Blogeee has done an early review of the Acer’s ultraportable, and their conclusion is that it is a genuine Eee PC killer. For 30 euros more than the original Eee PC 701, you can get a better, prettier machine with a more comfortable keyboard, better support for memory extension and the Aspire One is using a superior Intel Atom processor.

Read on for the video (in French).

Complete review at Blogeee.

[via gmp3] (more…)

Is MID the future of portable media players?

I went over to the our friends site at Dap Review, which I rarely do nowadays unfortunately, and found an interesting discussion about the state of the PMP/MP3 market. The biggest players are not releasing new models often enough and manufacturers from China still have not resolved their firmware issues. The most interesting post, in my opinion, was from vlada who volunteered that the not-so-humble MID (mobile Internet device) that BenQ, Lenovo and Aigo has been working on will take PMPs to the next level. The prices of these MIDs right now are nothing to scoff at. These are as far from Chinese MP4 players as you can go. The first of these MID to become operational and ready for shipment, the Aigo one, has been thoroughly reviewed at UMPC Fever. We want you to direct you, dear readers, to that review post and see for yourselves. It’s a 4.8-inch-screen, a Intel Atom Z500 running the engine, Midnux GUI, touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY, the full complement of HSDPA, WiFi and GPS. It’s really a media-centric computer. The unoxing video after the break.

Note: we still think the future of the PMP market looks something like this.
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To recap: the VX777 supports FLV, AVI, MOV, ASF, MP4, WMV, 3GP, MPG and audio files such as FLAC and APE Lossless. The 3-inch 400×240-pixel screen looks ok. With Real Player 11 and up to 32GB of microSD support, you could totally defend this guy from your scornful iPod-loving friends, especially when you show them how pretty decent the built-in speakers are on your Onda. You can be particularly proud about the gaming support (watch it near the end of the video).

[source: b4tech]

[via mp4nation]

OMG! Does the Teclast T50 touch screen support multi-gesture? It sure looks like it. A user at a Chinese forum just posted his unboxing photos of a newly bought Teclast T50 and in one of the pic we could see him resizing a photo using two fingers: pinch fingers to zoom out, split them to zoom in. You may be worried about the UI being in Chinese but most Chinese PMPs support several languages. How lucid these other non-Chinese UIs are is subject for review. On problem with the T50 is that it stops functioning while being charged too bad, but for 599 yuan ($86) it’s the cheap second iPod Touch you’ve always wanted.

The conclusion from azazhs and a link to a video review after the break.

[via imp3] (more…)

MobiBlu’s T10 does not just have a passing resemblance to the Teclast T39 TouchMusic; it’s technically a repackaging of the T39. CNET does seem to be too keen on the MobiBlu T1, however, and gave it a very poor rating. The biggest problem is the touch user interface, which only responds tolerably well with the stylus t comes with. Precise tapping is also crucial to the touch functionality, making the T10 a very frustrating player. Videos have to be converted to AVI before playback can begin and the process is very slow and the conversion isn’t up to most conversion standards. Below is the summary of CNET’s review:

The good: The MobiBlu T10 MP3 player offers music and video playback, along with an FM radio, photo viewer, notepad, text reader, voice recorder, video games, miniSD memory expansion, and a built-in speaker.

The bad: The MobiBlu T10 is plagued with problems, such as videos that play out of sync with audio; poor voice-recording quality; an abysmal user interface; and games that are awkward to play.

The bottom line: The MobiBlu T10 is the worst touch-screen MP3 player we’ve seen.

[review via dapreview]

Anythingbutipod has reviewed one of iRiver’s new PMPs it showed at CES. We know the W7 will be sold at a reasonable enough price of 215 euros for the 8GB but it remains to be seen if this iPod Touch-like price is justified. perhaps the most crucial feature is the stylus-based user interface. There is no finger touch and stylus could be a little annoying to use on a 3.0-inch screen. As far as audio and video playing, the W7 holds out fine though the W7 is very “picky” in playing the exact video formats. The built-in e-Dictionary function would’ve been nice with English customization. Overall, the W7 is not a bad PMP but the user interface is inferior to several of the top competitors in the market, and to think th upcoming iRiver Phone will be using the same hardware design.

[anythingbutipod via gmp3] (more…)

MP4 Nation got first dibs on the Onda VX757. It’s a tiny player with a 3.0-inch screen. It has similar looks as the RAmos RM970. Good points are the screen (WVGA LTPS) and file support and form factor is definitely a plus on the VX757. It’s not a touch screen or WiFi-enabled or anything, but using the side or top buttons are a cinch. This looks like one of those players you buy for cheapness and quality media functionality. What else do you need for a PMP?

[via mp4nation]

Pocketables has published the first comprehensive review of iRiver’s simple PMP. The E100 is not the thinnest mini-PMP out there but, as we have remarked before, this little device got style. There are a few disappointments like the supposed D-Click control, so it’s even far behind other iRiver models announced at CES that will use the new SPINN controls. The control pad is a more traditional affair with four arrows as controls and a middle button as the OK button. Other disappointments are the poor quality of the stereo speakers and a microSD storage that is not integrated with the built-in memory. Plus points include the design, of course, automatic landscape orientation (right side only for video playback) but up to 270 degrees for photos and the 24-hour audio and 5-hour video battery life. It will be available in US late March or early April for 2GB ($117), 4GB ($147), and 8GB ($215).

Watch the video review after the break.

[source via engadget] (more…)

Solar-powered PMPs could be the device of the future and eMotion Solar PMP is one device that is on the right track. The funny thing is, this is not the first incarnation of the exact same solar PMP design. We have spotted this device a couple of times (go here and here) in wholesalers sites. This one is a more pocketable design but lacks the features eMotion brings to the table. Which brings us to the actual review of Gizmodo. Surprise, surprise, the solar-panel works quite well. It gives the device enough power for video playback and game playing. All the features, though lacking in finesse, work. There is even text-to-speech on eMotion. As mentioned in this post, this PMP can charge other devices including other PMPs and even iPods. Alas, it doesn’t work on the iPhone. For $169, this 2GB multi-media player and portable gamer is a bargain. Even if you don’t use it for multimedia, it’s a handy power source for your other devices.

[via gizmodo]