The Grab'n'Go is much the same -- it gets video, photos and audio from a USB source or via your home network and plays them on your TV. That's all. This makes it an ideal choice for people who want to access their media on their TV without the hassle of hooking up a laptop or using a more complicated device. Fly me to the moon When you take the Grab'n'Go out of its box, you'll notice that it has an unusual appearance.
The main unit has an oval shape, but with a couple of ridges on the bottom that will balance it on a flat surface, should you choose to place it on one. The second option is to mount it on a small stand, into which the media player can slide. The ridge that supports the player when you place it on a flat surface now locks the device into its cradle, keeping it secure.
Very clever. Once in its stand, you'll notice that the Grab'n'Go looks like a rocket ship. That's very cool. Indeed, the machine is generally aesthetically pleasing. There is basically nothing to distract the eye on its front surface, save for a lone, dual-colour LED.
There are also stereo RCA jacks, in the event that you don't have a surround-sound amp but still want to get improved stereo sound. The remote control looks quite basic. It's perfectly fine in use though, and we have no real complaints about its responsiveness. From a software point of view, however, there are times when the device doesn't pay attention to your orders, and the fast-forward speed isn't anywhere near rapid enough.
Unimpressive user interface Upon firing up the Grab'n'Go, you'll be presented with a simple user interface. The set-up process is, for the most part, automatic.
We didn't need to configure the network settings at all -- we just plugged the Grab'n'Go in and, seconds later, we were browsing our list of computers and were able to select our media-hosting PC. If you insert a USB storage device, it's listed in the same menu, and you can browse the device for video, audio or photos.
As with so many of these devices, if you press the photo button and try to look for music, you'll come up with nothing. This is messy and pointless -- we'd rather see a more innovative approach to the user interface. There really aren't that many extra features, although you do get access to some online services, like Shoutcast audio and YouTube video. These are decent-enough features to have, but the user interface isn't particularly enticing, and we can't see these functions getting much use.
Super picture quality The important question is: how does video look via the Grab'n'Go? We ran through a selection of test files using some pretty random audio and video codecs and file types and were generally pleased with the results, with the vast majority playing back first time without issue. Quality is very good and playback control is decent, offering subtitle and language track support along with zoom controls for video. Unfortunately these seem to be rather token efforts, and while streaming quality is good there are no options to search for content by keywords and notably in regard to YouTube, no ability to search back and forth through a clip once it is playing.
A range of standard search and browse options are available for categories, favourites and top-rated content, but the only way to access your favourite clips or stations with ease is to add URLs to a list of online media links via the Media Server application on a computer. A few nice touches include the ability to control music playing in the background while browsing other features via a mini "background music" tool that can be activated at any time.
It's also possible to set up NFS shares over a network, share files using P2P via a Bittorrent client and the supplied remote control, despite having a typically cheap feel, is well laid out and easy to interpret. Overall Conceptronic puts in a fair showing with the Grab'n'Go and is certainly one of the more capable devices on the market, offering good file support and performance at a reasonable price. It's not without its faults, however, and with one particularly capable rival in the Western Digital WD TV Live doing the rounds at a lower price, we were left wondering if Conceptronic laid its cards on the table just a few months too late.
Why you can trust Pocket-lint. Verdict Overall Conceptronic puts in a fair showing with the Grab'n'Go and is certainly one of the more capable devices on the market, offering good file support and performance at a reasonable price. Writing by Paul Lester. Recommended for you.
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