I have been looking for a cheap expandable storage method for Media Center for some time. After one of my recent rants about Media Center storage, one of the [OC]ModShop staff members turned me onto the Sony VAIO VGP-XL1B3 CD/DVD changer. This device attaches to any Media Center PC (including Vista) and adds additional storage to the entertainment platform via 200 DVDs (1.7 terabytes if every single one of them are double-sided).
The unit seems too good to be true: it allows one to mix and match any number of DVD or CD media in any format that your PC can read, so you can have your entire Divx video archive available at the press of a button. In addition, this unit is also a capable double-sided DVD burner, and can automatically burn an entire series of recorded shows to DVD video. Also, this unit allows you to rip your entire CD collection to MP3 in one fell swoop without changing media.
Even more intruiging is the fact that you can add up to five units in parallel. The VAIO comes with two Firewire ports (Sony likes to call it I-link); one to attach to your Media Center PC and the other to another Sony Changer until you reach five total units.
Product Description
The Sony VAIO VGP-XL1B3 CD/DVD changer and recorder connects to your compatible PC (running Windows XP MCE 2005, or Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate) and offers space to store 200 discs at one time. It also offers automatic sequential DVD-burning, making it easy to archive your favorite TV shows so you can enjoy them at your convenience (requires PC with TV tuner). Load it up with your entire CD and DVD collection, and easily manage your library while minimizing clutter in your entertainment area.
Discs inserted into the XL1B3 Changer/Recorder are automatically detected by your PC, which downloads metadata for each disc, so you can view the contents of your entertainment library with cover art, artist information, and track listings without ever having to open a jewel case or remove the discs from their secure storage location. The optimized Windows XP MCE 2005, or Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate interface makes content management a breeze. By accessing downloadable metadata , you can categorize, sort, organize by genre or artist, while saving the time and energy required by manual input and management.
Load the XL1B3 with up to 200 audio CDs to automatically and sequentially copy your CD collection to your PC’s hard drive. Even with hundreds of CDs in your collection, the XL1B3 provides you with the power and to backup your music collection with ease.
The dual-layer DVD drive is compatible with a wide range of formats, including both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs, CD-RW discs, and dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can hold up to 8.5 GB of data–great for backing up your MP3 collection or your most important documents. It features the following speeds: 4x for DVD+R DL, 16x for both single layer DVD+R/-R, 8x for single layer DVD+RW, 6x for single layer DVD-RW, and 40x/24x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x.
First off, this unit is very large. It is the same width as most Home Theater PCs, but is much deeper and taller than even the largest HTPC case, so it may not easily fit in an enclosed media cabinet. The unit requires no cooling and in fact has no air vents or fans of any kind. It is completely sealed to help prevent dust from getting into the system, making this unit suitable for archival purposes.
From the outside there really isn’t alot to this unit, which is made from shiny reflective black plastic to match Sony’s VAIO line of Home Theater PCs. The only notable things are the power button, green power LED, Load and Eject buttons, and the two I-link (Firewire) ports on the back. It is very easy to connect this unit to any PC: just match up the plugs and wires the only way they’ll fit.
Opening the unit up is rather simple. The U-shaped cover is held in place with eight small screws: four in to top, and two on either side. Once the top is slid off we can see how the unit really works. There is a clear molded plastic cover underneath the case, which should help keep settling dust from getting onto the discs themselves.
The changer consists of a central DVD burner surrounded by a ring with slots for 200 discs. There are several motors that assit in loading and organizing the media. One motor at the front slot moves a lever that ejects the current disk, and also gently places any inserted disc. Another motor moves a toothed rubber belt which actually moves the media ring, which is the major source of this unit’s noise. A third motor actualy loads media into the central DVD player, and a fourth motor clamps the drive down onto the disc.
The Media Ring looks sortof like the ring gear in a ring a pinion set. DVD media is gently placed into each groove. The ring spins around to evenly distribute the media’s weight around; so even though you may load your media sequentially, it is placed all around the ring. It really doesn’t matter where the discs are phyiscally positioned because the Media Center software manages your disc library. The unit’s memory just knows that there is a disc inserted in slot X.
We tried to fool the unit by removing all the discs that we had loaded, and the unit still thought that discs existed. We had to keep pressing the “eject button”, and the unit would spin around to an empty slot and the ejector arm would move up to expel the nonexistant media. Pressing the eject button would prompt no action from the unit once it thought there were no more discs left.
Media Center 2005 and later has native support for Media Changers and immediately recognizes the unit without any software installation. Media Center then adds new buttons to the “My DVDs” section of Media center which allows you to Manage your Discs.
