Asus Transformer Details (with Photos).



Plastic Back.  Not gloss black boring though.

One thing I hear often when there is a debate between iPad fans and competing tablets is that no one make devices as well as Apple.  Tech pundits who generally are also Apple fans dismiss the clever Asus Transformer as cheaply built. Here are a few photos I took of my Asus Transformer.  You decide for yourself.

Headphone, USB, HDMI, Speaker on right edge.

Volume and Power, Speaker along the left edge.

Dock and Latch slots on bottom edge

YouTube App Cylindrical View

This is just the tablet.  Click on most pictures to see an enlarged view.  Monday I'll be getting the keyboard dock that includes another battery to power the Transformer. Stay tuned.   I also have a showdown between the iPad2, Acer Iconia Tablet, and the Asus Transformer in the works.

Amazon.com Links:
Apple iPad 2 MC979LL/A Tablet (16GB, Wifi, White) NEWEST MODEL
Acer Iconia Tab A500-10S16u 10.1-Inch Tablet Computer (Aluminum Metallic)
Asus Transformer

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Nook Color Review.

I've been a Kindle owner since the first one came out.  Although Amazon makes a fine piece of hardware, I think they've got their work cut out for them now if they want to stay on top of the e-reader game.  Why?  Color.  More specifically Barnes & Noble's new color touchscreen Nook.

The new Nook is $249, and you won't find a nicer gadget for that price.  Mine arrived Friday 11/19/2010. You get WiFi, a Web Browser, the ability to (above) play music (MP3 and AAC), videos (MP4), photos (JPG), and a few games on TOP of the ability to display almost every document format there is. The screen is beautiful, and the same IPS technology as is used on Apple's iPad. No color shift when viewed from an angle. 16 million color capable. Rotates to be viewed in landscape or portrait. 1024 x 600 resolution for sharp crisp text rendering. The size is about right at 8.1 x 5.0 x .48 inches and just less than one pound in weight. It come with approximately 5gb of memory space for your own content, and a microSD card slot for up to 32gb more.

Reading: The color nook will display EPUB (including Non or Adobe DRM), PDF (above), XLS, DOC, PPT, PPS, TXT, DOCM, XLSM, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM, DOCX, XLX, and PPTX files. There are 6 font sizes and you can select from 6 font styles, background color, line and margin spacing. Switching pages is as easy as a tap on the left or right edge of the screen, or you can give it a left or right swipe. Is there color in that document?  You'll love the Nook's screen then.

You also have access to magazines, newspapers, and Alive Touch™ children's books that can be interacted with and read aloud by the Nook.  No simulated voice, either.  Voice actors do the reading.

Apps: The Nook also comes with Pandora® internet radio, a Chess game, a Sudoku game, and a Crossword Puzzle app.  In addition you can lend ebooks to other Nook (or nook software) owners, as well as share book titles and lines from books to your Facebook and Twitter friends.

Pros:  The touchscreen is very sensitive, responsive, and unlike several other tablet devices I've tried hasn't induced any frustration in me yet. The industrial design is top notch as well. The back is a matte finish soft-touch surface. The intriguing notch in the lower corner (above) hides the microSD slot. The built-in speaker is plenty loud. The top edge includes a standard 3.5mm stereo jack that should fit the plug on your favorite headphones. The wide range of supported document formats is fantastic. I plan to keep copies of all my class syllabi on board.  With access to the web I also have access to my web based email. So long as any information you need with you can be saved as one of the document formats the Nook supports, the Nook could easily take the place of a laptop or netbook for content access.  The screen is also multi-touch, and a pinch or spread with two fingers will zoom out or in on most content other than movies.

Cons: There are a few glitches with the media apps that hopefully can be fixed with a firmware update. When looking at photos using the gallery application, all your photos appear in one long unsorted array. They even get mixed with the movies you have on board.  If you approach your media through the library and MyFiles option you can find them by folder.  You can only open them one-at-a-time though, and no slide show option is available there. If you have a multi-page PDF open the normal left/right tab or swipe doesn't work.  Only a vertical swipe will change pages.  With DOC files all pages are reduced to one single long page.  Only a vertical scroll will get you through the text. There is also no on-board way to delete files from the Nook.

