Eminent HD Media Player EM7195 review

Despite a recent deluge in the number of media streamers entering the home entertainment market, it’s been a while since one with twin DVB-T tuners has washed up at PC Pro’s offices. While that’s exciting in itself, Eminent’s EM7195 is no one trick pony.

It’s a good-looking device to start with, inconspicuous enough to sit alongside an existing home entertainment system, and compact, measuring just 235 x 200 x 70mm (WDH). Encased in subtle, black brushed aluminium, the only adornment is a glowing blue LED strip across the front.

Turn it around and there are plenty of connectivity options. There’s an HDMI 1.3 port, three USB 2 ports, an Ethernet socket, and an SD memory card reader. Eminent has included a USB 3 port too, which allows you to turn the device into a high-speed external hard disk, accessible from a laptop or PC.

Unusually, there’s an internal SATA interface on the rear panel, and also a side-loading bay for a 3.5in internal hard disk. Loading a drive here is amazingly simple: just unlatch the door and slot it in; the box then takes you through formatting and preparing the drive for use. We were up and running just 25 seconds after closing the door.

There’s a generous array of connectors in the box, so you’ll have plenty to get you up and running. Alongside HDMI, composite, optical S/PDIF and SATA cables, there’s a USB 3 cable too. Oddly, though, there’s no adapter for a UK-style coaxial antenna plug, so you’ll need to get one separately – the connector on the rear of the box is the threaded F connector type.

With this little hiccough sorted, the EM7195 was able to pick up 56 of a possible 63 standard definition TV channels from an aerial connection we know to be pretty weak. True to its claims, the EM7195 allows you to watch and record different channels simultaneously, or record two different channels at once. You’re able to copy your recordings onto external devices too, so unlike with Sky or Virgin DVRs, you won’t have to delete files once your playlist becomes overcrowded.