Portable Media Player Reviews

Philips GoGear SA3225/02 Review - Trusted Reviews

2008-09-08T16:02:40Z

Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Philips GoGear SA3225/02 digital player. 'The first thing to point out is that this isn't just an audio player; the SA3225/02 also plays video. It has a 1.8in, 220 x 176 pixel colour screen and will play back footage at a reasonably smooth maximum of 24 frames per second - that's better than on the cheap but not so cheerful Trekstor i.Beat Motion I looked at recently. Video playback is a nice extra to have, and for short clips, it's quite watchable on this device. But don't expect to watch hour long TV shows or movies on it without going all squinty-eyed - it's just too small for that. Format support is limited, too, to the rather awkward .smv file type. That means you can forget using your favourite conversion tool to transcode video to the SA3225/02 - you'll almost certainly have to stick with Philips' bundled converter tool.']]>

Read: Philips GoGear SA3225/02 2GB - Trusted Reviews

Archos 5 Review - Archos Lounge

2008-09-07T14:05:17Z

The French website Archos Lounge have published a review of the new Archos 5 "generation 6" portable media player. 'For its new range of products, abandons the Archos PMP to focus on a whole new platform called Internet Media Tablet (Multimedia Internet tablet) or MID in the words of founder Intel. A leap forward which should help ensure that consumers found in extra-mobility, performance of a small laptop, and can easily use the basic functions of the Internet. These new tablets to integrate their hearts superscalar processor ARM ® Cortex announced as providing performance better than 4X embedded processors to its previous PMP (see the technical details provided by TI). Archos seems to have, according to its ads, a 6-month exclusivity on these processors from Texas Instruments. Texas Instrument benefiting from the experience of developers Archos debugger for their processor.']]>

Read: Archos 5: the maxi-test (Translated) - Archos Lounge

Creative Zen 8 GB Portable Media Player $103.99 Shipped

2008-09-05T15:57:12Z

Amazon.com has the Creative Zen 8 GB portable media player (Black) on offer for $103.99 with free standard shipping. 'The Zen sports a 2.5-inch TFT color display with 320 x 240-pixel resolution and support for up to 16.7 million colors. This razor sharp display is packaged in a device that weighs just 2.1 ounces and measures 3.26 x 2.16 x .44 inches (W x H x D). The internal battery powers the Zen for up to 25 hours of continuous audio playback and up to five hours of continuous video playback. Use the Zen's SD slot to expand your portable media library with music, photos and videos stored on your SD card. There's also a handy built-in microphone for capturing notes on the go.']]>

Source: Amazon

iRiver Spinn Review - Stuff.tv

2008-09-04T21:44:53Z

Stuff.tv have published a review of the iRiver Spinn portable media player. 'At just 70g, it’s lightweight, too. Add a smart silver and white colour scheme and the iRiver’s a classy, though slightly plastic-fantastic, looking sort. iriver bundles its Plus 3 software, which isn’t as intuitive as iTunes but does offer a (normally) handy transcoder for video files. Last, but by no means least, the packaging is not only round, it’s metal. Perhaps it would have been best to use more metal for the player and less for the wrapping? Oh well…']]>

Read: iriver Spinn - Stuff.tv

Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB Review - Register Hardware

2008-09-03T13:23:45Z

The Register Hardware have published a review of the Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB digital player. 'The exterior controls of the X-Fi are a little unusual with no less than 13 buttons on the front. The cardinal buttons of that 3 x 3 grid perform the same functions as the navpad on the Zen - previous/next track, volume up/down, skip forward/back etc - while the central button acts as an action key. That doesn't tell you what the buttons at the four corners are for - they come into play when you fire up the IM application, but more on that below.]]> Above and below the 3 x 3 grid are four more buttons - again largely as per the Zen – for play/pause/record, a user-defined shortcut key, options and menu/back. Tucked away around the back of the player is the on/off/lock switch. It took us a while to work out this was actually the power switch as well as the lock switch – the coin dropped only after an fruitless five minutes trying to get the thing to spring into life. Guess we should have read the instructions.'

