Transcend DMP10

The small Transcend DMP10 multimedia box claims to want to simplify the lives of users by giving easy and effective access to multimedia files. "The well-designed and colourful interface will also make it a pleasure to use" adds the manufacturer in its product file. That's what they think, but what about us?

Hardware: nice and simple interface

This media centre is small and sobre looking. Nothing flowery here then, just a USB port decorates the front of the glossy casing. You won't be able to install a hard drive in the casing. There's no fan so the device is completely silent.


The device is controlled via a pretty good remote. Although not backlit nor even very cute looking, we do like how it sits in your hand as well as the nice finish. In contrast, the navigation interface is not that well designed and is subject to the odd crash, which is pretty deplorable.


You can forget creation of a video jukebox right away, or viewing your music album covers. The only slight flourish is being able to display photos in miniature format (10 per page).

Compatibility: nothing too heavy

Compatibility is the right side of average. Recent codecs can be played and almost all HD videos (H.264, AVCHD and so on) are supported. However, you have to watch out with weighty full-HD videos (H.264/MKV) Anything over 34 Mbps and you get a jumpy image. Although such videos aren't in the majority, they aren't as rare as all that either.


Dolby Digital (except DD+ and TrueHD) and DTS can be decoded and transposed to stereo. Bitstream is also included but only on SD versions of these audio formats. DVD and BR backups are also well supported, though Blu-ray menus are lost.

Connectivity: USB and that's it

It's work to rule here I'm afraid: HDMI, composite and optical. In addition, there are two USB ports, one of which is at the front. They are the only way of connecting a peripheral to play its content. No Wi-Fi or ethernet networking.