Portable Media Center Hands-On Testing: I Have a Loaner Unit!

[Jason Dunn]

I got back from a week-long vacation, and I had a courier delivery slip waiting for me - guess what it was? A Creative Labs Portable Media Center loaner unit, courtesy of some kind folks at Microsoft. :D<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/pmc1.JPG" /><br /><br />I'll have the unit for about two weeks, and I thought a "rolling review" might be the best way to approach this: I'll be doing up posts, likely every day or so, about specific aspects of the unit, what I think of it, what I've learned about it, etc. So far I'm excited about it, although there are definitely some gaps in functionality. Stay tuned for more PMC thoughts! :-)<br /><br /><b>UPDATE</b>: I should be clear on the fact that this is a pre-production unit, where the software from Microsoft is final but the OEM optimizations from Creative are not.

[Mike Temporale]

S W E E E T ! 8)

[Felix Torres]

D-r-o-o-o-o-o-l...
It looks much better proportioned in context that in previous photos, where it looked brick-like...

Noe I just have to keep reminding myself that I do not *NEED* a PMC.
I don't need a PMC...
I don't...

Must be sensible.
And wait for V2.
Or at least the 40 GB version...
(20 GB I'll fill just with music and photos...)
&lt;sigh>
I wanna!

Got to go play the Lotto... ;-)

[DiGiTYZED]

That thing is ugly! I usually like Creative's designs (I love my Zen Xtra)... actually I don't. Their designs are kinda lacking. I'd imagine their PMC would look like MobiNote's DVX-POD 7010 (http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5691&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=archos) since their mp3 Zen players only have buttons and stuff on the side (which I do like)

...forgot why I replied to this post... hmmm.... maybe I should just go back to work.... hmmmm................ OH YEAH!!! What about other personal/portable media palyers? Where's the reviews, articles & tidbits on Archos, RCA, Sony, etc PMPs? Is there a comparison page?

[Chris Gohlke]

Did they preload it with content? Just curious how they went about legally doing that if they did.

[Filip Norrgard]

Wow! More pics, more pics, more pics pleeeese! :multi: ;)

[Jason Dunn]

Did they preload it with content? Just curious how they went about legally doing that if they did.

Yeah, it had a few pictures, songs, and video clips. There was an old Incredible Hulk TV episode on there, and a few video clips. They just license some content, it's not that unusual.

[BugDude10]

I'm curious: what, exactly, is the supposed difference between Micro$oft's PMC systems and other portable media devices? I really like the feature-set on the Archos AV400, but it's not a M$ PMC. Why would I want the M$ version over non-M$ versions?

[Jason Dunn]

I'm curious: what, exactly, is the supposed difference between Micro$oft's PMC systems and other portable media devices? I really like the feature-set on the Archos AV400, but it's not a M$ PMC. Why would I want the M$ version over non-M$ versions?

If you can ask that question again without resorting to childish name calling, I'd be happy to answer it. :wink:

[BugDude10]

Umm, by "PMC" I meant "Portable Media Center", not "Pitiful Microsoft Crap"...

[Jason Dunn]

Umm, by "PMC" I meant "Portable Media Center", not "Pitiful Microsoft Crap"...

I was talking about all the dollar sign crap. That's fine for newsgroups and platform war threads, but really, why do it here? We can have a rational discussion without being insulting towards the company.

[aro]

I'm curious: what, exactly, is the supposed difference between Micro$oft's PMC systems and other portable media devices? I really like the feature-set on the Archos AV400, but it's not a M$ PMC. Why would I want the M$ version over non-M$ versions?

If you can ask that question again without resorting to childish name calling, I'd be happy to answer it. :wink:

Come on,... someone who has Ironman as avatar(and I think it is nice) should not even mention the word "childish" to describe someone else habits. I think that his M$ is an adult social-economical statement and that it is not even arrogant.

aro

[Jason Dunn]

I think that his M$ is an adult social-economical statement and that it is not even arrogant.

Well, I obviously disagree, but you're more than welcome to answer him - I don't think conversations need to stoop to such a level, no matter what company we're talking about or what they've done.

[coreymcl]

Jason do you have a Windows XP Media Center PC? I'm wondering if you can transfer movies or shows recorded on that box to this one? Do you just use Windows Media Player to transfer content?

