Zvue 500 with 3.5-inch display, WiFi, CF, SD

Handheld Entertainment has upgraded its line of Zvue portable media players with the Zvue 400 and 500, both of which include 3.5-inch, 320x240 displays, slots for both Compact Flash and Secure Digital cards, and compatibility with Microsoft's DRM for both audio and video. While the 400 is fairly basic, with 512MB of onboard storage, the 500 ups the specs to 1GB, and also adds WiFi, for quick downloading of media — or Media Snackingsm, as the Zvue people call it (and, yes, they do actually list Media Snacking as a service mark). No word on how you grab those snacks, since it's not clear whether the Zvue includes a browser or other software to find files to download. Both models are due out this quarter, with the 400 expected to go for about $225, and the 500 for about $300.

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[TZK @ Jan 4th 2006 8:14AM]

Looks pretty OK to me. WiFi is a nice addition. The SNACKINGS, I am sure come via theie proprietary .hh format of media, as with the orginal zVue, which iwasnt SUCH a bad product, just the scrfeen sucked, and the buttons felt cheap like a toy. These look OK though, I think. I had/have a P4040 (google it) and with the exception of it being BROKEN on delivery, was similar to these offerings. I just hope the screen, which is the make-or-break, usually, in these devices is nice enough to really pass off as a product worth looking into.

[matt @ Jan 4th 2006 8:14AM]

1GIG? $300? i would rather get an ipod video with a 2.5inch screen and have 30 gigs at that price. seriously, how much video could you get on 512 or 1 GIG. not many people are going to want to buy a 2 gig CF card.(i would, being a photographer) the only use i would possibly get out of it would be emergency storage of photos and i do mean emergency with those specs.

[Nicholas Moline @ Jan 4th 2006 8:26AM]

When will companies get it right? We want a thin PMP with an onboard HDD of at least 8GB and decent battery life. Oh yea definitely need widescreen. If I had any money at all I could desing a PMP to dominate the market!

[Geqxon @ Jan 4th 2006 9:20AM]

matt, you kindoff forget the fact that the iPod has a smaller screen, and no wifi. Wifi rocks man, seriously. I don't care what you can do with it, even if it was just to say "I have wifi".

[JL @ Jan 4th 2006 9:59AM]

1. Maybe Zvue would be able to incorporate an HD into these units if they were a large company like Apple (and can get volume discounts on components like they did with a certain manufacturer of flash memory).



2. It's already ahead of the game in comparison to the "video iPod" just for having the bigger screeen.



3. Its a damn shame now that now all video players are going to get compared to the "video iPod", especially considering it is an inferior product within the realm of video (restricted formats, one source for "official" content and the screen is just too small.



4. WiFi is a nice touch tho. connect it up to your home media server and it kind of negates the need for a large HD. I just wonder what the viewing quality on this would be..

[Buddy @ Jan 4th 2006 12:04PM]

*Good, as flash memory cards via Samsung are on their way to 100+ GB in the lab, and will collapse in price over time, replacing hard discs in these type players.



*On the ZVUE site they offer pay-per-play and a coming all you can eat site, but the offerings are geared to a teen demographic with the exception of the good Worldvision movies that cross all demos. How 'bout a few thousand movies instead? Then will get a million+ subscribers wherein downloadable to any personal video player if MPEG-4.



*No matter how good the coming ZVUEs get, they better have a mega marketing/ad budget to compete with all others, particularly iPod. If not, can compete with mega long-form value content.