April 11th, 2005
Here Come the MPEG Players
I love new hardware categories and this one is worth keeping an eye on. Personal video players are nice, but who really cares about looking at a little screen when you probably have a laptop that will do the job just fine.? Plus the pricing is through the roof.
This new class of device combines the plug and play ease of an external storage device with the ability to connect to any TV set or even car entertainment systems with no tiny screen required. This way, you can fill the hard drive up with music and photos and videos, and then wherever you go, you can plug in one of these devices and enjoy your media wherever you are.
Best of all, since they really are glorified hard drives, the prices are dirt cheap compared to what Archos and others are doing.
For example, I just ordered a “PCT Toshiba 80-29145 Portable MPEG4 player.” (Shown here on the left) This little unit boasts 80 gigabytes of storage in a nice brushed aluminium case, and it supports the following formats:
MPEG 1, 2, 4 (MPG, MPEG, AVI, M2V, DAT, VOB,etc.)
DivX, XviD (except GMC, Qpel option applied format)
MP3, OGG Vorbis, WMA
JPG
The price? $225. It also double as an external USB 2.0 hard drive, so you can take your files on the road as well, or back-up your laptop data, and it comes with a remote control.
Other players coming to the field: The Mvolt Media Flask from Wigobyte (no pricing info yet, shown above top right) and the Thanko NOAX shown here.
I have been creating a huge video library with X-Software’s Video Vault and simply want an easy way to watch a movie without having to burn a DVD or ever carry one again. I’ll let you know what the verdict is when I get my unit in.
quidpro says:
Oh so close…
This is exactly what I’ve been pestering other boards with for about 2 months now…except for the lack of recording functionality.
I want a box like this that I can take to a friends house, plug in to the tv, record the show while watching (divx or xvid would be fine), get in the car and play music while I’m driving home, plug into the tv at home so someone else can watch the show, etc.
A minimal display or even no display would be fine. “Media Flask” is a great name, I think, that describes exactly what these things should be capable of. The ability to record video and/or audio would have me abondoning my ipod in a heartbeat.
I wish I could find plans for a DIY project somewhere involving something about the size of an external drive…
April 12th, 2005 at 11:15 am
Alice says:
The question for me will be the UI and the quality of what you see on the TV and monitor if you play back video from the drive. More on that when my unit comes. Recording functionality will up the price, which is why I think this in between category is so interesting. if you can just copy all your media and go, there is somehting powerful about that. (to me anyway!)
April 12th, 2005 at 11:43 am
Dev T says:
See http://blade.lansmash.com/?p=123 for a review
April 12th, 2005 at 3:15 pm
Real Tech News - Independent Tech » How to Make Great Panoramic Shots With Your Cell Phone Camera says:
[…] Other times, it can suck the life out of you and drain hours away. (More on my monolithic MPEG player project later.) This project luckily is easy to do and allows you to have fun with you cell p […]
April 18th, 2005 at 11:55 am