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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. Hmm... by robslimo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What manner of DRM has been built in?

  2. Hmmm by Auckerman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I honestly don't understand the reasoning behind these products. These are marketed and designed for use from the point of view people WANT to carry movies and photos around with them. Sucessful portable devices don't get in the way when they are not being AND are so simple to intereact with that one doesn't think about using them.

    These look like little more than toys for people who buy things because they are new. Novelty, nothing less, especially at that price, useability, and size.

    --

    Burn Hollywood Burn
  3. Ugh! It runs Windows! by FunWithHeadlines · · Score: 5, Insightful
    All right, all right, I know, of course it does...consider the source. But it's so overkill for a device like this (not to mention that unnecessary complexity introduces bug situations and security vulnerabilities). Look at the iPod. Did Apple port a stripped down OS X for it, or even a Darwin framework? No, of course not. It's an entertainment device, so it gets its own custom OS that fits just right. It's the same philosophy that Palm has with its handhelds -- don't overload it with junk, just provide what you need and no more.

    Microsoft always wants to extend Windows even into areas where it does not belong. A handheld running Windows? What on earth for? Now this too? No thanks. Give me a Palm, give me an iPod, give me a simple tool that works well and elegantly.