Read: Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB media player - Register Hardware

Creative Zen X-Fi - Pocket-Lint

2008-09-02T15:08:05Z

A review of the Creative Zen X-Fi portable media player has been posted over at Pocket-Lint. 'The Creative Zen X-Fi follows on from the original Creative Zen launched at IFA in Germany last year. Almost a year later, can the new MP3 player move the model on or is it the same as before? We get listening to find out. In principle the Zen X-Fi is very similar to the Creative Zen. They are both palm sized, both sport a 2.5-inch screen and both come with the option to expand the memory further via an SD card slot. But that's where the similarities stop. It might come in a similar form factor, but there are plenty of differences between the Zen and the Zen X-Fi.']]>

Read: Creative Zen X-Fi MP3 player review - Pocket-Lint

Philips GoGear SA5285/02 Review - Trusted Reviews

2008-09-01T12:56:32Z

Trusted Reviews have published their review of the Philips GoGear SA5285/02 8GB digital player. 'Could Philips' latest dual-purpose music/video player buck the trend? It's clearly aimed at people wanting a decent video-watching experience, and there's certainly plenty of storage space for video - 8GB. The screen is a spacious 2.8in, 320 x 240 resolution one and watching footage on it is a generally comfortable experience, too. It's not the brightest screen I've ever come across, and viewing angles are pretty poor, but it will play back video at a smooth 30fps, and the sheer size of it means that you won't go cross-eyed watching it for more than ten or 20 minutes at a time.']]>

Read: Philips GoGear SA5285/02 8GB - Trusted Reviews

Philips GoGear SA2820 - Pocket-Lint

2008-08-31T13:44:48Z

Pocket-Lint have published a review of the Philips GoGear SA2820 2GB MP3 player. 'The GoGear SA2820 is the entry-point of the range from Philips, coming in 2GB (about 450 songs) and 4GB versions (under the moniker of SA2840 for the larger version) – size-wise – is certainly small, about half the size of a matchbox, measuring only 41 x 41 x 15mm. The front of the device houses a small 128 x 64 OLED screen which shines through a translucent plastic cover. This cover is also a four-way controller, more of which later. ]]> Around the sides of the device you’ll find the other control buttons, a multi-function power-play-pause-select button, back, volume, voice record button and hold slider. A 3.5mm jack on the top of the device provides space to connect the rather lack-lustre bundled headphones, or those of better quality, such as Philips’ excellent SHE9850.'

Read: Philips GoGear SA2820 2GB MP3 player review - Pocket-Lint

Sandisk Sansa Fuze Review - Top Review Shop

2008-08-29T13:24:02Z

Top Review Shop have published their review of the Sandisk Sansa Fuze MP3 player. 'The Sansa Fuze is a red colored portable audio and video player that is constructed of a hard plastic back plate with a sort of rubbery material coating, and a glossy plastic face. The use of the rubber material on the back is very useful since it is very resistant to scratching, and it also does a nice job of keeping the Fuze from sliding around on flat surfaces. The glossy front face is fairly resistant to scratching, but you will need to be careful if you carry it around in your pocket with your keys or any other sharp objects – it will start to show scratches and nicks otherwise. Other color choices - including blue, black, pink and silver - are also available.']]>

Read: Sansa Fuze MP3 Player - Top Review Shop

ElectroBox MiShake Review - IT Reviews

2008-08-28T17:28:37Z

IT Reviews have published a review of the ElectroBox MiShake digital media player. 'The innovative controls of the MiShake use a technology called Shocktronix, which allows you to perform various functions by shaking the device or tipping it to the left or right. This could be used, for example, to skip audio tracks, videos or photos, or control the various extras on offer that are specifically designed for the system. It's a strange idea but comes as more of a secondary control option to the 2.4-inch touchscreen display. The majority of the menus are context-sensitive and appear on screen as you access the various applications. However there is a row of dedicated 'buttons' down the right of the display that allow you to change volume and access the main menu, note-taking feature or voice recorder.']]>

