Portable Media Player

[Ikaruga22]

hey im looking for a pmp player to watch anime on the go. i was thinking about the archos 604 or the cowon A2. what do u guys think about those 2?

archos
http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-vid...rod.txt.1#more

cowon a2
http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-vid...rod.txt.1#more

[hobbes_fan]

err why not just buy a laptop? I don't understand trying to watch stuff on such a tiny screen? You cant see squat.

[martino]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

err why not just buy a laptop? I don't understand trying to watch stuff on such a tiny screen? You cant see squat.

You'd be surprised how well subs can be seen on a 320x240 screen (just beware, it definitely isn't good for your eyesight).

Somewhere I've seen that the Cowon A3 (A2's successor) will have MKV support. However that was a long time, and I'm not sure whether this information is still credible or whether my brain didn't make a mess with the information as it happens when I don't refresh it...

P.S. A laptop isn't nice to carry around (trust me, my household has 4 of them >_>; and it definitely is the dumbest solution for a _Portable_ Media Player)... At least a tablet in that regard, but that still sucks size-wise. How about a UMPC? That is "relatively portable" with a fair amount of processing power and a hefty pricetag too. :|


Ontopic: From CNet specs, it looks like the A2 can play a bigger variety of video files, while it doesn't support AAC audio. The 604 does support AAC, but not Vorbis. So if you feel like anime in MP4 form is important to you, then the Argos looks like a good choice. Check out the specs from the official site (they will most likely be more detailed, more precise and maybe even updated if something was changed in the firmware after CNet put the two players up on their site), and well... do a side-by-side comparison.

[hobbes_fan]

I carry a laptop daily have done so for the last 3 years on daily commutes. I carry it on planes, trains, ferries and taxis. It's far more realistic and practical than carting around that thing. I worry for the people who think this is a worthy/practical investment. WHAT VIDEO? it's like watching ants run around on a screen. Good luck trying to read subtitles. You may think its dumb, I call it practical.

As for portability, That thing isn't small enough to fit in a pocket unless you wear ridiculously large pants. You'll still need to bag it. Or wear suspenders beacuse you're pants will be dragged down by the weight

But you know to each his own, I'll just watch my stuff on a laptop and most people on the train will be doing the same with that or a portable DVD player instead jamming 4 inch screen as close to their face to watch ants run around.

How many people buy PSP movies? well very few. People have figured out that shelling out $$$ to a thing that small limited to that thing to watch movies is a pointless exercise

[CandyVanMan]

I often use my PSP with a 4GB Memory Stick. The screen and battery life is phenomenal.

I've never used it for UMD movies. But with VirtualDub and PSPVideo9 I can convert just about any fansub into a perfectly viable PSP video. I currently have Lucky Star EPs 1-12 and a few sporadic Claymore episodes on it. It sure made my last DMV visit more tolerable... regardless of the funny looks...

[martino]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

I carry a laptop daily have done so for the last 3 years on daily commutes. I carry it on planes, trains, ferries and taxis. It's far more realistic and practical than carting around that thing. I worry for the people who think this is a worthy/practical investment. WHAT VIDEO? it's like watching ants run around on a screen. Good luck trying to read subtitles. You may think its dumb, I call it practical.

In fact, I do have good luck reading those subtitles and have had for the past two years...

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

As for portability, That thing isn't small enough to fit in a pocket unless you wear ridiculously large pants. You'll still need to bag it. Or wear suspenders beacuse you're pants will be dragged down by the weight

True, but better than having to carry a bag/case for your laptop either on your back or shoulder. If you are talking about PMP's, then you'd better try to hold one or two in your hands. I managed to fit one of the newer ones into my pocket. Sure, it wasn't a nice feeling, but then better than carrying a laptop around (your back would appreciate that too).

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

But you know to each his own, I'll just watch my stuff on a laptop and most people on the train will be doing the same with that or a portable DVD player instead jamming 4 inch screen as close to their face to watch ants run around.

4" is small to you . Some weird trains that you have around your place, well, more like people when they use laptops for _watching movies_ and such. If it's just for that, then God save those poor people. If it's for work too, then why not (as in why not use the lappy instead of having two devices). As far as portable DVD players go... Actually, did you read the first post properly? He is mentioning PMPs (Portable Media Players) and not portable DVD players which miss quite a few aspects of PMP's (mainly the many formats that they usually offer, and a hefty backing storage too, and are also usually smaller too). No need to cramp a silly DVD drive into that piece of plastic (who needs DVDs anyway, when you can now legally download movies from paid sites in the format that you need; lol - no need to mention the "other" sites...).