MP4 Video Support

Conclusion:  Barnes & Noble has a winner here.   Any disadvantage (battery charge duration) is more than offset by the touchscreen interface and color screen. With a great color display, the Nook Color becomes far more than an e-book.  Not restricted to just text, the music/videos/photos you can bring along mean you won't grow tired of it.  Don't get one if you don't have WiFi access to the internet though.  WiFi is your access to the B & N bookstore, as well as the world wide web and all that can bring.  This model has no 3G connection.

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ViewSonic VPD400 Review.

Although ViewSonic has proven to be a reliable source for monitors and related electronics, I was surprised to come across their 4.3" HD MovieBook at amazon.com. It comes in Black, White, or Pink. It comes with 8gb of internal memory and also supports microSD memory cards up to 8gb (so far).

It does NOT have a touchscreen. Control is managed using assorted buttons along the top of the frame or the include IR remote control. The left end is where you'll find a standard mini-usb port and the microSD slot. There are speaker grills on both ends for stereo audio output. The headphone and HDTV jacks are on the right end. So is a Volume Control rocker.

The User Manual in PDF form can be found: HERE.

The VPD400 certainly lives up to it's "MovieBook" nickname. It will play almost any video file you put on it, including these formats: AVI, RM/RMVB, FLV, MP4, MOV, PMP, MPG, VOB, DAT, H.264, and H.263. It comes with component video and L/R audio cables so you can hook it directly into most HDTVs. It includes it's own remote control and AC power adapter. You can park it next to your HDTV, plug it in to both power and the TV, and control viewing of 720p video right from your sofa. Or watch those videos on the beautiful 800 x 480, 4.3" LCD screen.

Audio playback isn't shabby either, with MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, APE, and OGG formats supported. You'll enjoy more detail from your JPEG, BMP, PNG, or GIF photos as well. They've thrown in a microphone so you can record voice memos, and there is also a text reader.

For the money it's a great video player. Battery duration is barely acceptable but perhaps mine will improve after a few charging cycles.

Music playback is great. Sound quality (with good headphones) is excellent. Getting to the sort options using the external controls is cumbersome and frustrating though. Using the remote is far more efficient. The internal speakers are almost pointless, but can be cranked up to entertain you if no headphones are available. There will be no appreciable bass frequencies from them though.

My conclusion? It's a great player for what it costs. Touchscreens are far more efficient in getting to your media. I'll give it a B.

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Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android. My Review

Now that Archos put Android on one of their touchscreen monsters I thought it was worth a look. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet (with Android) comes in 8gb (Radio Shack), 16gb and 32gb flash memory models, as well as 160gb and 500gb hard drive based models. The 500gb model is roughly $500 and a great deal per gigabyte. I don't have any need for that much space so I picked up the 32gb version. The flash memory models are thinner and have a microSD slot for add-on storage.

Dimensions: 143.2 x 78.8 x 10.4mm. Mine weighs 182 grams (6.4 ounces). The Screen is 800 x 480 pixels, 4.8" TFT LCD, 16 million colors. There is a nice little fold-out stand which holds the 5 up at a great viewing angle.

Source: BHPhotoVideo.com. Amazon.com and Newegg.com have them as well. Typically $380 for the 32gb model.

Media play includes:
- Music: MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG, FLAC. Up to 22 hours. Gapless play seems to be there, at least with the MP3 files I've tested. - Video: MPEG-4 HD (up to 720p), MPEG-48 (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution), H.264 HD (up to 720p), WMV (MP@ML, up to DVD resolution) including WMV protected files, MKV (up to 720p, 2500kbs, 23fps), M-JPEG (Motion JPEG Video) in QVGA resolution. Up to 7 hours. - Photos: JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF- Flash Games
- FM Radio (with RDS). You can find it after tapping on Music. I'd love to have a dedicated icon for it but haven't figured that out yet.