[Jason Dunn]

Jason do you have a Windows XP Media Center PC? I'm wondering if you can transfer movies or shows recorded on that box to this one? Do you just use Windows Media Player to transfer content?

I don't have a MCE, though I wish I did. ;-) Yes, my understanding is that you can transfer over anything that isn't DRM protected, which means TV shows. I'm using WMP10 to transfer over the content - more on how that works later...

[cmchavez]

Jason do you have a Windows XP Media Center PC? I'm wondering if you can transfer movies or shows recorded on that box to this one? Do you just use Windows Media Player to transfer content?

I don't have a MCE, though I wish I did. ;-) Yes, my understanding is that you can transfer over anything that isn't DRM protected, which means TV shows. I'm using WMP10 to transfer over the content - more on how that works later...

Did the unit come with proprietary software that was recommended for use in transferring files or do they default to using WMP 10? Also, are you using WMP 10 beta from the web or a version that came with the unit?

ps - comic book avatars are not smack worthy, especially when you are using that version of Iron Man (the red and gold Mark Bright version is one of my faves, up there with the Romita Jr\Layton red and gold!) :rock on dude!:

[Jason Dunn]

Did the unit come with proprietary software that was recommended for use in transferring files or do they default to using WMP 10? Also, are you using WMP 10 beta from the web or a version that came with the unit?

I'm using WMP10 from the Web - the unit required no drivers beyond what WMP10 already comes with. More on that later...

[DiGiTYZED]

but isn't the content on the MCE box too large for PMC? like the saved content from vid res is like 720x480 and hi bitrate and the PMC prolly can only and should only handle like 320x240 and low bitrate cuz the processor can handle so much plus it saves on hard drive space.

don't tell me u have to convert the files. geez i remember my video to Pocket PC conversion days. not fun at all

[Jason Dunn]

don't tell me u have to convert the files. geez i remember my video to Pocket PC conversion days. not fun at all

I think the MCE will convert it automatically...but I don't have one, so I'm not sure. WMP10 converts the videos though if they're not the right size.

[Suhit Gupta]

It does look really nice. I agree - more pictures please. And please post your thoughts on this device often, I am seriously considering it.

Suhit

[coreymcl]

That's to bad you don't have a Media Center Edition as that was one of the major things wanted to know about these players. Others things are like you have a DVD you have purchased. Does the new version of Windows Media palyer allow you to record a copy to be moved to this device? Where do devices like this fit in to the whole license issues that always are not far off?

I do have a Media Cneter PC. maybe I can upload a video to a FTP site and let you grab it to see how it installs and how it works? Let me know if you want to try that.

[BugDude10]

Gosh, Jason, I didn't mean to bite the hand that feeds (or fed) you! :wink:

I didn't mean it as a slam, even though there have certainly been times that it appeared that MS can be a tad greedy. (There's nothing wrong with a healthy appetite for profit.) I actually don't really have any problems with MS products. I just think the moniker is kinda funny (what with Microsoft having more money than Canada and the U.S. combined).

Now, if I write "Microsoft" 100 times on the blackboard, will you pleeeeeease tell me what the difference is between the MS and non-MS portable media devices? :)

[Jason Dunn]

Gosh, Jason, I didn't mean to bite the hand that feeds (or fed) you! :wink:

It's not that at all - hell, I *wish* Microsoft would give me money. ;-) I'd say the same thing if people were calling Mac's "mACKs", writing Steve Job$, or anything else. It just degrades the conversation in my mind and I don't like going there.

Now, if I write "Microsoft" 100 times on the blackboard, will you pleeeeeease tell me what the difference is between the MS and non-MS portable media devices? :)

That's a HUGE question and one not easily answered. I'd say the quickest answer would be that the PMCs are first generation products focused heavily around Windows Media formats and working with Windows Media Player. The other players from Arcos and whatnot are in their second or third generation (I believe) and are more advanced in general, and support other formats such as Divx.

[coreymcl]

Jason,

Did you complete your review of this device? I am playing with one now and am curious what you found and thought.

Corey

[Jason Dunn]

Did you complete your review of this device? I am playing with one now and am curious what you found and thought.

No, much to my shame, I have a lot of photos and notes, but I haven't gotten around the publishing the damn stuff. I'll try for this week...