Since you appear to like to carry big things around with yourself, why not add a 22" CRT to your laptop as well? Or is that still too small...? </sarcasm>

[Potatochobit]

hobbes fan is being silly and unrealistic.

lugging a laptop around is a ridiculous idea, ESPECIALLY if you have a fujitsu that weighs as much as a television

if everyone carried laptops because it was the smart idea, Blackberry would be out of business. there would be no Iphone in the works.

if you showed up at a football game, or went to play basketball with some friends down at a park, people would consider you mentally dysfunctional for carrying a laptop with you.

[Ikaruga22]

i asking people their opinion on the pmp players not laptops not dvd players. i dont mind watching it on 4" screen because i used to own a psp. im juss trying to watch anime and listen to a couple tunes and it would be waste just to buy a laptop for that reason.

the pmp players are around 250 dollars while laptops are up there. im not trying to spend a lot of money

[Wervy]

Originally Posted by Ikaruga22

i asking people their opinion on the pmp players not laptops not dvd players.

Exactly, I think if you wanted peoples opinions on screen size you would of asked for it People should have more repspect for what other do.

I recomend you make sure what you wana watch can be viewed properly on the player you buy. I tried using one for awhile, but the lack of being able to properly view soft subs basicly killed it for me and I returned it. I do have a friend who has a older Archos though, and he likes it alot but there is one issue. The company apperently makes you pay for updates, he had to shell out cash to be able to view h.264 vids.

[martino]

Yeah, Argos seem to want money for the h264 codec for their player. That is a pretty nasty thing to do, mainly when it has AAC support.

[SeijiSensei]

I gave my daughter an A2 for Christmas this year after reviewing the available options. I'm very happy with that decision. The only drawbacks are lack of support for H.264 and Matroska, but I just convert fansubs to XviD in AVI if I want to copy them onto the Cowon's hard drive. Using the single joystick for most functions is sometimes annoying, but I've grown used to it. It has few other flaws that I can see. I don't believe the others support Ogg Vorbis audio like the Cowon does.

[Ikaruga22]

i can i get the h264 codecs from an unknown souce

[martino]

Spoiler for A3 Specs:

Looks like Cowon doesn't really bother with AAC. A bit of a disappointment since many fansubs come with this type of audio compression, but then it's easier to convert to some other format than video.

[Ikaruga22]

hmm that A3 looks awesome but do you guys recommend any other pmp players currently availbe? or should i wait?

[Kodai]

Please note that the A3 hasn't been released yet. It is supposed to be out later this year, but it is looking like so much vaporware.

If you need something really small, consider the Cowon D2. It has a 2.5" 340x200 screen. It comes with 2 or 4 gig of flash memory and can take SDHC cards, so you could currently get it up to 12 gigs. Battery life is supposed to be 52 hours playing just MP3s, but users have reported that with an SD card in, and playing a mix of video and audio files, they get about 20 hours of life out of a charge.

The A2 was my choice as you don't have to buy a bunch of extras (codecs and docking station). The only extras I have purchased is a silicon case and the "remote control". It plugs into the headphone port and your headphones plug into it. It duplicates most of the joystick functions in an easier to use format.

[wnmnkh]

I have D2. IMO it is too small....

[SlugZilla]

Get an Archos 605. I just got mine this week and it rocks hard. I got the 4GB with SD slot for $200 which is not really a bad deal considering it has a bright, big and crisp display. The screen has a 800x480 resolution with nice colors and wide viewing angles. I was going to wait for the Cowon A3 myself until I saw the prices, which were pretty steep compared to the Archos.

The camera makes the screen look darker but as you can see it can display 704x396 movies in full detail.

[Dkong1026]

Hmmm...iPod touch might not be a bad choice, either. 3.5 inch screen isn't too much worse than the others. Though the price and storage is crap compared to the Archos.

[Sylphic]

I was thinking of picking up a touch.

I'm not sure what kind of videos it can play or cannot play, or what kind of converting I'm going to have to do with anime from the internet to get it to play on the ipod touch

[Dkong1026]

It's pretty limited.
It can only play Mpeg4 videos. Though since ipods are so popular, there are TONS of programs for converting to the ipod's format.

I like videora the best.