Media Input includes:
- Voice Recording with the built-in microphone.
- Stereo Line-In recording with the optional DVR Station or DVR Snap-on.
- FM radio recording.
- Video Recording with the optional DVR Station or DVR Snap-on.
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Radios:

- Wifi including 802.11b, g, and n.

- Bluetooth for wireless headphones and more. Bluetooth keyboard and mice work too.

- GPS for Navigation and location sensing (Google Maps).

- FM Transmitter.
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Other:

- G-Sensor

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Apps: I'm not going to list or review them here, but you can find a list at Archos.com. Many rely on you subscribing to their associated web sites. Email and contacts are there thankfully. You can also find many more apps and download them directly to the 5 using the AppLib application on the 5. The User Interface: Sensitive and reliable. Some actions take awhile to process and that can make you think the UI is sluggish, but once you are at the Home Menu or within the photo app you'll see there is plenty of horse power for smooth graphics and quick response when it is most important. The body has only three external buttons. Thankfully they included VOLume Up and VOLume Down along with the Power button.
Quality: As a media player this Archos has what it takes. Music, Video, and photos all take advantage of the hardware, sounding and looking great. Using Wifi you can also access shared folders on your home network to find far more than you might have stored locally on the 5. As a pocket computer the 5 is not completely there, but it's got the tools to improve with firmware updates. Support for a bluetooth keyboard and network printer would be all that's needed to eliminate one's need for a notebook PC. The 5 tends to attract fingerprints front and back, but so do most touchscreen devices I've tried. Seams between body halves are a little sharp. The built-in stand is a nice touch and is mounted stiffly enough to be adjusted to variable viewing angles. It will also prop the 5 up on it's right end but the 5's rounded end makes for a teetery perch.
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Conclusion? My Archos 5 is growing on me every day. So far the software has updated itself twice. It now runs on Android 1.5, and version 1.4.25 of the Archos firmware. While pricey, you are getting the largest screen that will still fit into a shirt pocket. There doesn't look to be too much the Archos 5 won't run eventually. It might be an amazing value in a year. At the moment though it is incredible but pricey.
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Latte Espresso Touchscreen Media Player, 16gb. My Review!

Latte looks like they want to move up the ladder in the touchscreen player market. Target.com sells this beautiful 3" touchscreen Espresso model in 8gb and 16gb versions for $120 and $150 respectively. No cutting costs on hardware features, as this player features a G-sensor, Haptic Feedback, Voice and FM Recording, and FM broadcast to any nearby FM radio. Target listed a microSD card slot, but my Espresso DID NOT have one. Target also lists a calendar app which doesn't exist on the Espresso.

The packaging is a nice change from plastic blister packs. Slide the top off to find the player. Lift out the player to find the normal contents beneath. You'll find a standard USB to mini-USB cable, some nice sounding in-canal earbuds, a user manual, warranty card, and coupon for 50 free songs. The earbuds appear to be well made and designed to compliment the Espresso's style. They come with uneven length cables to the buds which makes them easy to wrap behind your head. They also came with a nice net bag and spare set of tips. As a bonus they also sound Great. Good bass, plenty loud, external sound isolating, no audible noise, and expressive across the audio spectrum. They are on sale for $5.99 at Lattezone.com (regular $14.99) though, so don't be upset if they sound or look cheap to you. The only external control is the Power/Play/Pause/Hold slider. On the same end you'll find the USB and headphone jack. There is a small reset hole just around the corner. I love the way the Espresso looks, with a clean simple bronze body evenly framing the 3" touchscreen. The back and sides appear to be aluminum with a fine bevel between them . The front screen surround is plastic. The back is brushed, and the overall finish does a good job at not showing fingerprints. If you care about where your headphone jack is, then the Espresso has the perfect solution. The internal G-sensor knows where down is, and no matter how your rotate it the icons and apps all rotate to stay upright. The main menu is a simple array of icons. A tap takes you to either the files list for the app or right into the (radio) player. There is a nice haptic vibration to confirm your selection. Music. This Latte will play back MP3, WMA, FLAC, APE, and AAC (no DRM) files. I've tried MP3, WAV, WMA, and FLAC with success, although it wouldn't play lossless WMA files. The music app is nearly complete. Missing is the ability to advance to any part of a song. There doesn't appear to be gapless playback. I couldn't find any playlist support in the manual or on the device, but there is an option to add songs to a single favorites list. The now-playing screen lets you tap between album art, a graphic equalizer, EQ/bitrate/repeat/shuffle info, or the ID3 info including title, album, and artist. There is a large PLAY/PAUSE button, with track and volume buttons smaller and along the right side (or top in portrait view). You also get an A-B button, lyrics toggle, settings icon, and BACK (previous screen) icon. Finding a single song in a long list is a tedious process. There is no reliable way to jump to a relative position in a list, and with no swipe or fast scroll of the list the touchscreen capabilities are underutilized. Yet this music app is better than most I've seen on budget Chinese media players. I've been enjoying a shuffle though my music collection as I write this. Music gets a B+.

