CONCLUSION

   Testing the aios HD media center from Pivos proved to be quite the experience since I’ve never actually used/tested a network/hdd media player with so many typos in the menus. Luckily none of the bugs i came across were serious enough to hinder the operation of the unit but even the few typos , USB and Wi-Fi issues is not something i see every day with similar products. On the other hand Pivos is a brand new company and the aios HD media player is their first attempt to enter this segment of the market so did i expect to receive a flawless network/hdd media player that could easily surpass the competition? Of course not and since I’ve been testing media players almost from the start I’ve seen many initial attempts by the now leading manufacturers in the field some of which were a lot buggier and cost a lot more than what the aios HD media center does.

   So yes the aios HD Media Player by Pivos is not the perfect network/hdd media player out there but with a retail price tag of just USD94.99 inside the USA (Newegg/TigerDirect) i doubt there's anyone out there who actually expects perfection. As always there are countless other solutions in the market for people who are after a more complete package than the aios HD media center and those aside Pivos is also releasing the Xios Media Server by the end of the month so if you think that the aios is not enough to cover your needs you can always wait to see what the Xios is capable of. Personally i always weigh things and i can say that although far from perfect the aios HD media server does offer a wide range of features (hot-swap HDD drive bay, active cooling, coaxial and optical audio outputs, card reader, gigabit Ethernet, 3 USB ports) and is amongst the cheapest RTD1185DD based network/hdd media players in the market currently (if not the cheapest) so those things are more than enough for it to receive our Golden Award. I just hope that Pivos continues the same excellent product support they currently have forever.

PROS

- Build Quality (Brushed Aluminum Enclosure)
- Performance (Realtek RTD1185)
- Hot-Swap 3.5" HDD Bay
- Coaxial/Optical Audio Outputs
- USB 3.0 Host Port
- Card Reader
- Price
- Current Product Support 

CONS

- Initial Bugs (Most Of Them Resolved)
- Remote Control Lacks Button Illumination