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Portable Media Devices:
Players, Storage, Power
by Douglas Dixon
Manifest-Tech.com
Portable Players
Portable Audio Players: SanDisk Sansa
c100
Portable Media Players: SanDisk Sansa
e200 & iriver clix
Portable Media Recorders: RCA Lyra X3000
Sony PSP Media Manager
Portable Sound: CPS Cellboost T-Speaker,
Creative I-Trigue L3800
Portable Storage: Imation Clip & Pivot,
Verbatim FlashDisc & USB HD Drive, Ceedo
/ U3 / Mingo
Portable Power
Battery Chargers: CPS Cellboost &
iRecharge, RIDATA Solar Charger, Turbo
Charge
Power Adaptors: Mobility iGo, Blackstone
MFuel
References
How many
portable devices do you carry? The market
continues to evolve rapidly, so let's look
at new developments in three related areas
-- portable media players for both playing
and recording, to enjoy music, photos, and
videos on the go; portable storage devices
so you can take your files, and even your
desktop computing environment, along as
well; and portable power adaptors to help
manage all the batteries and power adaptors
that all these devices require.
The big theme
for portable devices is the continued
unrelenting growth in storage capacity --
now with multiple gigabytes of solid state
flash memory available for around $100. This
means that your MP3 music player has room to
store hundreds of songs, or be upgraded with
a color screen to support photos and video.
And a portable storage drive can have the
room to store your entire working desktop,
including e-mail and active documents.
Even small
"MP3 players" do much more than playing
music, and have much larger capacities. For
example, the SanDisk Sansa c100 Series
MP3 players pack up to several gigabytes
of music, plus a color screen, into an
inexpensive and compact package (www.sandisk.com).
The c140 model has 1 GB for $109, and the
c150 has 2 GB for $149. And in a player
that's 1.35 x 3.10 x 0.94 inches and 1.6
ounces.
SanDisk Sansa c100 audio player
You can just
connect the USB cable to transfer files
directly as a USB drive, or use the Windows
Media Player or other applications to
syncronize files. The 2 GB player holds some
960 songs in WMA format, for 64 hours of
music playback, which should be enough even
for a long plane ride.
Besides music
playback, the c100 also displays (tiny)
photos and slideshows, has a FM digital
tuner with 20-channel presets, and does
voice and FM recording. It runs on a single
AAA battery for up to 15 hours of battery
life. It plays MP3, Windows Media Audio
(WMA), and Audible e-book audio formats,
with Microsoft WMA PlaysForSure support for
subscription and download purchased music.
The interface is particularly easy to use,
with four lines of menu or song information
text on the bright 1.21-inch screen.
But if 1000
songs are not enough, you may want more
capacity -- and a larger screen to help in
navigating your collection. And with more
capacity and a bigger screen for photos, why
not add video playback as well? That's the
approach for the SanDisk Sansa e200
series video players, scheduled to be
available in three capacities: 2 GB for
$199, 4 GB for $249, and 6 GB for $299. At 6
GB, you can store some 3840 WMA songs (256
hours).
SanDisk Sansa e200 media player
The e200
players have a 1.8 inch TFT color screen (QCIF+),
and are not much bigger than the c100, at
1.70 x 3.50 x 0.52 inches and 2.6 ounces.
The design includes backlit controls for
navigation, a microSD expansion slot for
additional memory, and a replaceable and
rechargeable lithium-ion battery with up to
20 hours of battery life.
This is the
same idea behind the iriver clix
flash media player, announced in May 2006 to
replace the U10 (www.iriveramerica.com,
www.iriverclix.com). The clix has a 2.2
inch color TFT display, and comes with 2 GB
capacity for $199. It improves navigation
speed and video performance, and adds
support for Macromedia FlashLite 2.0 games
and animation.
The clix
supports MP3, WMA with PlaysForSure, and OGG
music formats, and MPEG-4 simple profile
QVGA (15fps) videos. It also includes an FM
tuner and FM / voice recorder. And it
supports the new Windows Media Player 11 and
the public beta of the MTV Networks new URGE
digital music service.
The player
design is impressively clean, at 2.7 x 1.8 x
0.6 inches and 2.5 ounces. There's no
control pad -- like the U10 it uses an
interesting "direct click" interface, where
you control playback simply by pressing on
the sides of the screen. The rechargeable
battery provides 25 hours of playback.
You can go far
with memory-based media players, but you'll
need 10 times more storage to store large
collections of music, plus podcasts, photos,
and longer videos and videocasts. And you'll
want a larger screen and built-in speakers,
especially to play your material for a
group. This is the domain of players with
hard disks, offering up from 20 to 60 to now
over 100 GB of storage, and 3.5 inch and
larger displays, with products like the
Creative Zen Vision.(www.creative.com).
