First Portable Media Centers Hit Store Shelves

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."

Comments

I have one, I'm impressed.

[jrj102]

I have one (don't ask) and I'm really quite impressed with it. While it won't replace my iPod for music use, I really think that the video/tv functionality would be fantastic for someone who commutes to work on a bus or ferry every day.

The UI is clean and easy to use, and the sync works great. I also like that it is easy to configure the system to transcode (in the background) all of your content to lower quality in order to optimize space utilization.

These are actually surprisingly good tools. There's a good review here.

I will say, however, that if I had not gotten one for free (again, don't ask) then I don't think I would have been willing to pay $500 for one. When they either get down into the $350 range, or have MUCH higher capacities at the $500 price point perhaps.

Re:I have one, I'm impressed.

[FlipmodePlaya]

What dissapoints me is that it only holds 20B. Larger models are definitely needed. 20GB will fit my music collection just fine, but when I start putting movies on it I'm going to need a bit more. Hell, there are people who buy 80GB players _just_ for music.

Re:I have one, I'm impressed.

[FlipmodePlaya]

I don't know, I imagine the market is at least as big as the market for the Gameboy, and that's done alright.

Re:I have one, I'm impressed.

[Moofie]

And this thing is, what? About four times the volume and cost of a GameBoy.

Not exactly a "throw it in my pocket in case I want to mess with it" sort of thing.

Re:I have one, I'm impressed.

[pyrrhonist]

so, umm, how'd you get it? ; )

Sshhhh!! He said not to ask. Ooooohh, now you're in trouuuuuuble...

Re:I have one, I'm impressed.

[LinuxHam]

You do realize that there's absolutely no way you'll get through 80GB of music OR video on a single battery charge?

You do realize that people don't load each day's music selection into their iPods as part of their morning rituals, don't you? Why do you think you have to watch/listen to your entire collection in a single charge?? Plug it in when you get home at night, unplug and take it with you in the morning. Listen to whatever subset of your collection you want during the day.

Re:I have one, I'm impressed.

[Awptimus Prime]

What dissapoints me is that it only holds 20B. Larger models are definitely needed. 20GB will fit my music collection just fine, but when I start putting movies on it I'm going to need a bit more. Hell, there are people who buy 80GB players _just_ for music.

Yeah, but how many people with 80GB mp3 players really listen to 80GB worth of music over the course of a week/month/year? The only person I know with a 40GB iPod listens to the same worn out dance albums from 1998 over and over and over and over . Then he makes fun of my 4GB mini, which has new music rotated onto it weekly.

I guess what I am driving at is that you can effectively manage your media regardless of whether or not your entire collection of stuff fits on it. 20GB is enough for a damn lot of movies in divx; more than I would watch on a 2 week vacation. It seems more than enough if you plan on removing items you have viewed enough times, too.

Hmm...

[robslimo]

What manner of DRM has been built in?

Re:Hmm...

[Noehre]

How exactly does a question get modded 'Insightful'?

Re:Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sometimes it is more important to ask the right questions than to know the right answers.

Re:Hmm...

[Grummet]

Dude! How did you get modded insightful for asking a question about how you get modded insightful for asking a question?

(my head hurts)

If it drops to the under $300 price point

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Which it will eventually- I think I just found a MUCH better solution to kid-in-the-car-on-a-long-trip boredom.

Re:If it drops to the under $300 price point

[ediron2]

Or shift to audiobooks. Eyes out the window, minds on harry potter or whatever they like most. The kilometers just fly by. And the kids never seem to get tired of listening to the same book over and over, either. Make your car stereo an mp3-capable cd player and you've got 6 hours or more of audio per cd.

The gizmo geek in me keeps glancing hungrily at these things, but then I remember how much I *like* my kids staring out the window rather than at a screen while we're driving.

Yes, but,

[Anonymous Coward]

does it
whew, close call.

run lin*whack*

First? Not by a long shot.

[twifosp]

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

Re:When you buy this product...

[jrj102]

>Unlike Apple's iPod, on which DRM is an optional consequence, Microsoft requires that you re-encode all video using DRM-encumbered technology.

That would be really interesting, if it were true. Jackass.