Once discs are inserted into the unit, Media Center will ask to scan each disk to add them to the library. Be sure that you add as much media as you can at one time, because scanning a hundred discs or more takes over an hour. Even though scanning can take place in the background, your HTPC is virtually useless during this time as the computer halts while changing and scanning media.
One thing you’ll also notice is the Media Changer is LOUD! The media spindle is belt driven, and sounds very similar to the machines that pulled Han Solo out of the carbonite chamber… I’m not exaggerating; it sounds exactly like that. Maybe Skywalker Sound uses one of Sony’s Media Changers as the source of some of their movie sound effects.
For the most part adding media goes rather smoothly… until one of the discs became stuck in the drive. The disc was actually inside the central DVD drive, and no method of ejecting the disc (by software or hardware) would free the captive video. The Sony Media Changer must really like Mel Gibson, because it wouldn’t let go of our Braveheart DVD for anything. Media Center could play the DVD just fine, but the Media Center software did not see Braveheart in its library. Going out to Windows Explorer showed that “BRAVEHEART” was clearly in the drive, and trying to issue an eject command did nothing. We could not continue to scan any more discs because the drive was already occupied, and the unit didn’t know how to let go. We would simply get an error “Scanning failed. Try again later.”
Many DVD drives have an “eject pinhole” that will open the tray in case of a failure, but this unit does not have a traditional tray, and there is no “override” button that I could see. The only way to liberate our Scottish Hero was to shut off the power (otherwise the gears will be locked in place) and manually turn the two motor gears that secure the disc.
There are two white plastic gears on the inner drive: one that loads the disc from the Media Ring, and the other that clamps the drive itself onto the media. The lower right gear must be loosened first, which unclamps the drive from the disc. Once the disc is free, you can turn the top right gear to move a plastic arm that moves the disc back onto the Media Ring. You must leave the motors in their “open” state when you power the unit back on, or else they will remain locked.
Once our simple repair was done the Media Changer worked just as well as it did before. The average consumer that runs into this problem will likely think their unit is broken and go through a lengthy return procedure just to have another unit do the same thing (as I’ve concluded by reading consumer reviews about this item).
When all of your discs are successfully scanned, all DVD movies appear under the “My DVDs” area of Media Center by title. You just select the movie you want, and the changer automatically loads that disc and begins playing it.
If you have a bunch of Divx files on DVD, then loading them is a little more complicated. You must go to the “Manage Discs” button under “My DVDs” or “More Programs” to get a list of the disc titles. You select the disc you want to load, and the Media Changer spins around and loads the media. You must then go to “My Videos” and the selected disc will appear as one of the folders. You can then browse the files on the disc.
I was very dissapointed with how files were indexed, as I was expecting a seamless experience similar to DVD movies. I want to be presented with a list of files to choose from, and I should be able to select the file to play and the changer would load up my selection. Another nice feature would be the ability to queue up movies: like playing all six discs of the Director’s Cut of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in order automatically.
One thing we were dismayed with is how the drive reacts to discs with small files on them. DVDs that had several Divx movies on them would make the drive spin very fast, which made it VERY loud. Some discs were better than others, but this was unpredictable. We have some high-definition WMVs that are technically “files” on DVD, but the Sony Changer did not become noisy on these discs.
Because the sotware isn’t very seamless when accessing “file-based” movies, it is not really possible to share this unit on your network. We could share the DVD drive out and other computers could only see the currently loaded DVD, and there was no way to change it. Because of Digital Rights Management, a Media Center Extender (such as an Xbox 360) cannot stream DVD video over a network. It appears that in its current form, the Sony Media Changer can only be used on the HTPC it is attached to, and does not like to share its assets.
The hardware and software work seamlessly when using DVD video media exclusively, but video “files” stored on DVD make the drive spin up very loudly, and the included software makes the files difficult to manage.
The unit we tested would sometimes lock a disc in the drive, and required opening the unit to retrieve the disc and reset. Even after that, there was a mismatch between which discs Media Center were in the library vs. what were actually in the unit. The only way to fix this is to eject every disc from the library, and press the Eject button on the unit until it clears everything out.
The Sony VAIO VGP-XL1B3 Media Changer has alot of features that Home Theater PC enthusiasts have been looking for. It does add alot of value to Media Center when it works, but that’s the key issue: when it works. The unit does allow you to have virtually instant access to a large video library, but we always hold our breath hoping that the unit doesn’t lock a disc in the drive again. If you act as your family’s computer support department, then you’ll feel comfortable opening it up. Additionally, you can’t share the media in this changer on your home network.
If you’re willing to live with the Media Changer’s quirkiness then it is a real bargain, but we can’t recommend this unit for the casual user because of the unit’s stability problems.
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