Video. Video format includes AVI, WMV, RM, RMVB, and FLV. Video is the only visual media to not rotate to portrait view. You can still flip the headphone end from right to left and the video will flip. I've tried WMV and AVI files on the Espresso, and although they play there is occasional frame drop. Audio will also get slighly out-of-sync. This may be no problem with videos formatted to fit the native resolution of the screen. My videos were all 480 x 272 or larger. The screen resolution is 420 x 240, but the user manual claims videos up to 800 x 480 (AVI) will play. This is no OLED screen, but videos look decent, and are certainly watchable. The resolution is slighty below what other 3" players feature, but on such a small screen the difference is not apparent. On a side note, the new (and expensive) Sony Walkman 3" t0uchscreen player has the same resolution yet worse video codec/format support. Video playback gets a B-.

Photos. You can view JPEG, BMP, and GIF images. You can rotate the screen, but images don't auto-rotate to fit the screen, nor will they reliably rotate as the screen rotates. There is a one-step zoom option. You can pan around a zoomed image, but screen response is slow and a bit unpredictable. Images looks fine on the screen though, when you can avoid glare. This app is immature, and my experience suggests it won't be updated. Photo display gets a C+.
Text. TXT files can be read. You get three font sizes, as three font colors to choose from. The text will rotate as you turn the player for landscape or horizontal views. Legibility depends on the background and font color you choose, but text is crisp on the 420 x 240 screen. Moving through a large text file isn't as easy as it could be. It should be easy enough to throw a grocery list on the player, though you can't create one on the player itself. Text gets a C+.

FM Radio. Works as expected. You can tune manually or let it autotune and select by preset stations. The presets page irritatingly doesn't let you pick a preset and jump to it, but it does let you delete or add stations easily. No RDS info. No HD radio tuning. Reception will vary depending on your headphones and orientation, as the headphone cable serves as the FM antenna. You can also record off of FM. You get two quality settings. To my ears the high quality WAV recording produced sounds just like the song did playing over the air. It take RDS to get an A from me, so FM Radio gets a B.

Voice Recording. There are two quality settings and five level settings. Recordings are in the .WAV format. I have no idea where the mic is on the Espresso but facing the screen the pickup seemed to be fine. There was noticeable 'static' in my recording. I could hear it through the headphone both while recording and playing back what I'd recorded. Not enough to make the recording useless, but something that will keep this feature of the Espresso from replacing your dictation machine. You can pause and resume while recording, and choose to save or not save a recording you've just made. You'll need to go into the music app or explorer to find an play back your recordings. Voice Recording gets a C-.

Stopwatch is your bonus app. Very basic. No lap times, and only a single timer. It displays time down to 100ths of a second. You can pause and resume a timing. There is also a reset icon. The display will rotate as the device rotates. That's it. Nothing special. C.

Explorer is what explorer does. Have a grand tour of the files you've put on your player.

Settings. Among other things the Settings option lets you turn on or off haptic response and the G-sensor. You can change or disable the backlight and power OFF timings. You'll also find your background choices here. Photo slide show timing is also here, although it would have been more useful in the Photo app.