I actually own one of these things, and I can say 100% that you don't HAVE to re-encode your music to a DRM enabled format. Indeed, it is not even the default setting-- by default, your music is not encoded. If you DO set it to re-encode for space purposes, it does NOT drm the content-- you're free to copy it as you like (unless it was already DRMed, of course.)

Very kewl.

[Freston Youseff]

This is the coolest thing in the way of personal entertainment that I have ever seen in my life aside from unmentional bedroom activities involving myself in a dark room with a glow-in-the-dark prophylactic. The future is indeed a bright one.

Hmmm

[Auckerman]

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.

Re:Hmmm

[Shadow Wrought]

I agree, and must say that the whole point is somewhat lost on me. What's wrong with actually taking in your surroundings? Or talking to people? Isn't having access to movies, tv shows, etc. at home enough? Do we really need to be able to watch a movie at any given moment? I realize that this is not exactly the "geek" party line, but at some point do we really need to bring everything with us?

Re:Hmmm

[huchida]

I agree, and must say that the whole point is somewhat lost on me. What's wrong with actually taking in your surroundings? Or talking to people? Isn't having access to movies, tv shows, etc. at home enough? Do we really need to be able to watch a movie at any given moment? I realize that this is not exactly the "geek" party line, but at some point do we really need to bring everything with us?

Nice rant, but you're out of touch with reality. When you're backpacking through Europe you should chat it up and look at the pretty mountains. When you're a commuter, you usually want to be anywhere but where you are.

A few years back I lived outside New York and had to commute 2 hours each way every day to the city. That's assuming good weather and no hassles, of which there were many.

A while before that one of my parents was having health trouble in Japan and I had to fly back and forth seven times in one year.

Both of those times I really would've killed for a device like this. Laptops are clumsy on a commuter train and the batteries usually can't handle a twelve hour plane trip. Even when I'd carry a couple of spares.

As for taking in my suroundings, when you commute, you've seen them. A million times. I don't care for forced small talk with whoever's around me-- I have enough friends. And when it's six in the morning, or six at night after a long day at work, I don't want to talk about sports, politics and the weather with whoever I happen to be sitting next to. Believe it or not, most people want to travel in peace, not converse with strangers. More than once I've worn earphones after my walkman's battery ran out so that I wouldn't have to have a long, awkward conversation with the person next to me.

If anything, I'd be much happier to zone out and watch a movie when being held hostage by a commute and do my socializing and scenery-watching on my own time. Which I do.

If you see me watching one of these things on a plane, please leave me alone.

Wait Til Version 3

[slipnslidemaster]

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.

Service Pack 1 released 15 minutes later...

more formats

[Coneasfast]

I would have preferred something that would support more formats, such as xvid, ogg vorbis, etc.

divx would be nice too, but there would be a licensing issue.

Naming

[MikeMacK]

Interesting that they call it the "Zen", since Zen teaches inner contemplation and quiet listening to oneself and body, not MP3s.

bah, schoopsed.

[physicsphairy]

ultra-fast USB 2.0 port to transfer video

Dang it, I knew I should have waited on buying the mediocre-speed USB 2.0 port version. Now all my friends will be laughing at me because they have the ultra-fast version.

It's a flop

[prostoalex]

So it has a color screen, sound volume control, all sorts of DRM support and costs almost $500? And I have no keyboard, no networking, no generic applications, it's just like a portable DVD player, but there's no DVD slot, just digital link?

Well, for $600 I can get this low-end laptop running Windows XP Home with wireless networking, 40 gig drive and DVD slot, which is capable of doing so much more, which pretty much includes all the options available in PMC.

For $300 the PMC might be interesting. For $100 it would be a hot seller. But $500? Give me a break.

Re:It's a flop

[prostoalex]

are you going to lug 6 lbs of laptops everywhere? are you going to deal with the fact laptop is much "bulkier" when you watch a movie on the screen since you still need the keyboard to go somewhere?

Ultralight laptops will cost more, but not much more. We have that formfactor in the laptop form already. On the other hand if I (and millions other Americans) do have a laptop, there's even less incentives to buy a PMC. The ROI is simply not there.

