Amp up the storage space

Escient's MX Series FireBall MX111 is the new standard for home theater systems. An enormous 160GB built-in hard drive serves up a vast amount of onboard space for storing all your digital video and music. Further, the ability to manage external CD/DVD changers dramatically expands the MX111's capacity without consuming it's built-in memory. And to top everything off, the MX111 organizes and displays your entire DVD, CD, and digital music collection right on your big screen with an advanced graphical user interface!

MOVIE MANAGER?

Maybe you are one of those folks who wonder, "What exactly is a movie manager and why exactly would I want one? Will I have to run an ad in the classified section of the newspaper? If I do hire one, will I have to pay him or her more than minimum wage?" Rest assured, dear reader, when you lay your hard-earned money down for the Escient Fireball MX311, you can lash it to your furniture, make it work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and feed it nothing except electricity and DVDs, while paying it nothing, if that's what you want to do. Think of it as the little techno monkey slave you've always wanted.

A movie manager, you see, is a home theater component that helps you make the most of your DVD investment. The Escient FireBall MX111 works in conjunction with a Sony DVP-CX777ES 400 disk DVD/CD changer to provide both convenience and time saving features for every home theater such as instant access to any movie in your collection, automatic disc recognition, and efficient storage for your DVD discs. If you love movies, you're going to love the movie manager features onboard the MX111.

Features at your fingertips

All you have to do is load your DVDs, close the door, and wait as the Escient FireBall MX111 does the rest, downloading piles of information about the titles in your collection using your existing Internet connection. How? The MX111 scans each DVD, then connects to the Escient MovieDB to download information including: cast, rating, description, running time, even the jacket cover art! You don't have to type a thing! Next thing you know, you can see everything you'd ever need to know about your collection organized on-screen right before your eyes. Maybe you want to view lists of movies by genre, or by alphabetized titles, or, in order to recreate that video store experience, you can shop the whole shebang by viewing the cover art, waiting for something to catch your eye. What will definitely catch your eye is the MX111's customizable graphical user interface. Choose a "skin" that best suits your mood, or match it with your newly painted accent wall. The choice is yours. You also get to limit what programming your kids are exposed to using the MX111's parental control feature . . . providing, that is, that you are not one of those parents who have to ask your kids to help you with all things technological. That does give the rugrats the upper hand.

With a little help from its friends (at Sony)

Going solo, the MX111 has a mere one disc holding capacity and only 160GB of storage space on its hard drive, but invite one of its Sony associates over to your house and your MX111 can manage up to 400 DVDs and CDs. There is no safer, or more convenient, way to store your movie and music collection than to archive it permanently within a carousel changer. Do the math — if you have over 400 movies or CDs that you require immediate access to at the snap of your fingers, you'll need to find another system. If 400 has you covered, then you'll be happy as a clam with the expandable capacity offered by the MX111 and some further wear on your credit card.

MUSIC MANAGER?

Okay, so I might have tipped my hat with the previous blurb. Everything the MX111 can do for movies, it can do for music too. Plus, playlists. Plus, rip copies of your mixes. And intercept internet radio. And record music to the hard drive from any "legacy" analog or digital audio device (yes, LPs, cassettes, etc...). And . . . actually, that's it.

Comparison Specifications

• MOVIE MANAGER FEATURES
• Instant movie access — view any DVD in your collection (organized by genre, title, or cover art) using on-screen guide
• Detailed movie descriptions -- view movie details such as cast, genre, release date, run time, and ratings on-screen
• Automatic DVD identification -- uses Escient MovieDB for perfect DVD matching
• Automatic DVD cover art retrieval
• Parental controls -- block children's access to inappropriate programming
• Fully customizeable -- create and edit your own movie groups and add your own descriptions and notes
• Built-in video switcher

Additional Specifications

• MUSIC MANAGER FEATURES
• 160GB hard drive (storage capacity, in hours: FLAC/453, MP3(320)/1078, MP3(192)/1797, MP3(160)/2156, MP3(128)/2695)
• Built-in CD player/CD burner
• Instant music access — view any CD in your collection (organized by genre, title, artist, or song) using on-screen guide
• Fast CD ripper -- upload your CDs to the hard drive in just minutes
• Automatic CD identification -- uses GracenoteCDDB for perfect CD matching
• Free WMA and Shoutcast internet radio -- uses the Escient RadioDB tuning service
• Fully customizeable -- create and edit your own playlists, genres, and lists of internet radio stations
• CONNECTIVITY/INTERFACE/CONTROL FEATURES
• Back panel connections: digital audio (optical) in/out, digital audio (coax) in/out, analog audio (stereo) in/out, video (composite, s-video, component) in/out, ethernet, RS-232, IR in, s-link

Manufacturer Specifications

• On-screen graphical user interface with customizeable themes and personalized backgrounds (skins)
• PC file sharing using FireBall PC technology
• Web server and PDA interface -- remote control and music streaming from any standard web browser or PDA
• DLNA and UPnP Support
• Sophisticated control interface enables integration with RTI, NetStreams, Creston, AMX, and other home automation and third party remote control systems
• Management of up to 400 discs in an external disc changer
• PLEASE NOTE: this product ONLY supports Sony DVP-CX777ES 400 disk DVD/CD changer (maximum of one) (sold separately)

Dimensional Specifications

• Dimensions: 17.5" W X 11.87" D X 4.64" H

Escient FIREBALL MX111 Warranty Details

One-year full warranty covering parts, labor, and telephone support