We liked the fact that you can use it to decode audio DTS tracks and Dolby Digital (PCM mode). This means you can send stereo sound to the TV loud speakers or send a 5.1 signal to an external speaker set. Bitstream is also supported for those who want to use their external amp.


We did however note a problem with DVD and Blu-ray backups. It was impossible to play our test files. Each attempt led to the machine crashing and we had to unplug it from the mains.

Connectivity: SDHC reader, USB socket and network

There are numerous outs and all bases are covered: HDMI, YUV, composite, optical and coaxial. Two USB hosts (one of which is situated at the front) allow you to link up external peripherals and play content from there. There's also an SDHC card reader.

Network support is via an ethernet 100 Mbps connection. You can therefore access shared folders on networked computers or access USB peripherals linked to the media centre from your computer. Unfortunately, this last solution isn't very stable and there are constant problems with it. Wi-fi is optional, via the connection of a specific USB key.

This means that to transfer a digital recording back to your computer, via the network, you need to create a copy in the Storex device's interface and not directly from your computer. Note that if you leave a 2.5-inch type (auto-powered) external hard drive plugged in without accessing it for a certain time, it won't be detected by the device and you then have to unplug it and plug it back in.