Conclusion
At constant 25 MB/s writing and 28 MB/s read throughput rates, the MV-5000U is certainly up to snuff for home and small office storage needs. A look at our data transfer diagram clearly shows performance is hindered by the unit's integrated USB controller, as the DiamondMax 10 drive would be able to provide higher transfer rates. So while the MV-5000U is certainly no data transfer rate performance monster, we also assume maximum throughput is not the unit's main purpose anyway.
Instead, the manufacturer tried to make this external storage device a great choice for the technically- savvy consumer by adding mainly additional audio/video features. Even inexperienced users will be able to install a hard drive themselves, if they are even slightly technically versed. Feature-wise, the MV-5000U plays any type of music and many video codecs, and it is capable of broadcasting audio to your (car) stereo via FM frequencies. A car kit is available for 12-V power, although we do not consider it practical to drive around in your car with it.
So if you seek a solution that serves your media storage and playback requirements at the same time, the MV-5000U should serve as a great asset. It is quiet and looks neat, and Mvix continues to offer firmware updates, which should help accommodate future audio and video codecs.
Meanwhile, for future designs, we would recommend a version that can be run as a NAS storage device with a network interface. An additional USB port for another storage device or a memory stick would be a plus as well. This would offer additional versatility and help bridge the time until media center PCs with storage finally become small enough to match the size of the MV-5000U.