Read: ElectroBox - MiShake review - IT Reviews

Creative Zen Mosaic Review - CoolTechZone

2008-08-27T12:53:03Z

A review of the new Creative Zen Mosaic MP3 player has been posted over at CoolTechZone.com. 'Available in black, gray and pink, it offers a variety of shades per color and consumes the entire device. It’s a different design certainly, but just not quite up to our expectations. The controls buttons, of which there are nine in total, are located right below the display in nine checkered boxes. The controls include four directional arrows and four shortcut keys for play/pause, a dedicated back button, a contextual menu and a shortcut menu. The keys are slightly difficult to press if you have large fingers, since they are so close to each other, but for the price tag that Mosaic falls under, perhaps we can let it slide. And finally, then there’s the headphones jack and a USB port at the bottom, a great location for both.']]>

Read: Creative Zen Mosaic MP3 Player - CoolTechZone.com

iRiver E100 Review - Dev Hardware

2008-08-26T16:21:17Z

Dev Hardware have published their review of the iRiver E100 MP3 player. 'iRiver is traditionally known for sleek and stylish MP3 players. Unfortunately, the E100 simply does not follow in the footsteps of its predecessors. Rather than appearing sleek, the player looks industrial and boxy, designed more for function and hiding in your bedroom than public display at the local trendy café. The player also feels a little light, as if designed with cheap plastic rather than quality metal. ]]> However, on function, the design of the player does fairly well. The 2.5” screen sits above a simple four-button (up, down, left, right) navigation set around a single function button. All five buttons are pretty intuitive in their usage and the majority of your control experience can be figured out in a few minutes of tinkering. The buttons do offer some more advanced control in certain environments; if you take a look at the instruction manual at some point you will likely learn how to control your MP3 player with a little more precision. There is a separate control for volume on the side of the E100 which is pretty straightforward.'

Read: iRiver E100 MP3 Player Review - DevHardware.com

Creative Zen X-Fi Review - Trusted Reviews

2008-08-25T12:43:21Z

Trusted Reviews have publsihed their review of the Creative Zen X-Fi (16GB) digital player. 'The X-Fi has a Wi-Fi adapter (802.11b/g) built into it and once you've used this to hook up to your home Wi-Fi network, you can register it with your Yahoo Instant Messenger or Windows Live Messenger accounts and get messaging. Alas, for the X-Fi, this is not the killer feature Creative might have hoped for. Quite apart from the fact that set up is tortuous – you have to create an account on Creative's website, enter your chat login details there, then login twice on the player before you start - text entry is painfully slow.']]>

Read: Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB - Trusted Reviews

Epson P-7000 Photo Viewer Review - Hardware Geeks

2008-08-24T14:37:53Z

A review of the Epson P-7000 Multimedia Photo Viewer has been posted over at HardwareGeeks.com. 'You can also use the P-7000 to view the histogram of the picture, and it tells you all of the picture properties from Shutter speed to ISO, resolution, and the format. But there is more, you can also view videos on the P-7000 and the quality is great, you can even play music. In fact I used it as an MP3 player on my flight from NY to Los Angeles. If it weren’t for the P-7000 I would have been bored to death as the in flight entertainment system on my Delta flight was not working.']]>

Read: Creative Zen X-Fi MP3 Player - HardwareGeeks.com

Creative Zen X-Fi - PC Advisor

2008-08-23T14:28:45Z

PC Advisor have published a review of the Creative Zen X-Fi digital music player. 'The Creative Zen X-Fi has better sound, superb headphones, an amazing feature set, expandable storage via an SD card slot, an easy-to-use interface that will please users who don't want to work with a touchscreen, and - here's the kicker - the ability to stream and download music from your PC wirelessly. It looks great, too, and it costs about half as much as Apple's current Wi-Fi-enabled iPod Touch players.]]> The 16GB X-Fi sells for £149. And if that sounds like a bargain, consider that you can also expand the Creative Zen X-Fi player's storage capacity by up to 32GB, thanks to its SD Card slot.'

Read: Creative Zen X-Fi review - PC Advisor