DM Tech AV-10
£289
The lowdown
One of the year’s coolest-looking products is the DM Tech AV-10 personal multimedia player which is being sold in the UK by online retailer Boys Stuff.
Technology seers reckon that pretty soon you’ll be ditching your iPod for a device that not only plays back music but also displays images and videos on its integrated LCD screen. You’ll also be able to record TV programmes on to it for viewing while you are on the move.
What’s good?
This is one of the classiest looking gadgets on sale. It is slim, light and boasts a good 3.5inch LCD screen. It is simple to use too and coped with all the video, image and MP3 music files we threw at it. Recording programmes from the TV was simply matter of running a cable between the two and pressing record.
What’s bad?
Trouble is these devices require large capacity hard disks to store all those huge video files. So we can’t quite work out why DM Tech is offering a player with just 128MB of flash memory – enough space for a rather pathetic 35 minutes of video. You can of course add higher storage cards, but this ramps up the cost to the level of rival hard disk players which have 20 times more storage.
The only other real criticism we could level at it was the lack of an external speaker.
Do you need it?
Now if only it had a hard disk
6/10.
September 10, 2004 in Personal Video | Permalink | Comments (2)
Portable DVD Player Group Test
First Choice: Shinco SDP-1731A
The lowdown
Firebox offers two portable DVD players, manufactured by Chinese company Shinco (no we’d never heard of them either). Two versions are available, a 5inch 4:3 shaped unit which costs £149 and this 7inch 16:9 model which will set you back about £200.
What's good
Plenty of connections are provided on this sleek silver unit including a single headphones socket, a video output and a digital audio output. There’s also a video/TFT switch which means you can switch the LCD screen off if outputting the signal to a TV. Provided with the player is a cigarette adaptor so you can use the unit in the car. Unusually this Shinco player also boasts loads of audio features. It can output a RAW digital signal for hook up to a Dolby Digital or DTS amplifier/receiver or PCM for a two channel stereo amplifier. Other features include dynamic range compression (DRC) and several pseudo surround sound options. A zoom function enables you to enlarge any part of the picture by up to three times and multi-region playback means you can play DVDs from anywhere in the world.
What's bad
Because the battery pack slots partly underneath the player it does tip the unit downwards slightly which means having to adjust the screen upwards to compensate. Also the speakers are poor and the remote control is too densely packed with buttons.
Do you need it?
Absolutely. This is one of the best portable DVD players around. Considering the price tag and the fact is a multi-region model it's a must for anyone who wants entertainment while travelling.
9/10
September 5, 2004 in Personal Video | Permalink | Comments (0)
