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First Portable Media Centers Hit Store Shelves

Posted by timothy on from the gotta-keep-the-zendo-open dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After months of speculation and hype, the first Portable Media Center based on Microsoft's 'Windows Mobile software for Portable Media Centers' has finally hit store shelves. The Zen Portable Media Center, from Creative Labs, is now available at Best Buy and Fry's Electronics, priced under $500. That money basically buys a 3.8-inch color LCD screen, ultra-fast USB 2.0 port to transfer video, music, and digital photos from your PC, and an internal 20 GB hard drive."

3 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. First? Not by a long shot. by twifosp · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.archos.com Archos has been at this for well over a year.

  2. If you want portable media ... by LilMikey · · Score: 4, Informative

    there are a number of superior devices readily available:

    Archos AV3xx
    Archos AV4xx
    iRiver PMP-1xx
    RCA Lyra 27xx

    All of the above at LEAST play mpeg 4 video. Most can record Audio, some video, and one is ever a PVR. Educate thyself, consumer.

    And if you're a linux nut, I believe both the Archos and iRiver are Linux based however neither appear hacked to any great degree.

    --
    LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
  3. Be careful : Misleading label ... by Fantasio · · Score: 4, Informative
    This is not a Creative product (...with Microsoft software), it's a hardware extension of Microsoft WMP 10 (...built by Creative).

    The list of System Requirements says it all.

    I'll buy this kind of device only if it is recognized as a Mass Storage Device when plugged on the USB port, not if I have to go through WMP to use it.