HDI Dune BD Prime 3.0 Blu-ray media player

In tests, no judder and very little in the way of visible image artifacts showed up when we watched The Return of the King at 1080i. However when we tried to access the Terminator Salvation BD Live content things went pear-shaped. The content downloaded well enough, but then the Dune froze necessitating a re-start. That happened three times before we called it a day.

Responsive to commands, but Blu-ray loading time are glacial

The Dune's on-screen UI is refreshingly well designed and thought out. The system reacts to commands with commendable speed, but it does have one hugely irritating feature. When launching video or music files the TV screen signal is temporarily interrupted, so you get the same 'looking for source/signal' display you see when you switch your telly on, but not your set-top box. The same thing happens when you navigate back to the main menu after watching a video or listening to music.

The problem is not merely aesthetic because, while the system is deciding what signal to send where, the clock is ticking. From pressing play on a video file to seeing the first frames takes 10 seconds and the same delay occurs between pressing stop and seeing the original menu file list which is not particularly impressive. Other lesser niggles with the Dune include the inability to play music while running slide shows and having to download firmware updates using a PC, rather than directly to the unit.

HDI does, however, get a pat of the back for supplying HDMI and eSATA cables and a USB/eSATA adaptor, along with a rather fine IR remote control that suffers only from not being backlit. For those concerned about their carbon footprint the Dune sucks down a not inconsiderable 11W of power on standby rising to 21W when playing Blu-ray discs, both figures taken with a 3.5in external USB drive.

Well-equipped, but needs refining

The Dune is available in the UK for £370 including a Blu-ray drive but without a hard drive. In our book, it seems is pretty fair value when you consider that a half-decent BD player will set you back in the region of £250 and Popcorn's less user-friendly C-200 is £320 without the Blu-ray player.

Verdict

While a decent enough box of tricks, the Dune is let down by the the lack of support for Vorbis files, shaky BD Live support and the unsatisfactory way the screen signal goes walkabout before video and audio files launch and after they quit. However, none of those failings are beyond rectification with a future firmware update. So, fingers crossed this will happen because, as it stands, the Dune is a good basic BD disc player with significant network ability which just shades the Popcorn Hour C-200. ®

Thanks to AdvancedMP3Players for the loan of our review machine.

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