Setup:
HP MediaSmart Home Server
HP MediaSmart Connect
Desktop PC (that had its itunes and play lists copied to the server by the server).


This review looks at my experience with the Connect appliance/device and
navigating. searching, servers.

Navigation

I realized that navigating the on screen user interface of the MediaSmart Connect deserved its
own separate review. I'll warn you now, I started with cool, nifty and eventually ended up glum.

The user interface is truely poor - alpha level -- filled with frustrating inconsistencies, lack of capability,
and slow responsiveness, and a failure to use the remote to its fullest!

Navigation

1. Slow
I was thinking it's going to the HP MediaSmart Home Server all the time for songs in a
category (e.g. genre) and thats the delay.
But then often it is stale (a new song on home server does not show up). So maybe its actually caching,
but then why is it slow.

Example: if you are looking at artists and you hit the "Media" button to jump you back to the main home screen it takes about 4 seconds, and you get the little busy guy in the bottom right.
Very brutal. It should be instantaneous.


2. The quick color shortcut buttons - great idea but massively under utilized.
IMHO every single screen should have all 4 used!
Examples:
Main screen - why are color buttons not assigned to music, movies, online, photos.
All Music - why are color buttons not assigned to artist, album, genre, playlist


3. Why are the quick color buttons not configurable? For example why can I not go into all music,
cursor down to genre and say "assign color button", then press the button - presto a fast accelerator to genre.

4. The remote has a menu button - as best I can tell its never used - that would have been a great way for a lot of extended ui capability / configuration


5. Main buttons on the remote sometimes don't work - depends where you are. That's terrible UI desin.
Example:
If you are on the main screen you can click favorites and it works.
If you are on the music screen it does nothing.
Example 2:
Same for the search button


6. Consider lack of 'insta navigation'. Pick music then all artists.
Why is it when faced with a list of 5000 artists I cannot hit the '2' key three times and get the letter 'c'?

This is 'list navigation' 101 in UI design (sorry to be blunt). Incidentally this is how the search dialog/window does it. Why does it work there and not where you need it.

7. Similarly you can't even type 'W' to zip to the 'world' genre for example. So you spend a lot of wasted time cursoring.

8. While I am on it, suppose you have 100 artists. It might show you the first 20 (roughly), you cursor to the bottom, or page down (channel) and there is a noticable delay while it gets the next 20.
Either they didn't cache the list (of 100), or the update is brutally slow. It just makes for a painful experience.


9. Listening to a song, I navigated away to look for another but changed by mind. There was no way to return to 'now playing' . The logical is "last" key on the remote but it doesn't work.


10. Navigating to setting while a song is playing immediately stops the song. It doesn't even matter if you change a setting - just looking at the settings page stops your music!

11. Music - All Music
Why is there no All Music Index (All, ABC, DEF, GHI etc). Then when you drill into it you should see all, A,B,C, .
This would allow rapid navigation.
Interestingly it does show up in a different part of the interface if you navigate through a server.


12. Next to any folder it should tell you how many items are in the folder.
For example go to Music
- Next to All music it should tell you how many songs it knows about
Drill into 'Genre'
- Next to alternative it should say Altenative (20) telling you there are 20 alternative songs.


Instead it tells you 1/15 telling you alternative is 1 of 15 genre. What's really annoying is you can't press the number on the key pad to jump to the 8th genre if its your favorite one.
(and of course you cannot assign a color key to your favorite genre per above)


13. Go into Music > Genre. Pick a Genre
The music is randomly sorted.
It doesn't matter if shuffle is on or of, the list is random.


14. When cursoring through songs (e.g. ones in the rock genre) it would be handy if
it showed in the bottom left the duration, almbum, and other info (e.g. that it came from MyServer)
For example I had two version of a song - one live, and one none live. I wanted to play the live one.
I had to click one, click info, darn not it. Hit back, go to the next one.

15. Playlists don't seem to work consistently.
Music - Playlists ==> indicates there is no shared media.
Music - folder - homeServer - playlists ==> this shows the play lists
This makes no sense - again keep in mind the connect device and server are both hp mediaSmart !

Search
1. Consider music search (pick music, all artists, search).
One you have entered the choice you want there is no quick way to say 'ok do my search'
Instead you have to navigate to the OK button (fastest to hit up arrow) and click ok.
Is there a reason Hitting search again on the remote doesn't do it?
is there a reason another 'color shortcut' button doesn't do it?


2. When you get your search results perhaps you realize oops, I spelt it wrong.
Hot you hit back. Instead of going back to search it takes you back to the all artists view.
This is contrary to the very well known back metaphor permiating technology thanks to the web.

3. Why does the search not give me a choice of my most recent searches?
This would also be handy for when I make a typing mistake , or i want to quickly go back to it later.

4. Why can i not create a playlist from my search?

5. Sometimes the search button the remote works sometimes not.
For example, if you are sitting inside of genres hitting search does nothing,
But hitting it at main music screen does ask you what to search for.


Media Art
1. Sometimes I get media art, sometimes I don't. The PC that was copied to the MediaSmart Homer Server definitely displays the art work correctly.

2. Other times the art work looks like a mess - torn graphic.


Servers
1. If you remove servers, then sleep the MediaSmart Connect device, then wake it up again, magically the servers are back, even though all you did was sleep it, and even though it says servers will only be
added back if you choose refresh on the servers page.