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Summary. I strongly suggest you use a soft tipped stylus with the Espresso. It's hard to be precise enough with a fat finger as the small icon/targets demand. Otherwise I find this Latte a good value for the money. FM broadcast from a media player is very convenient, and it works well on the Espresso. You can set the frequency you want to broadcast at, and any FM radio with 30 feet or so should be able to play your music. A cheaper alternative to wireless audio than Bluetooth although not as versatile. It's not as nice a player as the Samsung P2 or P3, but you get twice as much memory capacity for the same money. Target seems to have the best price on them right now, but don't trust their description. There is NO memory slot and no calendar on the Espresso. If you can get over that, I highly recommend Latte's Espresso.

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Jensen SMPV-4GBTA. Portable Digital Media Player. My Review

I stumbled across this interesting player while browsing my Target portable electronics aisle. Just under $70 for 4gb capacity it plays songs, little videos, tiny photos, ebooks, and even does a decent job of recording voice. It's also got an attractive but slightly confusing touchpad interface.
Included in the package is a standard USB cable, some basic earbuds, a registration card, small software disc, and user manual. The device itself is as simple as can be. The bottom edge is where you'll find the USB port and headphone jack.
The top edge has a simple power/off slider and a place to hook a wrist strap. There is a microphone somewhere, but no marked indication for it on the body. Construction is decent, although they took no time to disguise the screws that hold it together. Looks like it would be easy to inspect the insides if you wanted to.

It's not large at roughly 1.69"wide x 3.5" long x .375" thick. It weighs 51 grams or 1.8 ounces. It has a nice heft to it. Below you can see it next to my Samsung T10. The screen is only 1.46", but is full color for photo display. You can choose from dark, blue, or pink for the background menu color. As for photo display the resolution is only 176 x 132 pixels. Most inexpensive photo key chains do better.

Voice recording is decent. The mic is more sensitive than most I've tested. There are Quality (Long Play, Normal, and High), VAD (Voice Auto-Detect), and AGC (Automatic Gain Control) toggles in the settings menu for recording. Recordings are saved as WAV files, and can be played back from within the recording app.

Music playback is acceptable, although it's hard to sort through and find a specific song when you want to. You can only see one song title at a time on the screen. It'll play MP3, WMA, and WAV files. Estimated play duration is about 7 hours before needing a recharge. You can sort by file or classification (id3 tags). There appears to be one playlist you can create and play from. You can enable A3D mode for a more 3D sound, although the effect depends on your music files. There are 6 EQualizer presets to choose from but no user defined options. You can shuffle or repeat. Nothing much more.

Video playback isn't worth bothering with in my opinion. The only supported format is MKV (MatrosKa Video). This is the first I've heard of this format despite having reviewed quite a few other video capable players. There is apparently no licensing fee required to support it, so it's likely we'll be seeing more and more of it. For now the included software is required to convert video into this format. With the required resolution being 160 x 128, there won't be much detail to appreciate on the Jenson's tiny screen. No further info, as it's not worth my time to convert a video for testing.

Photo display is possible, but again limited by the small screen. This Jenson will display JPG and BMP formats. You can put photos on that are larger than the display, but there is no zoom function and you'll only see a 160 x 128 version of them. I copied a few 480 x 272 photos to the Jenson. Color reproduction is close. The images load and display on the small screen. Tapping the bottom "play" control started a slide show of the images, although I can't find any way to control the timing of the images, and it was impossible to stop the show until I went back to the main menu choices.

Text (ebook) viewing is also supported, but again I don't see the point. The Jenson supports only .TXT files. I suppose a simple grocery list might be handy to have with you, but even a short story would be a trying experience to read on this small screen.

There is one game include on the device. Gobang it's called, and essentially your goal is to get five tiles in a row before your opponent (the computer) does. While it is not impossible to play, the control pad is difficult to master and with such a tiny screen a magnifying glass may be required to see what you're doing.