$100 hot seller - sorry, that makes absolutely no sense at all

I know, but the whole product makes about as much sense as a car that can only turn one way, but not the other. It's half the price of the regular car and eats just as much gas but can only turn right. Limited market, limited appeal, absolutely no reason for anyone to want one.

If $100 is not good, then for $500 I want WiFi connectivity, back-end download portal with somefree content (real movies, not trailers and promotional crap) and wireless radio streaming. Mind you that a $600 laptop will do that (except the movie part would have to be Suprnova), so if you take away my keyboard, please put back something else.

Re:It's a flop

[TheSpoom]

I would note here that anyone who buys a PC at Wal-Mart is BEGGING for trouble. We have sections here called Wal-Mart "blitzes" that deal with the multiple issues with the computers we sell at Wal-Mart, the reason being that Wal-Mart demands the lowest prices of all the retailers we sell to, and thus we have to use our lowest-end components in these PCs.

Re:It's a flop

[Linux Ate My Dog!]

Ultralight laptops will cost more, but not much more.

You find me an ultralight laptop of about the size of that media player that costs "not much more" than 500 bucks. Seriously.

Like you I am not sure if the media players hit the market sweet spot in the dimensions of small, versatility, and price, many people will perceive a 600 dollar big notebook a better deal as you point out. But I do know there's no subnotebook that comes close to both the price and size areas of this media player.

Re:It's a flop

[buck_wild]

My Compaq PDA has all of these features except that all your fles are stored on external memory. In addition, I can connect to the network due to it's built-in WiFi capability so I can manage my calendar, my email, browse websites I've saved and make cellphone calls.

Oh, and it's also ~$500.

Re:It's a flop

[prostoalex]

Averatec 3120V

Of course if one prefers to watch movies on 4'' screen, then PMC is the perfect match.

Re:It's a flop

[Kizzle]

I know, but the whole product makes about as much sense as a car that can only turn one way, but not the other. It's half the price of the regular car and eats just as much gas but can only turn right. Limited market, limited appeal, absolutely no reason for anyone to want one.

Except race nascar drivers you insensitive clod!

Re:It's a flop

[Frankie70]

Well, for $600 I can get this low-end laptop running Windows XP Home with wireless networking, 40 gig drive and DVD slot, which is capable of doing so much more, which pretty much includes all the options available in PMC.

Well, I think the Walmart Laptop is a flop.

For 440$, I can get this Desktop which is even bigger than the laptop & can do more than the laptop.

For 250$, the laptop would have been interesting. For 75$, it would be a hot seller.

Re:When you buy this product...

[McNally]

> > Unlike Apple's iPod, on which DRM is an optional consequence, Microsoft requires that you re-encode all video using DRM-encumbered technology.

That would be really interesting, if it were true. Jackass.

I actually own one of these things, and I can say 100% that you don't HAVE to re-encode your music to a DRM enabled format.

Look, I don't know whether the original poster's claim is true or not, but..

If you read what he's actually written, as opposed to what you assumed he wrote, you'll see his comment is specifically about video, whereas your reply mentions only audio. In short, you're discrediting a claim that he didn't make and calling him a jackass to boot.

Calm down, take a deep breath, and read the whole sentence, mmmmkay?

I will buy one..

[jmcmunn]

..I will buy one when it has a video line in and I can hook it to my TV and record shows to it for the road. I think it would be awesome to tape the late show every night and then watch it on the commute to work.

I know, I can probably record it on my ReplayTV and then get it onto my PC and then onto the device, but I want it in one step!

Ugh! It runs Windows!

[FunWithHeadlines]

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.

How much does the license cost?

[foniksonik]

My question here is how much of that price tag reflects the license tax to Microsoft? The hardware can't cost more than $150 by itself even at retail prices... even the LCD doesn't justify it. The software itself also doesn't justify the price... maybe another $100 for that so.... IMHO the license is half or more of the purchase price there. Surely the market can come up with a better or comperable offering for much less...I'm not buyin' it, figuratively or literally.

Re:How much does the license cost?

[marauder404]

My question here is how much of that price tag reflects the license tax to Microsoft? The hardware can't cost more than $150 by itself even at retail prices... even the LCD doesn't justify it. The software itself also doesn't justify the price... maybe another $100 for that so.... IMHO the license is half or more of the purchase price there. Surely the market can come up with a better or comperable offering for much less...I'm not buyin' it, figuratively or literally.