But why stop
at just playing video -- music players can
record FM radio, so why shouldn't media
players also record TV video? You can find
these kinds of video recorder products from
Archos (www.archos.com),
and now in the RCA Lyra X3000 Personal
Multimedia Recorder, introduced in March
2006 from Thomson (www.rca.com).
The X3000 has 20 GB of storage for $399, and
will step up in May to the X3030, with 30 GB
for $399. With 20 GB, you can store some 300
hours of MP3 music, 80 hours of video, or
10,000 JPEG images.
RCA Lyra X3000 Personal Multimedia Recorder
The Lyra has a
bright 3.6 inch screen, with 320x240 pixels.
The design is not flashy, but is quite
functional -- the unit comfortably shaped
and light at 4.95 x 0.83 x 3.07 inches and
around 8 ounces. The controls are clear,
with labeled buttons on the top (On/Off,
Back, Record), plus the usual navigation pad
on the front -- except that the pad works
for both button pushes (up, down, left,
right, select), and for stroking your finger
in a circle to move thorough menus and
adjust the volume.
The menus and
navigation are similarly straightforward,
with simple menus and helpful prompts. The
unit is set up to automatically play a
Welcome video when you first turn it on,
which finishes with an explanation of how to
turn it off in the Setup menu.
The Lyra plays
MP3, WMA (including subscription tracks),
and Audible audio files, displays photos and
slide shows, and plays WMV and DivX / MPEG-4
video. Its other features include a built-in
microphone for voice recording, an SD slot
to transfer photos from a digital camera,
and a removable and rechargeable lithium ion
battery for at least four hours of video
playback.
But the really
interesting aspect of the Lyra is the home
theater docking base. Hook up the A/V
outputs for displaying from your player on a
TV, and use the full-size IR remote to
control playback. Or hook up the A/V inputs
for recording video and audio directly on
the Lyra, from a TV, VCR, or other device.
You can even connect the included IR blaster
to have the Lyra directly control your cable
box, satellite receiver, or VCR for
scheduled recordings.
Portable video
recorders open up whole new possibilities
for viewing TV and shows on the go. You can
transfer videos directly to the player,
without needing to first capture and convert
them on a computer. Even better, you can
schedule recording of shows in the evening,
and watch them the next day.
Another
approach to portable media is the Sony
PlayStation Portable (PSP) (www.us.playstation.com/PSP).
The PSP is not just a handheld gaming
machine -- it's also a movie player for
films on UMD disc. Also, less well known,
it's a fine media player for your own music,
photos, and videos -- but these must be
downloaded onto flash memory on a Memory
Stick card.
Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)
The problem, however, has
been that it's not particularly obvious how
to convert files to formats that are
playable on the PSP, or how to store them
properly on the Memory Stick for playback.
Newer video editing and conversion
applications have added PSP export and even
downloading features, at least for videos,
Now Sony Media Software has provided
a full solution for all formats -- the
PSP Media Manager ($19,
www.sonymediasoftware.com
). This
provides simple drag and drop downloading,
with automatic format conversion for photos,
audio, and video, including extracting audio
from CDs and downloading of podcast and
video blog feeds. Plus, you can copy and
back up saved games.
Also make sure
you have the latest PSP firmware upgrades.
System Update 2.70 from April 2006 adds
support for Macromedia Flash content in the
Internet browser, and the ability to save
audio podcasts from RSS channels.
To download
lots of content to the PSP, check out the
SanDisk Gaming Memory Stick PRO Duo cards,
in semi-transparent neon colors. These are
available in up to 4 GB (from 256 MB for
$34, to 2 GB for $109, and 4 GB for $219).
SanDisk also has announced the
high-performance RapidGX Memory Stick PRO
Duo Game card (1 GB for $84.99), bundled
with PSP conversion and download software
(from Mediafour) and Memory Stick PRO Duo
card reader.
Tiny little
MP3 audio players are great for personal use
-- larger media players have built-in
speakers so you can share the music, but
small devices only have a headphone jack.
But there still are times when it would be
nice to listen to your music without
headphones -- at home, or in the car, or in
a hotel room.
What you need
is a similarly tiny speaker -- like the
Cellboost T-Speaker from Compact Power
Systems ($19.99,
www.cellboost.com). This sweet little
unit comes in clean white and runs in one AA
battery -- just plug its standard headphone
jack into any player, including iPods.