Key Lock. If you don't touch the screen for 30 seconds the device locks off all inputs until you unlock it again. To unlock you have to hold your finger on the menu icon for a few seconds until the padlock image opens. This is an extremely aggravating "feature" of the Jenson. There is no way to turn it off or change the time to a longer period. Imagine listing to a song for a minute or two, then wanting to skip to another one or even change the volume. You won't be able to do either until you press the menu icon for a few seconds to unlock the device first. VERY annoying. For this reason alone I get aggravated every time I use this device.

UI. The user interface needs work. There is what appears to be a four direction (NSEW) with center button touchpad, and a "M"enu icon to press. Yet the direction pad is only left and right, while the center vertical strip is a scroll pad for going up or down a list or controlling volume up and down. The M button is your main select/enter command. This is not intuitive at all. A long press of the M button will take you up to the main menu choices. A long press at the bottom of the vertical touch strip will power off the device. Tap the bottom of this strip for play/pause control. Nothing happens when you tap the center spot of the controls. I don't see why manufacturers feel the need to re-invent how you control a player. Jenson may think they've got an original input scheme here, but it's a cludgy system for accessing your media.

Conclusions? There are too many things wrong with this Jenson player for me to recommend it to anyone. I was surprised to find it didn't have an FM radio, as every other player I own (except iPods) does. Finding a particular song is difficult if not impossible. The user interface is unintuitive and frustrating. I'd have been more impressed if they had left out photo and video play in exchange for a better music app. Yes, it will play your music. Yes it will show photos and videos and text. It does none of these things well, though. My advice? Don't buy one.

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iRiver P7. My Review

If you are looking for something that has a big screen and can play your videos then the iRiver P7 may be just what you need. With a 4.3" touchscreen and an original interface the P7 is an excellent video/photo display device. You also get ebook (TXT) display, Music play, FM radio with recording, and voice recording. There's a world clock, calculator, and calendar too. Included in the box is a Quick Guide, Software CD, Warranty booklet, Headphones with pads, Data Cable, and a stylus.
The Data Cable is proprietary. Plugged into your PC you are presented with three options: Power and Data, Power and Music, or only Power.

One nice thing about the touchscreen is that you can touch it with your finger or a stylus. A simple aluminum (I think) stylus is included. Dimensions are 0.53" thick by 4.44" wide by 2.9" tall. It weighs 174 grams or 6.1 ounces. For comparison my iPod Touch weighs 4.2 ounces and my Zune 80 weighs 4.9 ounces. It's no lightweight for sure.

Controls include a power button, volume +/-, and a menu button across the top edge. Along the right side is the headphone jack, microphone, hold slider, wrist strap connection point, microSD slot and a reset hole. The data port is under a sliding bar on the bottom edge. The back has a speaker slot, and the front has a small led charge indicator light.
UI. Turned on you are presented with "designed by iriver" as the Operating System loads up. No icons on this touchscreen. The home page is like a contemporary magazine contents page. Each application has it's own section of the screen. Music displays the album art of the last or current song playing. Photo is the last one you viewed. If there was art with the movie you last watched it'll display in the video section. You'll see the last radio channel listened to, and in the document section you get a snippet of the last text you viewed. I have to admit that I was not overly impressed the first time I turned on the P7. It's not obvious what to do, but touching any area on the screen invariably opens an application. Touch the album cover art and you'll find yourself in the music application. The upper most level gives you the choice of Now Playing, Quick List, All Music, Artists, Genres, "My Playlist", and "My Rating" to sort your music by. Quick list is basically a playlist you can create as you browse through your songs.