I don't understand the constant attempt to add up the cost of parts and try to attribute it to the price. The truth is that the $500 price is set because the manufacturer thinks that their target buyer believes it represents $500 of value over the lifetime of ownership and the market will bear the price. It's not set because it's an "appropriate" profit over the cost of manufacturing, so trying to attribute the entire price to the sum of its cost is silly -- basic economics should tell you this. There's no way that half of the price is the cost of the Microsoft license and surely they're getting parts for substantially cheaper than we can get them at. Creative is simply trying to take advantage of the premium early-adopters are willing to pay to help amortize the cost of development and market entry. No doubt the products will get better and cheaper as the market for them expands. It's just a question of how big the market will actually get.

Re:First? Not by a long shot.

[twifosp]

Good point, but that's like saying: Ford created the first truck just last year!*


*On their new F150 chassis platform that is.

Microsoft created the first console! To be based off the windows 2000 kernel, that is.

If you want portable media ...

[LilMikey]

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.

Re:When you buy this product...

[RidiculousPie]

Quoth the FAQ:
These devices will play video, music and photos that are transferred from a PC running Windows XP. The devices will playback Windows Media® Video (.wmv), Windows Media Audio (.wma), MP3 and display JPG images. The device is also compatible with other file types including MPEG, MPEG2, DVR-MS, ASF, WAV and MIDI.

So we can stick to MPEG for no DRM.

It re-encodes video for you

[jolyonr]

This from the Creative FAQ:

File transfers to the player are very slow (less than 100 KB/Sec). What do I do?

You may be transferring files that may be configured for other devices and formats, or your computer's CPU does not meet the recommended system requirements. Windows Media Player 10 changes or transcodes files before transferring them to your player.

Files that exceed the following specifications may require more time to change or transcode:

This should be less than or equal to Bitrate - 800 kbps Video or image resolution - 320 x 240 Frames Per Second (FPS) - 30 WMA Profile - Simple (SP)

Zen koan

[themoodykid]

If a media player plays an MP3 but no one's around to buy it, does it make a sound?

iRiver

[tr33limbz]

Gizmodo linked to http://pmw.sorobangeeks.com/news_51.html about an iRiver portable media player. It doesn't look like the same as the one pictured in TFA. On a lighter note, I just can't see shelling out for any of these damned expensive gadgets.

Re:iRiver

[LilMikey]

The iRiver is the PMP-120. It's linux based with a 20 gig hdd and, if memory serves, and FM tuner built in. It's an impressive little player. More stylish than the Zen or Archos' and plays almost any format you can throw at it. No video recording capabilities though :(

You can already do that on a portable

[LilMikey]

The Archos AV4xx series is a handheld PVR. Have it record your favorite shows directly on the device --direct to Divx-- and watch them on your commute. Hell, it even includes a remote.

Also, the Archos 3xx series supports recording video directly to the device however they don't have the fancy PVR-style features.

still problems connecting to nForce motherboard?

[edxwelch]

I wonder if this version has the same problems as the other Jukebox models. There were many problems connecting to PC that used the nForce onboard USB 1.0 and Firewire ports.

Huge Problem - No Tuner

[BRock97]

Here's my beef; you will need an external PC to get any sort of video what so ever.

I would have thought it would be as simple as:

• Hook up device to cable
• Schedule recording
• Watch

Instead, you have to:

• Hook up your computer to cable
• Go to your PC and schedule a show
• Once it is done, have the software crunch the video to be transfered to the device
• Hook up the device to the computer
• Transfer the video over to the device
• Watch

How much more would it have cost to include a tuner with the unit?! Based on a post above, the unit can do video compression. So, until that happens, I am not too interested in the device as there are too many hurdles to jump to get out the door.

Re:Ugh! It runs Windows!

[callipygian-showsyst]

Did Apple port a stripped down OS X for it, or even a Darwin framework?

They tried! Then they threw up their hands and hired an outside company, Pixo, to write the software for them. Otherwise it would have been another Copeland/Pink/Taligent disaster.