CPS Cellboost T-Speaker
Of course, no
matter what your player, there are an
amazing variety of larger speakers available
for sharing your music. Companies like
Creative offer portable two-speaker systems
that you can dock your player into, or
others you can plug in to a player (or
notebook) to boost the sound. Or for fully
using your player at home, you can step up
to a serious 2.1 system like the Creative
I-Trigue L3800 ($149), with dual 9 watt
satellite speakers plus 30 watt subwoofer,
and including a remote control to access a
Creative Zen MP3 player (www.creative.com).
Creative I-Trigue L3800
Flash memory
is great for small music players, but it
also has a more prosaic use as a portable
data drive. Now that solid state is
affordable in multiple gigabytes, you can
carry a non-trivial amount of data in a
small rugged USB thumb drive.
For example,
there's the new Imation Clip and
Pivot Flash Drives, with tough
rubberized casings and reinforced rings to
snap onto backpacks, shoulder bags or belt
loops (www.imation.com/flash)
-- with so much storage you really don't
want to lose them. They also come with
security software. The rotating Pivot is
available from 256 MB to 4 GB, at $32 to
$239. The water-resistant Clip drive slides
out from the colorful soft rubber case. It's
available from 256 MB to 2 GB, for $29 to
$119.
Imation Clip Flash Drives
While more
storage is always welcome, there's also a
need for storage to share -- the way we used
to use floppy discs for inexpensive
give-away file sharing. This kind of use has
been replaced by CDs and networking, but
there still are times it would be nice to be
able to just quickly hand over a collection
of files such as recent photos. This is the
idea behind the new 16 MB FlashDisc from
Verbatim amd Memorex -- a small and
inexpensive flash drive designed for
exchanging data ($19 for a 3-pack,
www.verbatim.com). It even has a
circular design like a disc with a write-on
label area, and is available in vibrant
colors.
16 MB FlashDisc
Yet while
flash is now affordable up to several
gigabytes of capacity, tiny hard drives
offer even more capacity while still being
highly portable and affordable. For example,
the Verbatim Store 'n' Go USB HD Drive
is available in 4 and 8 GB for $129 and $199
-- that's around twice the capacity for half
the price of a flash drive, although in a
slightly larger size.
For using a
shared computer, Verbatim also includes
Mobile Launchpad software with its USB
HD drives to run your applications directly
from the drive and access personal files and
data without loading them on the host system
(based on Ceedo Technologies,
www.ceedo.com).
Another
approach to carrying your work on a flash
drive is from U3 (www.u3.com)
-- a feature built into flash drives so you
can carry not only your data, but also your
programs and preferences, so you can do your
work anywhere, on any Windows PC.
Verbatim U3 Flash Drive
The next step
along this line is to clone your entire
desktop environment with Migo Mobile
Computing Software (www.migosoftware.com).
Mingo first runs on your main system to sync
your desktop environment to a flash drive.
Then plug in the flash drive on a guest
machine, and Mingo replicates that
environment, complete with your desktop
wallpaper and icons, Internet settings,
e-mail, and personal documents. You can even
store multiple such environments on a single
flash drive, and add security protection.
Migo Mobile Computing Software
Not bad:
Portable storage has gone from slowly
copying around 1 MB of data to a floppy
disk, to burning 700 MB on a CD and then 4.7
GB on a DVD, to quick drag and drop to
pocket-size portable drives offering up to 4
to 8 GB. Load up your collection of active
files, and you really can take it all with
you!
Media players
are great for long trips, but battery life
can become an issue when you are playing
them continuously (especially video clips).
And as you add to your collection of cool
gadgets, they do require you to bring along
even more batteries and plugs and chargers
and docks -- especially when each devices
uses different batteries and custom power
adaptors.
One hope for
sanity is to find sources for batteries and
chargers that support multiple devices, and
are more easily available. These kinds of
products are becoming more visible in
stores, especially in the travel section.
Even better, they go beyond cell phones and
media players to also power devices like
digital cameras and camcorders, and even
notebooks.
Here's a
sampler of some of these new options.
- If you don't
have a spare battery, one easy alternative
is the Cellboost disposable
battery/chargers from Compact Power
Systems (www.cellboost.com),
available for cell phones, smart phones, MP3
players, game players, and camcorders. Just
plug in to your device's charger port and
you're good to go. These are priced from
$7.99 for cell phones, to $9.99 for the iPod
and iPod mini, to $19.99 for selected
camcorders.
CPS Cellboost
CPS also has a
line of iRecharge rechargeable
batteries, ranging from $39 for the iPod
Shuffle (up to 40 hours of additional play
time) to $79 for the iPod and iPod mini (12
hours) to $49 for camcorders (3 hours), and
$59 for portable DVD players (3 hours).
There's also a iRecharge for Sony PSP ($29),
offering up to eight additional hours of
play time, and designed as an integrated
stand especially for movie watching.
