User experience
In use, the Compro Network Media Centre T1000W features a menu interface that resembles - at least in terms of layout - the XrossMediaBar used by Sony.
Layout is clean and precise, with large icons clearly highlighting each of the unit's five main areas - Setup, Media Playback, TV, BitTorrent and Web. The display of the time and date is a nice touch, and menu transitions are both fluid and smooth. Sadly, dig deeper and not all is good.
Lacking in usability
In terms of TV, it's generally a poor experience considering the near-£200 cost. The T1000W features only a single DVB-T tuner, making it impossible to record one channel whilst watching another. Further compounding that fact, the T1000W doesn't allow any other activity when a recording is taking place. You're left to watch what's being recorded (with a big REC sign in the top right corner, we might add) and stop becomes the only functional key; you can't even return to the main menu without stopping the recording first.
We also found that the quality of live TV is below average, and a long way from the standards set by the integrated tuner in our test display - a Pioneer plasma. The T1000W appears to enhance compression artifacts on Freeview, making them all the more visible, and TV recordings are consequently of below-par quality, too.
For UK users, there's also no support for DVB subtitles or MHEG-5 interactive services.
Once again, Compro's software continues to ignore user friendliness with its EPG (Electronic Programming Guide). There's a tedious wait for the EPG to populate (as pictured above), and though you're thankful for the small video showing what you're currently watching, it changes to a video preview of other channels as you navigate the guide. There's therefore no way to see what else is on whilst watching your current programme.
Call us picky, but we're also left bewildered by Compro's method of selecting a channel from the EPG. Any "normal" person would navigate to the desired channel using the remote's up, down, left, right keys and then hit enter to view the highlighted programme. Nope, not here, Compro has its own method - you'll need to select the channel you want to watch, and then hit the key for live TV (took us a while to figure that one out).
Recording TV, too, isn't as simple as it should be. When choosing to record a programme from the EPG, it isn't the one-click process you'd expect. Instead, the unit wants to know what channel you'd like to record, what time, and whether or not you'd like for the device to stay on afterward. A good way of double-checking the record, perhaps, but it's another set of unnecessary key-presses.
In terms of a connected experience, the T1000W's web channel currently offers only one function - a dedicated app for YouTube browsing. Though the app works well, finding decent content on YouTube is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Blown up on a 50in display, YouTube footage often looks poor and, despite Compro's best efforts, it arguably isn't the best use of the T1000W's online connectivity.
Nonetheless, the web channel is in our estimation the T1000W's most promising feature - we'd like to see it better utilised, with apps for popular services such as BBC iPlayer and social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Sharing and accessing media via a home network is straightforward, and we found the T1000W able to playback full-HD video from a network source without any stutter.
Similarly, using the BitTorrent client to manage downloads is very simple - though, perhaps a little too simple, as there are no means to schedule downloads.
Rough around the edges
Although usable, the overall customer experience is, in our estimation, below acceptable standards, and the T1000W is a device that's still rough around the edges. Prior to recent firmware updates, the unit was little more than a sorry affair. Fortunately, it's come a long way since then, but there are still numerous niggling issues. Highlighting the severity of problems, it took up until firmware v1.18 to fix an issue with an installed hard-drive spinning constantly, even after putting the T1000W into standby.
The device, as it stands, remains plagued by minor problems that together create a dull user experience. The unit's trio of USB ports, for example, are painfully slow - with our tests highlighting that a 328MB video file takes over two minutes to copy to the installed hard drive.
It's the little things that count, and Compro has overlooked the basics - including a number of localisation issues that continue to plague Taiwanese manufacturers. Stating that "HDMI is the preferred digital connection between the TV and the source, for a zero distortion during the transfer" highlights that another level of polish is still required.
However, irrespective of the numerous issues, there are users who'll be interested in the T1000W's ability to playback the majority of media formats. We found the unit played back all the formats on Compro's specification without problems, but .VOB support remains limited. The T1000W will happily open and playback .VOB files on an individual basis, but don't expect a seamless DVD-like experience with menus and subtitles.