While I am no MS appologist

[Inoshiro]

I would like to point out that NT 4.0 and Win95/98 ran great on "old" PCs anywhere from a DX4/100 to a Pentium 166 or Pentium 200 (non-MMX with smaller caches). Since you can buy a Palm Pilot with a 400Mhz XScale processor, it wouldn't seme unwise to leverage the already stable core of Windows and its stable support for mime types (hacked as it is around file-name extensions) rather than develop a brand new OS.

It's akin to using X11 on the Zaurus. Would you argue that is bloat, and that they should write a whole new framebuffer interface, etc? No.

Irony

[GoClick]

Anyone else think it's ironic or perhaps moronic to call a *media* device Zen?

Sheesh, Zen is about as big of a buz word these days as I dunno some kinda crazy buz word.

I'm pretty sure most people don't really even know what Zen is, and if they did, they'd wonder why people call stuff Zen. It has nothing to do with motorcycle riding.

Re:Ugh! It runs Windows!

[l0ungeb0y]

"Microsoft always wants to extend Windows even into areas where it does not belong."

Yet when ./ posts about of Linux on a wristwatch et al people tend to root and cheer. Personally, I agree with your sentiment. A large scale general purpose OS can only consume more than it's share of scarce resources on a micro-device.
However, in the future as computational power and memory resources grow ever smaller, the amount of bloat for the OS may matter less. For all we know, we'll see sixth generation "portable media centers" capable of playing DoomIII of course the display will look like crap on the holographic emitter and controlling the gameplay with hand gestures will be a chore, I'm sure it will be a hit for the hardcore game enthusiest ;)

so does my mobile phone

[pbjones]

my mobile does most of this but the screen is smaller...

Different use? You don't watch the same movie 2x

[SmallFurryCreature]

Music you repeat over and over but tv and movies you would probabaly delete. Fill it in the weekend with downloaded/recorded stuff, watch over the week then whipe clean and upload the next batch.

20gb is not gigantic but it helps keep the price sane and is more then enough for 20 high quality movies or a shit load of tv captures.

Re:First? Not by a long shot.

[poot_rootbeer]

Archos has had lower-case "portable media centers" on the market for over a year, but this is the first "Portable Media Center" -- as in, a satellite device compatible with Windows XP Media Center.

I happen to run XP MCE at home, and I like it quite a lot, but I don't want a pocket video player that's tethered to it or to Windows Media Player 10. I'm much more likely to end up purchasing the brand-new Archos Gmini 400, which was officially released about a week ago and should have a street price around $350 once it starts showing up in stores.

What a tard

[SmallFurryCreature]

Try fitting a laptop in your pocket. This thing you can hold in your hand while waiting on the platform, good luck with a laptop. This thing can be dropped in your pocket or in your bag in a second. Good luck doing that with laptop. It has a far simpler cpu meaning it will run far less hot.

It is a fraction of the weight.

You basiclly wanted to show how smart you are eh. Oooh you can buy a totally different device for 100 dollars more so it is crap. Kinda like saying a mercedes is bad car since for a few thousand more you can buy a lorry.

Be careful : Misleading label ...

[Fantasio]

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.

All I can say is....

[accelleron]

Shoplifters, start your engines.

Re:Can't wait for Apple's

[Anonymous Writer]

My cousin has a powerbook and he hooks it up to the tv all the time, so I'm assuming the powerbook can do the same. Anyone can verify?

Powerbooks have S-Video ports built in. A short cable is included that turns the S-Video into an RCA port.

Re:Ugh! It runs Windows!

[revmoo]

Microsoft always wants to extend Windows even into areas where it does not belong.

AMEN. Try having windows on your cellphone. It's absolutely miserable to deal with(work phone, otherwise I'd toss it in a heartbeat). Even simple tasks like dialing a phone number are long, arduous processes that involve re-keying often because I enter numbers too fast for the system to keep up. It's like having all the annoying problems of running windows on a low-end PC with none of the benefit.

Don't get me wrong, it's nice having so many features in my phone(email/instant messaging/etc), but couldn't they have at least left the core features like dialing ALONE? :(

Re:USB is not "ultra fast"

[emorphien]

With USB being more ubiquitous and USB 2.0 being basically the same speed (although technically faster than firewire) it's a good choice. As much as I like firewire USB's not a bad idea for a product like this.

