26 May, EU Edition Boring commute? Long plane trip? Simply can't be bothered to watch the last episode of Lost when it's actually being broadcast? Portable video players fulfill a multitude of desires; here are five of the best. More...
8 Feb, World Edition Beneath the elegant exterior of Creative's Zen Vision portable video player lurks considerable audiovisual prowess; Jørgen Sundgot picks one up and is hard pressed to put it back down. More...
5 Jan, World Edition Breathing new life into Microsoft's Portable Media Center platform, the Toshiba gigabeat S, LG PM70 and Tatung V620 are on tap for 2006 boasting new features and form factors. More...
9 Nov, EU Edition The new Gmini 402 Camcorder from Archos tacks a 1.2 Megapixel camera onto the 20 GB of storage, 2.2-inch screen and audio/video playback capabilities of its predecessor. More...
6 Oct, World Edition Due out next year, the PDH400 portable media viewer by Pace will combine up to 40 GB of hard drive space with audio/video recording capabilities and DVB-H digital TV reception. More...
4 Oct, EU Edition Available in 30, 60 and 100 GB versions, Archos' new AV500 sports a 4-inch colour widescreen display and not only plays back media - it records it as well. More...
30 Sep, World Edition Sporting a 4-inch TFT screen, terrestrial DMB digital TV reception and support for the playback and recording of a swathe of formats, Samsung's new YM-PD1 dazzles. More...
22 Sep, EU Edition Offering a 3.5-inch TFT display, multi-format audio and video support and hard drive sizes of either 20 GB or 40 GB, Acer's new Personal Media Player MP-500 is just around the corner. More...
18 Aug, World Edition Jørgen Sundgot salivates over the multimedia monstrosity that is the do-all Archos AV700, finding a product that puts the competition to shame. Who the hell needs a video iPod? More...
3 Aug, World Edition With 30 GB of hard drive space, a 3.7-inch 262K colour screen and support for a flurry of audio and video formats, the pocket-size Creative Zen Vision is set to make an impact. More...
There's no doubt about it: the Creative Zen Vision hits the sweet spot. Just small enough to easily slip into a jacket pocket, this player boasts resoundingly superior audio and video playback courtesy of a luscious, high-resolution display and support for a smorgasboard of formats. A 30 GB hard drive should easily accomodate daily needs including synchronizing recorded TV shows with a Media Center PC, which can in turn be played back anywhere courtesy of TV out. At $400 USD, US residents in particular can revel in its ability to connect to online subscription services for music and video - but at any rate, the Zen Vision is worth its asking price. More...
Boasting a highly impressive feature set, the Archos AV700 is currently the most capable portable media viewer on the market. It does, however, require a certain amount of technological prowess from its user to operate at its full potential given the lack of polished media delivery solutions. Highlights include its massive screen and storage capacity along with support for the most widely adopted audio and video formats, with its ability to act as a Windows Media device and tag-based audio navigation particularly worthy of praise. In short, the AV700 offers a lot of bang for buck, as long manually transcoding video doesn't present an issue - or isn't needed. More...
The PMP-140 is an excellent piece of hardware: of that, there's no doubt. Its ergonomics are truly marvellous, audio and video quality are superb and format support is broad - leaving the only drawback to be mediocre battery life. Unfortunately, its user interface, despite being pretty and informative, is horribly counterintuitive and adds no intelligence to the process of photo and music navigation. Patience provided, however, users with a well-developed folder fetish should find the device quite usable. More...
Score: 60% When: September 2004 Worth: €475 - €725
For being a first attempt at a portable media viewer, the Creative Zen PMC-120 is a honourable one. Massive capacity and truly excellent synchronization scheduling are upshots, along with a simple and user friendly interface, but marring flaws also exist: the unnecessary limitation of convertible formats and no recording capabilities are the two major ones. Battery life is extensive thanks to the large battery, yet simultaneously renders the unit somewhat unwieldy. Overall, however, the PMC-120 is a good alternative for those who primarily wish to be able to view digital content on the go. More...
Breathing new life into Microsoft's Portable Media Center platform, the Toshiba gigabeat S, LG PM70 and Tatung V620 are on tap for 2006 boasting new features and form factors. More...
Sporting a 4.3-inch widescreen LCD, the PDH400 from Pace not only plays back recorded media from its 40 GB hard drive but also receives digital DVB-H transmissions for live TV on the go. More...
Housing a 4-inch widescreen in its stylish chassis, Samsung's 30 GB YM-PD1 racks up extensive audio/video playback support, TV out, a stereo FM radio and even DMB-T for watching live TV. More...
The first widescreen Portable Media Center device, LG's PM70 offers 4.3 inches of screen estate as well as TV recording to its 30 GB of storage and WMV/DivX/XviD video playback. More...
The Creative Zen Vision:M sports not only MP3 and WMA audio playback but also DivX, XviD and WMV9 video playback from its 30 GB hard drive on the 2.5-inch QVGA display or straight to a TV. More...
Offering a 3.5-inch TFT display, multi-format audio and video support and hard drive sizes of either 20 GB or 40 GB, Acer's new Personal Media Player MP-500 is just around the corner. More...
Despite its compact form factor, Creative's 30 GB Zen Vision boasts a 3.5-inch VGA resolution screen, playback of a resoundingly comprehensive list of audio/video formats and TV out. More...
The new Gmini 402 Camcorder from Archos tacks a 1.2 Megapixel camera onto the 20 GB of storage, 2.2-inch screen and audio/video playback capabilities of its predecessor. More...
Available in 30, 60 or 100 GB editions, the Archos AV500 plays back a number of audio and video formats on its 4-inch widescreen display. Also: TV recording and TV out. More...
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