- For even
more flexibility in recharging, there's the
Advanced Media / RIDATA Model S1000 Solar
Powered Battery Charger (www.ritekusa.com).
This has a 8.5 x 2.5 inch solar panel
connected to two AAA batteries. It can
charge the batteries directly, or pass power
through a USB port to devices like MP3
players. Output for the AAA battery is 1.5V
/ 300mA, and for USB is 5V / 200mA. The
specs list typically charging times per
battery as 2 to 3 hours in full sun, and 4
to 6 on slightly overcast days.
RIDATA Solar Battery Charger
But there's
another approach to dealing with the
profusion of different devices, and the
resulting need for product-specific
batteries and chargers -- Use the same basic
power unit, but then attach device-specific
adaptors with the necessary tips to plug in
to each device.
One example of
this approach is the Turbo Charge
cell phone charger (www.turbocellcharge.com)
-- basically a AA battery in metal tube,
with an adaptor and tip that matches each
type of cell phone ($19.95 with one adaptor
and $24.95 with all 8). You can pick up a
new battery wherever you go, and then charge
up your phone. Even better, the iPod
version, called the iTurbo, is due to debut
in June.
Turbo Charge
This idea
extends nicely to wall chargers that can
handle larger devices, up to camcorders and
notebooks. The iGo power adapters
from Mobility Electronics (www.igo.com)
are available in multiple versions, from 8
watts to charge mobile phones and portable
audio players (starting at $19), to 70 watts
(around $79), to up over 100 watts to charge
high-end notebooks (from $119). The product
line includes units for plugging into a wall
outlet (home and office), and/or cars and
airplanes. Plus, there's a Dualpower
accessory to split the feed and
simultaneously power two devices (bundled or
$24 separately).
Mobility iGo
As travel
adaptors, the iGo products are rated from
110 volts to 230 volts and 50/60h, and
therefore only need a generic travel adapter
plug that allows the adapter to plug into
the wall socket.
But the real
magic of the iGo approach is the swappable "iTips"
designed to fit a wide array of devices:
mobile phones and handhelds/PDAs; portable
music and media players (including portable
DVD players, gaming systems, GPS systems,
and satellite radios); digital cameras and
camcorders; and notebooks and external hard
drives. Check the iGo website to find the
iTip for your specific make and model ($9.99
for many, $14.99 for some iPods).
Blackstone International
is taking a similar approach with its line
of MFuel portable power adaptors (www.mfueldirect.com).
These include chargers for wall power, cars,
and planes, complete with adaptors and tips,
in three color-coded lines: Yellow low-power
chargers (i.e., 18 watts for cell phones,
media players, digital cameras, and
camcorders) Red high-power adaptors (i.e.,
75 watts for notebooks), and White universal
chargers (i.e., 100 to 120 watts). The MFuel
Power Bank line offers external batter packs
with similar flexibility in charging, with
models for portable electronics ($199 for up
to 65 hours of additional cell phone time),
notebooks ($299 for 10 hours), and universal
connectivity ($399 for 12 hours for
notebooks and 100 hours for cell phones).
So if you're
tired of lugging around motley collections
of electrical adaptors and connectors, check
out these kinds of universal power systems
that can cover the whole gamut of devices
from tiny cell phones to camcorders and
notebooks.
Portable Media
Players
SanDisk Sansa c100 MP3
players / e200 video players
www.sandisk.com
iriver clix
www.iriveramerica.com
www.iriverclix.com
RCA - Lyra X3000
www.rca.com
Creative Zen Vision
www.creative.com
Sony PlayStation Portable
(PSP)
www.us.playstation.com/PSP
Sony Media Software - PSP
Media Manager
www.sonymediasoftware.com
Portable Sound
Compact Power Systems -
Cellboost T-Speaker
www.cellboost.com
Creative - I-Trigue L3800
Speakers
www.creative.com
Portable
Storage
Imation Clip and Pivot Flash
Drives
www.imation.com/flash
Verbatim16 MB FlashDisc
Verbatim Store 'n' Go USB HD Drive
www.verbatim.com
Ceedo Technologies
www.ceedo.com
U3
www.u3.com
Migo Mobile Computing
Software
www.migosoftware.com
Portable Power
Compact Power Systems --
Cellboost, iRecharge
www.cellboost.com
Advanced Media / RIDATA -
S1000 Solar Powered Battery Charger
www.ritekusa.com
Turbo Charge cell phone
charger
www.turbocellcharge.com
Mobility Electronics - iGo
power adapters
www.igo.com
Blackstone International --
MFuel
www.mfueldirect.com
Manifest
Technology®
Copyright 1999-2006,
Douglas Dixon, All Rights Reserved
Manifest Technology is a registered
trademark of Douglas Dixon
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