I just bought one

[DougDew]

A couple of hours ago I exchanged my new fourth generation 40GB iPod for one of these units.

I loved my iPod, but it was unstable and locked up repeatedly. It was my second such iPod to do so. My first such iPod was one that I had bought only two weeks ago. I exchanged the first iPod for the second iPod because after only one day of use the first iPod had begun locking up. Many thanks to Best Buy for living up to their 30 day return policy.

Anyway, with regard to the Zen PMC, my initial impressions are mixed:

1. The unit is very large and bulky compared to an iPod. In fact, the unit is large enough that you'll have to wear very loose-fitting pants in order to carry the unit in your pocket. And the unit is too heavy to carry in your hand for a long period of time.

2. Installation of the battery is needlessly hazardous to the unit and is needlessly annoying. Before installing the battery, you must adjust a tiny, delicate on/off within the battery compartment to the "on" position using whatever small tool that you might have sitting nearby. If you're not careful you could *easily* break the switch by pushing too hard on it. Also, if you don't have a small tool (e.g. a jeweler's screwdriver) sitting nearby then you're not even going to be able to start using your unit. I was fortunate as after a few minutes of scrounging around I was able to find a jeweler's screwdriver. Had I not found a tool I would have been pretty pissed off. My iPod didn't require any such silliness.

3. The unit's buttons have a cheap feel to them. The "Back" button not only feels cheap, but is too far recessed into the casing to be easily used.

4. The top (user facing) half of the unit is made of glossy black plastic and therefore shows fingerprints a lot. Within a few seconds of being handled the unit no longer looks new.

5. (Completly subjective) The unit completely lacks the sexy, cool appearance of an iPod. If I were a Mac user (I'm a Windows and Linux user), I'd probably say that the PMC is to an iPod as a generic Wintel desktop box is to a Mac G5 desktop box.

6. The directions claim that you should charge the battery for *sixteen* hours before first use. Sixteen hours is a long time to wait before taking a new toy for a walk.

7. The unit's UI is very easy to figure out. Mostly that's because...

8. ...the unit seems to be dummed down to the point that it doesn't do very much besides play songs and movies. Given that the unit is running Windows CE.NET (v4.2 I think) I expected the unit to be loaded with PIM applications and such. But, there don't seem to be any such applications. The iPod provides such things as tasks, calender and notes viewing applications. I had expected the PMC to be more functional than the iPod, not less.

9. Windows Media Player 10 is required in order to synchronize the PMC with your PC. Without getting very far at all I got so annoyed with WMP 10 that I decided to post these comments. WMP 10 is bad in several ways. First, WMP 10 is still in beta. That's right. In order to get music onto your new $500 PMC, you're going to have to use beta software. Thanks Microsoft. And this is not just any beta software. This is software that installs a bunch of DRM stuff onto your computer. In fact, there are several steps in the installation procedure where you encounter DRM-related dialog boxes. These dialog boxes explain things such as the fact that the installer connects to Microsoft's servers to register your computer with Microsoft so Microsoft can assign your machine some sort DRM ticket. Depending upon how you feel about DRM, you might not be too happy about any of this.

10. Using WMP 10 to synchronize with the PMC seems to be broken. I keep telling it to synchronize and it keeps pretending that it is, but it isn't. I have about 16GB of songs to synchronize. With my iPod, I had the process of synchronization completed in less than an hour. I just plugged in my iPod to the cradle and everything just worked. With the PMC

USB 2.0 "ultra fast"? HA!

[penginkun]

Sorry, sorry, I know, it's the whole WinTel marketing machine, but if they really REALLY wanted an "ultra fast" port for moving all that data around, they'd've gone with FireWire 800. Even plain vanilla FireWire is faster than USB 2.0. Sure, USB's THEORETICAL maximum speed is faster than FireWire 400, but in practise it's a lot slower.

That said, it probably is fast enough. But ultra fast? HA!

Pro0n to go

[Anonymous Coward]

finally, I can take some pr0n to go. and its small enough that I can hold it in one hand :)

I dunno what you are all going on about. 20G is fine since you will re-RIP your moves to the smaller size. the movies and TV shows should be quite small. I t probably doesnt support DIVX though :(