The Music App is straight forward and competent. Supported formats include MP3(8-320kbps), WMA(8-320kbps), OGG(Q-Q10), FLAC, and WAV. Music sounds great. The options along the bottom of the Now Playing screen include back (to music list), RWD, Pause/Play, FFwd, AB tagging, Bookmark, and Goto (bookmarks). You get a roughly 1.375" square album art image, a dynamic waveform graphic, the Title, EQ option, Shuffle/Repeat access, and the option to rate (0-5 stars) the song. A side menu gives you access to SRS WOW HD settings, User EQ settings, and Fade-in ON/OFF. If your song has lyrics attached a swipe across the album art will reveal them. A long swipe across the width of the screen will slide the art over to show a short section of the song list to scroll through and choose from. Lastly there is a standard M in the top right to take you to the home menu from any page. Video playback is also right to the point and excellent. Formats include AVI, WMV, MP4, RM.RV, DAT/MPG, 3GP/K3G, and FLV. The video app remembers where you are within any video previously played. You can stretch video to fill the whole screen. The expected skip back/forward and play/pause are there. You also get the same bookmarking options the music app had. The submenu has Ratio, Video Option, and Subtitles, with Scan Speed and Play mode under Video Option. I've tested MP4, AVI, and WMV files on my P7. All played fine. The only negative thing I can find about video play on the P7 is related to the screen technology used. The AMOLED screen of the iRiver SPINN can be viewed from any angle without color distortion. The P7's LCD screen discolors when viewed from any low angle, and dims a little when viewed from the side or above. It's also a little washed out compared to the same video played on any AMOLED screened player.

Photos are beautiful, although again not as stunning as they appear off the AMOLED screens of the Cowon S9 or iRiver SPINN. The P7 will rotate your photos to best fit the screen automatically, or you can rotate them yourself. Zoom and pan to 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 of the photo on the screen, but not fluidly. Photo scaling and sliding is nothing to be proud of but it does work. You get to control the timing of your slide show, and can sort photos within folders to specify a subset you might want to slide show through. The 4.3" screen certainly improves the experience as it's close to the size of dedicated digital photo frames. You may not mind looking at your photos on a 2" screen ( of an Ipod Nano for example), but once you see them at 4.3" you won't want to go back. Recording is straight forward and versatile. Tap the red circle on the home screen and you're in the recording app. The submenu lets you pick from 3 quality settings including 64, 96, and 128Kbps WMA. The mic is on the right end of the P7, and I got the best recording if I talked directly into it or at least tilted the P7 so the right end was toward me. Once you have a recording or two you can play them directly from the recording app. Your list of recordings is revealed if you slide the screen from right to left.

The calculator appears better than I normally find on Korean made PMPs. This one has memory functions, square root, and percentage. Using it is a little confusing, however. One simple way to find the Golden Ratio is to take the square root of 5, divide it by two, then add one. This calculator won't let me enter "5 √ ÷ 2 = + 1 =". The math can be done, but not without employing the memory to save intermediate values. It doesn't seem to cache current results for the next calculation. Fix this, iRiver!Radio. Nothing special here. The P7 FM Radio app won't bother doing anything until you plug in some headphones (antenna), and actually reminds you to. Once plugged in, you can manually tune or have the P7 automatically scan for and create a preset list of available channels. No RDS. You can record from FM, and choose from three different quality settings. There is no scheduled record. Competent, but not extraordinary.

Text. A nice option for a big screened player. You can put any TXT file on the P7 and view it there. The screen will report how many pages of text there is in the file. It will auto-scroll the text for you, using a variable rate you can set in the submenu. You've got three sizes of fonts to choose from, also in the submenu. You can also pick from several languages. There is a bookmarking option, and once you have set at least one bookmark in a file you can then pick from a list of the bookmarked positions to go to. There is no font or background color option. The black/gray text on the white background is easy enough to read though. My old eyes appreciate the large font option.

Conclusions? At $199 for a 16gb model I think the P7 is a bargain. It has a microSD slot that supports at least 8gb cards (largest I had to try). It's not ideal as a pocketable player, but would be an excellent media device to keep in your briefcase or purse. It's an excellent way to show off photos and videos. You can sync media with it using Windows Media Player or the included Jetaudio app, or just drag and drop media files directly onto it. It played everything I put on it except a protected WMV file that was included with a BluRay movie. There is a rumor that it supports video output, but I have found no concrete proof of this.

I've you've been looking for a large screened player, this is a good one. It's likely to get better with firmware updates. I'm keeping mine.

4D

Firmware version 1.15 LINK (English). IRiver LINK.