Sylvania Touchscreen Media Player

It seems as though everyone is getting into the TouchScreen media player games these days. I caught a glimpse of this 2.8" player at my local Walgreens, and thought I should take a deeper look. The package included the device, USB cable, AC USB charger, software CD, Manual, Quick Start, and warranty. There are minimal controls on the shell. The bottom end has the headphone jack, USB jack, and a microSD card slot. The left side show the Lock switch, and the right side has a Play (power) and Res (reset) button. The top edge houses a small telescoping stylus.The body is a flat black which seems pretty good at not showing fingerprints. The face is also black with a chrome frame. It makes a nice setting for the screen.

This is as basic a touchscreen player as there is. It will play MP3 and WMA music, AVI videos at 20fps, JPG photos, and TXT text files. There's an FM radio with FM recording. There is apparently a microphone somewhere, although I couldn't find it. The Sylvania does do voice recording. You can play back audio through a tiny speaker visible on the back of the device. Not worth doing though, IMO.

There is a Games icon on the home screen, and supposedly some games, however all I got was a gray screen when I selected games. Looks like this device needs a firmware update.

UPDATE: I received an email from the company (Curtisint.com) with info on the games:

You may download the following Rockchip games from Google which will play fine on your player:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean.rkp
2. Fighting Space.rkp
3. Tank.rkp
4. Rumble Cube.rkp

I found those games easily using Google, and after unarchiving them put them into a GAME folder I had to create on the player. All played, although the small control icons don't make for the easiest control.

Music playback is adequate. There is no sorting. Taping the Music icon starts the player. You can tap a back arrow to get to the directory on the device, and find the music folders. No cover art.

Photos look fine on the 320 x 240 screen, although my player seemed to freeze trying to load some. I understand why there is a prominant RESET button on the side of the device. The firmware on this device is not quite ready for prime time.

I haven't put a video on it, but the included software suggests it will only support 20 frames per second. AVI is the only format supported.

FM radio is perhaps the best application. It will autosearch and store up to 20 stations. Reception is good, and you can record right from the tuner screen.

Voice recording works. I suspect it uses the speaker as the mic, and with the speaker on the back side of the unit does not seem to pick up very well. You can pause and resume your recording.

Should you buy this Sylvania touchscreen player? The manufacturer informed me about adding games. As such, it's a fine but simple player. It went on sale at Walgreeens this week (8/17/2008), and at it's sale price it's OK for a media player. On a 10 scale, I give it a 6. Plenty of room for improvement, but still passes.

4D